That's straight to tears …
As practice shows, even such a serious and formidable weapon as a tank, with the right approach, can cause explosions of Homeric laughter. Quite a weapon that hits the psyche. And here are the main experts in tank laughter …
M3 lee
Many consider the “Li” to be the most unsuccessful tank of the Second World War. Indeed, in addition to the ugly appearance, the American has a bunch of other “achievements”. High profile, poor positioning of the gun, riveted armor, disgusting off-road ability. For a tank built in 1940, the Lee was phenomenally poor.
Bob Semple's Tank
Where did the wedge heel from the First World War come from? But there is no mistake here. The tank of Bob Sample, the Minister of Labor of New Zealand, was created specifically for the Second World War, to protect against a possible Japanese invasion.
Before that, New Zealand had no tanks at all, so the hasty work on the basis of the Caterpillar-D8 tractor has become a classic “better than nothing” case. The combat characteristics of the Semple were amazing – a crew of 8 people, armament of 6 Bren machine guns and 0 cannons, corrugated bulletproof protection … However, in comparison with the appearance of a mobile toilet stall, all this faded into the background.
Churchill gun carrier
Even the usual Churchill was a rather controversial and unsympathetic design. But a self-propelled gun based on it is something with something. Without a turret at all, but with a 3.7-inch gun built into the hull, the Church looked phantasmagoric. Of the 24 Gun Carriers assembled at Vauxhall, none took part in the fighting.
Sentinel AC
The attempt to create an Australian tank can be considered a little more successful than the design of New Zealander Bob Sample. In any case, the “Sentinel” went down in history not for its feats of arms, but solely thanks to … the mask of a course machine gun. No, just look! (Click on the picture if you're not afraid)
Such an ambiguous form partly explains the need for liquid cooling of the barrel of the Vickers machine gun. Explains – maybe, but it is impossible to excuse this in principle. And even more so to refrain from laughing …
Type 2 Ka-Mi
It's even surprising that a country that back in the 40s of the last century created such powerful, modern and we will not be afraid of the word beautiful ships and airplanes, made such wretched tanks. Any tank with the Made in Japan brand evoked a smile. But the amphibian Type 2 Ka-Mi was especially successful for the creators. I would call her an iron platypus, but I don't want to offend the little animal …
TOG II
In the huge absurdity of the name “Mouse” there is at least almost invulnerable to anti-tank guns armor and powerful weapons. What was behind the soul of the English giant? Only the unlimited length of the hull – over 10 meters – thanks to which even a blind gunner could get into the TOG. A pointless waste of 80 tons of mass! It is understandable why the business did not go further than one built prototype.
T-35
In the late 30s, designers believed that turrets for a tank were almost like heads for a dragon – the more the better. Hence the whole scattering of multi-turret tanks, one of the most ridiculous among which the Soviet T-35 is deservedly considered. It quickly became clear that the number of towers is more than one – this is the way to nowhere. The design becomes more complicated and heavier, and the combat performance does not increase. Well, the appearance of “te-thirty-fifth”, of course, for cancellation …
Ugly tanks fight badly, and ugly planes must fly badly. Our selection of the ugliest planes of World War II.
M3 Stuart
Of all the ugly WWII tanks, Stewart had the richest and most eventful life journey. Just imagine this light tank, the production of which began already in 1941, is still in service with some countries! Even if this country is called Paraguay.
Fiat Ansaldo M11 / 39
Riveted, slow, lightly armed, unreliable. The Italian light tank M11 / 39 has many telling names. But the most apt – “child of love of two tankettes.” The main (and only) advantage of FIAT is that even weak British tanks of the early 40s looked like a formidable weapon against its background.
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