Germany's Armored Tractor, the A7V | Cursed by Design
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
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Kicking off this month of WW1 content we take a look at the first German tank. The A7V has been largely forgotten compared to its more famous opponents fielded by the Allies. Nevertheless this armored toaster packed a punch alongside its numerous design flaws.
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0:00 - 2:15 Intro
2:15 - 4:50 Lead up to the design
4:50 - 10:00 Requirements and development
10:00 - 15:20 Production and variants
15:20 - 18:15 Use in combat
18:15 - 20:31 Post-war survivor and conclusion
Sources:
German Panzers, 1914-1918 by Steven J. Zaloga. Osprey Publishing, 2006.
Armour in Profile: A7V Sturmpanzerwagen by John Foley. Profile Publications, 1967.
tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/ge...
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/A7V-U
tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/ge...
tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/ge...
tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/ge...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A7V
www.landships.info/landships/t...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_V...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cb...
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/A7V
Geschichte der Sturmpanzerwagen A7V von 1918 bis jetzt by Uwe Larsen. 1990.
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Ok
Nic video lad
*i dont want'na play shitty strategy games, sorry*
Can we have a video about the opinion of germans about the FT-17
No. I already have enough of their shitty ads
"Ayo Johhny, why is that Shed moving towards us?"
The devil dogs meet their greatest nightmare, the battle toaster
who will win: armor traktor vs battleship lite
It’s just bob and his crazy ideas
"Bobby...what's a toaster?"
Excellent question
To me, this seems like a more practical German implementation of a Russian pre-WWI Mendeleev Tank, which basically was a freight train car-sized land submarine built around a 4-inch cannon.
Ah yes the metal brick
Ah yes, everybody's first design in Sprocket.
That's an insanely high caliber for the time.
@@aliceyagami8260, I mean, both the Mendeleev Tank and the Tsar-Tank were Russian projects, but quite different in their essence: Mendeleev Tank was designed to be an impregnable crawling bunker (yes, the caterpillar tracks were planned to be retractable in order to make it stationary) with a big-ass naval gun at the front, while the Tsar-Tank was essentially a scaled up beduin wheelbarrow with disco balls of death for turrets as well as two gun sponsons on the sides.
better than the t14
The scariest thing about the A7V was that the crew could outnumber most units sent against it.
Armored clown car.
@@sb6675 lmao
@@sb6675 TBH that
sounds about right
@@sb6675 made me lol
@@sb6675 lmfao
"The vehicle would also be the first to start the German transmission trend as the gearboxes easily broke"
Can't hold my laugh at it
a meme was born! 😜
@@sebastianthomsen2225 Doctor, the DSG in my 2008 Golf is still doing great. What is wrong with me? Can I have some more of these pink pills?
It also started a trend of beating British tanks soundly wherever they encountered them :D
Isnt that true for most german tank in both war
@@aleksazunjic9672 and losing wars, 2 in a row never to rise again lol
The interesting thing about the late German implementation of tanks is that it also created the first very potent anti tank weapons. Like the tankgewehr, K-bullets and early anti tank cannons.
It is also interesting that even with this flawed design Germans managed to defeat British in their first encounter :D
It is the same thing in the Cold War.
The US had a focus in Navy and carriers, while the Russians focused on anti ship warfare.
Just like tanks, only now we are seeing other nations outside of the US sphere of influence implementing carriers forces.
@@JonatasAdoM Soooo, China xD
@@JonatasAdoM which is arguably a side effect of WW2, one reason the US fleet in the Pacific shifted tactics was that it was mainly the battleships that were hit at pearl harbor. The old capital ship dual concept had to be replaced out of necessity.
@@aleksazunjic9672 St Quentin March 1918? Stopping a minor breakthrough locally is not a big win.
9:35 -- "I smiled once. It was awful." -- Erich Ludendorf
18 crew: commander, driver, engineer, five gunners, ten to pedal
I get the joke, but at that time, smiling on a photography would have been the equivalent of sticking your tongue out and flipping the bird. The guy is a General, he is not supposed to look like a nice guy
Ah yes, the mighty death star in battlefield 1
BF1 bois here we go!!
if you have a full crew of competent gunners, you can just drive into the entire enemy team and kill everything winning the game, unfortunately most of the time your gunners will be asleep so you cant really do that without friends
@@humanbread2619 I had the opposite experience most of the time. I love to gun on tanks but the drivers wouldn’t angle right for me to really chew up infantry when I needed to.
