Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

After the defeat at Dieppe, the Allies soon discovered that they had made a big mistake in the timing of the tank landing: in order to allow tanks and infantry to attack the beach at the same time, the Allied tank landing ships had to be as close to the beach as possible before allowing the vehicles to escape. . But such a ship with a displacement of 200 tons and nine tanks inside will undoubtedly become a live target for enemy artillery fire.

At such a close range, even light artillery can easily cause a heavy blow to the landing ship. Once the ship is damaged, it means that all the tanks in the ship will not be able to go on duty on time, and a large amount of combat effectiveness will be lost in vain. This problem can be solved by placing the tanks on small landing craft, but the Allies do not have so many landing craft to call upon. The best way is for the landing ship to open the cabin and release the tanks while keeping a distance from the beach, allowing them to swim and land on their own.

However, the defense capabilities of light amphibious tanks are too poor to withstand the attack of anti-tank guns, and the medium tanks with better defense capabilities are too heavy. For example, the various types of American Sherman tanks equipped by the British army at that time had an average combat weight of It weighs about 30 tons, and the domestically produced Churchill tank weighs 38 tons. Once it enters the water, it will sink to the bottom like a weight.

So Hobart turned his attention to the "dual propulsion" device (Duplex Drive, abbreviated as DD) developed by inventor Nicholas Straussler.

Straussler (1891-1966) was born in Hungary. He designed various folding floating devices before obtaining British citizenship in 1933. The DD equipment is designed to provide flotation capabilities for large vehicles, including tanks. Its main structure is a folding canvas waterproof curtain tightly installed around the upper body of the tank. When the waterproof curtain is raised as a whole, it can provide buoyancy and protection for the tank. Sealing and waterproofing guarantee, at this time, the tank will not sink or get water even if the whole tank is below the waterline. In addition, DD equipment also provides a propeller propulsion device directly driven by the tank engine, which allows the tank to travel at a constant speed in the water.

In June 1941, the British army tested a Sheriff airborne tank equipped with DD equipment at the Brent Reservoir. The result was a great success, and the DD equipment was finally finalized in June 1942. At first, the British army chose the Valentine infantry tank with a combat weight of 18 tons as the main carrier of DD equipment. A total of 650 Valentine III (mounted with a 2-pound gun) and VIII (mounted with a 6-pound gun) were transformed into Valentine DD tanks. . However, Hobart believed that this old tank was outdated and decided to use the newer American Sherman series tanks as the new DD equipment carrier.

In 1943, the first Sherman tank was modified and equipped with a foldable canvas canopy lined with an annular rubber air hose skeleton. This device was installed on a boat-shaped platform welded around the tank body. The working method is to inflate the rubber frame through the air pipe. As the gas is filled into the rubber frame, the tarpaulin is lifted up to a high point above the turret, and the bracket locks the tarpaulin. The operation is completed by the tank crew and takes only 15 minutes to complete on the deck of the tank landing ship. After the tarpaulin is unfolded, the tank can be launched into the water. The unfolded tarpaulin provides nearly 1 meter of freeboard space. The entire vehicle is powered by two small propellers installed at the rear of the body. The direction is controlled by swinging the propellers. Additional steering is controlled by the commander and is installed outside the turret. Small rudder is realized.

Tanks are slower on water, depending on sea conditions. Sea conditions above level 5 mean higher risks, but this restriction is not taken seriously, and catastrophic accidents often occur as a result. When the water depth reaches 5 meters, the tarpaulin can be folded, and then it is the time for the "DD Sherman" tank to show its skills, and its main gun can fire.

There is no heading machine gun on the "DD Sherman" tank, but its artillery provided powerful and direct fire support for the British soldiers on the landing. Especially in the Normandy landing battle on June 22, 1944, the effect was obvious . Once out of the water, the propellers at the rear of the body can be retracted, and when leaving the beach it becomes a standard main battle tank.

