FV4005: The Tank That Shook Itself Apart

in this film we're going to be talking about a somewhat extreme response to the Soviet heavy tanks unveiled at the end of World War II a vehicle equipped with the biggest tank gun in history the fv4005 on September 7th 1945 four Allied nations came together to celebrate the end of World War II at the Berlin Victory Parade the British French United States and Soviet Union all used it as an opportunity to show off some of their newest tanks but it was the Soviet Union in particular that had both civilians and military personnel stunned they used the parade as a perfect stage for the debut of the new is-3 heavy tank a true Behemoth that was bigger more armored and more powerful than any tank the West had to show with tensions between the East and West Rising this Revelation only further fueled the paranoia that the Soviets could become aggressive towards the West an iron curtain has descended across the continent the Western Nations had to ask themselves how can our tanks possibly compete and more worryingly if this is what the Soviets had in 1945 what on Earth could they have in say 10 years time a big problem required a big solution and that is exactly what the British set out to do and in doing so they would go on to create and mount the biggest caliber tank gun in history the revelation of the is-3 had clearly caused a panic but it's worth putting into context as to why that was the is-3 had been developed in the closing years of World War II and a prototype had been completed in October 1944 and trial in December of that year it is armed with a d25 122 mm main gun but even more impressive was its armor it has a Pik nose which not only made the frontal armor even more effective but meant it was structurally Stronger too this was a achieved by only having one member of the crew in the front meaning less limitations on Armor around the driver's compartment with there being only one crewman in the front of the tank positioned in the center it allowed for the armor to be sloped around the driver with 120 mm of sloped frontal armor at 55° it has almost 200 mm of frontal protection at the sides it has 90 mm of armor and the mountet the most heavily armored section has up to 240 mm in contrast the most advanced British tanks at the time were the comet and the Centurion the comet essentially an upgunned and up armored version of The Cromwell and armed with a brilliant 77 mm gun but it's only got 100 mm of frontal armor and that's less than that of the earlier Churchill tanks the Centurion an entirely new type of tank which took some of the most important Lessons Learned From the second world war and combined them into a single tank with 180 mm of sloped frontal armor and armed with the famous 177 pounder it could penetrate over 180 mm of armor at 2 km but it was thought that even these tanks wouldn't be enough to take out what would eventually supersede the is-3 the British needed something big and powerful enough to take out such heavily armored tanks and they needed it sooner rather than later in August 1950 the war office created a requirement for a weapon capable of defeating 152 mm of armor sloped at 60° at a range of 2,000 y or 1,830 M with the aim of taking out potential threats like the is-3 the issue is that there was no such tank gun within the British Arsenal so a new one would have to be created it was confirmed that the only weapon capable of achieving such a requirement would be a 180 mm gun firing the British favorite Hesh high explosive squash head it was then confirmed when a trial was carried out that this combination of gun and projectile would be more than enough to meet the requirements the gun at this stage of development was referred to as a 180 mm caliber its actual caliber was 183 and eventually in December of 1952 its designation would be changed to reflect this the final product was The L4 A1 tank gun being a 183 mm tank gun it was massive being both long and heavy the length of the barrel was 7.3 M and the entire gun weighed 2.8 tons the muzzle velocity was 2,500 ft per second although later this would be revised to 2350 the next question was what vehicle would Mount this new gun and four options were presented the first one was for the gun to be mounted and function like a traditional tank in a 360° traversible turret in a fully armored vehicle the second option was a self-propelled mounting with limited Traverse but with heavy frontal armor the third option was to be either limited or fully traversible with very light armor and the fourth and final option was to be a self-propelled mounting with no armor whatsoever they ultimately decided on option two and work started in January of 1951 this vehicle would be based on FB 214 or what would eventually become known as conqueror but instead of the 120 mm it would mount a 180 mm gun instead and this vehicle was given the designation FB 215 an FB 214 chassis would be heavily modified to mount the turret towards the back and the engine in the center between the fighting compartment and the driver due to the sheer size of the gun and power of The Recoil the Traverse would be limited to 45° either side and only 20 rounds of ammunition could be carried