@@humanbread2619 I rarely had gunners. Everyone rather hump the hill all day or fly the OP Ilya.
@@thespacemarine247 see that's why i said you have to drive into the entire enemy team so there are enemies litterally everywhere
This reminds me of when I was a kid and put a shipping carton for a refrigerator over my wagon and pretended it was a space shuttle.
If you are ever in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. You can see Mephisto at the Queensland Museum.
I live in Brisbane lol
A notice at the museum says it was also used as a rudimentary Armoured Personnel Carrier, sometimes having as many as 22 people inside. That must have been horribly cramped, but better than being machine gunned.
Did they move it back to there from Canberra?
@@someguy-qb2rs Yes. I don't think there was any way the Queensland Government was going to let the Australian War Memorial keep the tank. It was something of a state treasure even though for years it had been neglected sitting outside the old Brisbane Museum in Bowen Hills.
Why the fuck is a WW1 European tank in fucking Australia?
In terms of space in the tank it should be noted that according to doctrine the tank had a crew of 16 men. However, in combat this number increased to around 26 men, with MGs crewed by 2 each to ease reloading, and others to remain in contact with nearby troops.
Temperatures would reach around 60 degrees Celsius and since there was no dedicated engine bay it was also incredibly loud. With no lights installed it was almost pitch black inside. Fuel/oil leaks were not uncommon, leading to a nasty smell. Regarding ergonomics, except for the gunner, driver and commander everyone else was standing in a crouched position since the inside was only about 1.6m high. Some nooses were added at the ceiling to provide at least something to hold on, however it is questionable as to how useful they were in uneven terrain such as artillery craters.
All in all an interesting tank, and certainly nice to see how people more than 100 years ago approached the challenges without any prior knowledge. As for serving in one, well, whenever not in combat the crew usually opted to sit on the roof instead, choosing no protection over the conditions inside.
Holy shit, that sounds hellish
For a second I thought this was that Vaporeon Copypasta
Well, the british rhomboids weren't rolling spa's either
So naming one of the tanks Mephisto fits rather well
According to the Curator of the Munster Tank Museum 95% of the Western Front did not involve artillery craters or trenches and the tanks were successful there. Department A7V (The truck department of the Logistic division of the German Army Ordinance that designed the A7V was department A7V) there were more sophisticated tanks designed. The British Male/Female tanks were not much better really in ergonomics. The reason we did not see more German tanks was that the Germans were running our of Iron and they had to make a hard choice between building canon (which could stop tanks)or tanks. Of course they chose tanks and simply operated captured British tanks.
The Iron Ore Poroblem is why when the British landed troops in Narvik Norway (Operation Wilfred) in WW2 threatening German Iron ore supplies the Hitler immediately invaded all of Norway using Denmark as a staging point since the Luftwaffe was still occupied in BoB and BoF and could not stop the RN intercepting German convoys.
Interestingly, all the tank producing nations began with the same idea - plonk an armoured box on a Holt or similar caterpillar track chassis. Fortunately the British engineers realised the limitation, and serious defects of this idea, whereas the Germans, French and Italians failed to do so. I read somewhere that German tankers preferred to use captured British tanks to the A7V - they worked far more reliably. Imitation is most certainly the sincerest form of flattery. Thanks for this film - loads and loads of moving and still pictures I've never seen before. Brilliant.
The other factor was there were simply vastly more captured Allied tanks than A7vs, they only made 20
The French did also see the limitations of the idea.
After all, the Renault FT (which was not a copy of the british Mark 1) is still one of the most successful tank of WWI on top of being among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history
The French saw the limitation of this design so much that they came up with a new one that became the basis of all tanks since: the legendary FT17
There were a lot of pictures I never have seen before, and I didnt know that Imerial Germany had any other workign designs in the making besides the K Waggon
The British tanks were optimised to cross trenches - the A7V was not. The A7V was essentially incapable of crossing trenches and frequently toppled over due to its extremely high centre of gravity on rough ground. The fact the tracks didn’t extend beyond the armor leading to frequent bogging when it’s nose dug in.
