Flaming Hot Panzers, the Panzer II Flamm | Cursed by Design

Although there are many terrible ways to die in a  war I don’t think many would disagree that being   burned to death by a flamethrower is near the  top of that list. With such a volatile weapon   which could be dangerous not just to those on the  receiving end, but also to the operator it’s no   wonder that tank mounted flamethrowers were used  by many nations. Not only could these operate more   effectively they also could carry more fuel for  these terrifying weapons. In a previous episode   we looked at the Matilda Frog created by Australia  towards the end of WWII. Today we will be looking   towards the European theater at the German vehicle  known commonly today as the Panzer II “Flamingo”. Many people view tanks as some sort of super-weapon capable of  taking large amounts of punishment. While that may   be true when they are used properly, this likely  comes from movies and games which fail to properly   factor in how dangerous infantry can be to these  armored vehicles. This is not the case for all   games though and today’s sponsor Enlisted does a  good job at showcasing this balance. Enlisted is   a free to play WW2 multiplayer shooter.  With availability on PC, Playstation 5,   Xbox Series X and S as well as last generation  consoles if you have a gaming system you can play   this game. With numerous historical weapons and  vehicles the game does a great job at giving you   an authentic experience of the WWII battlefield  without having some of the complete nonsense you   see in other titles. In fact, one of the premium vehicles in the game is the Panzer II Flamingo we'll be discussing today. One of the things I think  this game does better than others is the impact   of tanks on the battlefield. Although they can  be incredibly strong and even nearly invulnerable   if supported by infantry and other vehicles the  limited visibility makes them easy prey for even   a single infantryman with an explosive charge.     . Now is a great time to try this game   out yourself because when you use the link in  my description you will get a free bonus just   for signing up. With that out of the way let's  get back to what you clicked on this video for. Flamethrowers made their combat debut during the  first World War with the German military being   the first to field them. By the end of the  war this technology had spread to the Allied   side as well with French and British designs  being created. Although their use was somewhat   limited in that conflict by the time of the  second world war the technology had evolved   allowing for more portable devices and longer  range. For the purposes of today’s video, though,   the most significant development was in regards  to the combination of flamethrowers and tanks.  What is currently believed to be the first flame  tank to see combat was an improvised tank created   in Brazil known as the F-1. This was reportedly  used during the 1932 Brazilian Revolution   performing well. Other early examples of these  date back to the early 1930s with vehicles created   by the Japanese and Russian militaries. We’ll  return to these and the other early flame tanks   in future videos, but to get back to our main  topic we need to look to the west at Nazi Germany.  What can be considered the first German  flame tank is somewhat debatable as you   could consider the modified Panzer Is in the  Spanish Civil War to be the first. With these   being done by the Nationalist forces though this  wouldn’t really be considered a German design to   most despite using both a German vehicle  and German flamethrower. Another design   pointed to as the first German Flammpanzer is a  similar modification done by Panzer Regiment 5   in Africa. Many sources name this as the first  but I have some questions regarding this. From   the information I can find these modified flame  tanks were used during fighting around Tobruk   in mid-1941. Interestingly this puts the first  combat usage of both the Panzer I flame tank   and the Panzer II Flamingo within the same  time bracket for their first combat debut.   If anyone has further info on when the Panzer I  was first used or modified I would love to know   as I could not find any more specifics on that.  That being said with the Panzer II flame tank   dating back to 1939 in my opinion that gives it  a strong case for being considered the first.  You may notice that so far I have referred to this  vehicle as the “Flamingo”. The name is fairly well   known nowadays but I have been unable to locate  anything which connects this name to the vehicle   historically. The nickname is not included in most  source material and I have yet to see any evidence   of it within either German or Allied reports. I  can’t definitively prove this name was never used   at this time and the word Flamingo is the same  in both English and German so it is plausible.   