on board this new vehicle was unlike anything the British had designed previously and was planned to enter production in mid 1953 however FV 214 or conqueror was still in development and it was not seen as viable to design a new vehicle based on a chassis which wasn't ready yet as a stop Gap the gun would be tried on a different chassis alog together so that when FB 214 was ready it could quickly be transferred over doing these tests earlier rather than later provided an opportunity to hopefully iron out any potential issues before the gun was eventually mounted in FB 215 the alternative design would be based on the Centurion Mark III chassis something already in service thoroughly tested and readily available this interim Arrangement would receive the designation fv4 005 there were many unknowns as to what would happen by mounting such a huge caliber of gun on a tank an fv4005 would hopefully highlight any potential issues fv4005 initially known as heavy anti-tank self-propelled one would be made in two stages and would go against each other during trials stage one comprised of the gun on an open mounting with no protection which could be elevated by 10° and depressed by five it was believed that the sheer amount of energy generated by The Recoil when firing could cause the vehicle to topple over if the gun was pointing too far over either side the gun was fitted with a concentric recoil system a cylinder around the lower part of the barrel this version also featured a loader assist a massive revolver type cylinder that held five rounds of ammunition this was designed to make it easier for the loader to load these projectiles which were extremely heavy there are several reports mentioning the weight of the projectiles used and they range from 65 .8 kilos to 72.3 roughly the weight of a washing machine the ammunition was two-piece so after the projectile was loaded a brass case full of propellant followed it this weighed another 31 kilos together the entire round was almost 1.5 M tall stage 2 looks more like your traditional tank it used the same 180 mm gun but was fitted with a conventional hydropneumatic recuperator and independent runout control the crew would be protected by a splinter proof turret with only 14 mm of protection all around heavier armor was ruled out as to keep the weight of the vehicle below 50 tons and the Traverse would be limited to a narrow firing Arc due to the enclosed space within the turret the loader assist was removed and instead two loaders would be responsible for loading the heavy ammunition the fire rate was around two rounds per minute with 12 rounds carried on board by April 1952 stage 1 had been completed it was decided that a ground anchor would be counted on both stage 1 and stage two vehicles to help dampen the movement during firing specially designed sites were also meant to be made for the testing of these vehicles but they never materialized and in the end a tzf 12a sight originally fitted to the German Panther was used instead by June 1953 the first firing TR had been carried out on stage one but stage two still wasn't ready and it would take several more months until the work was complete during the stage one trials observers paid close attention to how the main gun affected the rest of the vehicle with and without the ground anchor for example in the official report of these tests it was noted that when fired without the anchor the front of the vehicle lifted 17 in and the back dropped by 10 in double that of when the anchor was deployed the tank also moved 9 in backwards similarly with the turret Travers to 90° the effects on the vehicle were the most extreme the report noted that firing the gun at 90° Traverse imparts an extremely high amplitude movement with fast cyclic rate to whole Hull this shifted the whole 50 ton tank 2 in sideways at some point during the trial it became apparent that the gun elevation gear had completely failed likely due to the blast of the main gun during the trial the internal components had been bent and the mounting bolts had completely sheared the report notes that it was strongly recommended that no crew member be permitted to occupy any turret position during firing until a full instrumented firing trial had been completed put bluntly firing the main gun caus the rest of the vehicle to literally Shake itself apart by July 1955 the stage 2 prototypes had been extensively trialed one vehicle having fired 150 rounds for the next year these trials continued all aimed at aiding the development of f3215 by this stage a huge amount of work had gone into developing the 183 mm L4 gun and extend ensive trials taught valuable lessons for how it would be implemented in FV 215 this video has been made possible by our supports on patreon our YouTube members and our super thanks donors please join them if you can and support the tank Museum and thanks for watching and here we have the fully restored stage 2 vehicle as it would have appeared During trials it's pretty much on a bog standard Mark III Centurion chassis except for the enormous gun crutch at the front and this ground anchor on the back of course though this vehicle is all about mounting that 180 mm gun so let's go have a look in