Tank Chats
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- Опубліковано 31 тра 2024
- Hello Tank Nuts! M18 Hellcat perfectly fit the American Army’s Tank Destroyer doctrine during WW2. This particular M18 saw service during WW2 and conflict in former Yugoslavia. It is part of the Phelps private collection and recently took part in the celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of the city of Mons, Belgium. Discover more on Hellcat and watch the latest Tank Chat with David Willey.
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00:00 | Intro
00:28 | Overview
08:21 | Features
#tankmuseum #tankchats #DavidWilley
Hey Tank Nuts! What do you think of the Hellcat?
Veery niice
I love the Hellcat. Very cool vehicle!
Favorite armored vehicle ever, despite almost no armor
i like it but overused and overrated for what it is
From what I remember alot of crews didn't care for it because the armor was so thin. But they appreciated its high mobility and great gun.
It was an improvement over the M10 or pulling a towed piece through the mud.
My dad was the main gunner on a M18 with the 661rst in the last few months of the war. His tank's name was the Coup de Grace and it appears at 12:33 in the video. That sure looks like him in the center top looking at the two women. Great picture. Great Dad.
That's suppper cool man .
Very cool. Unfortunately my grandfather will only show up when someone asks the question: ‘what was going on with aviation in Malawi in the middle to late 20th century?’
My dad was Recon Company of the 661st TD Bn.
Thanks for sharing your dad's story.
Thanks for that story. Coup de Grace. What’s great name for a tank.
This is one of those vehicles that just has attractive proportions in my opinion.
It's just a good looking vehicle.
Yes for sure, it's got the look. This chassis recovered with a say 8v-71T diesel and twin 40mm before L-70 GUNS. and on board radar would have been excellent as a anti helicopter system. I've seen video of the 57mm before and this is potent.
@@briandumas9975 they used the m24 chassis for that. It's a similarly attractive vehicle.
Stug III for me!
I agree, very clean lines. Merely for WW2 appearance, I would go with the Jagdpanther. Post WW2, the Chieftain or the Tanque Argentino Mediano.
Just completed the Tamiya M18 kit. I can see how it might be mistaken for a German Mk III or MK IV. I've heard the M24 was also mistaken for a German tank.
I saw an article about someone who restored one, he then entered it in car shows as a ‘43 (‘44?) Buick.
Close enough I suppose...
Like that bloke who turns up to Lamborghini meetups with his tractor!
@@hoilst That's legit!
He won every car show due to superior firepower and 76mm HVAP Tungsten balls.
He was really gunning for that door prize. 😁
Props to the designers. The Hellcat looks modern even by today standards.
This is what you get when you let Harley Earl and his staff design a tank. A timeless classic that looks like a tank should.
I was going to say the same thing! Love the M-18. It's design is 80 yrs-old and it still looks terrific today.
Not sure about it looking modern but it does look good
The Allies wished they had Hellcats back in WW1
With these tanks they easily beat the Central Powers. No Armenian Genocide, No Soviet Union, No Great Depression, No Nazi Germany and No WW2!!!
Not sure it looks modern but it sure looks like it means business!
I read Hellcats were very successful fire support vehicles in Italy, because their high power to weight ratio allowed them to climb mountains where other armored vehicles couldn't go and the 76mm was accurate at long ranges. If you could get one on top of a mountain it could command all facing slopes within range. An armored vehicle doesn't have to be great if you have one and the other side doesn't.
My great grandfather was part of a US Army tank destroyer battalion from June of 1942 until the fall of 1945 and he drove tank destroyers. He originally was a chauffeur for officers until they found out he had experience driving crawler tractors from before the war. He originally drove the M10 Wolverine in Africa, Italy, and Western Europe until his M10 got replaced by the M18 Hellcat in December of 1944. He would drive his Hellcat until the end of the war in Europe before being sent back home.
apart, a part of? two different words, two different meanings.
Great presentation the glasses are cool . He'd make a great drinking buddy.
Very cool story.
Civildefense, Nice story. Glad that your great-grandpa made it home safely. From the sounds of it, Nth Africa, Italy and Western Europe, he would have had enough points up to not get re-deployed to the Pacific for the final showdown with Japan.
That is awesome! I wish i could have talked with him and see if he would tell me stories!
M18 Hellcat was the Javelin ATGM of it's day.
I love how the staff at the tank museum can celebrate each tank for what it is, while still giving a realistic picture of the success or failure of the design. Thank you.
My thoughts exactly. I had believed previously that this was a real advantage to the Allies. Turns out that, except for a couple of notable examples, not so much.
