The Greatest Tank Ever

[stevemk1a]

I nominate the Bob Semple tank!

[Mac67]

ORIGINAL: willy

I nominate the Bob Semple tank!

What the hell is that monstrousity? [X(]

It looks like something the A-Team used to build out of trash-cans [:D]

[stevemk1a]

It was designed in New Zealand as a stop-gap weapon during the Japanese invasion scare early in the Pacific war. Bob Semple (New Zealand's minister of public works) and a NZ public works engineer lashed it together "without blueprints or drawings" [:D]

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/newz ... aland.html

<edit>
I just noticed Bob was also NZ's minister of Defence ...[:D]

[Mac67]

Damn lucky they never got invaded then!

How the hell did they fit 8 men inside it? [X(]

I sincerely hope that no-one had eaten a curry the night before [:D]

[azraelck]

No one ever tells you this in school, but you can get used to anything if forced to... like being stacked like firewood in a tin can tank.&nbsp;

[Sarganto]

ORIGINAL: willy

I nominate the Bob Semple tank!

I guess we have a winner!

[Shawkhan]

...In my opinion, the 'Best' tank would be the one I would prefer to be in myself in combat one on one with another nation's tank.
...In WWII the Tiger could defeat any other tank of its time. People who talk about the T-34 are going on its strategic assets; mobility,cost, etc. The facts are that the T-34 was incredibly crude in its construction. Drivers were issued a mallet to assist in changing gears for instance. Its sighting systems were also crude restricting its effective range to a mere fraction of the potential for the powerful cannon it carried. In actual combat, Tigers would pick off T-34s at ranges where they couldn't even get a visible target. People who talk endlessly about armor slope appear to know too little about ballistics. At ranges over a few hundred meters the trajectory of cannon rounds is actually trending downwards, making armor slope more and more of a liability as range increases. But I digress.
...In modern times, the people who advocate for the Merkava are surprisingly well-informed. If I had to ride a tank into combat, the tank nicknamed 'the life insurance policy' is the one I would prefer to trust my life to. Obviously, nothing Russian made has been able to stand up to it, and hopefully it will never face the Abrams, LeClercs, Challengers and others of the Western allies. In its way, it is the Tiger tank of the modern era. It is I think the slowest of modern tanks, but its protection is certainly the most comprehensive, and its gun is on a par with anyone elses.