@@HanSolo__ I don't think they are AFV's left at Aberdeen. They lost their macro collection around 2011 to Ft. Benning for the National Armor and Cavalry Collection.
The Littlefield collection has a Conquorer and M103 right next to eachother. M103 looked more top-heavy but more internal space to work. Similar heights.
“Extra shells could be handed to the gunner by the driver if he had nothing else to do, all he had to do was drive the tank” I so look forward to each and every video featuring our beloved Mr. Fletcher.
..... Imagen being the driver for a moment. 4 enemy tanks or really anything that can threaten the crew of the tank the driver is in. Commander tell the driver to stop and the gun starts to unload shell after shell. At that time and point the driver sure is going to be ready to help the gun since the tank and CREW is in combat with deadly conquenses if the gun do not make short work of the treat. If the driver have nothing to do since the tank is under fire or have a chance to take the first shot and have the sup-rice! Yea the driver might very well have nothing better to do then help the gun.
@@kenbrown2808 No, it's actually an original British custom for the driver to double as the loader's assistant, they were the ones that started stuffing ammo around him.
THANKYOU for *not* interrupting David Fletcher's story-telling flow with 'energetic self promotion' half-way through, as with previous videos. Of course you're a business, but just letting David regale his encyclopedic recollections about tanks unabated does wonders for the enjoyability of your output.
A 60t tank with a 120mm gun, hunter-killer target selections for the Tank Commander. Plaster it with some more acronyms and it'd sound like its from a more recent time.
I drove a mk2 Conq for some 2 years, on changing gears you pulled back one of the steering tillers as you dipped your clutch and changed gear sharpish, pulling the tiller stopped the gearbox for a fraction of a second allowing you to change up not down, changing down was the old double de clutch method it was an art driving the old tanks, todays tanks are a lot easier.
Pull back on both of them a tiny bit while clutching and gear shift? I've driven older farm tractors and stuff have to double clutch and "catch" gears by some skill lol
As a young person I can indeed confirm that technology has made it so much easier to drive, but that also I think removed some of the character of these machines doesn't it? Greetings from The Netherlands.
@@teaser6089 I say the same about new tractors, they're all plastic. Sure air seats and cab are nice along with 4x4 on a button and a decent heating system is nice, much better than Papa's old Farmall I still love to run. However, they aren't built nearly as rugged.
Would be... Imagine one If the driver spun the turret 50 times in one direction, 50 times in the opposite direction, the commander spinning his own turret in the opposite directions to his driver. Then get commander, gunner, and driver to run 50m in a straight line. Their heads be spinning madly and have one hell of a headache... 😜😜
These chats are like sitting down at your grandfather's feet and listening to him talk about some of the stuff he did in the/a war. Meandering tangents and all. I love it.
"He was only driving the tank after all" God bless David Fletcher! His comments about an experienced driver are right on point. When I was a gunner, having a driver that knew what he was doing and could keep us riding smooth as the TC or I were about to fire was worth his weight in gold. I hated when we'd have to break up an experienced crew due to promotions or reassignments. (There's a good reason I never had a "D" as part of my radio call sign. I could get us where we needed to go, but never got that perfect feel for driving.)
@@redranjer Oh no, I am retired now, but was on M1A1s. Even with modern stabilization systems there is a lot the driver can do to make things better for the gun's handling.
I got that perfect tank driving feeling. I was just 17 year old at the time. My instructor said so. I always had a feel for it, so much so I decided to have a go flying helicopters, having got my wings without much effort I decided I really did have a feel... Much much later, and now running my own heli company a customer had to forego his expensive pre paid Formula One driving day and asked if I would bid for the ticket. At Mallory park about 35 candidates assemble to drive the morning with road car exotica from German and Italy. The afternoon was my first taste of single seat race cars, with the baby formulas at first, for which I was just too big, ~i just could not change gear with my right hand and as you were supposed to my arm was just too long so I did it across my chest with my left. So later another two car upgrades saw us in the star of the day, an F1 V8 of about 800 bhp, big fat tires and a sound track to match. Those 10 laps were a joy and it just flashed by in what was for me just moments, I was clocked on the back straight at 168 mph by radar and made the most of it. In the debrief classroom at the end, all 8 instructors collated their marks and the chief instructor called out the drivers names with marks for the day. Bottom marks were about 45% if I recall. This took some time and I got the feeling I had been forgotten and left out. The the boss instructor said and now we have the most remarkable performance of the day any of us have seen with a score of 92% !! The previous high score was my mate with 63%. So whoever this guy was had done really well. Then he called out my name and asked me to stand up... I still have the photographs score card and after glow of pride to this day, like I said I have a knack for this kind of thing !! My tank driving instructor said so !!
An old pub regular of mine, Mike Boyle, said he was one of the first people trained on the Conqueror as it was coming into service. I seem to remember him mentioning doing some sort of testing where he was part of a crew that stayed in their tank, hatches sealed, for over a week in order to simulate living conditions and the ability to continue fighting if there was a nuclear blast close to the front line (which the tank would survive). He also said he was one of the tank commanders in the Beatles film HELP! Great man.
@@tamlandipper29 it seemed like during regular exercises they spent so much time in the tank there wasn't too much of a difference except for having to relieve yourself when effectively on top of the person next to you. He said that farting in the tank was generally frowned upon, doubly so during this particular exercise.