@@markmuldoon805 It was the upgrade to the M10. Also, it was intended as a fast reaction counter to the German's previously highly successful tactics of fast armor breakthrough doctrine. It's more that the Germans couldn't hope to use the same tactics against American forces. Italy was simply too mountainous in many places for either side's favorite armor doctrines.
The real reason Pelosi visits T 🤔
ua-cam.com/video/0uj60mlgs-o/v-deo.html
There was a tv show that showed restoring tanks many years ago. They found an M18 and fixed it up. They then found an old WWII vet who had commanded an M18 in the war. He had a great time going for a ride. It was a "reality show" so who knows how much was true? Good Luck, Rick
Tank Overhaul
Not just any old M18 vet. They found the actual guy who commanded that actual M18 from the serial number. And he lived close by.
@@b2spirit35 That's what they claimed but, I've learned not to totally believe what "reality tv" says. Good Luck, Rick
@@richardross7219 it is in the script to say it, so it must be real...
I know Salvage Squad in the UK restored an M10 tank destroyer.
“I need your clothes, your boots and your Armoured Vehicle”
David Willey 2022
Looking very cool next to the hellcat with those shades!
It’s an unusual day for England - the sun is out 😂
My dad drove this in WWII. He told me that as the war went on the crew would rotate stations. He loved driving, the speed of M18 was its main grace. They would sit in a low spot take a couple of shots and run.
I love it when good historical explanations of tanks include mention of "Kelly's Heroes."
👍
oof oof!
Drinking some wine eating some cheese😂
I shake my head in bemused confusion at people who assess the effectiveness of armour by its performance in War Thunder.
😆😆
M18 is GOAT in both WT and real life
Many people in war thunder always expected an enemy within a few hundred meters or so. Because it's a small map and you can estimate the number of enemies you would encounter in that match.
In real life, you could have driven a tank for days without encountering enemies. Most of your time are spent driving, keep on lookout, and maintenance. Sometimes just an encounter with a small group of infantries, but thats not a big problem. But one day when you dont expect anything special, your friend's tank got destroyed by an enemy Panzer.
How to sound arrogant on the internet in 3 easy steps: 1. talk down on people 2. use big, out of style words to sound smart 3. profit
Welcome to 2022
During the Brest, France campaign, in August 1944, one M18 sank a German flak ship at a range of over a mile with only six shots.
Guess they were trying to compete with the US submarine (Barb) that sank a train.
That's a fun fact!
Cool
@@ConstantlyDamaged Have to keep the balance, can't let the Navy sink too many ground targets .. wouldn't be fair.
Do not underestimate a tank, specially with today’s modern fire control systems. A ship near the shore could end up in the sights of a tank.
Love the Boxing Gloves hanging on turret....Gives a new meaning to being prepared for Hand to Hand Combat.
*drive me closer, I wanna sock em!"
@@blackwoodsecurity531 driver, position the tank next to that panther so I may engage his commander in fisticuffs.
Absolutely gorgeous vehicle all dressed up. Great editing too, the black and white photos interspersed really add to the chat. Cheers boys
I was finally able to visit BTM a week ago... It was NUTS!!! I was especially impressed with the smaller part of exhibition, dedicated to WW1. Striking! And the cutthrough's of British Marks - just insane ❤️❤️❤️
I went before COVID it really is a great day out
My dad was a platoon leader in the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Landed in Marseilles in Oct. of 1944 with half-tracks and towed 76mm. Months later they were upgraded to the M-18. The open turret design presented a close call for him, when a mortar round burst nearby. He brought home a piece of shrapnel that landed next to his foot. He saw action around the Siegfried line, in Heilbronn, and was part of the security detail at the surrender proceedings of Stuttgardt in April. Ended up the war in Austria. His TD's were mostly used as tracked artillery. He had commented how fast the M18s were, and he would tell soldiers hitching a ride to hang on tight.
Thank you for the stories from your dad.
☺
As a former Heavy Antiarmor Infantryman (TOW), we regarded the men of the TD Corps as our direct ancestors in concept and mission. My company was part of 2nd Brigade 3rd Armored Division, and our platoons would be tasked to each of the teams formed from the two armor squadrons and one infantry battalion (which we were organic to). The basic concept remained, but we were tasked as the stand off anti tank element in the defense.
There is another weapons system with the same design goals as the tank destroyers, high speed to get into position to destroy advancing armored units. This is what the AH-64 Apache was designed to do. There is a reason they quickly ended up in units at the Fulda Gap when they become operational.
It has not been used for defense like that so any large degree in combat, there have not been any large armored attacks against US units. We can all be glad the was not tested for the design usage in what would have been WWIII.