It is also possible this is a modern name made  up by someone. So although it may be easier to   refer to it by the “Flamingo” name I will not be  doing so since it could very well be a fake name.  The conception of the Flammpanzer dates back to  January 21st of 1939. The German Army Ordnance   Office received authorization to create an  experimental batch of Flammpanzers using an   existing chassis. As you can probably guess the  one they would choose was that of the Panzer II,   but to be more specific they would select the  Panzer II D. Although at first it may seem like   the chassis was significantly different from  the original vehicle, in reality the changes   were more minor. The hull and suspension remained  unchanged aside from some additional armored boxes   above the tracks to house the fuel tanks for  the flamethrowers. The main difference from the   Panzer II D is found with both the armament  and turret. The turret was a completely new   design from the Panzer IIs standard turret with  an MG mount in the center and two armored vision   slits on either side. These would act as both  additional vision for the crew of the vehicle   and also give the tank a sleepy appearance. The primary armament of the Panzer II Flamm   were the two flamethrowers mounted on the front of  each side of the vehicle with a secondary armament   in the form of an MG found in the turret. The two  flamethrowers were capable of traversing in a 180   degree arc covering the front of the vehicle.  In addition to these offensive armaments the   tank was also equipped with 6 smoke grenades in  two launchers towards the rear of the vehicle.  Despite seeming like a well armed tank the  Flammpanzerwagen had a number of issues with   its design. The flamethrowers were limited in  range, being only capable of launching flames   35 meters in front of the tank. Although the  machine gun did provide a longer range capability   with the thin armor of the Panzer II this could  be seen as a significant flaw in the design. As   we’ll see later this did not mean the vehicle  was incapable of being effective in combat.  The first example of the tank was completed in  July of 1939 out of soft steel for trials. This   would be shortly followed by the start of the  first production run in January of 1940. By this   point a total of 46 Panzer II D hulls had been  set aside for conversion into Panzer II Flamm.   The first of these were completed starting  in January with 2 followed by 4 in February,   4 in March, and 10 in April. Deliveries would  then be paused temporarily as these 20 vehicles   were returned for modifications requested by the  crews. The first series of 90 tanks would finally   be completed in February 1941 several months after  the initial October 1940 deadline. This was due to   a shortage of hulls with 87 being finished in 1940  and the remaining 3 finished in February. Although   as mentioned before most of these were done with  Panzer II D hulls 7 were done using the small   number of Panzer II Es built. These made up the  vehicles known as the Panzer II Flammpanzerwagen   A with the remaining vehicles produced after  February 1941 being considered Flammpanzer II   Bs. There were some minor differences with these  as the earlier Panzer II Ds and later production   Ds had changes made to the suspension. The  design of the Flammpanzers would remain the   same though. In total 151 of these vehicles  would be built plus the original prototype.  Overall the Flammpanzer IIs had reasonably  good performance with excellent mobility   thanks to the Maybach 6 cylinder engine they were  equipped with. This allowed the tank to reach 55   kilometers per hour with an average road speed  of 40. The armor was not as good with it being   30mms at the thickest on the front and 14.5mms  on the sides and rear. This made the vehicle   and the 3 crew members inside more vulnerable to  even lighter anti tank guns, but did keep them   safe from small arms fire for the most part. Although some of these vehicles were ready in   time for the invasion of France they seem to  not have been used in any combat there. This   is likely due to how few had been produced  at that point with the ones which had been   finished being stationed in training camps.  Following the fall of France the vehicles were   then stationed in the North of the newly conquered  territory in preparation for Operation Sea Lion.   The Flammpanzer IIs were organized into two  Tank Battalions consisting of the 100th and   101st Panzer Abteilungen. These battalions were  made up of a mixture of both Panzer IIs armed   with the 2cm cannons as well as the flame  tanks. Each would have 42 Flammpanzer IIs,   25 Panzer IIs, 5 Panzer IIIs, and 1 command tank. With Operation Sea Lion never coming to fruition   this training may not have prepared the  crews for an attack on Britain as expected,   but it likely would help them when  they finally saw combat to the east.  