Barleyman Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 How is the crew distributed inside a tank anyways? People talk of two- and three-man turrets, so it sounds like only the driver's position is inside the hull, rest of the crew are all crammed into the turret? Ammo is also stored inside the turret? So, er, what goes inside the hull, beyond the engine and the driver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illo Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 radio/machinegun operator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncawley@ameritech.net Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 Most full-sized tanks have a crew of five men. They are the tank commander, the gunner, the loader, the driver, and a hull machinegunner / assistant driver. The last two are in the forward part of the hull, left and right side for driver and MG, the first three are in the turret, with the commander in a raised seat high up in the turret, from which standing he can see out and operate the turret-top machinegun when there is one. The gunner and loader are standing on the turret floor, which is farther down inside the tank than you might think. The gunner aims the gunsight, traverses and elevates the gun, and fires it. The loader preps the ammo and loads the gun, all the operations that involves. Ammo is stowed in the back of the turret and around its edges. The rear compartment, down in the hull and behind the turret area, is where the engine is, and the gas tank and such. Some lighter vehicles will only have a crew of 3 or 4, with typically the commander having to fire the gun or the gunner having to load it. The second of those works much better, because a commander who can see what is going on is more important than loading a little faster. They can't take the extra man out of the hull instead, because it is the turret area that has the least space. In the case of three man crews, there is only one driver too. And yes, the inside of the turret of a tank, especially a light tank, is a cramped place. So much so that many U.S. tankers disconnected their expensive and high-tech gyrostabilizers. Why? Because those were designed to keep the gun pointing in the same direction over dips and bumps in the ground, but guns have backsides too. The backside of a gun is a part inside the turret called the "breech block", a big safe-like hunk of metal designed to prevent the shock of firing from blowing open the place you put the shell it. Well, the gyros made the breechblock move around inside the tank as it went over bumps. And being hit by a moving breech-block can break your arm like that (snap). So they said to heck with it and just disconnected them, in many cases. It is just an example of how cramped things are inside a tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barleyman Posted February 8, 2001 Author Share Posted February 8, 2001 there is one. The gunner and loader are standing on the turret floor, which is farther down inside the tank than you might think. Oh, okay, I get it. Turret floor is not at all at the same level with the hull top. Still, the russians designed their tanks for the smallest 5% of their troopers, so I reckon there's not a much in the way of elbowroom. Some lighter vehicles will only have a crew of 3 or 4, with typically the commander having to fire the gun or the gunner having to load it. The second of those works much better, because a commander Not to mention the TC is probably much more likely to buy the farm than the rest of the crew.. What kind of ratio in casualties is there? As bad as with junior officers/troopers? Hmm, IIRC if the loader for M1 buys it, TC is supposed to load the gun? [This message has been edited by Barleyman (edited 02-08-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Petersson Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 A few more points: - The Bow gunner/assistant driver is usually also radio operator (at least for WW2 tanks). - Auto loaders frees up some space. - Another reason for disconnecting the Sherman gyro was that it slowed down reloading and made it more hazardous to the loader. - The S-tank was originally designed for a two man crew, but the tankers wanted a third crew member (for maintenance). As a result the weight went up by two tons. The S-tank can be fully operated by one man alone, since both the driver/gunner and TC have gun sight and drive controls. (And the gun is fully automatic.) The 3rd member has been assigned radio operator/reverse driver... Cheers Olle ------------------ Webmaster of Combat Mission för svensktalande, a CM site in Swedish. Norwegians, Finns, Danes and Icelanders are also welcome as members, others can still enjoy pictures and downloads. Strategy is the art of avoiding a fair fight... Detta har kånntrollerats av Majkråsofft späll-tjäcker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 Originally posted by Barleyman: Not to mention the TC is probably much more likely to buy the farm than the rest of the crew. Not overall. He had the biggest hatch to get out of. Some Shermans, for example, only had one turret hatch for three men. And a Sherman usually brewed up in just a few seconds - that's all the time you had to get out before you burned. The gunner and the loader both had to exit through the same hatch as the commander. The history of the South Alberta Regiment talks about Sherman crews having to be removed from tanks that burned. In order to get some casualties out of their seats (where they died and then stiffened up from rigor mortis), other men had to enter the tank and cut the bodies into two pieces with a machete or axe so that they could fit through the hatches and be given a decent burial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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