@@target844 Our unit had two primary targets, anything with multiple antennas and anything remotely close to being AAA. The former to cut the head off of the snake, the later to help air assets to have a better chance at making their attacks and surviving.
Very effective shoot and scoot vehicle as proved in the Battle of the Bulge with the 705th .
The Germans were coming down the road. In the mainly offensive ops in Normandy, TD’s couldn’t support infantry and the 3 inch M10 and 76mm M-18 barely could deal with Panthers in ambush and were ineffective against the bigger tanks.
@@tonymanero5544 The M18's (IIRC) worked over a good number of Panthers in quick succession, which means they were plenty capable of dealing with them. There simply weren't any or many bigger tanks for them to deal with in the first place.
I saw PREY | Movie Review
ua-cam.com/video/HgLZvB_J74A/v-deo.html
Terrible armour and open topped turret. Did they think that nothing was going to shoot back and hit it?
@@lyndoncmp5751 The amount of armor it takes to stop the armor piercing rounds you're talking about would mean making a Tiger or King Tiger, that moves slow, is more limited in production, and not there and can't get there when you need it.
My great uncle was in the 705th td battalion as a m-18 driver. He talked with great pride about his tank and it carried the crew through many battles but usually only as supporting fire. Bastogne was a very different story.
My great uncle was in the 705th too. He used to tell me a few stories about the war. And the Hellcat was what he drove as well.
Saw some abandoned ones in Bosnia in 1999 , at Gorazde . Engines had been removed. Seem much smaller in person. I understand that they fought on both sides, with other US and Soviet vehicles. In our area (UN) there were wrecks of T-34/85s, T-55s and Hellcats. At least two had been 90% buried by bomb hits nearby. I often wonder if they are still buried.
Probably, if you find it you keep it
Pelosi, a confessed war criminal,
Jimmy Carter said.......
ua-cam.com/video/N5zjvbpgy2s/v-deo.html
👍
Very interesting to hear from a real observation
Thanks
"Traffic problems? Drive away in the hot new 1943 Buick Hellcat, and leave those traffic jams behind! (Or at least in ruins.)"
That's a good looking unit right there. The tanks not bad looking either
I love the anecdotes of them actually effectively shooting and scooting during the Battle of the Bulge while M4's were fighting as static and short-lived targets.
And that shows that the concept wasn't bad.
The "problem" was that the Allies were on the offensive all the time while the Tank Destroyer units were to be used in defence at an operational and higher level.
Wacht Am Rhine was the only German offensive large enough to allow them being used as intended.
My dad was in B Company 602d TD Battalion and made the overnight march from France up to Belgium 20-21 Dec 44 to take up positions in the vicinity of Bastogne.
He attended several unit reunions over the years and I have a copy of the 602d TD Battalion unit history. Excellent reading.
Absolutely one of the most gorgeously proportioned armoured vehicles of all time!
One of my favorites. I appreciated the great WWII period photos.
My Dad was in US ARMY from 12/08/1941 to 12/20/1945 in the 804TH , T,D, he was a Driver IN M 20 GMCM3 M10 & M18 he love it his M18 .
I love these films about various armoured doctrines, always my favourites.
Thanks tank museu.
That moment when you've just finished writing an article on the M18 for your Tank Blog right before the Tank Museum uploads this video 😄
Timing is everything! Where do I find your article? I’d love to read it!
My dad was a tank mechanic, among other things, with the 903rd Heavy Ordnance Battalion during WW2 from the Normandy Invasion all the way through to the end of the war. His unit was attached to the 3rd Armored Division and fought in almost all of the major battles the 3rd Armor was engaged in. He hated the Shermans, but liked the M18 Hellcats.
Thanks
Both Looking good. Curator rocking those sunglases :)
Harley Earl was also instrumental in the development of the first Corvettes(the car not the ships, although the car was named after the ships).
Yet another example of David Wiley's concise but hugely informative and apt explanations as to the 'why' of the subject vehicle that supplements and informs the presentation. He brings colour and nuance to something that could be "is tank, has gun, moves, works". Love his presentations.
My grandmother welded on the M18 at the Buick tank plant in Flint Michigan
Thanks! love to sit and watch these!
My grandfather was the tank driver in Company B 602 tank Destroyer Battalion.
This is a good amount of research, many thanks for that, also, really great footage. Thank you David Wiley and team.
Beautiful restoration job!
A wonderful and insightful video! A favorite armored fighting vehicle I remember reading about, the M-18 was well designed and *fast* ,even if did not often fight in its intended role.