When Operation Barbarossa began it would also  see the combat debut of the Flammpanzer IIs with   the 100th Battalion being attached to the 18th  Panzer Division and the 101st attached to Panzer   Gruppe 3. One report detailed in Panzer Tracts  2-3 gives us some idea of how these tanks were   used early in the invasion. The report details  the 101st Battalion and the 7th Panzer Division   advancing into Soviet territory before the 101st  encountered thick forest which was impossible to   pass with their tanks. However the Soviet  infantry were occupying the area and the   German forces began to try and force them out.  After the German infantry encountered heavy fire   from the brush some of the Flammpanzers began  to shoot flames into the woods burning away the   brush and causing fear among the unfortunate  defenders. As that was going on other parts of   the battalion were combing the surrounding  area and similarly flushing out the hidden   infantry with seeming good effect. According  to the report, by the end of the offensive   that day the flamethrowers and machine gun  fire had killed 100 to 150 infantry with the   battalion as a whole destroying several light  machine guns, 11 heavy machine guns, one mortar,   two cars, three trucks, and one tank. This  was done with no losses of men or vehicles.  Although this does seem well within  the realm of possibility do keep in   mind this is a German combat report so it  may not be entirely forthcoming about the   details. Still it goes to show that when used  properly these vehicles were quite capable,   at least at that point in the conflict. Both battalions would see combat until   November of 1941 when they were recalled from the  front. Despite the one positive report we have of   their combat use this does not seem to represent  the true nature of their performance with the   operational status of the vehicles showing a  different story. Likely the thin armor and need   to get close to enemy positions to engage with the  flamethrowers caused the tanks to be easy targets   for anti tank guns. It certainly didn’t help that  the commander was responsible for not just the   machine gun and flamethrowers, but also commanding  the vehicle and acquiring targets. Like with many   early war designs the single man turret concept  worked poorly. This poor performance is all but   confirmed by the fact that upon being recalled in  mid-November 1941 the remaining vehicles were all   converted into Marder II tank destroyers. This  coupled with the fact that the tanks were all   lost during the advance into the USSR meant that  none of the vehicles survive today with only the   turrets sent to the Atlantic wall remaining. Although on paper the Flammpanzer II may have   seemed like a good vehicle we see that the reality  of war cared little for that theoretical ability.   Perhaps if they had remained in inventory or  service longer they could have seen success   in places like the Battle of Stalingrad or during  the Russian counter-offensives in a more defensive   role. Fate was not as forgiving with these tanks  though and their failure resulted in the halting   of the entire German Flame tank program until  1943 with the introduction of the Flammpanzer   III. As for the battalions which had fielded  the Flammpanzer IIs they were not disbanded,   but rather converted to a standard tank battalion  being refitted with more medium and light tanks.  So just like the burst from their flamethrowers  the life of the Flammpanzer IIs was short and   fiery. What do you think of this design? Let me  know in the comments down below. One last thanks   to Enlisted for sponsoring today’s video and  giving me access to the Flammpanzer II to get   some of the background footage you saw. Don’t  forget to use my link in the description to try   the game for yourself with that free bonus. Feel  free to let me know what you think of the game   in the comments section after you do. Thanks as  always to my channel members for their continued   support of the videos and of course thanks to  all of you for watching. Whether this is your   first time seeing one of my videos or you’re a  regular viewer make sure you’re subscribed so you   don’t miss the next upload. That's all I have for  you today so check out one of the videos on the   screen now if it looks interesting or hopefully  I’ll see you back here for the next video.

Channel: ConeOfArc

Views: 168,904

Keywords: ConeOfArc, cursed by design tanks, panzerkampfwagen ii, panzer II flamingo, panzer 2 flamingo, panzer ii flamm, panzer 2 flamm, panzer 2 flamethrower, tank documentary, cone of arc cursed tanks, world war ii, flame tank enlisted, flamethrower tank, flame tank ww2, flame tank design, flame tanks, flamethrower tanks, flamethrower

Id: mVDrY4otUgI

Length: 13min 41sec (821 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 20 2022