the turret right so we're here inside the turet of fv4005 and just being here you can really get a sense of how much room there is inside here obviously you would have your four members of the crew you'd have your Gunner your commander and your two loaders and that's presumably why you've got so much space here because they need to have that room to pick up the very heavy ammunition and load it into the gun speaking of which that breach there is absolutely colossal and you really can get an idea of just why you need two men to actually load this thing and just remember the sheer power of that 183 mm gun it's in a very very thin turet only 14 mm and you can hear just how relatively flimsy it is in here so when that gun fires it's not a surprise that this thing literally shook the rest of the vehicle apart now obviously this vehicle is huge but it's also very tall as well in a normal Centurion most of your crew in the fighting compartment are actually a bit further down there but with this we're so much higher up and as a result if you look down where the rest of the crew would be there is just nothing there and the turret itself it's just so strange compared to your conventional turret I mean you've got the radiators that you can see right down there which you would not have in a normal Centurion you've got a full size door on the back just to get in and out of this shed it's definitely it's definitely something else unfortunately though despite all the efforts spent on FV 215 and fv4005 the project was eventually cancelled in 1957 leading to the dismantling and dismounting of both stage one and Stage 2 Vehicles so why did the FV 215 and by extension fv4005 projects come to an end well at the same time that trials were being conducted the British along with many other countries around the world were exploring and developing new ways of taking out heavy armor at a fraction of the cost atgms anti-tank guarded missiles these missiles were not only extremely cheap in comparison but could be mounted to a wide variety of vehicles whether it be small wheeled Vehicles like the ferit armored car helicopters or even main battle tanks not to mention some missiles could be carried and used on foot with all these factors in mind it's easy to be able to to ask yourself why do you need an expensive weapons development program to make a huge gun when a small missile can do the same job if not more effective at a fraction of the cost the fact is missiles can be steered onto their target whereas the 183 mm was not considered accurate enough at its maximum range of 2,000 M especially in Crosswinds due to the size of the projectile in 1957 the British military was hit with significant Cuts many army units were Amalgamated and programs like f v215 were cancelled in favor of exploring cheaper projects and this ultimately is why the project came to an end around this time the Soviets happen to be moving away from heavy armor in their Doctrine and more towards medium tanks with an emphasis on numbers although this is hindsight and the British may not have known this at the time in addition smaller more practical guns although less powerful than the 183 mm were still more than capable of doing damage to enemy armor and this was especially the case when advancements in am munition were made and the armor piercing fin stabilized discarding Sabo round was introduced so with all that said and done what happened to the stage 2 prototypes one of the stage 2 turrets was offered to the Royal Military College of Science in shrivenham for use in design exercises in January 1971 the tank Museum acquired the stage 2 turret from shrivenham and is likely the only remains of the vehicle it spent decades outside exposed to the elements children would often play on it along with other turrets and vehicles on display outside before health and safety was much of a thing in 2007 the turret was mounted on a centurion Mark 12 chassis and placed at the exit of the tank Museum as a gate Guardian until last year in 2023 Joe Hughes a private collector of military vehicles expressed interest in reuniting the fv4005 turret to the acurate Mark 3 Centurion chassis and for the vehicle to appear at tankfest 2024 we've been close following the progress of the project and recently visited Joe Hugh's Workshop in Leicester to see how he was getting on right well we're here in Joe's Workshop here in Leicester Joe thank you for having us no problem at all um could you just tell us a little bit about yourself and a little bit what you're doing on this project right well I restore military vehicles with a team of mine um normally we just buy abandoned vehicles and we slowly do them up and whatever and now somehow We've Ended up working with you guys and World of Tanks on this project which is still pretty insane but yeah so this one here we're primarily just working on the hull like I say the tank Museum have kindly done most of the work with the turret for us so we're getting this to be a running driving you know all safe and looking right so we've we've had to change the tracks we put replacement engine it replacement gearbox replacement clutch so everything is it's not brand new but it's pretty close um we're just