Evolution of British Tanks | Animated History
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Sources:
“Mark I.” The Tank Museum, September 9, 2021. tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank....
Mediums Marks I-III (United Kingdom: Profile Publications, 1969).
The Tank Museum. “Tank Chats | Little Willie | the Tank Museum.” KZhead. KZhead, March 22, 2010. • Tank Chats | Little Wi... .
The Tank Museum. “Tank Chats #21 Mark V | The Tank Museum.” KZhead. KZhead, May 27, 2016. • Tank Chats #21 Mark V ... .
Bonds, R. An Illustrated Guide to Modern Tanks and Fighting Vehicles (Salamander Books, 1980)
Chuter, A. UK Army To Extend Life of Challenger 2; New Tank Too Costly. Defense News, October 12, 2015). www.defensenews.com/land/2015...
Dunston, S. Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-1997 (Osprey Publishing, 2003).
Dunston, S. Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank 1987-2006 (Osprey Publishing, 2006).
Ellis, Chris., Chamberlain Peter. British and American Tanks of World War II (United Kingdom: Granite Impex Limited, 1981).
Fletcher, David. British Light Tanks 1927-45: Marks I-VI (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2014).
Fletcher, David. British Mark I Tank 1916 (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2004).
Fletcher, David. Crusader, Cruiser Tank 1939-45 (Osprey Publishing,1995)
Fletcher, David. Cromwell Cruiser Tank 1942-50 (Osprey Publishing, 2006).
Fletcher, David. Mark V Tank (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2011).
Fletcher, David. Matilda Infantry Tank 1938-45 (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012).
Fletcher, David. Mr. Churchill's Tank: The British Infantry Tank Mark IV (Schiffer Publishing, 1998).
Fletcher, David. The British Tanks, 1915-19 (United Kingdom: Crowood, 2001).
Lister, David. “Vickers Medium Mk.I & Mk.II.” Tank Encyclopedia, October 8, 2022. tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb....
Robinson, M., Griffin, R. Images of War: Challenger 2: The British Main Battle Tank (Pen and Sword, 2017).
Ware, Pat. British Cruiser Tanks of World War 2 (United Kingdom: Kelsey Publishing, 2014).
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Thanks again to World of Tanks. Click the link, tanks.ly/armchairhistorian, register today as a new player using our activation code ONCEUPONATANK, and receive a free Matilda Black Prince tank, a 7-day premium account, 1 garage slot, 100% crew, and the Tiger 131 and Sherman VC Firefly free for 10 battles FREE New Armchair Historian Video Game: store.steampowered.com/app/1679290/Fire__Maneuver/ Sign up for Armchair History TV today! armchairhistory.tv/ Promo code: ARMCHAIRHISTORY for 50% OFF Merchandise available at store.armchairhistory.tv/ Check out the new Armchair History TV Mobile App too! apps.apple.com/us/app/armchair-history-tv/id1514643375 play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.uscreen.armchairhistorytv Discord: discord.gg/thearmchairhistorian Twitter: twitter.com/ArmchairHist
Alr
I never knew that the British had a light tank in ww1
The Cromwell never had 100mm of armor
more evolution, french tank next, but not japanese tanks, not as interesting, but more aircraft videso also
@@ryleeculla5570 yes thats ridiculous amount pf armour for the speed and manuerability of Cromwell! The Turret front an dgun mantlet might have high armour but the rest was not that good!
Now that you've talked about the US, Germany, Russia and Britain, I think the next video of this kind should discuss the evolution of either French or Japanese tanks.
Their tanks were small and used mostly to defend sectors. An FT17 could not take on a A7V tank, like it took 3 whippet (MKIV) tanks to stop the Germans at Amien. The French Char 2c behemoth was never properly fielded. And most Japanese tanks were in the jungles of Burma and based in Okinawa or China. Best tanks of 20th century are German, British, US, Soviet as they were all fielded in large battles
Dont forget chinese
He's gonna do the whole WoT tech tree
Chinese tanks would be cool
@@Northern_Judge They exist!??!?!?!
I love that you included David Fletcher from The Tank Museum in the segment on the Crusader! Genuinely very wholesome to see 😊
I noticed the same thing! Great to see I was like " OH MY GOODNESS IT CANNOT BE!"
