I've always loved the Pershing, my favorite WWII tank. There were tanks with more firepower, more armor and more mobility, but the Pershing had an excellent combination and balance of those three characteristics.
Wow its so interesting to have watched this series for a while and finally see the first episode. You can really see the growth in confidence in Nicholas. Still a gawky, awkward lad though, lol.
I was out of school by then but I watched it a million times, now this same tank is 35 minutes from my house in a museum. I used to nerd out like crazy when chieftain started filming inside the tanks lol I’m 36 and I still go see the tanks as much as possible.
Besides being a former Paratrooper i became an M1A1 Tanker later in the National Guard.When you mentioned wedge bolts for the end connectors.I hated those FUCKING wedge bolts!You would lose those things like crazy just driving around.We would keep a sponson box full of those things so after training or gunnery we put those things back on so we could turn it in to the motor pool and not get fucked with by the motor pool sergeant and the first sergeant and commander down on my ass.Yes they keep the end connectors in so that you dont throw a track or both tracks.Every time we stop me and my crew would replace them constantly.Throwing a tack really sucks!The Americans have kept this design since WWII and still had them on the M1A1.The Germans and the Russians use track pins to keep the individual tracks in place and they are easier to replace in my opinion because they were used on the M113 APCs.I dont know if they still use wedge bolts on the M1A2s because i went back to the Infantry for Iraq.I hated the constant maintainance on tanks and drove me crazy,being the tank commander and platoon sergeant it was a hard job keeping up with everything.Nice show and you know your shit about tanks which is awesome.Cheers Brother!
***** Well Sir i shall explain.Since the time when the US has had the M26 Pershing a lot of the design features of American tanks were carried on to this tank from the M4 Sherman and alot of it still exists on the M1 series of tanks as far as the externals of the track and suspension system.The wedge bolts is one that always comes loose and you lose them along with the end connectors.Its not that crucial to the tracks itself.The center guide is very crucial because it holds the tracks together along with the with the end connectors.The end connectors holds the outer ends of the track so it would not put stress on the center guide that keeps the track together.This design goes all the way back to WWII.When i was a tanker me and my crew would always carry many spares of everything that we knew everything that would go wrong.Its nothing like being stuck out in the desert of California the National Training Center for a few days with water,food,and and no means of fixing your tank when the tracks goes to shit.Like i said being a tank commander you better have a contingency plan to fix such things and constantly check on those items so you dont get stuck in the middle of nowhere.If your radios go dead on a tank and nobody knows where you are then you can have a hell of a hard time getting back to your unit.Its mechanical shit that can go wrong like it or not.
***** A tank is a fighting machine.Prior to me being a tanker i was an Infantryman and a Paratrooper.An Infantryman looks after his weapon assigned to him either a rifle or machinegun,the parachute riggers pack our parachutes.As individual jumpers we have to understand how to put it on and jump with it with the help from our jump masters who inspect our chutes prior to jumping.Tank crews are trained to know every function within the tank and tactics of using it effectively in combat as an Infantryman uses his weapon within first in his squad then platoon and his parent unit the company.In combat every team in its organization must function as well as individuals to accomplish its mission in order to survive.Technical and tactical proficiency must be achieved in order to gain victory.Like in sports a team can win with individual efforts of each team member attaining specific tasks and goals to win.
I cartoony would not agree to that statement. Until they develop something with the same combination of firepower, survivability, and ability to remain on station for the same length of time in all conditions, the tank is not going anywhere.
Ish we have almost ten thousand M1s last I checked. For a (relatively) peacetime army, that's quite a large amount of tanks. Personally, I'm a freshman and I'm hoping that when I graduate I join the Army as a 19K M1 Crewman.
Gotta say Chieftain. This is pretty neat. While it might have not have "made waves" when it was teased to us a while back I certainly hope you continue to make these videos. It's nice to actually learn the mechanics of the tanks we see daily in WoT in a more hands on approach then looking at complicated diagrams and pictures in books. :)
Great stuff Chief. with this series and especially the Operation Think Tank episodes your really doing a great service to the armor nut community. You have gained access to allot of people and hardware and I really appreciate that your sharing it with us.