Germany also studied amphibious tanks during World War II, and the Panzer II tank had an amphibious version. However, such a light tank with weak protection and weak firepower did not meet their requirements. They wanted to send their main tanks up.

I don’t know which talent in the German Army was so imaginative after seeing the Navy’s submarine that he even made a whimsical plan to let the tank swim across the English Channel. To be honest, this idea is as unbelievable as someone telling you that the sun will rise from the south tomorrow. However, the top brass of the National Army and Mustache, perhaps dizzy with the war situation, actually approved the plan. The German engineers not only followed the military's requirements, but actually succeeded.

They plan to modify the Panzer III or IV tank so that it can move underwater. In the end, German engineers chose the Panzer IV because it was the largest, most powerful tank in Germany at the time and had the best protection. Engineers chose the D and E types of Panzer IV as the basis for research and development, simply because they were the most produced models.

Their modification of the Panzer IV tank was to seal the tank's main gun and add a protective cover. Other places where leaks may occur, such as the machine gun firing port and observation windows, were sealed with waterproof materials. Rubber seals and drain top covers are installed on the hatches, turrets, and armored parts of each part of the body. Compared with the ordinary four-tank in appearance, there is not much difference except for the extra support frame for fixing the breather pipe and pipe.

However, unlike the original Panzer IV, it has an additional snorkel and underwater navigation compass. The breather pipe is equipped with a sealing cover, and the exhaust pipe is equipped with a one-way exhaust device. When the tank is diving, air is introduced into the cabin through the breather pipe. The ventilation equipment is composed of an 18-meter-long ventilation hose and a buoy at its front end. An air suction port and a radio antenna are installed on the buoy of the ventilation equipment. The air input into the tank cabin enters from the buoy. When the submersible tank moves forward in the water, its buoy floats on the water, and the air in the vehicle is supplied through the buoy port.

After extensive modifications, this kind of submersible tank can already reach a maximum depth of 15-18 meters underwater. It can also travel along the seafloor underwater. From this point of view, it seems that this kind of tank already has combat effectiveness. As long as a few armored regiments are gathered, these diving tanks can conquer Britain.

It’s just that the ideal is very plump and the reality is very skinny.

First of all, this unfortunate snorkel is completely on the water surface by a buoy. If the buoy gets water, the water will flow into the tank along the snorkel, and the people in the car may be drowned. Secondly, this kind of tank can travel underwater for up to thirty minutes. If it exceeds, the concentration of carbon monoxide in the vehicle will be too high, which may cause poisoning of the crew members. If the specified value is exceeded, a large amount of carbon monoxide may explode.

In addition, although the theoretical diving depth of this submersible tank is 18 meters, it must be when the water surface is stable. If the wind and waves are too strong, it is estimated that the tank will be easily overturned by the current. When used, the submersible tank must be transported to the coastal waters by barge before use, and then launched not far from the target coast. The water surface must be gentle sand, otherwise the tank will anchor directly. In addition, its field of vision in the water is very limited. If it encounters an obstacle, it will probably be difficult to get around it. If it fails to get around an obstacle or breaks down, it will stop in place and eventually become a true diving tank that can never get up.

In addition, even if it does land ashore, there is no way to fire immediately. Since tanks were required to dive deep, when building the tanks, the Germans used a large amount of sealing materials for waterproofing. As a result, the weapons on the tanks could not be used immediately after landing. Because some important parts, such as artillery, machine guns and observation devices, are filled with a large amount of sealing rubber and foam materials.

The tank's breather pipe must also be removed, because these 18-meter-long hoses greatly hinder the normal advancement of the tank, and the rear exhaust pipe also needs to be reinstalled. Therefore, the crew also needs to dismantle these diving equipment before the tank can exert its true combat effectiveness. And when all this is done, the enemy may launch a counterattack. So this weapon is not very easy to use. It can be said to be a bit sensational.