I saw that and immediately came to the comments to see if anyone noticed, and wouldn’t ya know…
Always happy to see the tank jesus
Hats off to David Fletcher!
knew i recognized him from somewhere! lol I came here looking for this comment
“The tank was originally invented to clear the way for the infantry in the teeth of machine gun fire. Now it is the infantry who will have to clear a way for the tanks.” Winston Churchill
We English created the tank 💪
Damn proud to be English. England is the envy of the world. I forget were speaking English too :/
Yeah, it was not reliable. It was made to break barbed wire and shield our lads, but when the Brits were tasked with navigating towards German MG nests while surrounded by 12ft craters, we got maimed, the french had our tanks and their southern front was not so much a bloodbath at the Somme. Our tanks got stuck in the mud and even got swallowed
@@Leif20me and nowadays England had became a shithole dominated by muslims and africans.
@@Leif20me Tanks exist since Antiquity (specially arab empires), tanks with mounted gunpowder guns since chinese medieval wars, steel tanks since english WWI British as always can assemble things but theirs design su**s 😣
I’d love to see the evolution of French tanks! They brought us the standard tank layout, but have also always had some quirky design sensibilities
Indeed! Our French tanks are often neglected, whereas they were very effective!
@@cenprenonphyks8160 Somewhere here hides a joke about French military history, but I won't be the one bringing it.
@@cenprenonphyks8160 without the french, we would never have the duck
Yup, the Ft17 is arguably the 1st modern tank.
France greatest advantage: They Experiment. France greatest disadvantage: They Experiment.
I personally would love to see a tank evolution video done on Italian tanks. As they not only do I find their armored history the most fascinating, but is also among the most underdiscussed of the major players of WW2
Centauro!
@@alexanderzippel8809 hopefully he brings mention to it, this since it's not technically a tank it likley won't be mentioned, Tho I do really hope to see some mention of the OF-40 tanks, as well as their most recent modernization program for the Ariete
canneloni shooters
I hope he will do evolution of itailian uniforms
FINALLY, US BRITS ARE APPRECIATED AS THE MAKER OF THESE METAL TITANS
Our American troops loved your Centurions during the Korean War. They could give combat support on nearly any terrain even in the mountains, and almost every encounter between your giants and the T34s was a death sentence for the Commies (at least one encounter was described as "a single shot dismantling", meaning the T34 was blown to scrap metal). It's no wonder those awesome tanks still serve worldwide, they're among the greatest ever made by any country. Thanks for helping us save South Korea, greetings from the US! 🇺🇸👍🇬🇧🇰🇷
Yea
For king and country.
7:18 I love how you feature David Fletcher, rather sad to know he is no longer doing Tank Chats
wait since when?????
Just a Note, Chally wasn’t an evolution of Chieftain, the two are separate designs sharing a main gun. Chally has different suspension, sights, armour, secondary armament, hull, chassis, and engine. And Challenger 1 was found to be one of the most reliable tanks in the desert, not the least. As for Challenger 2, it does not feature the same gun as Challenger 1, the 120mm L11A1 rifle, it instead features the improved L30A1 rifle with a 2 part breech block and an improved firing mechanism that reduces failures and the breech allows for far higher pressures. Challenger 2 was not found to fail its initial tests, but rather went through extensive testing to ensure the crews liked it and the designers got feedback, such as the installation of a 1x periscope for the gunner.
Challenger is indeed essentially an evolution of Chieftain. Challenger traces its roots back to when it was named Shir 2 intended for use with the Iranian army to replace their chieftains however due to the Iranian revolution putting an end to the order and British MBT 80 running hopelessly over budget with not even a prototype design finalized it was decided that Royal ordinance’s FV4034 would be slightly reworked and pressed into service under the name “challenger”
@@HJDore To be fair, the video says "modernisation" not evolution, and that is very innacurate.
I don’t understand why some people think the challenger tanks were failures… And even worse guys in videos like this spreading these lies
So glad you guys are expanding on this series. I think doing Japanese or French tanks next would be amazing!
Would be interesting to see the French ones. I always felt like Japanese tanks were more like tankettes lol , would be interesting nonetheless.