If you think this is a glorified tractor, wait until you see the WW1 American parade tanks. Now those are definitely glorified tractors.
Hello there
@@jwwt4 General Kenobi
@@williamgandarillas2185 You are a bold one!
Good God now you made me remember the HA 36 and CLB 75 tank
@@RolanJhehanMElaco lol hey they need to be remembered
I'm proud to be a Queenslander in Australia and very glad to have seen the A7V aka Mephisto in person, it's smaller than what most people think but still a large-ish vehicle.
I love the story of how it was both captured, and ended up in Brisbane instead of Canberra. True Aussie yarn
I want to see it some day. I live in Indiana and there is a military museum in Vincennes, Indiana that has one of two surviving turrets (sadly it's only a section of it) in the US. Along with a beautiful replica of a M1917 and a Type 97 Chi-Ha.
I have a feeling it looks even smaller when you’re sharing it with 17 other guys.
@@GrumpyIan I have been to that museum in vincennes a few times. Well worth the visit and I always somehow stay longer than planned. Hope to visit it again sometime.
I only saw it in August. Bucketlist item
Fun fact: Germany's new tank is the leopard2 a7v
Nice
Yeah! Hope it doesn't fall over that often!🤣
A7v:i am your father
LMAO
´
During mid 30s
England : what are you doing?
Germany : smoothie
Nah nah, more like this
Mid to late 30s
Allies: What you got there?
Germany, amassing a lot of light and medium tanks: A smoothie.
Happy to know Mephisto is happy Australian vet now.
Haha yes, i've seen and touched the tank so i know its real, and its real cool
@@Boxttell11 yeah I live near the Australian war memorial where it's on display, but I haven't been able to touch it
Have they moved it from Qld? Or is it on loan?
Yeah they moved it from qld due to the flood. Sent to ipswich train museum to repair it and mysteriously ends up in canberra instead of back to qld. That is what i heard.
@@tien65 I wondered as I saw it in Ipswich a couple of years ago.
Actually it wasn't a Panzer, it was just a tank. The German word "Panzer" referring to armoured fighting vehicles wouldn't gain widespread usage until the 1920s. During WW1 the Germans called them Tanks, because that's what the British called them.
That's not true. Panzer means "Tank" in German. The reason in English they are called Tanks is because it was a way to disguise the parts boxes shipment to England for the development of the first tanks. It being a pretty big secret, the boxes with the parts were labeled "TANKS", as in the Bri 'ish name for water bottles. It was so that IF the Germans or their spies somehow got the Boxes they wouldn't think to open them because, in their minds, it was just a bunch of water bottles. The name stuck for the developers and that's why we call them tanks to this day.
@@thescotslair Yes,and still these vehicles were called Tank even in germany,up until the 1920s.The word "Panzer" did NOT appear during WW1 to describe them
@@NashmanNash Link
@@thescotslair it's even mentioned in the video that the tank was originally envisaged to use a 20mm cannon firing "TuF" rounds. TuF stands for Tank-Und-Flieger, or Tank-and-Plane, which were heavy machinegun and anti-tank rifle rounds developed for destroying tanks and aircraft. The German word "Panzer" actually more literally translates to armour in English. Panzer referring to tanks is actually an abbreviation of Panzerkampfwagen (approximately armoured fighting vehicle) and this terminology would not emerge in Germany until after WW1. During the war they were known as tanks.
@@marmite8959 Yeah still no. Panzer means Tank still. But that's in a modern sense. the older meaning is a type of German chain-mail but since we are not 500 years old I'm sure you just looked that up like I did but took it at face value.
As certain chaos warlord would say
Metal boxes!
Do one in M114 vehicle now that was a big brain moment by the US Military
I've seen one irl. It's very shaped.
THE FEWLS
@@wraithcadmus
THE COWARDS!
THE FEWLZ!!
WE.. shall take away.. Their metal.. boxes!!
Recently found out, that an uncle of mine actually died at villiers-brettoneux, just at the same day, the Tanks opposed each other.
Sadly i couldn't find any letters or similar, so i really Don't know, if He actually knew about the Tanks in his surroundings.