I used to love watching these when I was a kid in the early '50's. The whole ground shook and as David says the noise was tremendous. My dad used to say you could hear them miles away out on Sennelager plains.
I know David isn't tall, but that Conqueror tank is huge. As for the American M103, I once marched behind a couple of them during a parade. It too is massive.
Every tank I've seen in the '' steel '' always appeared much more massive and impressive than it did on videos. With the exception of the Renault FT ( you can see one, for free, in the cour d'honneur des Invalides, in Paris ). That thing is almost cute, the size of a small tractor. But anyway, I predict that this Conqueror right there, must be giving the feeling of standing in front of an iron house.
@@teaser6089 I can definitely picture a swarm of them, buzzing around. Being not impressive at all. Just kidding, I would probably panick and abandon my position once it's my single action rifle vs a bunch of angry tractors coming from all directions :D
Comet. Even if not a perfect tank it is just something about it that feels right. I mean comon Conq gun is just asking to blow off the turret is seems :/
My dad was a trout commander of 3 of these. Too wide for the transport so only inches to spare. Fan belt issues, air scrubber problems, need oil top ups through an inch and a half hole from a far too big filler, so used empty beer cans to dispense the oil. 2 part projectile but on occasions had to ram the charge up the barrel which was dicy as it was percussion ignition. Had auto eject into a hopper which threw it out the back of the turret area, but then the casings got stuck and blocked the traverse. All in all good fun,
I saw a Conqueror at the Imperial Warmuseum Duxford. It truly is a massive tank. Best Regards from Germany - you are very fortunate to have those excellent museums in your great country!
Right, this is a channel that auto-deletes comments with a link on so I'll just post again without a link; Conqueror's Hunter-Killer system effectively amounts to a rifle caliber MG mounted atop the commander's independent turret.
Richard Cutland has a video from a while ago in this very same Conqueror, he gets inside the tank, including the Commanders cupola...its surprisingly sophisticated.
My grandfather lived just up the road from the tank depot at Ludgershall where he also worked for many years, having previously been in the REME for 20-odd years. They had one of these as the Gate Guardian there back when when I was young, which was somewhat inevitably nicknamed “William”. The Conqueror really was an impressive beast.
My late father served as a loader/radio op on the Conqueror always had nice words to say about it, loved the look of this beast it had serious presence
When I was at school in the late 60s, we had a school camp at Instow in Devon, near to AXE, (Amphibious eXperimental Establishment). They had a Conqueror which was used for beach recovery trials. It as in a pretty sad, rusty state, but I got permission to have a close look and make sketches for my, (then), hobby of model making. Huge thing. One of the staff told me that the commander could actually control the turret, but that the servos were tricky and often the turret would 'wobble' about the aiming point before settling, and in some cases would move the long way round to sync up. I think it was a mark 2, sadly my sketches are long gone. The rotating cupola seemed to be controlled by foot pedals. The split image range finder had it's own little shutters to protect the optics when it wasn't in use.
When I was a kid, back in 1960, my RMP dad was posted to Munster in Germany and he used to take me to the barracks. There was a tank regiment stationed there, can't tell you which one but they definitely had Conqueror tanks, they were absolutely huge and the most impressive thing was the size of the gun, no mistaking it for anything but. Impressive to say the least.
Duxford still has a running one (well, it was running the last time I was there). How best to describe it in motion? 1) You hear it. 2) You feel it. Each track being about a yard wide means 65 tons is spread out over a wide area. 3) You eventually see it, ponderously moving towards you, looking like a hung-over behemoth after being woken up early.
Wow! And again I learned something new from Mr. Fletcher! Didn't know that the Hunter-Killer system that all new MBT's have was invented with Conquerer
If I remember correctly Nicolas Moran (aka The Chieftain) claimed: "it would win any battle...so long as it broke down in the right place" Edit: Correct spelling of name...sorry for the misspelling Chief
For some reason, and the fact that I’m a Yank, I can’t really put my finger on why I’ve a special admiration and appreciation for the British Conqueror. To my knowledge, it never really broke any new ground in the development of heavy armored warfare, but nevertheless it’s always been one my very favorite tanks. I guess it’s simply the straight forward brute power of the vehicle that has something to do with my love of the Conqueror. I know it’s awful to think it’s “unfortunate” that the Conqueror was never able to see actual armored combat, but I think she would’ve given a good accounting of herself, battle odds notwithstanding, if actual ground combat took place in the early 1960’s against Warsaw Pact forces in Europe.
Although it's not explained quite as well as it should have been this was the first AFV to use a commanders ''turret'' that could traverse independently of the turret, lock onto a target and when the first target had been neutralised by the gunner, the commander then was able to override the traverse control and slave the main armament onto the target he had sighted.
The Imperial War Museum traded one for an IS-3 back in the 90's when there was a bit more detente going on. A similar trade today is almost unthinkable...
I consider these types of "Heavy Tanks", things like the Conqueror, and M103. "Heavy Gun Tanks" as the armor was quickly made ineffective, but the guns were still effective, so they could still be fielded. But more as a emplacement tank. Not a true Heavy Tank for assaults and things.
That is what the Conqueror was designed for. It would sit at the back and basically snipe the soviet's larger tanks. If it was attacking, things had gone badly wrong somewhere.
