Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "TANKS! What makes a good tank? And more... | TIK Q&A 13" video.

A much underrated tank was the Churchill, which was uprated through the war to have armour as thick as a Tiger. The 6-pdr gun with APDS shells could penetrate a Tiger if the need was there. 18mph max but that did not matter in most cases. It could turn on its own axis and climb mountains, which no other tank could do. Most tanks did not engage other tanks. It is the sort of tank a general likes to have in his army for its versatility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p-izpDBZv4
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@RobertP2000 Two companies made the shells. One made to tight tolerances, the other never. Once both went to tight tolerance there was no problem.
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Tigers performed badly against the British in Tunisia. In the first engagement the Germans lost two Tigers and six Panzer IIIs and an armoured car, to towed 6-pdrs firing APCBC with penetrations to the turret starting at 800 yds. There was no loss to the British guns giving the first Tigers to be knocked out by the western allies. North Irish Horse took out two Tigers without loss in Churchills armed with 6-pdrs firing APCBC. 48 RTR took out another two Tigers losing one Churchill to a Tiger and other Churchills to AT guns. These were Churchills with 6-pdrs firing APCBC. At Hunts Gap, the Germans were reported blowing up seven Tigers to prevent British capture after they were damaged. The British reported the Germans blowing up five Tigers to prevent recovery - so between seven an twelve. Because of the initial performance of the Tiger in Tunisia, the western allies never took it too seriously. The 48 RTR were the first western allied unit to destroy Panthers in May 1944. Two Panthers and a Panther turm for the loss of two 6pdrs APCBC Churchills.
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@sean640307 Yes, when the mussel break was removed, no problems.
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The best overall tank in WW2 was the Churchill. Its versatility was ahead of all others. The Churchill had similar armour to the Tiger. And later in the war using APDS shells with a 6-pdr gun could knock out Tigers. It did 18mph. Most tanks rarely needed speed. There was a widened version, the Black Prince, with 17pdr gun, but dropped as the Centurion was being introduced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Prince_(tank) The Churchill was also used as an armoured personal carrier, the Kangaroo, with the turret removed - first used by the Canadians. It was a very useful and adaptable tank. The Churchill could turn on its own axis and go up mountains. Just what generals want in an army. The Churchill was first used at Dieppe in 1942. The Germans dismissed the Canadian Churchill's at Dieppe as a throw away old design, or using some surplus expendable tanks, ignoring the fact half got over the sea walls from the beach, which no German tank could ever do. In tests no German tanks could get out of the water and off the beach at Dieppe. The Germans never fully tested the captured Churchills only seeing where they could knock it out. It came back to haunt them. The Churchill was also used in Korea.
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