How old are you if your uncle fought in ww1
@@Jixxor It easily could have been a case of 'Uncle was 20+ when Father was born' later on in his grandma's life.
Well...
It's actually my great grandfathers cousin... I think
My grandmother just said He was her and my 'uncle' so i never botherered with the proper german or english term 😅
@@lukeeszeha5381 aaah. that makes more sense.
@@lukeeszeha5381 soo... a granduncle then?
Those early armoured car designs are straight out of "Wacky Races" !
11:05 "The A7V had 40mm of ground clearance" ?? That's like a Formula One car ! That's crazy !!
I've been in the only A7V left in the world, Mephisto. It was loot that the AIF brought back to Australia after WW1. Years ago it was outside the Queensland Museum in Brisbane. We were kids at the time and we could climb inside.
Bavarian, I’m just going to park my tank here, there’s a war going on nobody will steal it…..Queenslander I’ll have that it will great for driving to the pub in south Brisbane ( Very rough part of town at that time)
Looking forward to vids about the Saint Chamond and Schneider tanks
they saw in cambrai and french campaigns
Aka waste of manpower and man-hours
@@512TheWolf512 could say that about a moon landing. doesn't stop it from being awesome though
Oh man, yeah if there is a design that can match A7V in ridiculousness it's Saint Chamond
0:52 I didn’t know that the MG in the FT-17 had limited traverse within the turret. This makes sense, all weapons protected by armor or bunkers had limited traverse and so it was given to a traversable turret.
I believe a lot of it was to do with the non-powered turret. for small adjustments it was a lot more useful for the gunner to just move the MG in its mount, rather than twisting body to move the turret. which, I'd imagine, would get awfully tiring very quickly. and of course it would be impossible to fire and traverse at the same time
Of course every german tank that was build gonna have spg or tank destroyer versions 😅
This is a fascinating showing of the whole "trail and error" early tank development went through.
Awesome video 👍
*trial
@@archygrey9093 Dammit...
I live in Brisbane, Australia. There's a museum here where a captured A7V is on display. It was named "mephisto" pretty crazy to see it in person. Its size and the size of the uniforms and headgear on display convinced me that people today are bigger than the people of 80-100years ago
it is more the fact that tankmen had to be shorter in order to fit into the tanks cramped spaces. (but yeah, people nowadays in general are taller)
@@user-kn3tx9pg3e Yeah thats true. Although the length of the lee enfield and gewehr 98 surprised me. Not as long as I always I imagined them to be.
@@nickysimi9866 the only thing that i saw that is actually huge is the WW2 15cm cannon 18 (k 18) that is on display here in Belgrade, Serbia. compared to it, regular tanks seem small
barrel is longer than a tank itself
It is like they didn't' know what they were doing, which is true as only their opponents had done this before, and they were not going to share their findings.
Mephisto sat outside the Queensland Museum for many years under what could best described as a "car port". There was a low picket fence surrounding the structure to keep people out, but that didn't stop us youngsters from climbing all over the tank. I seem to recall there was a "keep off" sign but we ignored it. I also recall peering in through the gun ports to check out the interior but at that age not really understanding what it was all for. I do seem to recall that at one time a side door was left open but I was too frightened to climb inside because of the claustrophobic atmosphere & maybe the presence of ghosts :)
I'm so glad that it has finally been preserved for historic reasons.
I was watching a show about tanks on the history channel years ago and they said that the A7V was never used in combat yet I have a book that describes the first tank on tank battle with them.
You mean the same channel that says aliens built the pirimids?
They were used in combat
When I was a child and visited the old museum in Brisbane, I would play on "Mephisto". It was the only A7V in the world. About five years ago, I saw it again when visiting Canberra.
Just a brilliant breakdown and explanation of how tanks have evolved.
Classic German tank design. The enemy has something they're lacking, so they built the same thing but much bigger and heavier xD
Let's do it.
Ah, it's interesting to finally hear of actions with the A7V! It's been a fascinating mystery to me for awhile and I never really new of much actions taking place with it other than that one clash with the 3 MK.IVs Great vid; cheers.
Gotta talk about how the aussies got Mephisto. Like 80 guys sneaking out in the dead of night to pull it back.
