Ugliest tank of WW II?

Everything is ugly when sitting next to a......... Tiger I

Ter

Oh, I dunno Tigerman. The Italians built some pretty horrendous machines.......

I dont believe there were any ugly tanks, innefective ones of course but no ugly ones.I would rather build the ugliest tank in the world than none at all.

My mother-inlaw was alive in WW II, she is ugly and if you saw her, you would say "yes, she's a tank!" So she gets my vote.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn Any tank will break down if it is not given the required maintenance halts. The heaviest German tanks were underpowered, and so needed fairly regular halts When the Tigers got regular maintenance halts, they performed fairly reliably - Jentz and Doyle even say that it was about as reliable as the Sherman when it got regular maintenance. They were like any machine -- most useful when employed with an eye toward their best utility. The revision of the Tiger's reputation is much needed, but it goes a little too far sometimes.

I totally agree with you Larry, I just didn't have the time to write such a long reply.
By the way I' ve got all of Jentz and Doyle' s books and they are great. I' ve also got the book "the combat history of schwere panzerabteilung 503"
and the issues that you rise are made painfully clear in this book. Its written by former members of the unit.

If I'm correct, the Mk III and IV were basically the German equivalants of the Sherman in terms of reliability and were well liked by their crews. The heavier German tanks did seem to have more mechanical problems then the III's and IV's, primarily as stated by Larry, were often underpowered.

Lets see..May 9 ,1940 ...the French invasion Germany had 627 Mark IIIs and IVs, the remaining 2,060tanks with the exception of 381 Czech 38ts . The rest was Mark 1 and 2s and out of the many 25% were lost to mechanical failure. is this true or not.

Another ugly tank french Char B
Ter

QUOTE: Originally posted by monrad So were the german tanks, I am a huge Tiger fan but it is a fact that the germans lost more tigers due too mechanical break down than to enemy fire. the ugliest...... 15 cm sig33 Pz.Kpfw 1, what were they thinking mounting a towed artilery piece on top of a tank

Any tank will break down if it is not given the required maintenance halts. The heaviest German tanks were underpowered, and so needed fairly regular halts, but this was often simply neglected by the higher command -- particularly the SS higher command, who had many of the Tiger battalions under their command.

There were often furious arguments between the Tiger battalion commanders and the SS generals on this subject. The SS men wanted the Tigers here and there, doing this and that --always with the vaunted aggressiveness -- but it was the unit commanders -- often Wehrmacht men, by the way -- who actually saw the Tigers falling out of column immobilized, useless as a result. More Tigers were lost to misuse by the higher command than to combat casualties.

When the Tigers got regular maintenance halts, they performed fairly reliably - Jentz and Doyle even say that it was about as reliable as the Sherman when it got regular maintenance. They were like any machine -- most useful when employed with an eye toward their best utility. The revision of the Tiger's reputation is much needed, but it goes a little too far sometimes.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Everything I have read about the French tanks is that they were mechanically faulty.

So were the german tanks, I am a huge Tiger fan but it is a fact that the germans lost more tigers due too mechanical break down than to enemy fire.
the ugliest...... 15 cm sig33 Pz.Kpfw 1, what were they thinking mounting a towed artilery piece on top of a tank

I liked the Churchills, too. They look like proper tanks. Very conventional. I think the ugly ones were the frail looking fellows, like the M3 Stuarts, and even the Sherman. Panzer 1's, too. Doesn't stop me wanting to make models of them. I like weird and ugly.

Matt

QUOTE: Originally posted by ArmorMaster I think the ugliest tank was the sherman! I know shermanfreak and shermanfirefly cringed when they read that! No, just kidding. I think the ugliest tank was the sherman converted tank called the Lee or something called that with the main gun sticking out from the hull! Oooh, looks awful!

[:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0]

lol
The M3 grant/lee was one ugly tank. The 75 mm was stuck in the hull, and the 37mm was in a little turret at the top. The crew reffered to it as "it was so tall it looked like a damn cathedral coming down the road!"
As for you armour master, shermanfreak and I'll take care of you later....
lol

Well lets see....Farm equipment.....mmmm......NOT! Lets see WWII tank to tank battles at long range ,the Tiger and Panther were winners...Well lets not get those flying tin cans into this.....!

Well lets not go there ............he... he...F4s were shot down with small arms.....in Nam.

Churchhill is got to be the ugliest. I think anything with tons of small road wheels are ugly. British cruiser tanks are not ugly though.

QUOTE: Best eye candy I have seen is a Tiger!!!!

I agree 100%!!! Tiger 1 to be more specific.

:O shield your ears!

