Meme Tanks 4: Dead End Designs 

These designs are never truly dead, they will live on forever... in our Warhammer 40k collections.

0:10 - 0:25 Soviet KV2 tank loader traversing inside the turret according to the commander’s instructions (1944 colorized)

5:28 "Machine gun kill People, but people kill machine gunner, so put machine gunner behind cover but can't reach no people, so put machine gun in metal box that moves to kill people. Me:Nice explaining of 1st world war tanks man!

"T35s were blown up whenever possible to keep them from falling into German hands" You and I both know they were blown up so the commanders couldn't force the crews to get back inside.

"Let's build some tanks armed only with machine guns!" "But cannon-armed tanks also have machine guns." "...oh."

Clever girl...

Vladimir: Dmitri, why is the snow speaking Finnish? Dmitri: Pleasure serving with you Komrade.

Q: How many turrets should we place on this tank? A: Yes

So here me out. A giant robot with tanks for both hands and feet. And a tank head.

“The light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long” Rip tank destroyers you were the greatest while you lasted

0:41 "It wasn't really something you would enjoy being in..." Unless you're Mad Jack Churchill :P.

Potential history: "tank destroyers are a dead end design" M1128 stryker: "am I a joke to you? "

Can we have more caveman segments because you describing machine guns and tankettes was funny as hell

In the words of an Australian tank designer: "Well I don't see anyone else coming up with a better idea."

everyone: drops tank destroyers* sweden: finna S T R I D S V A G N

The multi-turret wouldn’t be as bad if the little turrets had their own cupola’s and were responsible for their own spotting.

“How about we make a leaning tower of turrets, I see no downside, a target the size of a silo and the firepower of a destroyer” -that one guy somewhere

Last time I was this early, Operation Barbarossa was going according to plan.

10:30 *caughts on fire while leaving*

That Tank Destroyer ending really hit me in the heart...

Nature always finds away... to the best tank BOB SEMPLE!!!

Ah yes T35, it tank, it train, it ship. Good.

“World war 2 was miserable for everyone” *laughs in Jack Churchill*

I lost It at the "tankETTE"

Tank destroyers weren't really a dead end though? They just changed, they're no longer old tank hulls with bug guns slapped on, they're now built on lighter, cheaper vehicles, usually mounting ATGMs as their primary weapon. See the M1134, the M901, or the B1 Centauro and the M1128 (infantry support vehicle, sure, but if we're calling a StuG a TD, then the Stryker with an old Abrams 105mm on it can be called a TD as well) for purely gun-equipped vehicles. I'd also say that multiturrets weren't necessarily a dead end, at least insofar as housing the auxiliary MG armaments of the vehicle, considering systems like CROWS and how basically every US MBT since the M48 has had either a fully rotating commander's MG cupola or a system for aiming and firing the commander's MG while buttoned up that could be convincingly called a turret, but that'd be nitpicking at that point I think.

8:02 While turretless tank destroyers were a dead end, turreted ones with no armour are not. Many countries still employ them as very aggressive and multi-role glass cannons or MBTs substitutes (after all with modern tech armour is a plus that can be sacrificed for better electronics). Often on wheel for *maximum eurobeat.*

The Strv 103B was a Swedish MBT but People see it as a "Tank Destroyer" due to its Gun been Fixated into its Hull. Making it Aim WHIT the Suspension,Having a extremly Low Profile and Tracks that could traverse on all terrains at a amazing angels. The Tank had a Extreme upper Front Plate that Protected its 3 Man Crew,The Extreme angel on the Hull Armor would mean a lot of shells just bouncing off,in addition it had "Slate" Add on Armor to protect it from HEATFS,Thus making it also effective at Shattering Incoming Rounds. The Swedish really know how to Make an Amazing and Cool looking MBT.

>having multiple turrets actually makes a tank less effective >huge, heavy tanks were easy prey for bombers and anti-tank guns Wait until you hear about the Baneblade: weighs 316 tonnes, 714 cubic meters in volume, 6.3 meters tall, armor 200mm thick, max speed of 25km/h, crew of 10 people, 13 guns

Not gonna lie that was pretty hot.

1944 US Army Recruit Recruit: "Aw yes, we're getting a Tank" Command: "Here is your tank, it'll knock out a panther in one shot." Recruit: "Well that's good news but, where is the top of the turret" Command: You don't need that, also you'll be fighting in dense woods, destroyed cities and such, so better make sure no one sneaks up on you lol.