I always remember my first visit to the museum, i couldn't wait to see the King Tiger after hearing war stories. I stood transfixed by it, dragged away to check out the other exhibits, i saw this beast and totally forgot the King Tiger. I still to this day feel the awe i did that day for this tank.
And the Germans got the steel wheel design from the Soviets, who used it on their KV tanks and, for a while, on the T-34. They were even informally called "Russenrollen" (Russian rollers).
I love these things. What would be cool is if there was a play list of Nation tank from their first one to when ever, so people see how each country saw tanks and how they improve or regressed in tank design.
I always thought the Conqueror was a prototype. I'd never seen any pictures of read about its service life in the 60's. Very interesting video, as always. It's too bad more didn't survive.
Considering that seeing first and shooting first are the most important factors in winning an armored engagement, that system with the commander spotting and ranging targets for the gunner may well have made this the best tank of its day.
@@dogsnads5634 Actually, the 105mm L7 is really what killed the Conqueror (that and it's huge cost and mechanical frailties). Conquerors were intended to be used alongside 20 pdr armed Centurions, but once the L7 became available Centurions were capable of killing Soviet heavies without heavy gun tank support, making the Conqueror redundant.
I drove tanks... as a lad ... a trooper ...I thought it was just great. I enjoyed it.. I got that perfect tank driving feeling. I was just 17 year old at the time. My instructor said I was good, he said so. I always had a feel for it, so much so I decided to have a go flying helicopters, having got my wings without much effort I decided I really did have a feel... Much much later, and now running my own heli company a customer had to forego his expensive pre paid Formula One driving day and asked if I would bid for the ticket. At Mallory park about 35 candidates assemble to drive the morning with road car exotica from Germany and Italy. The afternoon was my first taste of single seat race cars, with the baby formulas at first, for which I was just too big, ~i just could not change gear with my right hand and as you were supposed to, my arm was just too long so I did it across my chest with my left. So later another two car upgrades saw us in the star of the day, an F1 V8 of about 800 bhp, big fat tires and a sound track to match. Those 10 laps were a joy and it just flashed by in what was for me just moments, I was clocked on the back straight at 168 mph by radar and made the most of it. In the debrief classroom at the end, all 8 instructors collated their marks and the chief instructor called out the drivers names with marks for the day. Bottom marks were about 45% if I recall. This took some time and I got the feeling I had been forgotten and left out. The the boss instructor said and now we have the most remarkable performance of the day any of us have seen with a score of 92% !! The previous high score was my mate with 63%. So whoever this guy was had done really well. Then he called out my name and asked me to stand up... I still have the photographs score card and after glow of pride to this day, like I said I have a knack for this kind of thing !! My tank driving instructor said so !!
I remember there being several of these parked at Warcop around 1966-7. Possibly intended as range targets, as I've seen the remains of at least one up on the fell.
Thank you sir for the very interesting video. Bit there is one thing I would like to know about this mighty Tank. Where was the Hot Water Boiling Vessel located. We all know how important a nice cup of tea is the the crews morale.
Interesting fact, if you knock out the rear light in a conquer the tank is disabled as it would ground all the electronics out, my grandad was in the reme in Germany and had loads of issues with these beast's
I do love the fact that Mr Fletcher says he will start at the bottom and work up when all I noticed was the massive gun, this thing is a monster! I'm pleased we never had a war that needed something like this to fight it out
0:14 "It's a long story and I'll try and encompass it, in this chat, if I can." All while he's looking in the perfect direction for the end of the video timeline. I even went and checked and saw 16 minutes. I better make a cup of tea.
I’ve seen one of these at the Duxford air museum tank hall and it’s an absolutely massive monster in real life, I’m 6ft2 and it’s a real beautiful beast!
1:20 That's actually sounds like early WWII soviet track wheels with inner amortization that were introduced on T-34 and KV-1 due to rubber shortages. I guess that's where the germans got the idea?
It looks like the turret crew positions were also inspired by WW2 German vehicles. Many of them had the commander at the back of the turret in a central position, which I don't believe was a feature of any (?) allied tanks during the war.
Conqueror was a monster in every sense of the word. There were reasons why the Russians placed their best tanks & regiments in direct opposition to the British forces, Conqueror was one of them.
4005 was built, was tested, and tested against a centurion. The tank museum are currently having theirs re build by "Mr Hughes" who has a splendid UA-cam channel and you can see the full restoration video, well worth watching.
Do you happen to know how tall exactly he is? I watch him very rarely. But my first thought when starting the video was: "Damn, look at that size difference"
@@racernatorde5318 The two David's (Willey and Fletcher) really are the little and large of tank knowledge. Fletcher is no more than about 5'3" and Willy is around 6'5"!
65 tons, quite a monster for its time...That's still quite a monster today. Its quite interesting to see western cold war tanks that were beast like the Conqueror and the M103. We always hear about the Soviet boogie men that would keep NATO tankers up at night.
Not sure if anything short of engine failure or a nuke kept Conqueror crews up at night. Soviet tanks of the day had pretty bad odds against that beast.
that picture of three tanks on the firing range reminded me of a school trip I made to to Bovington around 1960. We had been promised a ride in a tank but it was explained that next day there was a very important visit so we would be taken down to the range to see the tanks practicing for next day. There we were all lined up and this little Officer, I was 6ft he no more than 5ft8in, explained that it took three shots to kill a tank HE long HE short and the third kill. He pointed out next days target all painted white, and that days target, then he gave me a pair of Bioculars to watch the tank destroyed. Three shots ran out, nothing, the bioculars were snatched from my grasp, then I saw the white tank in flames. A rather sheepish crew exited the tank. Must go back one day.
