Why is the tank called a tank? The answer to this question can be found by reading this article. Tank battles largely predetermined the outcome of World War II, but even now, many years after its end, armored vehicles on tracks and with a cannon on the turret are in service with the armies of almost all countries of the world. Read the article to the end, and you will understand why the tank was called a tank.
Origin of the word
Translated from English tank - tank, reservoir, cistern, container, cylinder, tank, fuel tank and even tub. It was in Great Britain during the First World War, or rather, in 1916, that the first model of a tank called "Mark 1" appeared, weighing 28 tons. In battle, they first visited in September of the same year in France, in the famous battle on the Somme River. And although out of several dozen vehicles participating in the battle, almost half simply failed, the rest were able to break through the front and advance far behind German lines, which thoroughly frightenedGerman command. And at the same time they proved their promise.
In parallel, tanks were being developed in France and Russia. Before the revolution, domestic developments, however, did not get into industrial production. But the British allies sent several copies to the tsarist government, moreover, under the guise of railway tanks, which they, in fact, then resembled. That is why the tank was called a tank in Russia (although at first the name "tub" was also in use). One Russian war correspondent in 1917, in a note from the front, described the English "tub" as "a fearless and invulnerable giant armored car."
A bit of history
The Battle of Cambrai, which took place already at the end of 1917, was the first in history where tanks were already used in large numbers (the British had a tank corps, consisting of three brigades). Anti-tank defense was also born there, which the Germans were forced to use.
After the end of the First World War, in which tanks were able to prove their effectiveness, they soon appeared in the armies of many European countries, including the USSR, as well as the USA and Japan. As a rule, they were equipped with powerful armor, several types of guns and a diesel engine. By weight, they were divided into light, medium and heavy. In World War II, about 1,000 armored vehicles participated on both sides in the largest tank battle in history near Prokhorovka. In general, the tactics of using tanks on the battlefield has reached unprecedented heights.
Post-war tanks are usually divided into three generations. With each of them, the machine was improved more and more, now turning (in its best examples) into a real miracle of technology.
KV and T-34
The most popular Soviet heavy model of that time was the KV tank. Why is this armored giant weighing more than 47 tons so named? It's simple: in 1939, when the first such machine rolled off the assembly line, the name of People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov, was incredibly popular in our country. The car was named after the first letters of his first and last name.
Another legendary Soviet model, the T-34, was developed in Kharkov under the guidance of designer Mikhail Koshkin. This high-speed medium tank, equipped with powerful weapons (combat weight of almost 30 tons, a 76 mm gun), was considered perhaps the best at that time. Why the Tank-34 was called that is not completely clear, just one of the decisions of the Defense Committee ordered the experimental model of the A-32 tank with thickened 45 mm armor to be called the T-34.
What now?
Now the leading armies of the world are armed with modern tanks of the third generation. In Russia, the main tank is the T-90 and its modifications, which has the second name "Vladimir", in honor of its designer Vladimir Potkin. It has a mass of 46.5 tons and is equipped with a 125 mm cannon.
We hope we have clearly told the readers why the tank was called a tank. However, the names "tank" or"tub", right?