0/10 not historically accurate. The Ferdinand at 10:28 didn’t bog down, catch fire, get overrun by infantry, or have its engine otherwise destroyed

4:57 re: Multiturrets. One of the problems I have with this line of reasoning is that it's often grouping specific unrelated technical issues together as though they are some inevitable feature of building anything other than the Leopard II MBT (and though you didn't mention it cost-benefit issues come up a lot as well) which is kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I often hear similar criticisms of electric tanks and other super-heavy tanks. Sure, the T-35 and the A1E1 did have a whole list of problems, but it's not like the medium cavalry tanks were perfect at the time either. I think that this is worth addressing in 2020 because it seems to me that there is a reluctance to put the commander's machinegun in a light turret on top of the the MBT turret because the maxim "multiturreted tanks don't work" is so pervasive. But the only real proof of this is that Soviet, German and British tank designers, operating on anemic defense budgets, with no clear doctrine, were unable to get them to work in the 1930s nearly a hundred years ago. There is also the fact that there was a largely ignored academic rivalry between cavalry and super-heavy tank thinking, that came to a head in 1940 with the battle of France, and then became rigidly in favour of cavalry tank doctrine in the aftermath of WW2 with the development of the Rommel Myth and other criticisms of Anglo-French doctrine made by English speaking authors (particularly Basil Liddel-Hart) which persisted well into the 90s and still, to an extent, today. You showed a picture of David Fletcher there, and if you read his writing on the subject he is very much of the opinion that Blitzkrieg (which wasn't actually German doctrine in 1940) was the "correct" way to use tanks, while the A1E1, TOG II, and Tiger (E) were the "wrong" way, and bases most of his analysis of super-heavy tank design on doctrinal criticisms about super-heavy tanks in general, rather than on specific things that didn't work but could have if they'd been done differently. So labeling the multiturreted super-heavy tank a "dead end" is, in my opinion, not a sustainable argument in light of digital fire control systems, unmanned turrets, greatly enhanced situational awareness, vastly increased component reliability, better training, and lighter stronger composite armour. It's only really true to say that it wasn't suitable for the battlefields of WW2, which means that by rejecting the idea on the basis of WW2 experience you make the same mistake that the super-heavy theorists in the lead up to WW2 made, which is fighting the last war instead of the next one. A historian can somewhat justify the claim "didn't work" but it's a big leap from that to "couldn't work" which is itself a long way off "can't work".

You ever going to review the meme tank that was DaVinci’s design?

Neubaufahrzeug is pronounced more like NOY(pronounce like soy)-BOW(pronounce as " a ships bow"-FAR(basically "far" but with a longer a)-TSOIG. Just TSOIG

6:51 cow be chillin'

I really like the concept of the turretless tank destroyer. It's economical and makes the same job as a turreted tank. In modern combat it may have no place, but it could make a good low cost alternative to actual MBTs, just look at the Stridsvagn 103.

Do meme planes pls.

How to say Neubaufahrzeug: Noi (like boi) - bow - far - tsoik (z in german is spoken out hard like a ts)

I’ve been rewatching your meme tank series and I’ve been loving it, I want to visit the Indiana military museum but it’s a 2 hour ride and I just don’t have the time. However, I just love watching your videos and having all this great tank stuff brought a little closer to home. Maybe one day I’ll go to tank fest, until then, may the transmission on tiger 113 not break.

Man...the memes...i was going to point out the ones i liked...but they ended up being too many. You do an awesome job of being really entertaining while educating and analysing topics all at the same time! Happy new year!!!

First tank ace of ww2 had a tankette

Potential History should play hoi4 and do artillery only.

0:43 lol he just fell over and hit the ground lol

Excellent video. Very underrated channel. Keep the content coming. Extremely informative love the humor.

Ahahaha! Das hot, das hot right there

The t-35 one of the best ships in warthunder Wait wut

The bob semple overtowers the dead end

Solve the first problem with multi-turret tanks by having multiple commanders. Solve the second by making it larger, with more redundancies and more armor. The era of the landship is upon us.

"End such a great year..." *Date is January 4*

Yep - the most effective way to have multiple turrets is to split them between multiple tanks.

I love how you explain the tank destroyer. why they were made and why they disappeared, great video.

@10:07 In the 1980s there were designs for an Abrams-based tank Destroyer called the Goliath. You can see depictions of it in the book Tank vs Tank by Kenneth Macksey.

I mean it can be effectively argued the tank destroyer was very much replaced by the ATGM and ATGM armed vehicles, such as your given example of the German Weasel, serving the same role - light, quick, cheap, pack a punch, but can't take one. It seems more like that the tank destroyed and tankette, and even to some extent APC roles have been merged into the IFV - a cheap vehicle, that has an autocannon/low velocity cannon to support infantry, ATGMs to repel armor threats (or as a bunker busting weapon) and now also carries infantry to deploy.

