Chieftain's Q&A #10

And for another month of mirth and merriment... And questions.
Continuing with the typical wide spectrum, we cover anything from endangered Marine species to the Turret Monster. And we introduce a new monthly feature.

Clicky-things:

Article on Colonel Zerbee's TD:

Article on the Grenadier Tank Destroyer

US Marine Corps Force 2030 Document:

The Chieftain's Scout Car Fund:

Merchandise from Teespring (Mugs, etc!) Still being updated, more stuff coming in the next few days.

Content:
1:00 Besides the US, what other nations came up with unusual techniques for killing tanks?
3:15 Which gun had better accuracy and penetration: US 75, 76, 17pr or German 75?
4:17 If rifles are more accurate, why do tanks have smoothbores?
5:45 When did the US learn about, and start development work on, sabot rounds?
10:36 Gun of the month.
15:21 What did Fury get right?
19:33 What chance I might cover lesser-known conflicts like India-Pakistan or Ogaden?
21:03 The Front Slope Wear Gauge
26:03 Can not the turret monster be defeated by a fully enclosed basket?
29:53 Why didn't they redesign Sherman to be lower once they stopped using the radial engine?
31:25 Why have we gone away from full-width mantlets?
34:08 What's my favourite find in the Archives?
35:30 Will there ever be another Operation Think Tank?
37:32 Has any tanker lingo made it into common speech?
38:20 Is there a difference between "damaged tank" and "scrap"?
40:38 What sources have I on Chinese tanks?
41:31 Were there any field modifications on tanks in Vietnam for urban combat?
42:36 Had Char 2C made it in time for WW1, would it have had any impact?
44:55 What was the rationale behind using radial engines in tanks?
46:07 How effective is modern self-propelled artillery?
47:03 Why did the Leopard 1 throw a track at Aquino last year?
48:20 Why did different countries have different ideas about open-hatch driving?
49:44 What's the deal with the Marines getting rid of its tanks?
55:11 Panther subvariant nomenclature explanation, please
56:16 Why did the US move away from front-line air defense systems?

[Waltham]

Fun Fact: If you soak a toilet paper roll in FRH and hang it on the front end of a 105mm HEAT round, it makes a lovely read fireball going down range.

On a similar note, if you take a soda can and punch the sides with holes and hang it on the front end of a HEAT round, it screams as it goes down range.

Lastly, doing any of those things makes the RSO go all red in the face.

[xerxeskingofking]

UK tanker shenanigans, heard second hand: at one tanker unit sometime in the late 80s (specifically, back when challengers were in service but before chieftains and other older MBTs had been fully withdrawn form service), they had a fun little snipe hunt for the FNG: shortly before setting off for exercise, they would tell the new guy they needed to go to the stores and get the BFA for the tank (BFA= Blank Firing Adaptor, normally used on small arms for blank firing training). So, the new guy would get to stores, where the long suffering storeman would show them the tank-sized BFA, a 20 odd kilo lump of metal, spray painted yellow, which looked somewhat like the BFA the new guy used for his rifle in basic.

After lugging this heavy, awkward lump of steel back to his tank, the rest of the crew would berate the FNG, saying "you fool, thats a BFA for a Chieftain tank! take it back and go get the Chally BFA!".

[SootHead]

"Front slope wear gauge!" Yeah! One of my Vietnam Era green machine experiences involved a very naive shavetail sent around the site of practice beach landings to find a "sky hook." When he exhausted all the shoreside possibilities, he finagled a LARC, braving the rough surf to end up with us, a U.S. Army repair vessel. We said, "Sir, we don't have one but we can make one for you. If you'd care to go topside for some coffee and donuts, we'll whip one up for you." His relief was palpable, as he had spend the better part of a day going hither and yon. Our welders "hot glued" some scrap metal together into a purposeful-looking shape and send him on his way. He was so pitifully grateful that many of us suffered pangs of guilt over it. Poor bastard even got seasick.

[briansmithwins]

Not a tank shenanigan, but from a medical class: We sent the guy who wasn’t too strong on human anatomy to the nurses station for 2m of fallopian tubing.

