Bigger Isn’t Always Better: A1E1 Independent | Tank Chats Reloaded
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- A bigger tank is a better tank, right? Wrong.
Meet the Interwar Vickers A1E1 Independent: a failed prototype, a prototype that proved bigger isn’t always better.
Impractical and expensive, it was never accepted into service - but it is said to have inspired equally cumbersome designs including the German Neubaufahrzeug and the Soviet T-35.
Join David Willey, The Tank Museum Curator, as he examines one of the more unusual vehicles in the collection - and discover how it became a focus for political espionage in the early 1930’s.
00:00 | Introduction
02:56 | Tank Design & Vickers
03:28 | Heavy Tank Requirements
05:38 | Initial Blueprints & Prototypes
11:08 | Test-bed Vehicle
14:50 | Myths, Issues and Life after Trials
19:25 | Does it lead to anything?
This video features archive footage courtesy of British Pathé.
#tankmuseum #davidwilley #Interwar #heavytanks
![ภาพนี้ก็ฮาเหมือนกันนะเนี้ย #2 SS8 [ พากย์นรก MEME.EXE ] | easy boy](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RMhUgxxD49Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Met David Willey at tank fest last year as he was wandering the museum grounds. Got a picture with him and he offered to take a picture of me and my partner so we could have one of just the two of us together.
He asked my partner if she was at tank fest under duress 😂
Lovely guy, all round class act.
You should have replied that she'd forced you to be there. 😊
,,XD funny stuff bro.
@@ernestcline2868 XD
Vickers was using the experience of the 1914-1918 western front, which probably seemed like the right way to go, she is truly a land ship .
It was the wrong way,but Vickers didn't have a crystal ball,so I do have sympathy for them
@@stevenbreach2561we know with hindsight it was the wrong way, but yeah, they didn't know... so by contrast at the time, it would have been the correct direction to take things.
Agreed, the design-brief was entirely predicated on a return of trench-warfare. Having this astride an enemy trench, with all 5 turrets abolishing the defending troops, would have been a breath-taking vehicle, literally and figuratively. It was the perfect tank for 1918.
@@Fidd88-mc4sz Frankly, if you think about it. A trench and an anti tank ditch have a lot of overlap...
So I will make the galaxy brained argument that it was NOT that the tank that was to blame.
It was the massive bell-end that forgot to consider the trench.
I mean the tank made sense if we presume 10ft deep trenches with reinforcements were dug...prior to the war...but the notion that such a geographic feature can just...manifest itself in a day or two when an acute need for them arise?
That never made any sense no matter the time period, and it goes to demonstrate a tendency for people working indoors tending to slowly become detatched from reality, as anyone working manual labour outside on a daily basis, know what they can realistically accomplish, but ask the lads working on the A1E1 about field work?
Considering their socio economic backgrounds and life conditions, the issue is glaringly obvious, but it is impolite to point it out, in "Proper society", thus, reality itself was underestimated.
Tank´s good though! Bit niché, but even then, stuff it into a place like Libya during their civil war 10 years ago, and it would be among the most advanced vehicles around!
In a parade it must have looked impressive
In 1982, I applied to Bovington for an apprenticeship, they were interviewing 50 people at a time, and we had to sit a test. I heard that about 450 people went for 6 jobs? I wish that I had been good enough to get that apprenticeship. I have always loved tanks, and that would have been my dream job.
Its Always A Good Day If The Tank Museum Uploads
Yeah it is , TM creates nothing but top notch content .
Best thing to come out of England
Hear hear!
Haha agreed 💯
Thanks! 🙏
I like how in that B&W picture they posed that tank right next to the tiny, tiny vickers tank.
This tank has a certain steampunk quality to it with its surprisingly sleek design despite 5 turrets sprinkled on top of it - modern thinking yet outdated right out of the gate. 😊
I concur, Your Excellency.
looks like allota JRPG's piggie back on this design for "insert evil empire tank"
‘Modern thinking’? The Challenger, (modern) is nothing like that 🤷♂️.
David is so eloquent in his history very refreshing every time he does a Tank Chat.