Thank you to David Willey and all at The Tank Museum !!
☺
This looks modern compared to most ww2 tanks. Great design.
David Willey looking fly af in this clip
Loved seeing this at Tank Fest, one of my favourites!
Great video and presentation - Thank You!
Just started watching this channel. Noticed the Mighty Jingles in the top right corner. Been watching his videos for years. Glad to see a familiar face. You all have some great content. Thank you for what y’all do.
You know a man is serious about his passions when he has steeltoed boots under his sundays pants. Just the sheer amount of knowledge comming out of this man is staggering. Highly appreciated, love from Holland!
I had to look several times, because that vehicle and the buildings and outdoor pavilion look just like the Army War College in Carlisle, PA.
During the Korean War, Filipino Tank Ace Capt. Conrado D. Yap held the line with his M18 Hellcat against hordes of Chinese and North Korean soldiers at the Battle of Yuldong. He held the line until he was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper... He is credited for knocking out 13 Chinese and North Korean vehicles..
@ Bobbie Manuel dela Pena - One of the pleasures of studying history - military history in this case - is the chance to learn something new and hear someone's story you had not heard. Thank you for posting about Captain Conrado Yap and his amazing exploits. I was not familiar with it and now I am. Men of his caliber deserve to be remembered and celebrated down through the years of 20th century history. The Korean conflict was not, as a rule, a war of armor - but there certainly were exceptions to that trend. I would like to visit the Philippines someday; I have a great respect for her people. Thank you again....
@@GeorgiaBoy1961
🇨🇳: You can't defeat me.
🇺🇲: I know. But he can...
🇵🇭
@@bobbiemanueldelapena4997 - Very good! We Americans already know.... don't mess with Filipinos!
One of my fav WoT vehicles, gets in position quick and able to deliver a surprise, lethal first hit.
Awesome! And once again, you are Rocking those sunglasses good sir.
I think the real reason they didn't do their intended job except when the Germans were doing their masse armor breakthrough tactics they once so heavily relied on... was that the Germans were no longer capable of using those tactics against the American forces, and were stopped when they tried. It was the tactic the allies in general were worried most about, and they wanted to have it countered. The Germans had breakthrough armor doctrine, and the US had dedicated fast QRF to counter, which was eventually used with great success.
I have been building and painting a little model Hellcat, it is one of my favorite WWII vehicles
Saw that very same Hellcat at the Victory show this year too! Great vehicle.
Thank you, very informative.
Thank you for this video from Canada
Must've been early in the weekend: David had pretty bad sunburn by Sunday!
It was an awesome show, and seeing a Hellcat frolicking about was really cool!
My grandfather was a hellcat driver in 771st TD battalion. Was wounded late in 1944 by a sniper while relieving himself, so the paperwork says.
Unless the sniper shot his Peter off how would they know to put it in the paper work?
Wounded, not killed i suppose.@max420thc
It looks sporty and fast. You can see the influence of the Buick guy.
Great tank chat as usual, lots of cool information about the M18. Though I was left wondering what the bucket (15:21) was used for?
Thank you so much for this segment I find it very interesting how the US and the Yugoslavs seemed to be very interested in this style of thank the Australian tank museum has a M-36 that came from Yugoslavia and they switched out its power plant while in service there for a Russian T-35 diesel and it seemed to work very well.
I’ve been trying to get them to do a piece on it but you beat them to it so to speak with this M-18 which is just an earlier version so thank you very much.
The only tracked vehicle I considered owning!
The M18 has always been my favorite WW2 vehicle I think it’s just gorgeous looking
I was wondering when the M18 'Hellcat' would pop up, turns out the Museum don't have one apparently. Great video!
Its such a nice looking vehicle, I wonder how many are left?
Taiwan doesn't have any
@@ruzziasht349 the only places outside of the US to have them I'd guess be the Balkans
@@McC.444 some south American countries use modernized chaffees and m5 Stuarts as fire support vehicles, if the US had extra after WW2 someone somewhere probably has them left iver
@@blackwoodsecurity531 good idea, but I know that the Croatians and Serbians used M-36s and M-18s throughout the 90s that weren't too different to their original form
One of the best looking American AFVs of the war. Sexy stuff.
David looking sharp!
Thank you for some knowledge
I've been waiting forever for this one!
