Warspot Digest for October 2020

Warspot.net is where history comes alive!

The dedicated site features articles about various aspects of military history and technology for readers of all interest levels.

Our authors include specialists who put a lot of effort into their articles. They tell you about little-known military conflicts, development and use of military vehicles, creation of iconic weapons, outstanding engineers, tactics of renowned commanders, heroic deeds of ordinary soldiers, and more.

Here is the Warspot Digest for October 2020—all this and more on Warspot.net!

Warspot Digest: October 2020

Churchill VII: Slow and Thick-skinned

Most British tanks built in the first half of the Second World War quickly became obsolete. Their war ended by mid-1943, after that they only served as a chassis for SPGs or ARVs. The only British tank of the period which continued to be built until the final stages of the war was the Churchill. At first, it was a disappointment, and it might have been replaced by the A33 Excelsior or the Assault Tank T14 if not for its rehabilitation in Tunisia. This allowed the development of the vehicle to continue. The result was the Churchill VII, a tank that first went into battle 76 years ago on June 6th, 1944. [READ MORE]

ISU-122 Heavy Tank Destroyer

The ISU-152 is the best known Soviet heavy SPG. This was the most numerous heavy SPG in history and its career lasted for many decades, overshadowing its "little sister," the ISU-122. The vehicles had the same chassis and differed only in the gun (or rather just the barrel) and ammunition racks. It was the ISU-122 and not the ISU-152 that was the main product of the Chelyabinsk Kirov Factory. This was because the vehicles with 122 mm guns were meant to be heavy tank destroyers. Tank regiments that fought in IS-2 tanks were even reformed as artillery regiments with ISU-122 tank destroyers. [READ MORE]

M4A3E2: Well Fed Sherman

In 1942 the British asked the Americans to develop a tank based on the Sherman with improved armour. The Americans gave them the Assault Tank T14, but didn't take much interest in the idea themselves. However, the idea of such a tank returned in 1944 and eventually culminated in the M4A3E2 or Sherman Jumbo. [READ MORE]

Marder III: German Tank Destroyer on a Czech Chassis

The start of the Soviet-German war on June 22, 1941, triggered serious corrections to both Soviet and German tank building. The fighting in 1941 showed that the time of light tanks is coming to an end. At the same time, the increasing mass of more and more powerful anti-tank weapons limited their ability to be transported by their crews. The abilities of the German PzI Ausf. B tank were limited, and it was impossible to create anything more powerful than the Panzerjager I. It's not surprising that the Germans came up with the idea to create SPGs using the chassis of other obsolete light tanks. This article will discuss the family of Marder III tank destroyers, which were built on the chassis of the Pz38(t). [READ MORE]

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