German Empire
Throughout the history of armored warfare, tankers have been known to give nicknames to their tanks. [1] This is a list of named tanks.
The Kliment Voroshilov tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour protection during the early stages of the war, especially during the first year of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In certain situations, even a single KV-1 or KV-2 supported by infantry could halt German formations. The German Wehrmacht at that time rarely deployed its tanks against KVs, as their own armament was too poor to deal with the "Russischer Koloss" – "Russian Colossus".
The Renault FT is a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to have its armament within a fully rotating turret. The Renault FT's configuration became and remains the standard tank layout. Consequently, some armoured warfare historians have called the Renault FT the world's first modern tank.
The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat, as well as being the first operational German Tank. It was developed as a response to British tanks. While certain publications have attempted to claim the A7V was an improvement over its British competition, there is nothing to support this suggestion. It was less capable across rough terrain, slower, required a far larger crew to operate and ultimately never had any success comparable to that of the British ‘Land Ships’.
The char 2C, also known as the FCM 2C, was a French post WWI heavy tank landship, later considered a super-heavy tank. It was developed during World War I but not deployed until after the war. It was, in total volume or physical dimensions, the largest operational tank ever made.
A heavy tank is a tank classification produced from World War I to the end of the Cold War. These tanks generally sacrificed mobility and maneuverability for better armour protection and equal or greater firepower than tanks of lighter classes.
The Musée des Blindés or Musée Général Estienne is a tank museum located in the Loire Valley of France, in the town of Saumur. It is now one of the world's largest tank museums. It began in 1977 under the leadership of Colonel Michel Aubry, who convinced both the French military hierarchy and the local political authorities. Started 48 years ago with only a few hundred tracked vehicles, it has become a world-class collection which attracts visitors interested in the history of multinational tank development as well as professional armor specialists. From the very beginning, Colonel Aubry had made it a key policy of the museum to restore to running condition as many historically or technically significant vehicles as was feasible.
The Tank Museum is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Wool and 12 miles (19 km) west of the major port of Poole. The collection traces the history of the tank with almost 300 vehicles on display. It includes Tiger 131, the only working example of a German Tiger I tank, and a British First World War Mark I, the world's oldest surviving combat tank. It is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Armoured Corps and is a registered charity.
This is a list of French combat vehicle production before and during the Second World War. The numbers given are generally those of vehicles actually delivered including exported vehicles. However, it includes those vehicles not yet delivered in June 1940 in the 1940 totals. For the Renault FT only the French metropolitan organic strength and matériel reserve is given. The list excludes those types having been taken out of service by May 1940.
The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II.
The Renault R40 or Char léger modèle 1935 R modifié 1939 was a French light infantry tank that was used early in World War II, an improvement of the Renault R35, of which it is often considered a variant.
Parola Tank Museum, officially Armoured Vehicle Museum is a military museum located 110 kilometres north of Helsinki in Parola, near Hämeenlinna, Finland, a few kilometres from the Finnish Army Armoured Brigade training unit. It displays various tanks, armoured vehicles and anti-tank guns used by the Finnish Defence Forces throughout their history, including the Leopard 2A4 tank which is in present service. Rare exhibits are an armoured train used in World War II and the only surviving example of the BT-42 assault gun. The museum was opened on June 18, 1961, with 19 tanks and 12 anti-tank guns on display.
The Belgian Army had approximately 200 combat vehicles at the time of the German invasion in May 1940. The vehicles were distributed among infantry and cavalry divisions for use as support weapons. The Belgian Army viewed their combat vehicles as defensive weapons. The practice of spreading out combat vehicles in so called "penny packets" left them at a disadvantage against the German invaders, who concentrated their armour into organic units that could act on their own and that outnumbered the opposing vehicles even if units of the same type met.
This article deals with the tanks serving in the German Army throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, the Cold War tanks of the West German and East German Armies, all the way to the present day tanks of the Bundeswehr.
The Tiger I was a German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm (3.5 in) KwK 36 gun. 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944. After August 1944, production of the Tiger I was phased out in favour of the Tiger II.