The Chap is a True Scholar & a Gentleman
The coolness of a rank is in linear proportion to the amount of turrets. The ideal tank would be a full size land battleship on tracks. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
The designers of tanks for Warhammer 40K clearly agree with you
Your comedic post is greatly appreciated. 😄
Counterargument: Strv 103
@@quentinking4351 doorstop wedge with baller tracked suspension and and gun
H G Wells wrote "The Land Ironclads": he was certainly with you on that.
David standing next to it adding scale reminded me that the A1E1 was the same length as the Centurion but a little lower and considerably narrower.
I adore these goofy multi turret tanks fron the interwar.
Yes.. T-35 is my favorite. The Tsar contraption is also one of my favorites
They were designed for trench warfare.
They needed to be long to get across wide trenches. Once straddling a trench, the multiple turrets allow the crew to shoot down both sides of the tank down the trench lines.
Imagine crewing one of those sub-turrets in battle.
No thanks!
My favourite is the Bob Semple tank that is made of corrugated steel. It looks like a farm building on tracks with guns sticking out all over.
@@robinbrowne5419 Yeah that’s a great one too. A tool shed on tracks
Always been fascinated by this tank, one of my favourites at Bovington.
Same here. I always make a bee line for it when I visit Bovington.
Fantastic that you've kept it in such good shape.
The master of Tank Chats is back!
David - idea for a video, how about an exploration of the background equipment used at The Tank Museum to manage heavy items? What are the tractors and cranes and so on that are real working vehicles on-site ? Do you use any Military Recovery Vehicles to do Real Work? How much is contracted out to commercial companies ?
They've shows afew. They generally use later-produced recovery tanks and military cargo cranes.
"Bring us along for a broadside!"😂
"Drive me closer, I want to Hit them with my sword!"
Always good to see something from the tank museum. My border collie lost interest when she saw Finn wasn't in it, though.
earliest I've ever been to one of these tbh, really love your work guys and hope you continue to make all this great content for armor enthusiasts the world over!
Thank you for the feedback! 🙌
Hey tank-nuts! What do you think of the latest Tank Chat? Do you think the Independent was a good investment for future tank development?
If you meant that were the millions spent to find out "let's not go there" paid off with later design efforts? For others, yes.
It would be interesting to know how and why they decided to go for the TOG after deciding that this type of design should not be built? There was also an entire "family" of similar tanks designed but never built in Japan.
Yet another superb, detailed, fluent presentation from Mr Willey. The man is a legend!
There is a value in knowing what won't work.
I much prefer this type of review compared to the earlier version which was "It's british, of course it's cr*p". This explains *why* it was designed, built and its fate.
"Fun" fact: Asbestos was revealed as a health hazard in a scientific survey published as early as the mid-1910s. It was of course buried, as there were money to be made. Still today, Canada export asbestos to countries where it's not yet banned for use, such as India.
On a personal note, my dad was born November 3, 1918. Working since 1939 in a railway workshop for the Swedish Railways (SJ), him and all his colleagues were exposed when the rolling stock was insulated with the stuff. He found out he had asbestosis during a checkup in the mid 1970s. They were not supposed to know, but a new doctor happened to mention it. Dad died in 1983, less than a year before he was to turn 65. It wasn't the asbestosis that killed him, but a heart condition, altough it probably didn't "help". That CRAP should've been outlawed before he was born, the facts were already there.
Modern fiberglass isn't much better, once its in the body it never leaves. Asbestos is a fantastic inulsulator though.
I'm sorry for your loss. if I could end death I would not hesitate for each and every life is so special and full of blessed magic that a world without is not a world at all.
A thing that big should have a Home theater, a steward or hostess and a hot tub.
It's like the grandfather to the TOG
Hear hear! 🍻
lol yes
The Old Gang.@@SuperShermanTanker
@@SuperShermanTanker Yes their is a family resemblance there for sure!
Superb, well delivered, informative (and friendly) talk. Nice one David - one of the reasons I love this series from the Tank Museum.
David Willey is a genius, no more no less.Thank you Mr Willey.
For perspective, £27k in 1923 equates to around £2M today. Yes, that is a lot for one engine! On the other hand, the overall cost of the A1E1 is equivalent to around £12M today. That's actually not that bad for a decade-long technology demonstrator programme.