trying to get the vehicle to be as good as we can possibly get it and so it's reliable so we can actually have fun using the real thing the only one to drive around for hopefully many years at tank fester and other shows um could you explain a little bit of the process of bringing this back into running order well basically the first thing we did was strip everything down let's start from the start so stripping the engine bay down taking the original engine out taking the auxiliary engine out basically stripping it down to a bare chassis and then a lot of the parts we're going to salvage or shall we say we have Salvage so then everything was a massive process of cleaning each individual part I mean every nut and bolt has been polished or if it was too badly damaged we'd actually order a genuine copy of a new version but even like down to all the grease nipples we've polished them all up so we've done like every single thing that we have touched has been clean polished and then put back together we have cheated a little bit we've fitted a replacement Recon engine in it just because of the time scale really um so we've done that we also did the same with the gearbox we wanted to make sure that it was asbestos free um so the brake linings went away it was changed for the modern equivalent so again we know the brakes are safe and uh we know they're going to be all right so we've tried to like make improvements but keeping the vehicle period and uh but adding some more reliable things in so could you explain a bit of what is and what isn't original on the vehicle as as at this moment the vehicle itself you know most parts of it original original track original engine you know all the stuff that should be in a MK I Centurion the turret itself we we don't actually have the original um Traverse mechanism that somehow was removed from the turret years ago but a lot of the elevation system is still in it and we have enough to remanufacture one of the two parts that are missing so we shall have it elevating going up and down hopefully on the original controls now the Traverse people ask a lot is it going to Traverse we need it to Traverse for a lot of reasons for safety for access to get at the engine base to do repairs and maintenance and plus it would be quite cool to set up a display when it's not driving around so I don't actually have the original Traverse box or should I say we the tank Museum we don't have that but I am going to try and fit a standard Centurion Traverse gate into it so it will do the exact same job and because we won't be essentially firing a real round it will be safe enough and do the job so fingers crossed I can make that work work so yes it will Elevate and it will Traverse um so could you explain some of the biggest challenges you faced with this project time scales is the biggest challenge we've faced and it's it's things like getting certain parts and parts ready for a certain time so it's not just a case of oh I can just put the engine in whenever or or whatever everything has to be done at a certain time and like like now we'd love to put the gun in but we can't fit the gun until the fuel Tank's fitted but really we we wanted to do a lot of stuff before we fitted the turret but we again we're constantly B with this time scale of having to do we have to make progress every time we can but as far as the actual vehicle the hardest things um for us is like repairing the original bin boxes so that's something that just takes a hell of a lot of time there's no quick and easy way around it quite tedious and obviously when we we needle gun to quite a lot of the vehicle which anyone that's need like we said before takes a incredible amount of time so they're the main things so how does it feel to be able to work on such a unique vehicle I suppose like a lot of the time I don't actually think about it but then it's like when you guys have turned up and you actually realize how cool it actually is but I suppose off camera it's quite normal to us because this is something we're doing all the time regularly um but yeah to to see everyone's reaction when we do so and reading through the comments and seeing what everyone says you you start to realize actually this is quite a cool thing to be doing and uh yeah some times you forget how well we forget how Lu we are to be involved in something like this that said though it is a lot of work you know it's it's not easy and there's quite a lot of stress but it is we're pretty happy it's pretty cool doing it um what does it feel like to be able to work and collaborate with the tank Museum and like companies like World of Tanks it feels a little bit surreal because I just feel like I'm just a normal Farmers kid but now all of a sudden we're restoring tanks and working with you guys yeah it seems quite strange that we're literally working with one of the biggest well the biggest tank game in the world restoring a real vehicle which is well the only one in the world so we're doing a lot of things there which is very weird for someone like myself that I never thought that would ever happen and then here we are randomly in an Old Farm shed building this thing so yeah it's it's quite it just feels it's just a real