4 inches shorter than you and this guy is little? ...Tall man's syndrome I see; nice attitude. If you were any taller than average which was 5' 8'' not so long ago you'd not be able to work inside a tank. Kind regards, from one of your ''little'' people.
When you’re worried about the silhouette of the tank so you decide to just make it so large the enemy thinks it’s a local mountain range.
It’ll help the RAF though, they can use it as a reference landmark
😅😅😅
Compared to a Tiger II, which also is massive, it is 25 cm wider, 30 cm longer and 10 cm taller.
I understand Mr. Fletcher isn't exactly a tall man, but DAMN this thing makes him like he is a child in front of a normal tank.
@@lostalone9320 he stated the loaded and gunner were sort of cramped but it seems the commander gets a 2 bedroom condo.
"... The M103. We've got one of those here somewhere..."
The humblest of humbleflexes.
He makes it sound like it something that's somewhere in the garden shed. 'I think it's at the back, under those seed trays.'
Looking at the collection of the tanks and IFVs in the Aberdeen Ordnance Museum US one could assume this as a quite possible scenario.
@@HanSolo__ I don't think they are AFV's left at Aberdeen. They lost their macro collection around 2011 to Ft. Benning for the National Armor and Cavalry Collection.
I mean the US army had a T28 'somewhere' for over 20 years xD
The Littlefield collection has a Conquorer and M103 right next to eachother. M103 looked more top-heavy but more internal space to work. Similar heights.
The photo of the crew at 14:18, the far right soldier is my grandad. He has some amazing stories of his time in the conqueror.
“Extra shells could be handed to the gunner by the driver if he had nothing else to do, all he had to do was drive the tank”
I so look forward to each and every video featuring our beloved Mr. Fletcher.
that feature must have been recommended by the Americans.
..... Imagen being the driver for a moment. 4 enemy tanks or really anything that can threaten the crew of the tank the driver is in. Commander tell the driver to stop and the gun starts to unload shell after shell.
At that time and point the driver sure is going to be ready to help the gun since the tank and CREW is in combat with deadly conquenses if the gun do not make short work of the treat.
If the driver have nothing to do since the tank is under fire or have a chance to take the first shot and have the sup-rice! Yea the driver might very well have nothing better to do then help the gun.
Lol
@@TheDiner50 I don’t disagree at all.
You make a great point.
Mr. Fletcher just has such a way with words though.
@@kenbrown2808 No, it's actually an original British custom for the driver to double as the loader's assistant, they were the ones that started stuffing ammo around him.
THANKYOU for *not* interrupting David Fletcher's story-telling flow with 'energetic self promotion' half-way through, as with previous videos. Of course you're a business, but just letting David regale his encyclopedic recollections about tanks unabated does wonders for the enjoyability of your output.
Second this! Actually, gonna go as far as ordering something from their shop, to reward them for good behaviour.
@@itseperkele181 yeah, I'm gonna order something as well... not that I see the ads, but I do want to help them out.
@@JackG79 just ordered a mug and a Churchill tank miniature build set
Wonder if he does birthday parties. Long flight to do so, but cake on a tank _almost_ rhymes.
Very energetic indeed
My word, it’s putting it mildly to call this thing a veritable behemoth.
The size of it ! compared to the Russian one !
Agreed - it's one hell of a 'tache.
With a reputation for being abysmally reliable from what I’ve heard over the years.
A 60t tank with a 120mm gun, hunter-killer target selections for the Tank Commander. Plaster it with some more acronyms and it'd sound like its from a more recent time.
That's called a Challenger 2
@@spamuraigranatabru1149 pretty much
@@spamuraigranatabru1149 Don’t forget the Chieftain. The Chally 1 was essentially a Chieftain with modern armour.
@@aymonfoxc1442 I mean a very crude way of putting it but yeh
I drove a mk2 Conq for some 2 years, on changing gears you pulled back one of the steering tillers as you dipped your clutch and changed gear sharpish, pulling the tiller stopped the gearbox for a fraction of a second allowing you to change up not down, changing down was the old double de clutch method it was an art driving the old tanks, todays tanks are a lot easier.
hello sir. now you are retired soldier? greet from asia
Pull back on both of them a tiny bit while clutching and gear shift? I've driven older farm tractors and stuff have to double clutch and "catch" gears by some skill lol
Like an old tractor.
I used to "row" my Volkswagen Scirocco without the clutch except for traffic lights too.
As a young person I can indeed confirm that technology has made it so much easier to drive, but that also I think removed some of the character of these machines doesn't it? Greetings from The Netherlands.
@@teaser6089 I say the same about new tractors, they're all plastic. Sure air seats and cab are nice along with 4x4 on a button and a decent heating system is nice, much better than Papa's old Farmall I still love to run. However, they aren't built nearly as rugged.
The independent rotation of the commander turret is amazing
I know!
Would be... Imagine one If the driver spun the turret 50 times in one direction, 50 times in the opposite direction, the commander spinning his own turret in the opposite directions to his driver. Then get commander, gunner, and driver to run 50m in a straight line. Their heads be spinning madly and have one hell of a headache... 😜😜
"originally suggested by... whatsisname... Montgomery!"
