Dear friends, welcome to the channel the Eastern Front! The Nazis needed the whole of Europe,
without exception, in the form of loyal allies or conquered and subordinated territories.
In this aspect, Great Britain on its islands was a real thorn. For centuries,
the geographical position of England has significantly increased its defense capability.
However, the Germans had a military plan in this regard. An important part
of it was the unusual Tauchpanzer III tanks, which will be discussed today.
In the summer of 1940, preparations for the Sea Lion military operation were in full swing in
Nazi Germany, the main and only task of which was landing on the British Isles. The navy
and aviation had to help the Germans in this. Land amphibious units were also formed, which needed
to be reinforced with tanks. Instead of giving the most ordinary tanks to the landing troops,
German engineers and the military went further. They created a machine called the Tauchpanzer III.
The Tauchpanzer III tank is a combat vehicle with the ability to walk
underwater for a long time. With the help of numerous covers and rubber gaskets, absolute
sealing of the internal space was achieved. The air intake for the crew was carried out by using
a flexible sleeve that came to the surface and was held on the water by an inflatable buoy.
The diameter of the sleeve was 200 mm, and the maximum length was 18 m. Also, a water pumping
pump was installed in the tank just in case. The crew also had sets of individual breathing aids.
The idea of the Tauchpanzer III was to deliver tanks to the shores
of Great Britain across the English Channel on special military barges,
and then drop them to the bottom, from where the crews could move their vehicles forward,
go to the beach and unexpectedly engage in battle with British forces, supporting infantry landing
from the sea with fire and armor. To navigate underwater, it was proposed to use a gyrocompass.
By October 1940, the Germans had made 168 such tanks. They passed factory tests and were
included in the 18th Tank Division, the 6th Tank Regiment and the 3rd Tank Division. However, the
plans of the Supreme Command and the leadership of Germany actually changed at a crucial moment.
Operation Sea Lion was abandoned, preferring to carry out mass bombing of British cities
and waging a naval war. All forces began to be transferred to the eastern direction.
Tauchpanzer III tank platoons were also sent there. In the early days of the Barbarossa plan,
they participated in the crossing of the Western Bug river. Subsequently,
the unique machines were used by the Germans as ordinary tanks. Once again they wanted to
use them for an amphibious operation to Malta, but it never came to its implementation. As a result,
most of the already not numerous Tauchpanzer III was turned into scrap metal on the eastern front.
Dear friends, that's all for today. It was Tim and the Eastern Front channel. What do you think?
If the Germans had implemented such a Sea Lion plan, would they have been successful? Write
please in the comments. And as usual I wish you peace and health. See you.