[joeelliott]

“I ashamed they rejected my suggestion of a track tensioning scene however.”

Directors learned from Alfred Hitchcock that too much tension ruins a scene. However, I think Hitchcock, had he been directing, could have been talked into an extended scene where the crew works on the Sherman’s suspension.

[wwciii]

A friend of mine was a tank school seargent and had his recruits convinced if you turned the turret 7 times counter clock wise it would unscrew and fall off..

[thomaswilloughby]

A turret monster story, a tank was deadlined by a porno magazine. The loader placed the magazine he was reading on top of the 105 gun in an M60A3 during gunnery. The gun fired and the magazine slipped between the gun and recoil sleeve preventing the gun returning to battery. The gun had to be compressed in order to remove the magazine.

[uzivatel]

The bit with Gun Jesus was well played. Bravo.

[richardm]

"Sufficient rounds of F.U. for most situations" LOL! Make that into a T-shirt and I'll buy it!

[alluraambrose]

I admire Jensen for trying to find and figure out what a front slope wear gauge is, he didn't give up. But I am shocked that a person who is going to serve the Intelligence branch is so daft he can't figure out he is being pranked or that such thing is just not possible to exist.

[bigblue]

In the past the USM would fight alongside the British Army who would supply tanks and artillery support. So the Marines did not need much of their own. Though I don't see the British Army being used in the South China Sea.


Your mention of burnt out tanks reminded me of an interview I saw with a British newsreel cameraman who was with the British 8th Army in North Africa during WW2. New to the job he was told to toss a smoke grenade into a knocked out tank as this made for a very dramatic shot. This worked fine until those tasked with recovering the tanks caught up with them and gave them something of an earbashing. Apparently the smoke grenades were setting fire to the tanks which meant they could not be rebuilt. And as replacements were not easy to come by that greatly added to the problem of having as many tanks in service as possible. After that no more smoke grenades.

[JazzJaRa]

Turret Monster once bent an MG-3 in our Leopard 2 because the loader layed it on the floor and when the gunner turned the turret, Turret Monster was satisfied.

[sully]

In regards to the"Fury" question, I bet a track tensioning scene would have been riveting. And if anyone hasn't watched "Operation Think Tank", they're wrong.

[Halinspark]

"A T.O.G. two decades before T.O.G. was due to show up."
Presumably made by the French Old Gang. A Fr.O.G., if you will.

[martinmorsch]

Common one for mechanics:
„We need to top of the Gear-sand... go to the storage and ask them for a basket of it“
20min go by, guy comes back, „they asked if we need green or red sand“ You send him down for red one. another 20min go by, „theyre out of red and want to know if yellow would work“ you tell him that we absolutely need red, after another 20 mins pass by and hes gonna tell you he ordered it.
Other classics are a basket of pressurized air, idealy 3 Bar. (you be astounded how often you get an empty basked... sometimes they even find a lid to put on...)

Woodworkers know the tale of Garlic-wood.
„Its very bright, almost like Birch.“
„anything else to distinguish it by?“, „yeah it smells like garlic...“
after an our the boss comes in... „could you tell m what the new guy is doing smelling wood in the storage?“

[Nipplator]

I remember during my basic training I was told if required to deal with enemy armor use 4 AT-4s all fired at the same time. So I asked what do we do about the rest of his buddies that just saw 4 rockets fired from 1 area. I was still doing PT when the range closed.

[oldmangimp]

I have heard, at least 3 times, a non-veteran refer to a sufficiently large crowbar (or prybar) as a "tanker bar". Not much, but it is a start.

[ECHOFOXTROT]

Nah we love the 15 yo photo as a logo.
And remember!
You are not some casual cool channel,
you are THE cool tank-related channel.
Keep it up.
Greetings from Italy.

[Mastah]

Operation TT is one of the best source of tank related knowledge available. It’s sad, that it wasn’t a commercial success. I insanely appreciate the effort of organizing it

[billd.iniowa]

I couldnt care less about playing WOT, but I'm glad it exists. It has brought The Chieftain to Youtube and done much good for those of us interested in studying tanks and warfare.