The Greatest Light Tank of WW2?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ย. 2022
- When World War 2 broke out, the light tank was merely a tracked scout with lackluster armor and armament. Still, the US Army employed the reliable but underwhelming M3 Stuart during its campaign against General Erwin Rommel in North Africa.
However, the expertise learned from this combat experience led to the creation of the ultimate light tank of World War 2: the M24 Chaffee.
Also known as the Panther Pup for its similarity to the German tank and its inclusion of sloped armor, the M24 was also armed with an effective 75-millimeter cannon, a .50-caliber machine gun, and two .30-caliber Browning ones.
With a top speed of 35 miles per hour, a range of 100 miles, and excellent off-road capability, the Chaffee became the spearhead of armored formations when the Allied forces crossed the Rhine to defeat the Third Reich.
Moreover, its operational service lingered well after that global conflict…
- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
Great documentary as usual.....my only gripe is that you used film of the M3 Lee at the start and never showed a M3-M5 Stuart at all.
I was about to say.
Was about to comment the same.
@@McPh1741 not just film but also talking about the high silhouette... definitely a blunder
Also, they show a British Crusader tank when saying the 30mm gun was inferior against the German "Panzers"... Lazy.
@@hockeywarrior good catch, noticed that one too
The “Ghost Army” of Allied inflatable tanks were the "Greatest Lightest" of WW2 👀
Valid point. Unstoppable.
-_-
That's gold
None were even lost!
I always wondered why they didn't use one of those as a decoy and have two or three nice Sherman's disguised near it while they just sit there and wait. It's easily portable and they could have a lot of fun with that. They could even lure in other fighter planes to a anti-aircraft battery with inflatable p-51s or bombers. At the least make them waste their resources.
My father in-law was a M-24 tank driver in Korea. He just passed away, RIP cpl Mier. We miss you.
Korea will be united
Till Fiddler's Green...
My dad was in the Anzio Invasion, was part of a tank crew. He never spoke about most of his time in WWII and we never knew he was in this battle until after he passed in 2003. While going through his belongings after he died, we found a coffee table book on WWII and there was a tab on one page. We looked on the page and he had underlined a paragraph that describes his unit , 5th Army, going into Anzio.
The M24 Chaffee is categorically my favorite US WWII tank. My Dad was a loader in the M41 Walker Bulldog, so he "kind of" knows what it was like to be in a Chaffee. The Chaffee model is great for SF kit-bashing. I never knew about the "Panther Pup" nickname or that it fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Gonna remember that. Thank you for making this video!
yeah im pretty sure the m-24 never ever was confused at all for any other tank
The M41 is my favorite tank of all time, design-wise.
My favorite tank from WW2 was the pzkfw IV. The M-24 Is by far my favorite Korean war tank.
@@brooksroth345 Oh yeah. I build the pzkfw IV many a time in 1:72 scale. Another good memory.
There's a very glaring mistake during production of this video in the footage used for the "m3 Stuart" light tanks, every time the narrator speaks of the M3 Light tank, the vastly larger, heavier, and way way different M3 grant and lee MEDIUM tanks are shown. It's an easy mistake to make if you don't specify which M3 vehicle you're talking about, and probably as simple as the editor looking for stock footage of "M3 TANK" into some sort of repository. It's not a super big deal, but it's going to bother the heck out of any Tank enthusiast that watches this mini-doc, me included.
Exactly
I agree completely and was about to post the same comment!
I caught that one as well. I've watched some of the other videos posted by whoever this guy is. He is constantly making mistakes with the wrong footage and editing. I saw a couple other videos where he was citing directly from several Wikipedia sources.
I was going to comment the same. the M3 Lee probably popped up because it's more well known versus the stuart, as it is comically bad and made a good load of tank memes.
Came here to say this, but you got it covered.
You keep showing an M3 Grant medium tank. That is a different beast.
My grandfather served in a Greek M21 Chaffee as a gunner. They were used along with M18 Locust support vehicles. They were very capable and reliable in the difficult Greek terrain and the gun surprisingly was effective in the situation that it was used. There in the yugoslav border ready for defense against infantry that's why
The M18 is called the Hellcat not the Locust. And the Chaffee is M24 not M21
M24 Chaffee and M18 Hellcat, the Locust was the M22 light tank.