I love David Fletcher!
These chats are like sitting down at your grandfather's feet and listening to him talk about some of the stuff he did in the/a war. Meandering tangents and all. I love it.
Now lets have a look at this mess.
Lol classic fletch
Only came to hear Dave chat
That thing is so massive it makes our dear presenter look like a Toy David! 😊
He looks like a little garden gnome !
@@dad_jokes_4ever226 Ha ha! 😂
We need a 1/35 David.
@@bonniecrickle7499 They'll be an advert to buy them in the shop in the next video.😂
@@bonniecrickle7499 And now I want to see a Tank Chats diorama.
"He was only driving the tank after all" God bless David Fletcher! His comments about an experienced driver are right on point. When I was a gunner, having a driver that knew what he was doing and could keep us riding smooth as the TC or I were about to fire was worth his weight in gold. I hated when we'd have to break up an experienced crew due to promotions or reassignments. (There's a good reason I never had a "D" as part of my radio call sign. I could get us where we needed to go, but never got that perfect feel for driving.)
Wait did you serve in WWII?
@@redranjer Oh no, I am retired now, but was on M1A1s. Even with modern stabilization systems there is a lot the driver can do to make things better for the gun's handling.
@@timsmith4548 cool
I got that perfect tank driving feeling. I was just 17 year old at the time. My instructor said so. I always had a feel for it, so much so I decided to have a go flying helicopters, having got my wings without much effort I decided I really did have a feel... Much much later, and now running my own heli company a customer had to forego his expensive pre paid Formula One driving day and asked if I would bid for the ticket. At Mallory park about 35 candidates assemble to drive the morning with road car exotica from German and Italy. The afternoon was my first taste of single seat race cars, with the baby formulas at first, for which I was just too big, ~i just could not change gear with my right hand and as you were supposed to my arm was just too long so I did it across my chest with my left. So later another two car upgrades saw us in the star of the day, an F1 V8 of about 800 bhp, big fat tires and a sound track to match. Those 10 laps were a joy and it just flashed by in what was for me just moments, I was clocked on the back straight at 168 mph by radar and made the most of it. In the debrief classroom at the end, all 8 instructors collated their marks and the chief instructor called out the drivers names with marks for the day. Bottom marks were about 45% if I recall. This took some time and I got the feeling I had been forgotten and left out. The the boss instructor said and now we have the most remarkable performance of the day any of us have seen with a score of 92% !! The previous high score was my mate with 63%. So whoever this guy was had done really well. Then he called out my name and asked me to stand up... I still have the photographs score card and after glow of pride to this day, like I said I have a knack for this kind of thing !! My tank driving instructor said so !!
"Was coined by - what's his name... Field Marshal Montgomery..."
I know what you did there and it was savage.
Fascinating, as always. Also, I really appreciate that you decided not to interrupt your videos any more right on the middle.
Oh my God I can subscribe again 😂
Agreed. I feel like they got a bad steer there. Nice they got corrected.
Jesus, I've never appreciated exactly how big the Conqueror is!
An old pub regular of mine, Mike Boyle, said he was one of the first people trained on the Conqueror as it was coming into service.
I seem to remember him mentioning doing some sort of testing where he was part of a crew that stayed in their tank, hatches sealed, for over a week in order to simulate living conditions and the ability to continue fighting if there was a nuclear blast close to the front line (which the tank would survive).
He also said he was one of the tank commanders in the Beatles film HELP!
Great man.
Did he say that week was bloody awful? Seems quite cramped in that turret. Not t72 cramped, but still.
@@tamlandipper29 it seemed like during regular exercises they spent so much time in the tank there wasn't too much of a difference except for having to relieve yourself when effectively on top of the person next to you. He said that farting in the tank was generally frowned upon, doubly so during this particular exercise.
Actually coined by what's his name, field marshall...that was the understatement of all tanks, just marvelous.
I used to love watching these when I was a kid in the early '50's. The whole ground shook and as David says the noise was tremendous. My dad used to say you could hear them miles away out on Sennelager plains.
I know David isn't tall, but that Conqueror tank is huge. As for the American M103, I once marched behind a couple of them during a parade. It too is massive.
Every tank I've seen in the '' steel '' always appeared much more massive and impressive than it did on videos. With the exception of the Renault FT ( you can see one, for free, in the cour d'honneur des Invalides, in Paris ). That thing is almost cute, the size of a small tractor.
But anyway, I predict that this Conqueror right there, must be giving the feeling of standing in front of an iron house.
Iron house. That's a great turn of phrase.
I mean the FT was designed to be small, cause of the weird "muskito" tactic the french thought was a brilliant idea haha
@@teaser6089 I can definitely picture a swarm of them, buzzing around.
Being not impressive at all.
Just kidding, I would probably panick and abandon my position once it's my single action rifle vs a bunch of angry tractors coming from all directions :D
@@H0kram I mean ofcourse, especially in WW1 where no one has ever seen a tank, which also applies to WW2.
I still think this is the best looking British tank ever.
He is a handsome devil
It does look nice. One of those "if it looks right" kind of things.
Chieftain with the ad-on armor or the Chally 1.