I saw only now your video on the m-26 Pershing and I thought I saw all of it!! I'm impressed with the quality and accuracy of restoration but then I think it is the best tank museum in the world!
A few comments about two items mentioned by Nick from an old tanker1) The "large wrench" used to adjust track tension is the "Little Joe Wrench". It's so big that one member of the crew holds it in place while a flattened piece of pipe is slid over the arm. then a 5-6 foot long crowbar (aka "Tankers' Bar") is inserted into the open end of the pipe for leverage and the rest of the crew pull or push to turn the adjustment arm bolt2. The auxiliary engine is also known as "the Little Joe" (he gets around). I forget wear they began leaving out of US tanks, but experience in the GWOT has brought them back as a mod to the M1. 3. Same thing with the infantry phone, on the M60, off the M1, back on the M1 due to experience in Iraq.
Loving this, really nice to get to know the technical details. As an old tanker (well, not that old) I find that stuff just as interesting as the typical "wikipedia-info" about armor thickness and gun caliber :)
i watched this on the site and made it a point to come here to youtube and tell you "Great Job".... not everyone will be as interested in these as i am, but i'm sure they will still be interested none the less.... Cant wait for the next one!! if i would have changed one thing i would have started with an older baby tank to show the evolution...
Scored a Tamiya 1\35th scale one of these on ebay recently for the princely sum of $30.00 all up. Watched this, and episode 2, so that when I open the box it's not just pieces of plastic on sprues, but more like a friend I just met. ;-)
The X games now has tank reviews... Cool videography bro!!! The "extreme" guitar riffs in the background really make me feel like Im watching something EXTREEEEM... So glad your sponsored by Mons3tr energy drinks now!!! I can really get into military tech when I'm all cranked up on mountain dew!!! As a 13-20yo I really relate to this!!!
What i have never understood was why they didn't simply revert to the original Ford V-12. Ford had developed their state of the art V-12 aircraft engine to compete with the Rolls-Royce Merlin. It was a more modern design but obviously less mature than the older British design. Henry Ford apparently hated the English and they hated him right back. The US Navy decided to go with air cooled radials and the international politics killed the Ford v-12 as an aircraft engine. But it was still a good design so they cut off four cylinders and de-tuned it to serve as a tank engine. The Brits did something similar with the Merlin except they used a de-tuned superchargerless Merlin in its original V-12 configuration . They called it the Meteor. The Germans used a V-12 gas engine in the Panther and the Russians used a V-12 diesel in the T-34. A V-12 is the 'natural' smoothest arrangement for a 4 cycle in- line engine in planes or tanks. The chopped down Ford V-8 was the best engine for a Sherman but the Pershing was much heavier and the eight cylinder Ford just wasn't powerful enough. Leading to the question - why not just revert to the V-12? Eventually American tanks would use Cummins V-12 so I imagine the engine compartment was long enough. The Ford had run as a v-12 and would later again but not in 1945 Europe or Korea. It should have been an easy conversion. Or am I missing something?
Guys, ya just don't whistle up a new engine in the middle of a war. Norman Friedman's Iron Law - "In a mobilization you continue to build what you're already building." The loss of production is too great. P&W had a what seemed to be a great liquid cooled engine under development in 1939. The day war was declared, the president of P&W called Hap Arnold and said he wanted to cancel it and concentrate on the R-2800. As he put it, the liquid cooled engine was "for the next war". So even though the GAA was a development of the V12, the V12 was an immature design that would need development time (it took the British over a year, maybe two to develop the Meteor, You just didn't takeoff the supercharger and drop into a Cromwell) and time was what the Ordnance Corps didn't have. The GAF would be ready in time, the V12 wouldn't. so the GAF it was. "IF you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with"
Great video. I can't wait for more. My only small complaint would be that whoever edits the video, should lower the background music a bit more when you are speaking.
This series looks interesting... always have more than enough information on service history, but not nearly enough for actual operation and mechanics.
Awesome cant wait till the next ones. How many of these are you going to do? Just the ones in that museum, or every tank you can get your hands on? (I am hoping for the latter :) )
03:4 So, the enemy literally can 'talk' incase of surrounded by enemies ? "Hello, this is German SS Panzerdivision, please surender and you'll not be hurt. Thank you " *put the phone to original position
It was for an infantry commander to point out targets to the tank commander while being protected by the tank. Buttoned tanks are basically blind. Some Shermans had them as well.