A lot of the tanks shown in the beginning of the video are not M3 Stuarts but instead M3 Lee's. The Lee was a medium tank outfitted with a hull 75mm and a commander 37mm. Its quite different from the Stuart even though it shares the M3 designation.
yea.. i noticed that too
Not just at the beginning.
Looks like whoever made this video just Googled "M3" and assumed what they got was the Stuart.
In Fact I never saw a Stuart in the entire video.
@@peakbagger3180 come to think of it.. i dont believe i did either.. saw alot of m3 grants/lees though
@@BRANFED If you pay attention, you will briefly see one at about 3:30
"The Bridge at Remagen (1969)" is an excellent World War II movie.
Not just because it was shot on location in Czechoslovakia, which still had a bridge that looked almost exactly like the bridge at Remagen, Germany,
but also because of the multiple M-24 Chaffee's shown in action.
M-24's are also seen in the 1965 film "Battle Of The Bulge." However M-47's play the role of King Tigers. Understandable really, King Tigers are a little hard to come by.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 I remember, unfortunately. I guess the M-24's were the best part of the movie.
They stood in for Shermans I guess.
@@AudieHolland Possibly, although they never called them Shermans, they were just there. It's a good thing the Spanish Army had a few still on inventory, at least they were period correct.
The best part of the movie in my opinion was "Panzerlied!" 😃
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Humorous note.... the lyrics of The Star Spangled Banner work perfectly to the music of The Panzerlied! 😎
@@lancerevell5979 Holy jeez, you're right! It's running through my head even as we speak!
I served in a Mechinized Infantry Division. My Vehicle was an M-125a1. It was a variant of the M-113a1 APC. My Squad had 7 Men in it we worked and trained in our Track. The Squad leader was a buck Sergeant. He maintained all comms.
Not sure what this comment has to do with the M24 Chaffee?
@@mikeelliott2736 not sure why you care!!
@@mikeelliott2736 you ought to be more respectful of such a veteran.
@@mikeelliott2736 not sure why you had to type up some bitch-made comment
@@jesper112183 lol "such a veteran". Do you mean a pawn or tool of western imperialism?
Much of the footage used when talking about the Stuart is of the M3 Lee, rather than the M3 Stuart
I've always had a fondness for this little beast, and I'm glad it's finally getting some love.
I'm not sure if this was intentional, but at all the segments where you are describing the M3 Stuart, you have imagery of the M3 Lee/Grant Medium.
Probably a disconnect between the narrator and who ever does the video editing.
Early in the video when he mentions superior German panzers it shows a British Crusader mkII
Every video is like this recently. The editor or whoever is getting the archival footage is not at all knowledgeable on military history.
@@thelordofcringe Worse is why is no one doing fact checking or video checking like how most videos/paper/blog has fact and word checks before posting
Several images describing the M24 were actually M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. The M18 was based on the M24, using several components. The 18 was equipped with a 76mm gun in an open topped turret. The gun was capable of destroying Panthers and Tigers, which the M24 could only do with difficulty.
this channel is getting worse by the video, at the moment you are better of reading the M24 wiki page then this
I spent 50 years building model Tanks.
20 years as a Tanker in the US Army 2years as an instructor at the US Army armor school
and volunteer at the Patton Museum.
and Never heard anyone refer to an M24 has a "Panther Pup" !!!
I also trained on tanks at Ft. Knox. My commander was Col.J.W. Thurman. I was a US Navy LT. an O-3 ( Captain to you army pukes). I was sent under ACTDTRU orders to Ft. Knox by the Navy to learn Army Armour doctrine. I learned to enjoy "J.W."'s rather weird since of humor. We became "friends" , as much as an O-6 can be a friend to an O-3. But he must have enjoyed my odd since of Navy humor- he " gave me" my own M-60A1 to crash round the tanker course at Ft. Knox. Did you ever meet "JW"? or his hand picked Command Sgt Major, Joe Whitworth? There was a short time when we were a "terrible trio" at Ft. Knox. I miss them both. May they RIP. If you never knew "J.W", google him? He was a legend and should be honored and remembered. All "tread-heads " should be. I saw them as the Army land version of a DDG. Only smaller.
