Of the nations fighting in WWII, the Soviet Union was the largest user of diesel tanks, with nearly all of their medium and heavy tanks so equipped. Midway in the war, our tanks were equipped with wet ammo stowage, and tanks so equipped seldom burned when hit. Some of you may be shouting, “But gasoline-powered tanks can burn!” That is true, but if you look at the true causes of tanks burning after being hit, you will find it was mostly the ammunition propellant burning. As with the other rear view of the engine, this is a test engine, so the details were not exactly like the production engine. Subscribe Our Weekly Newsletter The forward-facing part of the engine again with the cooling fan, flywheel, and part of the clutch exposed. That was done as you will read here but after some very good gasoline engines were developed, the very practical choice was made to not allocate many resources to a changeover and keep the logistics running smoothly. Speaking just of tanks, it was certainly possible to push the research and develop suitable diesel for tanks. One of the big reasons the United States did so well in WWII was that we became masters at logistics, standardization, and asset allocation. Steam still ruled ship and rail transportation and the vast majority of trucks, even the biggest ones, were still powered by gasoline. transportation systems back then and diesel technology was only just evolved enough to start making a foothold. Diesels just did not have a large foothold in U.S. The American military and its supply infrastructure were set up on gasoline, as was just about all motor transport in the U.S. The primary reason so few diesel tanks were used in WWII is standardization. There are many reasons why and we’ll touch on them here a little, before highlighting an engine developed to dieselize the armored forces. Certainly not with American ground forces. In World War II, however, diesel-powered tanks were not common. In today’s world, a Caterpillar diesel in a tank seems like a naturally good idea.
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