I was gonna say Italian tanks, but probably french ones are more interesting
@@stefanobonaiuti8243 I think French tanks would be more interesting because the jumps between WW1, the shortcoming of WW2, and the post war acceleration of tech adoption of post war autoloaders and oscillating turrets
@@The_Faceless_No_Name_Stranger yep, oscillating turret was a wild design
@@Black-Sun_Kaiser yeah but still, Japanese tanks fulfilled their purpose in supporting infantry since their primary focus is Naval warfare. Compared to the Italian tanks that as we all know, is just a joke.
Love to see an evolution on the Italian “Tank”
I agree! Didn't the Italians in WW2 have this strange kind of remote-controlled tank that looked more like a go-kart?
Pretty much your saying Italian tank size evolution
@@louthegiantcookie The Italian tanks were the Go-Go Gadget of WWI and WWII. Extremely impractical and unreliable.
Now that you've covered most of the main players in armored warfare, I think French tank design would be a good one to discuss. While they've had similar difficulties as the British in implementing tank design, they have also been a catalyst in tank development since the Interwar period. While they have definitely had some wacky designs, they also pushed into common practice the standard tank layout, seen to this day.
Based 1 man turret XD
Personally, my Favorite Tank from the British is the Centurion. I even considered it better than the M48 Patton. Also let's see Japanese Tanks
He should have mentioned what the Centurions did in Korea. They blasted the living sh*t out of the Communist T34s, at least one encounter between the Soviet-built icon and Britain's then-modern titan was described by witnesses as a "Single shot dismantling". American troops loved working with the Centurion forces not only for their amazing firepower, but because it was one of the few large tanks that performed well in steep hilly or mountainous terrain. The Brits literally changed warfare when those armored giants rolled into service.
Everyone considers it better than the M48 Patton 😂
9:15 Fun Fact. The Matilda II also supported a 3 Inch Howitzer in some conversions. Mainly used by the Australian Army during the Pacific Campaign due to how close quarters the combat was at times.
This is absolutely STELLAR! Massive props for citing your sources, the nods to bovington with Mr Fletcher and the info board, and crediting the Czechs for the BESA. I can tell I’m gonna spend a lot of time very soon binging your other videos! ..I was about to post this and the kiwi came up, I love the sense of humour you guys have, it’s so fitting!
Finally, the next evolution video is here! 🇬🇧
I like the detail at 7:28 where the Sten is held properly by the barrel shroud instead the usually incorrect depiction of holding magazine well or the magazine itself.
Didn't stop people from doing it
Yea. Correct way and reality don't match with that one as most held it by the mag. Or rather pushing the mag into the gun to decrease chances of feeding issues as recent historic evidence suggests. (Previously many blamed this habit of holding the mag for the issue but it seems it was actually a solution rather than the cause (not sten specific)
@@1996Horstthat’s been done quite a bit with ww2 sub machine guns. Like the ppsh, mp40, Thompson, Suomi, and more!
love the David Fletcher part aka the tank god
I'm so glad that you're doing the evolution videos again! Keep it up.
I love the Churchill and Centurion tanks. Nice to see them covered in one of your videos. How about a video that focuses on New Zealands, Australian and Canadian tank and armored vehicle designs.
Dunno about you, but I suffered while playing tech three Churchill tanks and I had to spend a lot of gold to make the grind less painful 😣
@@dimitrijejovanovic5939 WOT or War Thunder?
Bob Semple
well thanks for the David Fletcher cameo, it put a smile on my face
in Arkhangelsk there is a pedestal with a Mark 5 tank, which the British supplied to the white army. I do not know why I wrote this.
the way you animated the wars comets are involved in is fantastic. upvote straight away for that. video is amazing as well
*STOP!* ...... Hammer-Time!!! 😳🥴😆 👍 -Little "Easter-Egg" bits like these showing up in these videos never fail to crack me up. I love the history-information provided by these videos as is, but those random pop-culture-reference additions are the cherries on top.
Gotta love the British designs, charming, archaic and very british.
Nothing archaic since Centurion appeared on the scene nearly 80 years ago.
I still want to see British aircraft covered. So much information.
This is the tank evolution I’ve been waiting for!
Awesome work, guys! Thank you.
The history of Japanese, French and Italian tanks would be nice.