@@ThePrader I was an E6 instructor at the Armor Officers Advanced Course in 84 and 85.
The only officer that I met outside my chain of command and our students
was LTG Frederic J. Brown
Bob Semple tank was the greatest light tank of WW2, change my mind.
I see you are a cultured man of armor
I concur
Cant argue with that
I think that one was camouflaged as a barn and as mobile? Yeah,.. brilliant concept.
100%.
5:02 The Chaffee had a width of 9.4 inches? Wow, no wonder it was such a great light tank. It could hide behind a tree.
🤣
"8ft tall and a width of 9.4" Jesus Christ!
i had to rewind to make sure i heard that right 9.4 inches.
I heard that too.
The M-24 was used by the French in Indochina (Vietnam), and were known to withstand NVA/Vietcong/Vietminh attacks, even RPG’s of the time. A tough little tank.
This tank also played a role in the war movie "The Battle of the Bulge" (1965) actor Telly Savalas drove it around under the name bargain basement. He played his role as "Guffy" with verve
With a width of 9.4 inches it must've been hard to score a hit on the frontal armor !
Great looking vehicle. Find it hard to believe there was room for 5 crew but it made sense to have an extra crewman in a recon vehicle who could focus on the radios.
The TC would maintain Comms.
I've seen one irl not long ago and it's quite big, well bigger than i expected so yeah there's room for a 5th crew member
The tank usually just had four men crewing it, the commander, gunner, driver, and bow machine gunner. There usually wasn’t a dedicated loader assigned since it wasn’t intended to be in serious combat. The bow gunner was referred to as a “cannoneer” and would act as the loader if needed.
Didn't have as much armor, but it was pretty well armored for a light tank while still maintaining speed and maneuverability, not to mention it carried the firepower of a 75mm sherman in a much more faster chasis. Like an uparmored hellcat, but less boom
My Grandfather was in the 736th Tank Battalion.
Great video! I liked that you talked slower and at a more steady pace than some of your older videos. Definitely makes it easier to follow! :)
i wonder if it is an ai voice the way it is scripted.
I still love the M3 Stuart, and those 'Haunted Tank' comic books I read in the 1960s-70s.
Jeb and his crew kicked everybody’s ass , panthers , tiger, Bf109’s you name it . And all with that 37 mm cannon and a few Ma Dueces ! Don’t forget Sgt .Rock
@@RWildekrav66 and... 'The Unknown Soldier'. This is how I learned about the Greatest Generation.
This is probably one of the best-looking if not THE best-looking tank of WW2. Along with the (in my opinion) Panzer Mk III, PZ 38T, Tiger I, T-34 and early modal Sherman tanks.
M18 Hellcat TD
The Crusader is the best looking tank with the M-24 right behind it
In the Chieftain's opinion the Panzer III was the best tank in the world in 1939. And once the initial shock wore off Panzer III crews figured out how to deal with the Soviet T-34/76.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 dude we are talking about how they look not their performance
@@thomasstevenhebert Panzer III's look good too! 😃
Although as far as looks go in my opinion the most terrifying looking tank of WW2 is the King Tiger. Even almost 80 years later a King Tiger is still one scary-looking tank!
I can't imagine what a GI Joe in the Ardennes or a GI Ivan on the steppes of Russia thought when he saw one for the first time. Maybe we don't want to?
Upgraded into the NM-116, the Chaffee would serve in the Norwegian army well into the 1990s
A very neat thing about the Chafee was its gear box it's foward-reverse lever was separate from the 1 thru 5 gear range so it could head off in reverse as fast as it could go forward
That’s one pretty Cadillac.
M-24s were used as Shermans during the 1965 movie Battle of the Bulge.
They were used as stand-ins for all sorts of tanks back in the day. It might have satisfied the grown-ups but every cinema was full of irate 14-year-olds shaking their heads.
I had a friend who was a mechanic and worked on these in WW2, and he said they got them to going 65mph.
In Korea, the M-26's were USMC tanks, not U.S. Army.
