Index – Science – The tank that survived a nuclear explosion then went to Vietnam to fight

There are few combat vehicles, in fact, anything in the world that have endured as much in their careers as the Australian Army Centurion No. 169041.

In the prologue, it is definitely worth saying what these Centurions are with a sonorous name (the name refers to the centurion, the centurion’s chief officer, a unit of a hundred soldiers in the ancient Roman legion). Centurion tanks in II. It was born from the transition period between World War I and the Cold War, when the great powers, the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France, simultaneously industrialized to create their own nuclear arsenal and, in parallel, land forces capable of survive nuclear war.

Towards the end of World War II, Britain embarked on the development of the Centurion tank, which combined the advantageous features of the German Soviet Panther and T-34 tanks, and last but not least, was the first manufacturer of tea of ​​the world. The reassignment of the Centurions, a class of general-purpose tanks, eventually delayed the end of the war: it was regularized in 1949 with British ground forces. Constructed until the 1960s and in service until the 1990s, experts say the Centurion was a fairly robust and well-performing tank that stood out on the battlefield, of which other countries besides the British Commonwealth were fans. to buy. A total of 4,423 of them were produced, of which 2,500 were exported, and Centurions served in Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Israel and the Netherlands, among others.

169 041

The special adventure of the protagonist of our story, the Centurion Mark Type 3 tank No. 169041, began in December 1951: the new British tank left the Royal Ordnance Factory in Barnbow. The combat vehicle with registration number 06 BA 16 was received by the Commonwealth Government of Australia and arrived in Australia in May 1952, where it received the six-digit registration.

At the beginning of his career in ’41, which was still in his childhood, he did not see much military training: in July 1953, he was reassigned to Woomera to take advantage of a secret military program. The South Australia city area served as the site of the first ground tests of the British nuclear weapons program in the 1950s. Following the success of the 1952 Operation Hurricane atomic bombing experiment, the British detonated here two atomic bombs during the tests under the pseudonym Operation Totem. Centurion n. ° 169041 obtained the role in the Totem-1 explosion.

Oddly enough, although the Australian Army had a bunch of scrapped and disused II. Tank from World War II, senior officials believed that by sacrificing modern tanks, the destructive effects of atomic bombs on conventional weapons could be better studied. There was every reason to this, it was obviously important to assess how effective the latest weapons of mass destruction are and how well the means of conventional weapons can resist the destructive power of the known atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Consequently, during the Totem-1 and Totem-2 tests, and during subsequent experimental explosions, the Centurion tanks, as well as other combat equipment, cannons, trucks, and jeeps, were positioned at a specified distance from the epicenter in a desert area named Emu Field. The following video shows a similar but post-1956 British test explosion:

Tank No. 169041 was stationed 460 meters from the 31-meter high tower on which the experimental atomic bomb was placed. The tank was loaded with ammunition in the experimental area, its engine running, with puppets replacing the crew awaiting their destination. The nuclear scientists and British military leaders who led the experiment hoped that due to the extremely short distance, the tank would be largely destroyed as a result of the destructive effects of the 10-kiloton nuclear bomb.

On October 14, 1953, the Totem-1 experiment was performed. The research team found Centurion almost entirely at once. The blast wave shoved the 52-ton tank six feet away, shaved off the antennas, dropped the headlights and periscope, ripped and blew the side armor plates 180 feet away, and the heat wave scorched the canvas shield and the black sky. Other than this, however, it can be said that the 169041 was barely worn out by a nearby nuclear explosion, and its engine also stopped only because the fuel tanks had run out of gas in the meantime. If he had fuel left, he could have left the scene on his own feet. (Note that the condition of the puppets inside also revealed that although the tank was able to survive a minor nuclear attack, the crew could no longer be told this: the shock wave would have killed them immediately.)

The tank was thoroughly inspected, then placed on a trailer and transported back to the base. It is characteristic of the irresponsibility of the time that those who performed these tasks no longer wore serious protective equipment, and almost without exception, all died years later in some form of cancer. The 169041 was only decontaminated later when it was decided it was worth putting it into combat capability again.

Head to Vietnam!

The Centurion, which launched into a nuclear attack, received a new engine in 1956, its turret was dismantled, and served as a tow vehicle until 1958. Then it was decided to completely renovate and modernize it, which meant improving Mark’s combat skills. 3 to Mark 5. This work lasted two years, after which the tank rested in a warehouse between 1960 and 1962. It was also necessary to gather forces because it was put back into active service in 1962, and in early 1968, the nicknamed Centurion Atomtank went to war in 169041.

Little is known in Hungary about the fact that Australia entered the Vietnam War in 1967 as an ally of the United States. The Royal Australian Armored Division initially sent light armored personnel carriers and later Centurion tanks, a total of 58, to assist them in the jungles of the Southeast Asian country. During their three and a half years on the battlefields in South Vietnam, Australian Army tanks performed surprisingly well, and their personnel quickly adapted to tropical conditions (realizing very quickly, for example, that it was worthwhile remove track and wheel guards to avoid mud and brush). Of the 58 tanks, 42 suffered some type of damage in combat, and six were no longer repairable.

The Atomtank was not swimming without a hit, either: in May 1969, during a shootout, a missile grenade crashed into the cannon tower, penetrated the tower’s armor, and exploded. Everyone in the tower was wounded by shrapnel. Fortunately, only one of them was so injured that he had to be rescued from the battlefield, the others were able to continue the operation with the tank still operating. 169041 was finally withdrawn from Vietnam in April 1970 after 15 months of fighting.

It then underwent another renovation and modernization in Australia and remained in service from the late 1970s through the 1990s, now nicknamed Sweet Fanny. It is currently on display at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in Edinburgh, the only tank in the world to survive a nuclear explosion and then served for another 23 years while also at war, surviving the 20th century. perhaps the fiercest struggles of the second half of the 20th century.

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