As pointed out below, it's for tank-infantry communication. In particular, the infantry takes out the tank killer teams that thrive in close country like woods and built up areas while the tanks take out machinegun nests, etc for the grunts. It's called the "combined arms team". To give an example of how valuable the phone is, US M1's went into Iraq without them ("We tankers don't do cities") and one of the first mods was an infantry phone when it turned out "Actually we do cities after all". As far as World War Twice goes, it was late in the war that factory installed phones came along. First attempt was a standard field phone bouncing along in the dirt behind the M4's, then Signal Section ETO came up with a field fix, allowing a phone to tie into the intercom system. Kits and instructions were provided so using units could perform the modification. BTW, the housing was an empty 30 cal ammo can welded to the back of the tank.
Man changing the track tension was so much easier on the modern CV90 you just adjust two valves in the back and the driver can temporarily increase tension with a button when driving in things like sand or a marsh where the risk of a track being thrown is high.
To the ones who keep asking, NO, he CAN'T do an indepth episode of a Maus because there aren't any out there. lol. If there was, I'd be blown away. Personally, if possible, an episode on a Jagdtiger would be amazing!
Wow, the quality is so low! Of the video, that is, not the content. I may quibble from time to time, but I think this series is one of the best, especially compared to some competing attempts. I am saddened to hear there won't be any more.
Jared Betz Scratch that, I can just go kill myself at the level of stupidity....wow that was horrible seeing as how I have seen every Chieftains hatch video.
There are several in the background at 4:15... The one directly behind him looks like it could be a Pz61, (which is in the MVTF collection, so that makes sense). There's an M3 Lee I in upper right hand corner. Not sure what the tank is that is marked "566" nor the one behind it.
Hey Chieftain! First and foremost, thanks for your service in the US military. But I have a question for you if you would be nice enough to answer (and I apologize in advance if you've already covered this topic as I've only recently discovered your channel) but how would you rank the WW2 nations in terms of tanks? Hardly anyone talks about American armor in WW2 since they've been overshadowed by the more popular Russian T-34s and German Panzers and Tigers but I personally love the M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing. So yeah, your rank of the WW2 nations in terms of tanks?
It’s not really an easy question, since each country made the tanks best suited for their situation. The T-34 fitted Soviet needs, the Germans made rational decisions up until 1943 or so. The Americans as you know I think made rational decisions as well. Since the whole point of the tank is to play a part of the overall military in achieving its goals, I guess the degree of success of tank building is reflected by the level of success of any nation in the war.
Yes, there is...prepare to be blown away but Kubinka Tank museum near Moscow holds the only Maus in existance, made from the captured hull of Prototype two, and the unexploded Turret of Prototype one... Prototype one was presumed operational before being blown up, so it had everything, even it´s 128mm main gun and 75mm auxillary gun.
Well I am most intrigued by the tank interiors : 3 Could you show us the interior of a T34 (Russian medium) because I want to see how cramped the interior is...
Have you given any thought to profiling armored artillery, specifically the M7? l ask because my father rode one from Morocco to the Rhine in the 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion.
During war it had varied results, such as being unreliable and struggling to climb slopes, but on the other hand it usually chewed through most other tanks
@@civilrebel3743 quite surprised to know it climbs poorly. Tbh i dont know what characteristics make a tank a good climber; Churchill's type of bogies maybe (they arent bogies really are they)
@@rinsedpie some tanks are designed to go up slopes- the Churchill was a great climber, as it was made to be a sort of all terrain tank capable of supporting infantry, and it excelled at its job. The Sherman, IIRC, was a decent climber, however the reason the pershing was a bad climber was the fact that it was designed mostly around a bigger gun and thicker armor- think something among the lines of American tiger. Also, tbh I don’t really know what makes a tank a good climber, however traction and power plays a big part with in it.
@@civilrebel3743 cool! Good info. Im always on a prowl for a good vid looking inside Merkavas. Watched most already but still cant say they are good ones; if you find any good long ones, do let me know.
if by any luck you get the chance to make one please do it. I´ve been looking for info about that suspension system and so far haven´t found anything of much value.