Not a forgotten vehicle for us BF1 veterans.
That’s thing was a metal monster…
I am from Australia, specifically Queensland and I have seen Mephisto. It is a cool concept when you see it but it was a massive pipe dream.
The OG Bob Semple tank: also this would’ve been a pretty good tank if it featured heavy machine guns for killing other tanks.
I really enjoyed this, so thanks very much for your work. Both this and the K - wagen programme have many very interesting photos I've not seen before, particularly the moving footage
8:02 There's Mephisto, this tank was in the yard of the Queensland Museum in Australia and as a child I saw it many times. I always wanted to climb inside it but there was no way to get in, all the hatches were closed. I believe it has been undergoing some refurbishment at the Ipswich railway yards but is now back at the museum in Brisbane.
The capture of Mephisto is the most Australian thing ever.
Great research! One of your best videos to date. (Happy Australian here, who’s seen the surviving A7V many times.)
Cone of Arc, I was actually impressed by this video, I learned so much more about the A7V it's variants and German WW I follow on designs. Good job.
Ah, I have so many fond memories of operating the FT-17 Flanker in BF1. That Becker 20mm. made you a god, especially with canister shot. Good times...
Same I remember having some of my best matches with ft17 where I wouldn't die once whole match and I'd rack up like 20-30 kills.
For all the unnecessary complications introduced into the requirements for the tank, it's still impressive that they managed to develop it fast enough to see any action at all in the war. Normally you expect the process of developing a new weapon (from concept, to design, to building the first prototypes and testing, and working out the kinks in mass production) to take around five to ten years.
Queenslanders: “We take pride in holding onto Mephisto, the only intact surviving A7V”
ConeOfArc: “Giant toaster”
Queenslanders: 👁👄👁
Excellent video. This has to be the most comprehensive video on WW1 German tanks when it comes to the different types.
Cheers Cone, this is a truly brilliant piece of history, & well narrated as always.
Wow there was so much info I'd never heard before, this is great dude!
Yes
You are correct
THE TOASTER
that was the best Information about the A7v availible. I´m impressed !
800 rounds sounds absolutely insane. I guess the cannon is half the size of modern tanks, but modern 120mm tanks only carry around 60 rounds.
Great video! I never knew the Germans had so many tank variants in WWI until now. 👍
Imagine they added all these to War Thunder
"The A7V Was marked by consistant problems" So, Like alot of other German Tanks then? heh-heh.
Like literally any tank until the Vickers 6t?
trenches were widened during ww1 so they got stucked
To be fair saying most German tanks were bad is unfair to say because most tanks of every nation during ww1 and ww2 were flawed. It's surprising that german out-dated tank designs even lasted so long and could hold with enemy armour which had much more mordern designs and weren't so box like
Well pnzr 38t or 35t or hetzer is ok¿
Germans. Even thair problems are consistent.
Amazing photos of the uniquely named tanks. Well done.
The best documentary I've yet seen on German WW1 tanks. Very detailed and thorough - thank you.
Average A7V fan vs Average Mk V enjoyer
I’ve actually seen the only one left (it’s currently in the Brisbane museum)
Mephisto livesin my home town, Brisbane Australia. It was restored by the old railway workshops and has returned to Brisbane after a time in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. When I was kid in sixties it was out in the open at the Queensland Museum and kids could clamber all over it. Now more securely stroed for display.
I had never known about the variants beyond the most common. Thanks for this video!
I love your videos and I was wondering if you could do a cursed by design for the Object 297 e
The highlight of being australian is that I've seen the last A7V upwards of 10 times and had the opportunity to touch and examine it once.
Just found this channel and damn im just sitting here watching all the cursed by design videos i love it
I swear to God I keep pressing this video thinking its already premiered
Edit:Well it's out now
I think the reason why early German tanks are so shit and why they were so reluctant to make one (and maybe it even has some baring on their obsession with heavy tanks later on) is because they made some of the first anti-tank weapons. Likely leading them to think tanks can just be defeated by well equipped infantry unless the tank is ludicrously strong.
I mean they did invent the Panzerfaust and schreck for a reason
Americans invented the first bazooka. Germans copied it.
im so lucky i used to live near a7v mephisto when it was at the old museum in queensland. an absolute monster of a tank.