I loved the “waltzing Matilda” reference. Australia you have my heart
Thnaks for making this one. Really enjoyed it
i was just waitibg for anothher evolution video. I must thank you for your videos, as well as i must thank the armchair historian team. I adore you all
David Fletcher is a superior addition :D Splendid!
More details on the revolutionary design of British tanks would have been good, such as chobham armour and the black night late life extension on challenger 2.
I have been waiting for a video like this and you guys never let down!
I like going through these tank videos and having a look at the ones you're talking about in world of tanks as well. Nice to have a 3d model to look at sometimes.
Personally, I'd like to see the evolution of German tank destroyers, recon vehicles, SPGs, and/or anti-air vehicles. Other than that the tank development of some minor powers might be interesting.
@Cyber_ Boy true, i'd love to see videos of infantry equipment, evolution of SPGs, recon vehicles, and anti-air vehicles. great idea, i support it
I love this series. please continue with the remaining nations. italy, japan and maybe even more
Finally I've been waiting for you to make this video thank you
Thanks so much, I’ve been wanting to see this
I would like to see the evolution of the tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army, and, even if they are few, I would like to see how they have improved, or worsened.
New tank is said to be a beauty
@@matrixtrollmarine Please, don't say that that tank is a waifu.
@@FriendlyMexican2005 think he’s referring to the type 10, latest MBT of Japan. Proper beauty, also probably the most technologically advanced tank in existence
@@alexradford5446 With ingenuity and technology great things can be done, and a tank is no exception, I would like to see how it can be maneuvered during a battle.
Sheeesh I couldn't believe you will do more of this series its actually good like your other vids so keep it up :)
Thank you for your work, it was very interesting.
Love the video, hope to see ya hit 2mil subs soon. Crazy that I think ive been watching since around 1mil
I'd like to see a video about Czechoslovakia and Munich Agreement. Czechoslovakia had a great army at the time, but didn't fight Germany. I personaly think, it would be interesting to see :D
There’s a bunch of unusual tanks that have been covered by the ‘simple history’ channel. There were a few laughable designs in Russia during World War I, and New Zealand attempted to make a World War II tank that was really just a machine gun box on top of a caterpillar tractor. Maybe a video covering all these weird designs would be good.
i waited for tanks evolution so much thank you❤
Always nice to see a tank vid but you gotta continue the aircraft evolution series
A vid on the Soviet-Afghan War would be so awesome
I saw and instantly clicked love you man finally showing the nation who invented the tank
Omg finally I’ve been waiting for this for ages ❤❤❤
Also love the videos I subscribed as soon as I saw them you make my day man❤❤
Could you do a video on the Russian civil war? I think it's not focused on enough.
+
Russian will have its civil war in 1 or 2 month
Armchair historian should do a video on French tanks
Evolution of The Armchair Historian
Love your content
Awesome video you rock happy new year
Love the video. Like evolutions of French or Japanese tanks. Or if possible, of other vehicle classes. Like infantry fighting vehicles or self propelled guns, from Germany or Soviet Union.
Ironically, one of the inventors of the tank (Lancelot de Mole) was actually Australian.
This was a separate design which was unfortunately ignored prior to World War 1
Your videos are always interesting and I always learn something new.
4:38 it would make sense that there would be Stonehenge in the background since there is a tank training facility near it
deffinetly would love the french tanks covered next :)
Been waiting for this video
Great video! keep up the good work
I'd like to see French tanks be discussed next
Would love to see Japanese tanks covered next!
I was waiting for this!👍🇬🇧
I love the sound effects of a movie projector. It reminds me of growing up in the 1950's when we would watch our home movies with our projector. We would set up our screen, (it operated like a window shade mounted on a tripod. It kept clean in its container and was unrolled and held in place with an extension on the tripod). We would then place our projector on a wooden chair to keep it stable and set the focus. We not only had movies that we took ourselves, but also a hand full of pre-recoded films like cartoons or stop motion movies. Fun memories, Thanks. As to what tanks I would like to see, the "Funnies" of WWII. These are the ones made to clear minefields, or provide bridges, etc.
Speaking of mark 5’s “sexes”and russian civil war. There was a third type called composite, which is an export modification of this tank. It’s distinctive feature is a machine gun in the right sponson and a cannon in the left sponson. One of this tanks is actually on the public display in my city (Kharkiv).