Comet. Even if not a perfect tank it is just something about it that feels right. I mean comon Conq gun is just asking to blow off the turret is seems :/
@@HanSolo__ Chally 1 was the best looking modern tank by a margin
My dad was a trout commander of 3 of these. Too wide for the transport so only inches to spare. Fan belt issues, air scrubber problems, need oil top ups through an inch and a half hole from a far too big filler, so used empty beer cans to dispense the oil. 2 part projectile but on occasions had to ram the charge up the barrel which was dicy as it was percussion ignition. Had auto eject into a hopper which threw it out the back of the turret area, but then the casings got stuck and blocked the traverse. All in all good fun,
Trout! Troop
Glad to see have got rid of the advert interruption in the middle.
I swear David could just talk about how to plug in your vacuum cleaner and i would be interested
I saw a Conqueror at the Imperial Warmuseum Duxford. It truly is a massive tank.
Best Regards from Germany - you are very fortunate to have those excellent museums in your great country!
Interesting hearing about hunter-killer mechanisms; I'd always assumed this was just a "big dumb tank".
Surprised me as well. Turns out this big dumb tank was smarter then we thought.
Right, this is a channel that auto-deletes comments with a link on so I'll just post again without a link;
Conqueror's Hunter-Killer system effectively amounts to a rifle caliber MG mounted atop the commander's independent turret.
Richard Cutland has a video from a while ago in this very same Conqueror, he gets inside the tank, including the Commanders cupola...its surprisingly sophisticated.
Big smart tank. :3
@@bigblue6917 Yes, that's what a lot of Middle Eastern Terrorist Soldiers find out as well when they shoot a tank and it doesn't die haha
My grandfather lived just up the road from the tank depot at Ludgershall where he also worked for many years, having previously been in the REME for 20-odd years. They had one of these as the Gate Guardian there back when when I was young, which was somewhat inevitably nicknamed “William”. The Conqueror really was an impressive beast.
David Fletcher is the Betty White of the tanker world... He is now and will forever be ageless and lovable.. (RIP Betty)
My late father served as a loader/radio op on the Conqueror always had nice words to say about it, loved the look of this beast it had serious presence
When I was at school in the late 60s, we had a school camp at Instow in Devon, near to AXE, (Amphibious eXperimental Establishment). They had a Conqueror which was used for beach recovery trials. It as in a pretty sad, rusty state, but I got permission to have a close look and make sketches for my, (then), hobby of model making. Huge thing. One of the staff told me that the commander could actually control the turret, but that the servos were tricky and often the turret would 'wobble' about the aiming point before settling, and in some cases would move the long way round to sync up. I think it was a mark 2, sadly my sketches are long gone. The rotating cupola seemed to be controlled by foot pedals. The split image range finder had it's own little shutters to protect the optics when it wasn't in use.
A comparison video for the m103 and conqueror would be neat
When I was a kid, back in 1960, my RMP dad was posted to Munster in Germany and he used to take me to the barracks. There was a tank regiment stationed there, can't tell you which one but they definitely had Conqueror tanks, they were absolutely huge and the most impressive thing was the size of the gun, no mistaking it for anything but. Impressive to say the least.
I like this old chap as a presenter.
Good knowledge.
Duxford still has a running one (well, it was running the last time I was there).
How best to describe it in motion?
1) You hear it.
2) You feel it. Each track being about a yard wide means 65 tons is spread out over a wide area.
3) You eventually see it, ponderously moving towards you, looking like a hung-over behemoth after being woken up early.
I'm so glad y'all are finally talking about this tank! Love this tank in World Of Tanks and War thunder.
Can we start a petition to have Mr.Fletcher knighted?
Based on recent recipients I'm not sure he deserves that insult.
I'd sign a petition for him to receive one!
@@StaffordMagnus Haha good one indeed
For some reason I just assumed that he already was and am now terribly disappointed in Her Majesty and her government to find out that he isn't.
@Bart - David already has an MBE!
A continued thanks to dear Old Bovi, and everyone who keeps her ticking. Brilliant stuff :)
Wow! And again I learned something new from Mr. Fletcher! Didn't know that the Hunter-Killer system that all new MBT's have was invented with Conquerer
I'd love to see a side by side comparison of the Conqueror, the M103, and T-10/IS8. That would be amazing.
Wonderful timing, just made a fire and fired up the computer... and this appeared.
Thank god it's Friday.
4:09 -When you really need to stop the Soviet advance with a well-timed Tsunami...
If I remember correctly Nicolas Moran (aka The Chieftain) claimed: "it would win any battle...so long as it broke down in the right place"
Edit: Correct spelling of name...sorry for the misspelling Chief
Chieftan I think he was referring to there.
That was the Chieftain tank. The Leland multi-fuel engine was not good, to put it mildly.
"Moran" :)
"It was coined by, erm what's his name?, field marshal Montgomery" hilarious.
The Conqueror has always been extremely badass, especially in its looks
I didnt realise how big it was though aha
No more intrusive adverts - thank you for listening Richard, David, and David.
Thank you for not interrupting the video halfway through asking for patreon donations
For some reason, and the fact that I’m a Yank, I can’t really put my finger on why I’ve a special admiration and appreciation for the British Conqueror.
To my knowledge, it never really broke any new ground in the development of heavy armored warfare, but nevertheless it’s always been one my very favorite tanks.
I guess it’s simply the straight forward brute power of the vehicle that has something to do with my love of the Conqueror.