That's one cool looking David Willey! 🙂
Trying to attract a younger audience 😜😜
First of all i want to say i survived the mass genocides across Bosnia that was done by the Serbians (example srebrenica). Yugoslavia split up and Serbia did not like it and backed by Russia they attacked Croatia and Bosnia. Croatia had a military and so did Serbia while us Bosnians did not and had to fight basically civilians vs an army and supply ourselfs or use stuff we captured. Serbs wanted yo slaughter us and take our Land. We had a Sherman we captured in out town from the Serbs and it served us well. Now i live in USA and love history and many things especially Tanks! Thanks for these tank chats! Love em! I want to say, if Germany had these Hellcats instead of these huge Tigers they would not have lost the war so quick! Hitler made so many mistakes and the allies were lucky he did and thats why they did not want to assassinate him.
Excellent video 📹
I LOVE the detailed explanation of tank doctrine and design philosophy behind the development of the tanks you feature. Any book recommendations on tank design doctrine, etc?
Yes! I love the Hellcat!!
Bloody beautiful vehicle the M18.
Loved it.
My daddy was a Hell Cat ! 654th tank destroyer battalion Company B headquarters. France Belgium and Luxembourg. Lied about his age , and went in at 15 .
Imagine if they had a good stabilizer on this thing... That would be an absolutely terrifying weapon
I love the lines of the Hellcat!
Never knew about their service in Yugoslavia before. Interesting bit of information. Also I was wondering what that hole in the front might be good for until he said it was battle damage ...
Love the narrator. Great video.
Notorious for fins?
Genius sir!
He was a genius.
Yes DW should’ve said “legendary” rather than “notorious”!
I have an Uncle I never met who served with the 603rd Tank Destroyers but died shorty after the breakout from Normandy during Operation Cobra. On August 8th, 1944, the 603rd was outside of Gousenou, France, when they received "considerable
heavy fire" from the German held town that had been converted into a military fortress during 4 years of German occupation. Approximately 30 men were killed, wounded, or missing, that day and among them the Battalion Commander of the 603, Lt. Col. John G. Minniiece, was among the dead. On August 9th, after a buildup of more American forces outside of Gousenou over 900 Germans surrendered without a fight.
HOWEVER - On August 7th, 1944, a day before the American forces first arrived outside of town, Germans forced 44 men, women, and children into the center of town and massacred them. I respect my Uncle for standing up to fight those types of people and I try to honor his memory.
The sacrifice of my Uncle, Ernest J. Galles, and those like him, is not forgotten.
I noticed that the M-18 shown, "Bronx Bruiser", has a pair of boxing gloves hung on the turret. Cool attention to detail.
That’s a good looking Tank 🇺🇸
Now this is the OG Hellkitty!
The Rogal Dorn looks like a hell of a tank!
It looks way more menacing than a lot of video game representations make it look. Really cool to see one of these
snazzy shades mr Willey
As an outsider looking in, it seems to me that the US Army took the requirements for speed and firepower and applied them to tank design, such that all of the armored force / tank formations evolved into higher mobility units with better anti-tank weaponry, and wrote off high explosive delivery from tanks to a great degree, passing that mission back to the artillery, air force, and to some degree the infantry mortars.
The need for rapid response anti-tank forces in turn still remains, but the need for rapidity means that the role is largely fulfilled by unarmored units... first the recoiless rifles mounted on jeeps, and later TOW and various other missiles from jeeps and helicopters.
The need for a rapid response tank destroyer still exists, but technology has dictated that the means of achieving the need has developed in a different direction than what was originally envisioned.
One of my favorite armored vehicles, shame that the doctrine didn't work out.. Great video!
the hellcats did serve the US army in another way: as it became obvious the tank destroyers were no use, some were converted to APC. the infantry was not too happy with their normalAPC, the halftrack ("purple heart boxes") this was a good idea!
The M39 was a Armored Utility Vehicle sometimes (ab)used as an APC. More mobile than a half track but with many of the problems (open topped, thin armor, difficult to dismount under fire). It was "better than walking" but mainly used for developing doctrin. In the Us the results where M75, M59 and then M113. Germany went to the HS 30 and then Marder IFV
I saw it at the Sarajevo airport in 1996 just.after the siege lifted.
M18's played a major role in halting the advance of the "bulge" of December 1944. Their courage, speed, teamwork and 76mm gun gave some Nazis a very big surprise. We owe them a lot.
David: *Slaps Hellcat*
"This baby can fit so much Cold War history"
An interesting vehicle. Even though not strictly a tank, there was an example of the M18 in the display collection at the Greek Armoured Cavalry Recruit Depot when did my national service.
Fight in the shade.
Love the shades ...
It's a gorgeous vehicle no doubt about it
I'd love to have an M-18 AP Round. When I was tanker at Ft. Bliss, TX, I was able to find a practice sabot round that must have fallen off a truck, and it could use some company.