I'd put in a vote for the history of Soviet tank development.
Already exists, if I'm not mistaken.
@@hopfinatorischerkuchenkrieger it does
@@hopfinatorischerkuchenkrieger Ah, there it is. Thanks for flagging that.
@@jimryan5513 No problem.
Finally been waiting for this for ages
I’ve been waiting for this one
Agree with other comments that French or Japanese tanks should probably be next, and maybe Chinese after that. Just to put the thought out there though, a later video on Swedish tanks would be interesting. I know most Swedish tanks were imported designs, like the Centurion and Leopard 2, but Sweden is still the only Nordic country to develop and field their own tank - Strv 103 (otherwise known as the S-tank). Also, the Strv 2000 conceptual tank intrigues me and could use a video on it's own since there's not a lot of content about it on KZhead. Anyway, imported or domestically designed, like all nations there is an interesting doctrine behind Swedish defense development from WWII throughout the Cold War in the 'armed neutrality' concept which influenced a lot of the Swedish decisions to import and modify foreign tank designs, as well as develop it's own. In that respect, a video on the development of the Swedish air force would be even better.
have you done Japanese tanks? it may be a good idea to add prototypes too, for the WWII period atleast
Some excellent Easter eggs and call-outs. Nicely done :).
Upon our visit to the Tank Museum at Bovington Camp we noted with consternation how easily injured the crews must of been just traversing the battlefield in these early designs! A well appreciated account of our nation's fighting vehicles though, perhaps a little kind on the older models and less so on the later ones. 👍
LETS GO BOIII
I would consider the French tanks to be next please I'm not French but I would love to see the French next ,thanks a lot for talking about the British I really loved the video thanks the Armchair Historian I really appreciate it thanks .
I've been waiting for this
Ahhhh I've been waiting ages for this!
The challanger 2 is now the best tank in the world🇬🇧
Can we have a video on Israeli tank history? They may not have produced many domestically but they have sported a wide variety over the years often upgradeding them beyond what would be deemed possible or sensible
Maan hearing "The Miner" at the start really threw me for a loop, dident expect that one to be in an armchair historian video
I was literally just thinking yesterday “I haven’t seen anything from the armchair historian in a while. And then I wake up to this videos notification.”
I think I would like to see the evolution of the Japanese or as well as the Swedish tanks
Can you please make a Part 2 to the Evolution of Russian Tanks?
Absolutely beautiful nod to our favourite tank tour guide
FINNALY A NEW VIDEOOOO
Great Video! I'd love to see you profile both the Israeli Merkava tank development history as well as the brilliantly innovative hyro-pneumatic suspension system the French developed for their tanks that was later used in the Citroen DS.
Tej: Ah guys we have to come up with another plan… they have a tank! Roman: I’m sorry did you said they have a tank? What’s plan B? Tej: Plan B? We need a plan C,D,E, we need more alphabets!
Lel.
Nice video was waiting to have British tanks roll onto your channel! Tho wasn’t there a challenger 3 tank revealed last year or something.
7:13 Nice shout out. Respect the Moustache!
Awesome! are tank destroyers next?
amazing video, a suggestion for the next video: evolution of japanese tanks (including prototypes)... would make a very interesting video...
Some additional information. The Cromwell used a few different guns, the 75/76mm gun was found to be a sweet spot between firepower against tanks and infantry as well as fortifications. The Matilda also earned the nickname "Queen of the Desert" and was essentially the opposite of the Crusader in that regard (the latter as mentioned being rather hated) The Churchill tank actually breaks naming convention as names starting with "C" were reserved for cruiser tanks. But I'd like to believe that Churchill himself with his big ego demanded that this block of steel on tracks be named after him and his steel head.
I honestly love these videos 👍
British grenadiers intensifies
Finally the brits
i think it would be awesome if you could do a history of tanks of every country and then a timeline of all these tanks and compare all their flaws and stuff
Great video! Please do a video on French tanks, their post WW2 tanks show some of the most innovative ideas that armoured warfare ever had!
It would have Been pretty nice to see hoe some British tanks were modified in certain countries (eventhough the video would have been longer) like the Israeli sho't series of tanks to the lesser known variants like the jordanian Khalid or Al hussaini.