Thanks for an informative video. I have always wondered about the mephisto tank that is in our museum in Brisbane.
What was the final tank to have "Male and female" variants?
That's actually a good question.
I might be wrong, but that might be the Soviet T-26 tank (inspired by British Vickers Mk. E aka "Vickers 6-ton") with Type A being a double-turreted machine gun-only variant and Type B having a single BT series turret with a 45 mm cannon (IIRC. Later it was upgunned with a 76 mm howitzer or something to the likes of that)
Interestingly enough, there also were flamer (kHT-26, "Chemical Tank") and remotely controlled variants (TT-26, "Tele-Tank", although I might be misremembering this one as well as mistaking it for the TT-27 tankette design)
I’ve got a few contenders, although none are actually called “male and female.” First is the Italian CV33, a “male” version was made in 1940 by replacing the twin mgs with a 20mm AT rifle. Next is the Japanese type 97 tankette, with versions carrying either a 37mm gun or 7.7mm mg. Finally there is the British Light Command Tank (that’s the name), from 1938. Different turrets would have either a 2-pounder or twin machine guns.
What I don't get about Germany in WW1, why didn't thy just take the variants and breed more? Such shortsightedness...
@@TheCaptNoname The T26 might have been. But other types have appeared without being called female/male. Read the item by Shaun Jones.
Hey I was wondering could you do an episode on the K wagen I've always been fascinated by it being a WW1 super heavy tank.
Nicely produced CZcams Video Thank you YVO
All those other vehicle designs were new to me. And photos of them too! . The British had a flat bed gun transporter too great video, lot of info in it.
For some reason, everytime I think of the A7V I really want to say "the AV7" just because it is easier to say. Is it just me who's like this? XD
If you speak german saying A7V dosent sound bad
If you played the original Cyberpunk tabletop game, the AV7 was the go to flying truck/gunship.
Well, the A7V may have been forgotten, and indeed, the WWII-era German WaffenAmt should have "remembered" it as an example of what NOT to do. This contraption was little (yes, I know, it was freaking HUGE) more than a lumbering fort on tracks, slow, ungainly, and with poor crew layout and inability to coordinate operations and especially its firepower. Poor ground clearance, grade climbing, trench crossing, I fail to see how this beast could be expected to navigate a WWI-era battlefield of trenches, shell craters, and whatever obstacles the enemy could throw up. Let alone how in the hell the tank commander could readily identify targets and direct fire on them. Also, given that only TWENTY of these things were produced, as Imperial Germany's economy was in its death throes thanks to the Royal Navy's blockade and the economic strain of four years of warfare, it couldn't have much of an impact on their war effort anyway. It's telling that the Germans relied more on captured British and French tanks than their own. As some twenty-five years later, when not only were the Tiger I and Tiger II tanks designed and built, but effort was put on monstrosities like the Maus and the E-100, and consideration was given towards the ultra-monstrous "Ratte" and aptly-named "Monster", 800 and 1000 ton vehicles that would have been easily spotted and immobilized by Allied air forces, it was apparent the WaffenAmt had indeed forgotten the lessons of the A7V. As put in the otherwise very questionable, from a historical point, the 1965 "Battle of the Bulge" movie, when Col. Martin Hessler (an expy of then SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Jochen Pieper) admires the model of what General Kohler, calls, the "new, 70-ton King Tiger Tank" (it's actually an M48 "Patton", but hey, that's what had to stand in for the "Tigers" as they shot the film in Spain, the Spanish Army also supplied the M24 Chaffee tanks that doubled as M4 "Shermans"), he remarks, "It still proves...that the Germans are the world's best TOY makers". At least his CO responds, "The 'toys' we are making these days...are NOT for children."
To be fair, other nations, most notably the Soviet Union were also building heavy tanks. Also, during WWII heavy tanks filled a specific role accroding to the tank doctrine at the tank. For Germany the heavy tank, like the Tiger, was meant to be a breakthrough tank, it was supposed to be heavily armed and armored in order to break through enemy lines. Then it was to be followed by the medium tanks who'd go in to mop things up and/or exploit the breakthrough created by the heavies. So, doctrinally, the Tiger made sense, not too sure about the Tiger II but the Tiger I definitely. But the super heavies were an entirely different matter, I'm not sure what doctrinal role they supposed to have filled except as as a last ditch wunderwaffe that the Germans hoped would turn the tide of the ear.