From what I've read the U.S. Army Used M24, M4, M26 and M46 tanks in Korea.
It is pretty well known the first tanks the U.S. Army had in Korea were the light M24 tanks that did not do well against the Nork T34 tanks.
No US Army M-26s in Korea.
That would be news to Welborn "Tom" Dolvin
There is a Chaffee at Ft. Riley in KS that I got a chance to look over just outside their museum. It is an impressive looking tank but had to have been super cramped with 5 crew.
Nope, I've been in one. Surprisingly roomy. M5 Stuart, on the other hand...tight!
Many thanks for the video - I believe France kept their Chaffee's in storage for many years after WW2 and sold them as surplus possibly in the 1990's?? I live on a farm and I've always wanted to own one of these babies as a useful deterrent to trespassers because of its excellent off road capabilities!!!
As a detterent to trespassers......wow...nobody would want to be blown to pieces by a tank. A good idea though.
If you can find it, the book "Brazen Chariots" by Maj. Robert Crisp is very good. His experiences in North Africa with the Royal Tank Regiment clearly explain how the M3 was such a revelation, they became known informally as Honeys, because when they were introduced, when asked what they thought of the new machines, some Tommy said, "it's a Honey, sir," and it stuck. Beyond that, the book chronicles the relatively free-ranging operations and is thoroughly enjoyable.
You show a lot of Grant and Lee M3's! The US Army had a love of the "M3" designation for everything for awhile. That 75mm gun on the Chaffee wasn't worth much in Korea against T34/85's.
Everyone needs to look closely at the beginning of this video.He did show the Stewart. Thanks for yet another fine video.
I don't want to add to the M3 controversy of the video as they appear at 1:46 getting tracks on, 2:23, 3:00, 3:30, 7:27 and 7:53. There is also a great view of the turret @ 8:09. I will give the author a buy however as he is constantly turning out great videos and the main subject was the M24. I do however want to comment on the fact that @ 0:51 and 9:32, there is some good footage of an M18 Hellcat coming up from the river. Kudos to you Dark Docs for your interesting content. You can't win them all but your successes far outweigh some oversight. Good Work!
Marine Corps: No, we don't want this pup. Too small.
M24 Chaffee: Whines and whimpers with sad puppy eyes.
Always a good day when you upload another good video
Enjoyed this video on the light Tanks. So many brave crews in WW2 had a tough time against the German Panzer and Tìger. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨
They actually didn’t, by the time this entered the war not a lot of German tanks were left, so german tanks were pretty rare and I don’t think this ever encountered a tiger. The times it did come up against panthers and other German tanks it usually bested them, but that isn’t saying much since ever U.S. tank in Europe beat up on German ones
The footage is not of Stuarts but Lees and Grants.
Says M3 Stuart, shows M3 Lee instead.
Lots of M3 Grants and Lees shown during the Stuart Succession section. Still a pretty good vid. Thanks.
I did enjoy the video, keep up the good work.
I like these videos even though I see inconsistencies between the narration and the clips. I don't look for the inconsistencies though. I just sit up and enjoy the video. I can't complain because I wasn't there in battle.
The tanks depicted are the M3 Grant tank, not the Stuart tank.
Man I'm a sucker for American light tanks. The Chaffee, Bulldog, and Sheridan are all some of my favorite armoured vehicles.
I always liked the little folding windshield provided for the driver to use when he’s driving head out. It even has a little windshield wiper on it. The commander’s .50 mount always looked a little weird though. It’s not really a pintle, it looks like a tripod welded to the turret.
Several U.S. tanks had that weird feature, one of the crew wiyld have to climb out of the vehicle and stand at the rear of the turret to engage ground and air targets. I never understood the reasoning for this, but there it is.
The Chaffee's eternal nemesis is the Luchs; both can compete for the cutest tank ever.
Thank you for the latest upload.
Well researched and narrated as always .
Awsome vid but a mention could have gone to the upgraded Chilean army M24 tanks with the 60mm hypervelocity gun which they retired in 1999 and the Uruguay version also which is been replaced by upgraded M41 Walker Bulldogs donated by Brazil. They where the last serving M24's in the world.