I know it’s awful to think it’s “unfortunate” that the Conqueror was never able to see actual armored combat, but I think she would’ve given a good accounting of herself, battle odds notwithstanding, if actual ground combat took place in the early 1960’s against Warsaw Pact forces in Europe.
Although it's not explained quite as well as it should have been this was the first AFV to use a commanders ''turret'' that could traverse independently of the turret, lock onto a target and when the first target had been neutralised by the gunner, the commander then was able to override the traverse control and slave the main armament onto the target he had sighted.
It actually surprised me when I saw one at Kubinka, I really didn't expect a conquer there
The Imperial War Museum traded one for an IS-3 back in the 90's when there was a bit more detente going on. A similar trade today is almost unthinkable...
I consider these types of "Heavy Tanks", things like the Conqueror, and M103. "Heavy Gun Tanks" as the armor was quickly made ineffective, but the guns were still effective, so they could still be fielded. But more as a emplacement tank. Not a true Heavy Tank for assaults and things.
That is what the Conqueror was designed for. It would sit at the back and basically snipe the soviet's larger tanks. If it was attacking, things had gone badly wrong somewhere.
I always remember my first visit to the museum, i couldn't wait to see the King Tiger after hearing war stories. I stood transfixed by it, dragged away to check out the other exhibits, i saw this beast and totally forgot the King Tiger. I still to this day feel the awe i did that day for this tank.
And the Germans got the steel wheel design from the Soviets, who used it on their KV tanks and, for a while, on the T-34. They were even informally called "Russenrollen" (Russian rollers).
I love these things. What would be cool is if there was a play list of Nation tank from their first one to when ever, so people see how each country saw tanks and how they improve or regressed in tank design.
The Chadqueror is back to make its enemies tremble just by its presence.
Holy crap this video makes you see just how massive the Conqueror is
That turret is so big it has its own turret.
I always thought the Conqueror was a prototype. I'd never seen any pictures of read about its service life in the 60's. Very interesting video, as always. It's too bad more didn't survive.
Considering that seeing first and shooting first are the most important factors in winning an armored engagement, that system with the commander spotting and ranging targets for the gunner may well have made this the best tank of its day.
Add in that they were usually used in conjunction with Centurions with L7 105mm as a heavy overwatch tank and they were pretty well equipped...
@@dogsnads5634 Actually, the 105mm L7 is really what killed the Conqueror (that and it's huge cost and mechanical frailties). Conquerors were intended to be used alongside 20 pdr armed Centurions, but once the L7 became available Centurions were capable of killing Soviet heavies without heavy gun tank support, making the Conqueror redundant.
It was probably the most capable armored vehicle of its time until Chieftain and T-64 made the appearance.
"The driver could always pass the shells back if he had nothing else to do, he was only driving the tank after all!" I love that British witty humour.
I saw there was at least a mock up of the DD version. That would take a very brave crew
Would love to have further videos a bit tuned up on the audio department, can't barely hear a thing
I drove tanks... as a lad ... a trooper ...I thought it was just great. I enjoyed it.. I got that perfect tank driving feeling. I was just 17 year old at the time. My instructor said I was good, he said so. I always had a feel for it, so much so I decided to have a go flying helicopters, having got my wings without much effort I decided I really did have a feel... Much much later, and now running my own heli company a customer had to forego his expensive pre paid Formula One driving day and asked if I would bid for the ticket. At Mallory park about 35 candidates assemble to drive the morning with road car exotica from Germany and Italy. The afternoon was my first taste of single seat race cars, with the baby formulas at first, for which I was just too big, ~i just could not change gear with my right hand and as you were supposed to, my arm was just too long so I did it across my chest with my left. So later another two car upgrades saw us in the star of the day, an F1 V8 of about 800 bhp, big fat tires and a sound track to match. Those 10 laps were a joy and it just flashed by in what was for me just moments, I was clocked on the back straight at 168 mph by radar and made the most of it. In the debrief classroom at the end, all 8 instructors collated their marks and the chief instructor called out the drivers names with marks for the day. Bottom marks were about 45% if I recall. This took some time and I got the feeling I had been forgotten and left out. The the boss instructor said and now we have the most remarkable performance of the day any of us have seen with a score of 92% !! The previous high score was my mate with 63%. So whoever this guy was had done really well. Then he called out my name and asked me to stand up... I still have the photographs score card and after glow of pride to this day, like I said I have a knack for this kind of thing !! My tank driving instructor said so !!
I remember there being several of these parked at Warcop around 1966-7. Possibly intended as range targets, as I've seen the remains of at least one up on the fell.
Thank you sir for the very interesting video. Bit there is one thing I would like to know about this
mighty Tank. Where was the Hot Water Boiling Vessel located. We all know how important a nice
cup of tea is the the crews morale.
"He was only driving the tank after all" 😀
Thank you , Mr Fletcher .
this reminds me of the American M103 heavy. I've seen two of them in person. The one in the AAF museum dwarfs the M60 it's parked next to.
Used this tank all the time in World of Tanks. It performed magically in that game! Such a colossal powerhouse!
its my most played tank in the game its so good, its just a fun reliable tank to play
Interesting fact, if you knock out the rear light in a conquer the tank is disabled as it would ground all the electronics out, my grandad was in the reme in Germany and had loads of issues with these beast's
That sounds like a very good story for in the pub after a few beers, but not in reality.