If only some tank designers knew how to make a "good" schematic

In French, instead of "tankette" there is the term "automitrailleuse," which essentially means machine gun vehicle. It was the designation for cavalry tanks, even ones that had cannons (as opposed to "char" which was for infantry tanks like the B1 bis). As far as I know that distinction ended after WW2. Just a quick fun fact for y'all :)

Do a video on the Second Sinno-Japanese war, the Burma Campaign, the Bangladesh campaign, the Second Battle of El-Aleimain, or the best Generals/Field Marshall’s from each country of the war. (Giovanni Messe, Patton, Montgomery, etc.).

Did my boy just mention the Spanish Civil War? *Insert Inquisition joke*

Video starts at 0:00

In a way, we still have multi-turret designs, in that there is usually some kind of very small rotating vision device on top of the main turret, or rotating cupola. Often, there would just be a rotating commander's cupola, and the idea of having a machine gun on that was played around with a lot even after WW2. You can still see 360 degree rotating machine gun mounts incorporated into the cupola on a lot of modern tanks, but it's usually not in a turret, but to be used with the hatch open rather than as a part of an actual closed mini-turret/ rotating cupola.

Polish TK tankette had a 20mm autocannon variant and from various accounts they were very effective againts Panzers. Sadly only 24 were made and had very little impact on war.

Make meme planes

Say it with me, Neu (noi) Bau (bow) Fahr (far) Zeug (zoig)

Meme Tanks 5: Big, Bad, and Ugly Big: O-I Bad: m247 Ugly: M56 Scorpion

Seeing footage/pics of the M109 A Paladin sure elevates my barrel.

You have excellent taste, Jagdpanther is a fine machine

Review Best Korea tanks

This is probably my favorite video you’ve made

Goddamit upload more like every week holy shit I’ve watched your entire channel

Ooh that Jagdpanther lookin' good.

0:41 or being the Operator in the Engine Box operating one of those Matilda Crab Tanks In the Dessert. You forgot that. 😊 Pls continue Meme Tanks.

My RU-vid feed has been so fuckin dry.... but then.... I found the meme tank series. Bless you.

Needs a part 5 featuring The Goliath tracked mine. Anyways, keep up the good work!

5:28 Recently released audio from the design room of the MK 1 female tank in WWI.

Is it just me that noticed the hip Soviet anthem playing in the background

9:16 I cringe when I see the Know-It-All kid from Polar Express.

I would like to mention, it was a idea that the super hellcat and just the M18 in general could have replaced the M4 sherman as the us army’s medium tank.

You get a like for the Jurassic Park opening alone

original meme tanks netflix documentary coming when

UK: “We tried tankette once.” Italy: Inhales

10:09 look at the lower left XD

(Sung to the tune of "Map Men") Meme Tanks, Meme Tanks, Meme Meme Meme Tanks.

Can we maybe see a meme planes sometime in the future as well

Hey Dude, love this video. Btw I remember you talking about a video giving an in depth look into tanks from minor counties (bfv live stream I think) are you still thinking about doing it? Cause I think it's a good one.

Almost had a heart attack at 5mn57. And tears when the Elefant (or Ferdinand) "has to leave" at 10mn29. Almost.

We all can agree that the best tank destroyer is the M6 GMC right?

Best quote "Look at them curves and that aesthetic."

I must dispute the idea that the tank destroyer was a dead-end concept. We still use tank destroyers today, we just call them different things. Like "AH-64 Apache", for example.

7:52 idk about that, the Wiesel AWC is used with guns too, although yes, it does have rocket variants, that is just one and not the only type that's used.

A Clone Wars reference? Hell yeah

But the BANEBLADE!

It occurred to me that one of the reasons old tanks had machine guns in the bow as well as coaxial was kinda the same reason behind multiple turrets, just implemented way better. The bow gun hoses down one side of the street or road while the coaxial hoses down the other.

Damm the Medal of Honor Soundtrack in the background gave me goosebumps

Hear me out: Potential history on the K-boats the K-For-Kalamity Boats The K-For-Kalamity boats where 1/3rd was lost, not in action, but in training/wargames the steam-powered sub please

Suggested motto for your channel - Potential History: Thinking through your violence.

I like how you Used the Wiesel as an example for a tankette. The Wiesel is a lightly armored but relatively heavily armed infantry Support vehicle for airborn infantry. Think of it as the modern Version of the M22 locust

I appreciate you using Medal of Honor: Airborne music in this video, and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault music in another one. Kudos to you, you're an intellectual. :)

F for the tank destroyer idea, it served well and did it's job, it sacrificed itself for the greater good

10:30 inaccurate, ferdinand would be afire long time ago

Unrelated to the video above but there was a battle I heard of only a couple months ago that really caught my interest. May I request a video on the Battle for Castle Itter? It’s easily one of my favourite battles in military history

I can see early tank designers followed the Ork belief of “MORE DAKKA YA GITZ!!”