In 1966-'68 I was stationed at Baumholder, Germany with the 1/68 Armor. I was a mechanic/wrecker operator in the battalion maintenance section, in the spring of 1968 (I think) someone found found an unmolested Chaffee and decided to place it in front of our HHC billets on Boston Street. I wasn't all that familiar what it was at the time, but we opened the deck plates and admired the dual Cadillacs. Many years later, in the '90's I guess, when Google Earth came out, I looked at Baumholder and the M24 was no longer there. I wonder where it is now.
It may be the M-24 that is on static display on Sembach Kaserne which used to be an air base but now belongs to the Army.
@@davidkretz8323 Were you stationed at Sembach? During my time at BH I traveled all around the area on and off duty, but don't recall going to the military base at Sembach. For some reason the name is familiar to me, but I don't know why. I read up on Sembach on Wikipedia, seems like a lot of AF drama there over a very short period.
The great light tanks of WW2 were the ones which had most impact to battles they were in, probably in the early part of WW2. By late 1944 when the M24s were introduced, all light tanks were only suitable for auxiliary duties.
Great vid on an amazing tank. Thanks.
Another great show. I believe those tanks were used in the 65 film Battle of Bulge with Henry Fonda.
Even as a kid it bothered me that all the US vehicles in that movie were painted up in almost more German looking tri-color camoflage. Then they turned around and painted the late war King Tiger (M47's) in German grey! 😁
A fine little scout tank.
Adna Chaffee served in the Civil War, in Arizona fighting the Apaches, in China against the Boxers, and as Chief of Staff. His son, Adna Jr., Served in WWI, and commanded the Armored Force, between the wars.
You keep showing the M3 Lee when talking about the M3 Stuart. Two different tanks despite both being called M3s. Ya gotta love 1940s army nomenclature. Technically M3 medium tank (Lee) and M3 Light Tank (Stuart).
My Favorite tank in World of Tanks, i knew it was due after the last tank video
I had a tank toy from early 90s China, it has a chaffee Chassie with a Panzer IV F turret, weird like a fever dream, disappeared like one too.
That was a comic book tank. It replaced the M5 Stuart with a tank the crew built from what they found in a tank junkyard.
G. I. Combat was the comic.
Make War No More
@@anthonyiocca5683
Thank you for the info, didn't know its origin before.
I don’t know why I love this channel so much, your voice, the music, it just makes whatever you’re talking about sound cool and captivating
Good video. Thanks
Good video!
The M-24 Chaffee, slightly and externally modified, was used for a number of years by the OPFOR at the National Training Center, Ft. Irwin, CA.
I believe that your referring to the M-551 Sheridan light tank, which were vismoded into BMP’s and T-72’s. I was a gunner in a Sheridan/BMP at Ft. Irwin in the late 80’s. They served at the NTC into the late 90’s.
Our PT-76s had those M-24 Chaffees for lunch in Garibpur, 1971. We were outnumbered and yet destroyed all of them one by one.
Let us not forget that in British service, the M3 was known as the "Honey" because it was so beloved by its users, mainly for its mobility (speed) and reliability. The reason for building a light tank in the first place was to allow for a highly mobile vehicle that could get out in front of the main body of armor, locate the enemy, and pull that famous maneuver known as "getting the hell out of there." Another factor: Generally speaking, tanks of the interwar period and first couple of years of WWII were terribly unreliable, which is one of the principal reasons the British (and Russians) liked American built tanks so much. All that said, the M24 was undeniably the best light tank ever, right up until the M41 came along.
On another note, I was assigned to an armored unit during my first tour in Germany prior to the wall coming down. There was an M24 on static display at the kaserne I was assigned to, and it needed a fresh coat of paint in a bad way. One weekend, I had nothing better to do so I got some paint from the motor pool and some beers from the local Trinkhaus and did my best to make the WWII veteran look presentable again. And wouldn't you know it, some commander decided the tank would look much better in front of his HQ, and shortly thereafter it was gone.
I have driven an M5 and as a recon viehicle i would rate it rather high. Best thing about the M6 37mm is it had a cannister round. Thats a nice shotgun to convince infantry to go away
The M3 and M5 were competitive with anything in its weight class throughout the war. Just IMO.