Yeah. I think if you're used to tractors you're tempted to just stick a steel box on one. Not realizing soon enough that the British had a reason for theirs looking the way they did was a big oversight. . But it does show a design problem.. going with what you know may mean you don't really understand what is required.
I don't see how the Tiger I was a problem? It was a "breakthrough" tank, typical of heavy tank designs of the day. Actually, I'd go as far as to say it was genuinely superior as a heavy tank given that it's competition were the Char B1, T-35, KV-1, and Matilda II (technically) at the date of design. The KV-1 and eventually the Churchill were the only other heavy tanks that could even begin competing, and they both failed miserably as they ended up becoming barely-mobile bunkers. At least the Churchill was heavily armed in its later years though, whereas the KV-1 ended up as an obese T-34.
@@Prometheus19853 The Tiger did have a better layout, better use of its armor, and hugely superior firepower to any contemporary opponents heavy AFVs. However, with all those advantages, it still fared poorly in its intended role as a "durchburchwagen" (breakthrough vehicle), both near Leningrad in its rather inauspicious debut in late '42, at the Mareth Line in Tunisia in March of '43, and at Kursk later that summer. The issue simply was that although the Tiger I did have better side and rear protection than contemporary tanks, it wasn't enough to resist enemy anti-tank guns of 75mm or 76.2 mm size.
But used in the defensive role, as effectively a Panzerjager, the Tiger I found its role. With its heavy frontal armor and that awesome Pak 36 88mm main weapon, it had a longer reach than enemy AFVs. Handled properly, with its surprisingly good mobility for a 56-ton tank, a Tiger could pick off enemy targets as they approached and get to different firing positions to avoid retaliation.
@@selfdo True, though that's less a problem with the tank and more a problem with the concept of the heavy tank in general. Both the KV-1 and Churchill also had fairly thin side armor, but only the latter saw any real continued use as a breakthrough vehicle. Even then, the Churchill's success came down mainly to the sheer obstacle clearing ability of the tank, which could drive through and/or over damn near anything.
Funny that 57mm gun used in A7V are devoloped by British in 1880s so yeah that shed was using their opponents gun
Memphesto, the A7V, on display in Brisbane until some twenty years back. At 6' 9" I was able to see inside and make thirty flash photos. I was obliged to put each of my friends on my shoulders for a look. No way we would ride in that.
In Battlefield 1: Overused Death Machine
In real life: Underused Glorified Troop Carrier
Seriously this thing carried up to 25 MFs and barely saw combat (I wonder why)
FT-17 Light Tank Gang for life
Edit: changed to a bit more factual information
it saw quite a lot of combat. Relatively few made but most of those few was in frontline service
@@LyonPercival My sources must have been talking about a variant or something. Good on you. Only 20 were ever made. But where you got it wrong is that it only saw 5 battles, 1 of which where they all broke down at St. Quentin Canal and another where the first Tank-on-Tank skirmish happened where they got smacked and routed. They didn't a lot of combat and it is generally held that their contribution to the war effort was negligible at best.
@@LyonPercival Oh and the 3 other battles they were kind of just there. didn't really do much of interest
I think it interesting that Germany learned so much out of there mistakes and basically mastered tank use in WW2 ( at least mastered to this times standard)
This tends to be a repeating feature of warfare. The winning side sits on its laurels and declares "nailed it!" and the losing side slumps in shock and tries to make sense of what happened. The British developed combined arms warfare with massed attacks by planes, tanks and infantry all at once and the Germans were smashed by it. 20 years later the Germans come back with Blitzkrieg based on maturing the same idea and the allies were gut punched by it.
Similar happened with paratroopers in WWII. Germany used the tactic first with an airborne assault on Crete which was successful against all odds (the British commander stupidly didn't make protecting the airfields a priority). Afterwards, the Germans assessed that they had taken massive casualties doing it and Hitler decided they weren't going to use paratroopers again. The Allies on the other hand were stunned by the whole thing and decided to make the development of paratrooper tactics a priority. Come D-Day allied airborne assaults became crucial to their success.
