Mo's Manic Monday - Tracks
Posted: Monday, October 08, 2007 by Travis Cody in
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Welcome to another Manic Monday with Morgen. Don't forget to cruise by MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World. Today's theme is Tracks.
Armored combat vehicles, or tanks, were first introduced into combat in World War I by the British. The early tanks were instrumental in allowing troops to cross long stretches of open ground. The tracks made them effective against barbed wire and other man traps, and critical in destroying machine gun nests that raked advancing troops with deadly fire.
This is a British World War I Mark IV tank with experimental "Tadpole Tail".
The M4 Sherman tank was a fast and reliable medium tank deployed in World War II. It was technically simple, very reliable, and easily mass produced. Unfortunately it had thin armor and lighter munitions that had trouble penetrating the heavy armor of German Panzers.
The main advantage of the medium tank was that more than 30,000 Shermans were deployed against about 600 German Tigers and about 1500 German Panthers. The German tanks had better protection and firepower, but the Shermans swarmed them and were often able to out-maneuver them.
This is an M60 Patton Main Battle Tank. The M60 was first put into service in the 1960's and saw service in Vietnam and Desert Storm. It was the primary battle tank until the introduction of the M1.
The M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank entered service in 1980. Improvements in armament, protection, and electronics produced the M1A1 and M1A2 and have made it possible for this tank to become the primary battle tank for the US Army and Marines.
My grandad gave me a toy M60 when I was a kid. I used to put The Incredible hulk, a cowboy and a Red Indian on the truck and move it around :)