And probably cheaper than a Challenger (II?) today.
Another really intelligent and nuanced video about tank history! Thank you David and team.
This is top quality content, I love this channel so much!
What a great in depth video regarding this obscure tank!
Thanks!
Thank you for your support! 👌
I am a tank nerd so I love this
Sherman!!
Get it? Sure man! 😊
@@samholdsworth420 worth it lol pretty funny
What do you think about the experimental tank USA been working on That uses a laser beam to direct lightning at targets? I'm not kidding the concept relies on the discovery that a certain type of laser provides less resistance than air so a lightning bolt would follow a laser beam to a target. Even though it sounds cool it's not a very effective strategic weapon since you could only use it during heavy storms and select lands.
Most likely to be used as a terror weapon against our own citizens when MW seize power.
"One of us! One of us!" 😄
@@rodrigosilvero5749 I think it is effective but not cool looking:(
Love the tank that's with David Willey, thanks
TY Mr. Willey. We saw how hard it is to turn a tank , with such long tracks, yet she's a beauty all the same. I recall a French tank with extra size, so that makes 4 nations involved in large tanks at the same general time .
Another excellent video cheers for ❤
Epic story as always, thank you!
Another GREAT video. Thanks
Excellent, thank you.
That was an interesting and informative talk well communicated. Thank you
He speaks so well, his videos are amazing
Good story, start to finish, well told.
Great video, thanks TM, thanks David! For all her rivets, she's quite the elegant lady for almost 100 years old 😊
I love the post WW1 tank designs. Huge land ships with multiple turrets, a million machine guns, weird shapes and angles.
This is news to me. Excellent video.
Wonderful and a bit bizarre that this still exists. Great work, all.
Oh, wow! I caught this almost as soon as this video dropped. Huzzah!
Fascinating look at a monster!
Aloha; brilliant as ever! Mahalo
I was happy to see some love for the Medium Mk. D.
In my own writing, I have deemed the A1E1 to be the first "cruiser" tank, given its specs, though of course the concept had not yet existed.
I had heard that the theft of the plans was the reason for both the NbFz and the T-35, the Germans cooperating with the Russians on tank design during this period, though I suppose they could have been inspired by newspaper photos. In the event, both were singularly unsuccessful in combat. Auxiliary MG turrets persisted in some British designs through the Crusader I.
The original design for the U.S. M6 Heavy Tank is best described as "a multi-turreted horror", the different turrets housing a menagerie of guns of different calibers. It was quickly revised.
Interesting!
Good information
Love the look of this tank.
@thetankmuseum Speaking of multi-turreted design inspired by the Independent, there also was the japanese Type 95 Ro-Go. Which sadly doesn't exist anymore...
Superb
Awesome thanks
Looks like the GOAT of WW1 tanks, the 'obvious' next step.
You guys literally still make the best videos on the Internet if ever in human history…….
Thank you!
Last scene: a mechanical monster from a horror movie...
Thank you for another interesting story! 👍
🏆🎖️⭐🙏🤗💙
Thank you for sharing
That's why I like the Britsh.I love their sense of humor!
All those turrets probably formed a lethal shot-trap; bad idea!
So interesting. Just goes to show, yet again, that the Germans were well ahead of the rest, in tank design. Peace and goodwill
Reminds me of a predreadnought with all those turrests interfering with each others 😅
That tanks badass, loving it !!!
Yes I was on armor…..
Brilliant as usual. Can you do a reloaded on KV1.
Very interesting, kinda reminds of the Soviet t-35 that was actually produced. Great job as usual, David 👍
I think the Soviets had inside guys in Britain
@@rdallas81More than a few. By the war they had a senior MI6 Officer, a BBC Home Service Producer, a diplomat and the curator of the Royal art gallery and that's just the ones we are aware of.
Thank you Mr. Willey for another great tank chat, is there any new episodes of Curator at home coming in the future?
Bearing in mind what was wasted on the A38 Valiant the A1E1 was a bargain especially as it helped the Tank Corp focus on what it wanted in an AFV instead of what the War Office wanted and also with the use of the turntable turret helped move the idea of the rotating 360 degree turret into the consciousness of tank designers over hull mounted or sponson fitted guns.