@@CountScarlioni totally agree
Once a jolly Digger camped by Villers-Brettoneaux
Under the shade of an A7V
And he sang as he watched and waited till the sun was low
Who'll come a'waltzing Mephisto with me
The Bremerwagen seems to have inspired Wh40k's Taurox, being also an armoured four-track military truck.
It is just a oversized toaster
If These tanks were supposed to be used today... I would set them up to be cold weather housing. No armor, just insulated and stacked with bunks and a heating system. The Troops can sleep while the machine moves along. Some could have been mobile Medical stations, or Food Storage and even water or fuel tankers.... maybe.
Whoever got to drive the A7V excavator model had the best job in the war
Imagine surviving for almost 6 years in the trench being lucky enough to survive many suicide charge just to get killed by a oversize toaster
If you think that thing can make toast you are vastly overestimating it’s capabilities
i loved seeing this in the Queensland Museum in Brisbane. Is amazing to me that out of all the tanks i could visit here in isolated Australia, i can see a freakin A7V
British Private: Sir they are advancing with... with... with a...
British Lt.: With a what damn you? Out with it!
British Private: Well... it appears to be a giant toaster with a gun.
7:40 When the chair leans back further than you expected.
I saw and touched Mephisto when it was parked in the grounds of the previous museum in Brisbane, Queensland. I haven't seen it since it was restored and placed indoors at the new museum. No internet back then so I didn't know much of the story or realise it was the only surviving example.
Thank you very much! Your Plushie arrived savely at my home! i will treasure it and please keep on the good work! :D
The only A7V in the world was Stolen by Aussies from the poms because the British High Command was going to keep it, even though the same Aussie captured it.
The AV7 is one of my favorites. So this video was of much interest.
I had to write an informative speech for my English class and I did it on the history on tanks. And I researched the battle of Villiers bretoneux. Good job for the research arc!!
I remember being pretty fascinated by WW1 era tanks, but the one thing I could never wrap my head around was the fuel tank placement on the Whippet
Thanks this helps fill in gaps in the history of the war
I actually have seen a a7v at the tank museum in munster, germany. Really a large metal box. Also they got many interesting tanks there, like a sturmtiger and a jagdpanther. The Jagdpanther is absolutely massive, about the mass of a shipping container, maybe larger.
Good replica isn't it? They had a team in Brisbane for months measuring every bolt and part.
Awesome video! I barely knew that the A7Vs existed let alone the combat utility variants. It’s like a glimpse into a timeline where Germany realized standardized mechanized transports would be important (something they didn’t really embrace until after WW2)
They realized that by 1930s,but they didn’t have enough oil to make their army full mechanized.That’s why they used horses in infantry divisions.
@@AFT_05G True. I suppose I should have put emphasis on the standardization part, since WW2 Germany had something like a couple dozen different diesel engines that powered vehicles of similar/identical class and weight.
The newest Leopard 2 model is called Leopard 2A7V ... we've gone full circle
Just 2A7, no 'V'
I feel like it’s the earliest example of a tank destroyer. The tank was used to ambush tanks, looked like an earlier relative of WW2 era tank destroyers, and it fought infantry kinda like the Stug III (I know that’s an assault gun but it definitely was used in a similar manner as tank destroyers at times). It’s influence is understated and unrecognized.
That flak wagon put a big smile on my face for some reason
No doubt about it, the mythology of the development of the panzers continues unabated. Ironically, Ernst Volckheim served in the transport section of the army, where Guderian was to serve later. Volckheim wrote several books in the 1920s, and one in 1937, when Achtung! Panzer! came out in the general push to promote the panzers. I notice Guderian is yet again under pretty snide debate for his "claim" to be the father of the panzers, as usual getting exactly the same criticism he got from his German critics in the 1930s. A couple of points - Volckheim was mainly writing in the 1920s. The entire nature of tanks and tactics had changed drastically by 1937. Achtung! Panzer! was specifically written to promote the armored ideas, not as some sort of personal PR exercise for Guderian. Guderian calls Leutnant Volckheim's information "weak in theory" but "something to go on". That doesn't sound like it "greatly influenced" Guderian, who was, after all the one who put his theories into practice in France and Russia.