The History Of Tanks Of WWII

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Tanks of WWII
Andrew Logan
Middle Township High School
US History
Wilson
4/4/14

WWII was an era of learning and innovation, despite the ominous history behind it. Many new technologies were developed and led to many things never seen before; Jets made their first debut, experimentation with rockets started, nuclear science reached nuclear levels, peering radar, and huge metal boxes on wheels. These metal boxes have evolved so much during WWII. Tanks have had such an impact on the war, and the same is true the other way around. Each nation had a slightly different take on tanks, each evolving throughout the way, along with the way tanks were used also varied among nations, and changed significantly throughout the war.
Interesting enough, Japan actually had tanks during WWII. Few were ever deployed during WWII, because most of the fighting occurred in the pacific. Japan purchased tanks from foreign sources before WWII, most of which were obsolete by the time the war came around. These tanks mostly included the Vickers series of tanks from the British. Japan did make a few advanced tanks, but mass production was put off since they had no industry allocated to heavy manufacturing, and the war ended too quickly for them. The only prominent WWII tanks Japan had was the Type 3 Chi-Nu tank. Developed to counter Americas M4 Shermans, it carried a 75 mm gun, which was capable of penetrating the M4 Sherman’s armour. Only 166 of these were built, however, and were kept in standby in Japan.
Similarly, China had imported tanks from other nations, mostly the british Vickers series. They never made their own WWII tanks however, and lacked a significant armoured force for the majority of the war. When the so...

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... late, since they were always designing and changing things for even negligible enhancements. They started late in the war with the E series of tanks to standardize. This tardiness had a pronounced effect however. By the battle of Kursk, the Soviets outnumbered the German armoured forces 1 to 2. (Cornish, 2002)
Overall, it can be said that tanks started out unrefined and relegated to infantry support (except for Germany). As the war progressed, the tank’s role opened up dramatically. Both sides began to build better tanks than the other, in an effort to be superior. Standardization came into play when quantity over quality became paramount. 50,000 M4 Shermans were made, while only 1,300 Tiger I’s were made. (Nuutinen) Competition in tank designs led to better tanks with standardization easing manufacturing, with expanded roles for tanks on the battle field.

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