Now I knew *of* the Conqueror but never seen one up close. My god, what an absolute unit!
Yes my favorite old man of war🙏🏽❤💯
I know David Fletcher is a short guy, but seeing him standing next to this tank looks like he's standing next to a 4 story building.
I do love the fact that Mr Fletcher says he will start at the bottom and work up when all I noticed was the massive gun, this thing is a monster!
I'm pleased we never had a war that needed something like this to fight it out
No annoying person interrupting. Bliss.
The incessant begging had me ready to unsubscribe, unfortunately.
I honestly thought they miniaturized David Fletcher for a moment there!
Who else thinks it should be 'Sir' David Fletcher!?
Great tank for it’s time with a large caliber. The turret looks similar to a modern M1A Abrams of the 1980’s.
7:09 he's only driving the tank after all LMAO. David is the best lol. I could watch him talk about armored vehicles till the end of days.
The Conqueror is one of my all time favourite tanks, when it comes to menacing looks, there's nothing quite like it!
I'm impressed by the conquerors sloped armour. What a change from the days of the British infantry tanks. This would give a T55 a run for its money.
0:14
"It's a long story and I'll try and encompass it, in this chat, if I can."
All while he's looking in the perfect direction for the end of the video timeline.
I even went and checked and saw 16 minutes.
I better make a cup of tea.
I’ve seen one of these at the Duxford air museum tank hall and it’s an absolutely massive monster in real life, I’m 6ft2 and it’s a real beautiful beast!
my personal favorite tank ever
Un char aussi imposant que magnifique, un des plus beau char au monde, je l'adore!!!
Plus, it’s named after William (the conqueror) of Normandy!
Didn't know the Conqueror was so huge. Mr. Fletcher standing next to it almost looks like he's a shell to be fired from its' gun :D
I clicked this in an instant. Grumpy tank grandpa and the last of Britain's steel dragons.
Yes, I'll never forget old whatisname!
As commanded by the renowned explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes when he served in his late father’s regiment the Royal Scots Greys.
My old fella was the gunner in this tank during national service in 1960.
I think David is superb. That tank is ginormous and I can’t understand how Ive never heard of it before Pete 🇬🇧
I just love listening to this man.
1:20
That's actually sounds like early WWII soviet track wheels with inner amortization that were introduced on T-34 and KV-1 due to rubber shortages.
I guess that's where the germans got the idea?
“….coined by…what’s his name..? Field Marshal Montgomery…” 😂😂😂
It looks like the turret crew positions were also inspired by WW2 German vehicles. Many of them had the commander at the back of the turret in a central position, which I don't believe was a feature of any (?) allied tanks during the war.
Seems like a good idea, the intangible of looking down the gun barrel towards the target requires less mental compensation.
Conqueror was a monster in every sense of the word. There were reasons why the Russians placed their best tanks & regiments in direct opposition to the British forces, Conqueror was one of them.
4005 was built, was tested, and tested against a centurion. The tank museum are currently having theirs re build by "Mr Hughes" who has a splendid UA-cam channel and you can see the full restoration video, well worth watching.
'one of the loudest tanks ever unleashed on the public' has DF just let slip some tank massacre out on the Devon moors
I know Mr. Fletcher's not a tall man, but this tank makes it rather apparent.
I think this thing makes anyone look rather petite! I’ve seen it myself and it really is huge!
Do you happen to know how tall exactly he is? I watch him very rarely. But my first thought when starting the video was: "Damn, look at that size difference"
@@racernatorde5318 The two David's (Willey and Fletcher) really are the little and large of tank knowledge. Fletcher is no more than about 5'3" and Willy is around 6'5"!
65 tons, quite a monster for its time...That's still quite a monster today. Its quite interesting to see western cold war tanks that were beast like the Conqueror and the M103. We always hear about the Soviet boogie men that would keep NATO tankers up at night.
Not sure if anything short of engine failure or a nuke kept Conqueror crews up at night. Soviet tanks of the day had pretty bad odds against that beast.
Dreadnaught Wheel System. Has been a staple on tramways since the turn of the Twentieth century. Thus, not first seen on German tanks.
He may have meant first seen on German Tanks as in from all the nations, Germany was the first to implement the technology in an armoured vehicle.
that picture of three tanks on the firing range reminded me of a school trip I made to to Bovington around 1960. We had been promised a ride in a tank but it was explained that next day there was a very important visit so we would be taken down to the range to see the tanks practicing for next day. There we were all lined up and this little Officer, I was 6ft he no more than 5ft8in, explained that it took three shots to kill a tank HE long HE short and the third kill. He pointed out next days target all painted white, and that days target, then he gave me a pair of Bioculars to watch the tank destroyed. Three shots ran out, nothing, the bioculars were snatched from my grasp, then I saw the white tank in flames. A rather sheepish crew exited the tank. Must go back one day.
4 inches shorter than you and this guy is little? ...Tall man's syndrome I see; nice attitude. If you were any taller than average which was 5' 8'' not so long ago you'd not be able to work inside a tank. Kind regards, from one of your ''little'' people.
@@Slaktrax I didn’t mean to offend. I was trying to give the impression of a short man in stature BUT with a very BIG confident presence..
Conqueror is my favorite tank from its time period, beautiful