|
|
Buying, Restoring, Maintaining, & Operating Tanks
Tanks are the most expensive of all collectable military vehicles in every respect. (Unless you measure value in dollars per pound.) It is difficult to find even partially stripped hulks of any kind for less than $20,000. The position of the U.S. Department of State over the last two years has made it almost impossible for any American armored vehicles to be imported and this may force prices up in the future. However, there are still bargains out there. Many people bought tanks and then realized they didn’t have the time or resources to restore them while others bought them and then couldn’t find anything to do with them. From a restoration & maintenance standpoint tanks are a Herculean effort. Tanks have numerous subsystems unique to them including turret hydraulics, auxiliary generators, interior lighting systems, electrical and mechanical firing systems, gyro-stabilizers, ventilation systems, and all the wheels and track blocks that make up the suspension. Working on tanks requires heavy duty tools, including the lifting capacity to remove your turret, decks, & engines. You also need a truck, bulldozer, or some other piece of heavy equipment to move your tank around while it can’t move under its own power. Flushing out and refilling your transmissions and final drives requires gallons of expensive, up to $5.00 a gallon, non-detergent oil. Parts availability is spotty. While some parts may be found at shows most will come from your fellow collectors. It is unlikely that you will find every part you need so be prepared to fabricate you own. Interior sheet metal parts and fuel tanks are often rusted away so the ability to layout, cut, bend, and weld can save you a great deal of money. Rubber track, even new old stock, has a tendency to deteriorate quickly, ripping away from the steel bars in as little as 75 miles. It can be refurbished temporarily by the laborious application of polyurethane but this may only last for 30 miles before it needs to be replaced. Live rubber replacement track can cost thousands of dollars when it can be found at all. However, steel track is still a bargain and well suited to use at reenactments. Before you can operate your tank you have to have it trucked to the event. A commercial trucker will usually charge in the neighbor hood of $2.25 a mile. The greater the distance the cheaper the rate. Truckers looking for a return load (backhauls) offer the cheapest rates but their timing is unpredictable. At fifteen tons, Stuarts are small enough to be towed on a construction trailer by a semi or dump truck. At thirty tons, Shermans are overweight and overwide, requiring a tractor trailer, lowboy, and special permits to move interstate. The actual operation of tanks at reenactment events requires a good crew, lots of gasoline (mileage will be in the low single digits per mile), a good intercom system for command, control, & safety, and some sort of functional weaponry. The latter may be propane guns or blank firing. In action tanks are employed in close infantry support and against other tanks and vehicles but wherever they are utilized safety is the primary concern. We can’t afford any accidents. In close infantry support work, tanks are screened by their attached infantry squads. The tanks advance at the foot soldiers pace; the tank commander following the directions of the infantry squad leader. The historical role of the screening infantry is to protect the tank from mines and enemy soldiers with panzerfausts but by preceding the tank over every foot of ground it traverses the screening infantry also insure that nobody is in the tank’s way. Tanks do not move against enemy infantry positions without an attached infantry squad in a screening position unless the action is choreographed. Now as then, tanks are virtually blind and it is up to the infantry to spot the enemy positions and the safety hazards. It is the tank’s job to neutralize by fire the enemy positions identified by the infantry and to stay within the areas that the infantry have cleared of enemy ambushes and safety risks. Tank/infantry teamwork was never an easy task to master and practice in training went a long way toward developing the standard operating procedures that made it possible for the team to operate efficiently in combat. Like 4th Armored men did half a century ago, we drill to improve our coordinated movement and communication. Teamwork is the key! In the field the well trained team can operate SAFELY and effectively. To simulate tank vs. tank action a certain amount of choreography is needed. Tanks have to be free to maneuver at speed to engage enemy armor but they cannot do so if infantry are in their way. To insure that the infantry are out of harm’s way, battles are designed in a manner that when tank duels take place the tanks are either alone (i.e. an encounter between advanced guard columns on a road) or the infantry clear the field and take cover in areas predetermined as off limits to tanks. Safety officers with radios communicate directly with tank drivers on a dedicated safety channel to alert them of potential risks. If the safety officer determines there is a risk he orders the tank or tanks to stop until the risk is removed. The safety officers may be concealed in tree stands above the action, on the ground on foot, or where ever they can best observe the unfolding action. Referees are likewise observing the action to determine the outcomes of encounters. The referees communicate directly with the tank commanders so that drivers will not be distracted. A tank crew is a team unto itself and it is important for combat efficiency and safety that each man understand his own responsibilities and those of his crew mates. When out of action it is the tank crew’s job to do maintenance on their vehicle and weapons. Depending on the circumstances the tank crew may also have to provide their own camouflage and security. A good tank commander is key to an effective and safe crew. The commander has the best all around knowledge of what is going on. He is the man who is communicating with the infantry and instructing his crew as to where to drive an shoot. A good commander will insure that established safety procedures are followed at all times. If they are, no gunner will ever break a driver’s neck by traversing the main gun into him. An effective and reliable communication system within the tank is a prerequisite to attending a reenactment. It is difficult enough for the tank commander to communicate with the infantry; he need not also struggle to communicate within the tank. For safety and efficiency, good, reliable intra-tank communication is a must. Being a tanker at a reenactment is a challenging role to play, but there is no better way to capture the spirit of tanks in battle without actually being in battle. 4th Armored Reenactment Association was the first, club devoted to recreating the experience of the WWII armored fighting man. |