Plus standing next to it you can almost forgive the issue of the L over W failure in it's design as it is very impressive in the metal.
I find it interesting that they came up with the idea of an anti aircraft gun. As later on the Germans came up with the idea of fitting a converted anti aircraft gun on tanks like the Tiger
Grosstractor and Neubaufahrzeug: daddy?
Pz.IV and T-28: grandpa?
I cant imagine the sound when get hit from tank shell while in enclosed in those
It strikes me just how alike the thoughts were to Navel doctrine , had the Tank had three turrets in line (and so larger caliber or multiple barrel) with separate machine gun positions. with a super firing main turret. Ah but i am dreaming! can you imagine trying to turn this monster! an auxiliary tug to change heading ! very good thank you
Possibly, experimental designs are just as important if they show what doesn't work as they are in showing what does work.
great story on a broken link to the main tanks
Invest in a couple of 3M™ Scott™ RAS (Respiratory Airline Supply) Asbestos airline breathing apparatus sets
"Positive pressure set that provides the highest levels of breathing protection. The RAS Asbestos apparatus is ideal for areas with high levels of contamination." Then you could explore the inside of this vehicle, without having to wait for the finance to strip the asbestos from it.
One turret looks great, let's add some more!😅
This is an informative and fascinating video about the Independent. I'm intrigued, though, by other tanks captured in photo stills in this chat. The photo of the Independant when it paraded past the press shows these small, seemingly one-man armoured vehicles with machine guns tailing it. What? I'm a neophite when it comes to tanks, but what the heck are those? They can't be Carden-Loyd carriers. And those German tanks with multiple turrets? And those Soviet tanks? The Tank Museum has a lot of Tank Chats in its future.
Thx
First, the bigger the tank the bigger the obstacle it can cross. Particularly length gives trench crossing ability.
Second, if the tank is big and the guns small, it makes sense to put several guns on the tank.
Third, it is easier to command one 5 turreted tank that 5 separate tanks; particularly given radios that are big, expensive and unreliable.
Fourth, if one can build an engine and transmission that can move a heavy tank, then building a tank that has heavy armour and/or a big gun is part way there.
This channel is a steampunk dream
This vehicle looks like something straight out of Warhammer.
my Favorate interwar tank
"Fritz, I know I'm tired, but is that a Tugboat going through the field?"
"No, Hanz, that's definitely a Tugboat going through the field."
multi turreted tanks approach persisted until late 1930s.
A1E1 has Tha ViBE , driven primarily by Tha Look.
Are there any images of the Vickers Light, the precursor to the medium?
I like to think the Independence might be the result of the Vickers Midlands design office hearing about the contract and being miffed enough to design a tank that goes way past the capabilities stated in the original requirements just to prove their capabilities.
Great spy story at the end!
Love it. T-35 is my favorite tank of all time
Why
It’s terrible
@@Farquad76.547 No kidding, I never said it was a good tank. 5 turrets , ten man crew… it was so weird.. I love it
@@Farquad76.547 only thing cooler was the Tsar tank.
T-35, rules the multi-turret land battle ship world ! :D
Blyat tank is fine
About the only thing it ruled 😂
I do love it though, even got a model of it
@@Nerobyrne They were so close to building a land battleship !
Have you considered a flexible boroscope for looking inside (similar to those used for inspecting the internals of engines)?
Yes
That's such a specific requirement set, I'd argue they're not even requirements rather specifications.
What a great video, I haven’t been for a few years now but used to religiously go with my dad. How come there is asbestos inside the tank? Anyone know?
Craziest thing to me is always how much more expensive things are now. 40k? Hah if I could take my money back in time, I could fund a new tank design. Crazy.
Looks like they really were testing a battleship concept on land.
Does anyone know what the terror weapon behind the independent was @0:49. Thanks in advance.
I'm surprised that nobody has put on a HAZMAT suit and respirator, and gone inside with a camera to mess around and show what the interior is like.
😂
This is how my son would design a tank….. more turrets!!!!!
That tank was designed for trench warfare. The length is for getting across wide trenches. The multiple turrets is for shooting down both sides of a trench line when it straddles the trench.
What on earth are those tiny armoured tracked things with it at 0:50?