experience it doesn't really feel real what we're doing I think when it's finally actually at tankfest is going to be like a oh we actually it's yeah I think it's going to be at the minute where it's incomplete although it's getting there I think when the turrets on and the the gun joints it's going to every setep we go it's just getting a little little more cooler each each part of the process now it's getting to the cool the cool stage where it's nearly nearly finished how does it feel knowing that you're going to be the first person to drive this on display at tank first 2024 I think it's going to be quite quite weird quite surreal but yeah yeah no it's it's going to be it's going to be a massive thing for me I mean driving them they all Drive the same so if you've driven one Centurion you've driven them all and like they're a good they're a good vehicle to drive anyway um but yeah this is definitely going to be the coolest one you could ever think about driving and I actually think it's going to be one of the fastest as well because the turret and all the things I think adds another 12 or 13 tons so it would be about 42 tons and I think the centr barve for instance that's 40 tons and that's that's rapid you know the one I've got is is quick so this will be the fastest gun tank Cur I believe is it much different with this project compared to other vehicles you've worked with because obviously since you're working with us we've got a lot of archival material that imagine you can't we never get access to that so yeah that that's quite a quite an unusual thing to be able to have access to all these things that we' have never known about and drawings like to literally remanufacture things like that with that without that would have been impossible so yeah and like working on something where there there are no parts for it because it is a oneoff and there are you know yes you've got the turret and the gun but there's so many other bits and pieces that make this unique it's invaluable really that we can see how that was built and actually have the blueprints or access to them it's quite incredible after all those years for a vehicle that they only made one of to still be any record of it at all so for those of our viewers who aren't that familiar with you could you explain where you they can find you yes so you can find us on Instagram Facebook YouTube we all the same things just Mr Hughes that's my title for for everything I have to keep it simple cuz we're we're simple folk um yeah that's where you can find us and you'll see us messing around with stuff like this and yeah this is pretty much what we do we do other things but mainly tanks uh fantastic well is there anything else you would like to say particularly to the people who have helped fund the project the crowd funders World tanks well I mean it goes without saying none of it would be possible I know we probably keep saying that but it it seems so bizarre that here we are actually building it but again without everyone at home and world of tank supporting us on this project it literally wouldn't be possible it just seems such a strange strange experience to be to be here actually putting it together but we just want to make sure that all your uh you know all your donations or whatever will be put to good use and we hope that you'll be pleased with the end result and it'll be available for many years to come well thank you very much Joe we all look for for to uh see you driving this around the arena at tank 2024 yeah I look forward to it as well fingers crossed we don't have any breakdowns but it is a tank so who knows whilst in the long run the FB 215 and fv4005 projects didn't lead to any further development it's been a brilliant opportunity for us to work with different military history enthusiasts and private collectors to restore this vehicle to its former glory although fv4005 never had much in the way of historical significance it's one of those unique vehicles that have gained Fame and admiration from tank enthusiasts around the world particularly from online gaming communities such as world of tanks tanks such as tog 2 M22 Locust and even the Italian kovce have all found new devotees in younger audiences thanks to these online gaming communities and who knows there's always the possibility that one of these tanks might be restored in the future I really hope you enjoyed watching this tank chat and if you did please do consider consider subscribing and if you are lucky enough to see FB 4005 running at tankfest 2024 we'd love to hear your comments down below

Channel: The Tank Museum

Views: 238,749

Keywords: Bovington, Dorset, Tanks, Tankfest, tanks, tiger, chieftain, tank museum, second world war, world war two, top five tanks, tank chats, david fletcher, british army, tiger 131, royal armoured corps, tank regiment, RAC, tank museum bovington, tanklife, bovingtontank museum, military history, ww2, ww1, armoured car, tankchats, army, veteran, wwii history, world war 1, world war ii, war history, royal navy, ww2 history, royal air force, wwii museum, wwi, ww2 tanks, ww2 weapons, cheesecake

Id: GINmlDX401Q

Length: 25min 41sec (1541 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 05 2024