All tanks are ugly.. They look like farm equipment...Now I'm not bashing tanks, I have modeled a few, but they are ugly and slow and burn much too easy.. .. Big slow targets for really pretty airplanes or a 12 year old with a RPG.... The airplane did to tanks what they did to Battleships, made them almost extinct...Now when the enemy has no airforce i.e. Iraq.. then armour rules.. A fine example of how airplanes rule is the Russian airforce in WW2, they chewed up the Nazi tank divisions after they recovered from earlier losses.
.. Or what the 9th AF did to Nazi Armor when the skys cleared during battle of the bulge..Or most recently what Allied airforces have done to Iraqi armor in both wars. One A-10 is worth a hundred tanks... Now that's an ugly airplane.

Well..I would have to say a Renault FT-17 is ugly and the early French tanks !!!!!!

Best eye candy I have seen is a Tiger!!!! Myself I donot like the new armor.

Ter

The ugliest tank of WWII.........Let's see.

1. Anything the British fielded during the war.


I offer an appology to our British Cousins, but there just is nothing more of an eyesore that any of the British Cruiser Tanks, Light Tanks, or Heavy Tanks. They all look like a "hodge-podge" of parts just randomly stacked together to get a tank. Kind of like taking parts from about 14 different tanks to make just one.


BUT, they are really cool models to build!

I would have to say the French Chruchhill.
mark956

I think the cromwell looks ugly, as said by Larry, a couple of posts above, it looked like it was from the "Junkyard Wars."(I miss that show, btw)

Everything I have read about the French tanks is that they were mechanically faulty.

Armormaster, the Lee preceded the Sherman, and I agree it was a dog.

Any of the french or brit tanks from WW2 are not too nice to look at if you ask me .... with almost all russian WW2 armor a close 3rd that KV2 what the heck were they thinking there anyways ? Talk about shot traps ! As for prettiest tank ever ... that would have to go to the Abrams for sure , that thing just looks like a killer ! With the leopard a close second . The Chally 2 is a very nice machine too ! I did always like the modern russian stuff as well T-72 and later models low slung and mean as hell , all that ERA armour ,,, Awww lets face it the only ugly tank is the one aiming at you ! NOW jets that would have to be that warthog critter , a plane built around a huge gun ? Isn't that what the Germans did (with thier armor ) at the end of WW2?

QUOTE: Originally posted by claymore68 OK, I had a change of heart! The ugliest tank of WWII was, without a doubt,... the one under the latriene!

Hysterical, Claymore, I agree


Bill, definetly

the stuart
the m3 grand (or was it lee)
the bishop
kv-2 (i love the kv-1 though)
i know it isn't ww2 but all the us tanks from the 50s to 70s (pattons, and sheridans)

I love Churchills! How dare you say they look ugly! The t-35 is pretty cool, it would be better if it had had better armour.

QUOTE: Originally posted by djmodels1999 I kind of disagree with you all here, I'm afraid. I do love all those funky looking monster tanks with turrets and guns sticking out from everywhere...! And the Char B1bis is, I think, a very neat looking machine...

Actually, it's ironic that people now think the French tanks were ugly. They were regarded as quite beautiful in their time. In fact, they had some design flaws associated with the desire of the French to have handsomely designed (which meant, in part, symmetrical) tanks.

QUOTE: Still, my 'ugliest tank of WWII award' would have to go to the Churchill tank...

Yes, many of the tanks designed by the British looked like Frankenstein's monster. The Cromwell looks like it was made by one of those "junkyard warriors" teams. The Churchill takes the cake though. You couldn't design an uglier tank if you tried.

Others like the Matilda and the Crusader were handsome vehicles.

Those tracked garbage cans the Italians had.

I think the ugliest tank was the sherman! I know shermanfreak and shermanfirefly cringed when they read that! No, just kidding. I think the ugliest tank was the sherman converted tank called the Lee or something called that with the main gun sticking out from the hull! Oooh, looks awful!

I gotta agree with build about the Bishop, if SPG's are included. If not, then I gotta go with the Ferdinand and Elefant!

Gregers,
sorry, but i have to respond.
French armor at the time of the German invasion was actually superior to the German armor of the conflict.
but they were outnumbered, outmanuevered, out planned, outwitted & out fought.
had they ever tried to mass their armor and apply it in a small area (ala the attacking Germans) instead of spreading it out as thinly as possible, and spending days trying to arrange rail transport when the action was less than 30 miles away, etc
they would have created some real problems for the Germans.

the tanks were not bad at all.
poor generalship squandered them.
much the same w/ the French airforce.
politicians more concerned w/ overthrowing their own government
than protecting their nation were of little help to the military as well.
but that is a different rant.

recommended reading:
The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940
by William Lawrence Shirer


but, yes, ugly indeed.

ed.