Opening scenes, taliking M-3 Stuart while showing video of M-3 Lee medium tank.
LOVE you showing M3 Lee's as the M3 Stuarts...LOL
You keep showing the M3 Lee in North Africa that’s not the Stewart, you’re narrating is good but the videos that go along with it are terrible
Yes, then says “German panzers” and show a clip of the British Covenanter. Makes him look totally ignorant.
Give the guy a break... It's more about the narration and story than it is the pictures... Would you rather a still of the correct tank for the duration of the story?
For some strange reason, the designation M3 was used for both the Stuart 'light' tank and the Lee 'medium' tank. I think that's how the mix-up occurred.
Videos may not relate to the script
@@ryanhahn7251 It’s like whoever wrote the script never saw the video. Clearly whoever selected those video clips was not very knowledgeable of the subject matter.
Fun Fact : Uruguay was the oldest operator of chaffee tank since 1957 to 2019. During it's service, Uruguay chaffees were received numerous upgrades, including retrofitting the original cadillac petrol engine with SAAB scania diesel engine, re-positioning the M2 HMG to the front of commander's cupola, re-bore M1919 MG to 7.62 NATO, and updated gunner sight.
Every time you mention the M3 Stuart, you show an M3 Lee. Other than that, great video.
These are in The Bridge at Remagen. Yugo Army. The opening credits have about a dozen of them.
Good information but, the tank you are showing in the video as the "M3 Stuart" light tank was actually the M3 Grant/Lee medium tank. One can tell it was the M3 Grant/Lee tank because of the 75mm gun sticking out of the hull and the 37mm gun in the turret. The M3 Stuart light tank only had a 37mm cannon in the turret, there was no cannon in the hull.
At least one Chaffe took out a Tiger B by using a phosphorus shell. A phosphorus shell dropped burning phosphorous into any even slight opening in liquid form and on the skin it continued burning going deep into the person's body, during them from inside.
If memory serves there's still some M-24's in service in South America but I don't remember which countries. Goes to show you if you take care of WW2 equipment it can last for decades. I remember seeing WW2 vintage 2 1/2 ton trucks still in service in the 1970's when I was in Denmark for a NATO operation.
Thailand still uses chaffes , They're mostly ceremonial but still running
@@j.robertsergertson4513Thanks! And they're still running I'll bet everything else on them still works as well!
More likely too broke to upgrade
Norway used its m24 untill the 1993. Or we upgraded our chaffies in 1975 with a rangefinder and better gun. The norwegian upgraded m24, the NM116 is actually the tank used in the thunbnail
In War Thunder M24 was broken in the lower ranks/BR, the combat and scouting abilities of that tank is amazing
The M3 shown is not a light tank. It is the M3 Lee or Grant medium tank. This was a stopgap Medium while the M4 Sherman was being developed and produced. The M3 had the old 37mm gun on top in a turret, and a 75mm gun built into one side The light tank used in North Africa was the M3 or M5 Stuart armed with only the 37 MM gun..
Always liked the Chaffee..built an Italieri kit of it in 1/35 scale….
I built that model in my youth, and won a ribbon in a scale modeling contest. Still building models 40 years on. I have a Tamiya Chaffee in my stash that is a rebranded Italeri kit.
Don't you hate playing a game in a light tank match then this light tank with a medium tank canon comes by and blows everyone away? Hahaha!
We should define the requirements first, there is no one fits all. The M24 is an 18t tank with a 75mm gun, quite heavy for a "light". The Luchs performed quite well at 11t, or the Sd.Kfz. 234/4 which is of course wheeled.
The Luchs retained the 2cm main gun of its predecessors, IIRC. It could scout and scoot but it should never shoot at anything heavier than a halfback. The 7.5cm on the M24 made self defense possible.
The movie "Decision Before Dawn" (1951) used Chaffee tanks in german paint as panzers quite convincingly by comparison to WW2 movies of that time
until "Kelly's Heroes" (1970) came along that had soviet T34 tanks mocked up as Tiger 1 german tanks that fooled me completely for 40 years.
