Just like its bigger counterparts, it was not an effective vehicle and was quickly phased out. The twin turret one was equipped with two machineguns, one in each turret. It was a light tank that existed in both one-turret and two-turret versions. First is that multi-turret small tanks existed as well – a typical example would be the twin turret version of the Vickers Mark E (used mainly by Poland). There are two more interesting points about this kind of design. Their armor was sufficient for early-to-mid 30’s (when there were no real anti-tank guns around) but by 1939, most such vehicles and projects were hopelessly obsolete. As a result, the multi-turret tanks were mostly large, heavy but thin-skinned. “Large” on the other hand also meant “heavy” and in order not to make the vehicle too heavy to transport, sacrifices had to be made – especially regarding the armor. In order to house multiple turrets the vehicles had to also be quite large. The commanders quickly found out that having a dozen men in one tank is almost impossible to handle, let alone to effectively fire in multiple directions. However, the main problem was the coordination of the crew. In theory, it was a wonderful idea - more independent guns mean more firepower in multiple directions. The British and the Japanese however had their own designs as well.Īs the name suggests, these vehicles were characterized by their multiple turrets. The most prominent designs of this type come from France and Russia – the T-35 heavy tank for example actively participated in the defense of the Soviet Union (and, ironically, in the defense of Germany in German hands). Just like the tankettes, the multi-turret tanks were very popular in early 30’s and almost everyone dabbled in them one way or another. Today, we are going to have a look at a few more and their influence on contemporary armor design. In the first part, we had a look at some of the classes you generally don’t see around anymore.
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