I always have liked Richard Basehart, especially in "Moby Dick". Later in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"
We installed toilets in the drivers/passenger's seats of our Bob Semple tank and drove it in long distance rallies for many years.
that 9.5 inches width must have been a tight space for 5 crewmen.
The Chaffee is my favorite tank of the war!!!
I know a Korean marine infantry vet who described it as "Laffey taffy." It was better than nothing but could not go toe to toe with the chinese (russian) armored in the field = tried anyway. He had great respect for those men. Brave men one and all.
I thought I knew a lot about WWII tanks, but I had never heard of the M24 before.
8:18 Were they static or did someone have to be inside the bait steering it?
Is there no video of an actual Stewart tank available? I ask because the footage shown keeps showing Lee's and Grant's which were medium tanks.
INCOMING ...Cat Dad voice over of Doom and Gloom dude ...Bless him
Similar comments to others
1) always loved the look of the chaffee. Panther is fav looking axis tank and this for allies. Some of the uk cruiser tanks also.
2) yeah - lee/grants shown in error.
At the beginning the footage confused the M3 Stuart LIGHT tank they were talking about with images of the M3 MEDIUM tank
I know it was just a game, but I played a simulation of WW2 where I used massive numbers of Chaffees to blitz across France and into Germany with great success, as long as I included some infantry based anti-tank protection.
Anyone remembers that Uruguay used its M-24 until the 21st century?
"a width of 9.4 inches"
I noticed that, l never knew that tanks could be that thin 😂
The M-18 said hold my Beer LOL!
The beginning of this documentary shows M3 Lee medium tanks, not the M3 Stuart light tank. The M24 Chaffee light tank was indeed lauded as an excellent light tank design for late WW2. However, by the near end of WW2 the light tank concept was obsolescent. As the Soviets demonstrated in 1941-42, the way to go for future modern warfare was the general purpose tank, proven by the T-34/76. The Soviets manufactured over 33,000 T-34/76 medium tanks and over 15,000 T-34/85 medium tanks with the up-gunned, 85mm cannon. The Soviets continued to field the T-46 light tank through war's end but it played little part in influencing major battles.
The fate of the M24 Chaffee light tank was to be misused as a main battle tank in early days of the Korean War, 1950-53. The M24 was no match for the Soviet-built T-34/85's superior glacis armor and formidable 85mm cannon. The Soviet-built, long-barreled, high velocity 45mm anti-tank, towed cannon could penetrate the thin, 1.5 inch M24 glacis armor. Even the vintage Soviet antitank rifle, chambered for the heavy 14.2mm anti-tank penetrating round, could penetrate the M24's one-inch thick turret and side armor.
M24 Chaffee tank crews quickly became rightfully skittish about engaging the enemy in frontal battles. U.S. Army unit commanders quickly lost faith in the M24.
All that was rectified by the introduction of the WW2 vintage M4A3E8 Sherman tank with its high-velocity, 76mm cannon with the tungsten core anti-tank round. The M20 Super Bazooka with its 3.5 inch rocket made its debut in numbers at the same time. U.S. Air Force tactical ground support aircraft became more plentiful and effective at bombing and rocketing North Korean tanks and vehicles. Put all together and the T-34/85 threat was quickly neutralized.
Photographs from throughout the Korean War do not show the M24 Chaffee after the first three months of the war. You see M4A3E8 Shermans and M26 Pershing tanks. Even the surplus M36 tank destroyers with 90mm cannon supplied to the ROK army are not shown.
The British and Commonwealth forces brought in small numbers of their own tanks like the Comet and Centurian.
I wonder if the design effort for m24 was used for a 35 tonne Sherman replacement would that have been a better idea.
We had a couple of these for Base defense/Ton Son Nhute 1966-67
Please forward the part about the 75 gun taking out T34s to the makers of War Thunder. Their T34 made of super Stalinium can bounce a 90mm shell point blank.
Stug IIIs destroyed thousands of T-34s with a 75mm guns.
the time it takes for the turret to perform a 180 degrees vs the time it takes to turn that tank in 180 degrees and then back again? Thinking in terms of transitioning tracks from gas engine to perform a turn faster than the little turret can turn using hydraulic pressure?