Com-Central.net

Jim:

Now looking at the attached images you can see they are different tanks to the one at the museum but more about that particular tank later.

To Be Continued...

Waiting with bait on my breath.

Theres nothing I like more than a good T55 debate.
By doing this we will unlock the mysteries.
TTFN
Tim
All photos on this post copyright of Jan Taljaard, thankyou Jan!

some more

Hi Jim
You forgot to credit the text you quoted to this website
www.rhodesia.nl/quartz.htm
And you missed out a nice photo

whats that supposed to mean Doug?

...watching with great interest as this snappy reparteé develops, nuthin' personal whatsoever.

Yes us British folk do appear to be having a difference of opinion here!!

Carry on then...some of we bystanders stand to learn something about T-5X's from all this....

1) All T-54s originally had a hull MG. The location can be seen in this picture taken of a cut-away T-54 Model 1951 at Parola Armour Museum in Finland:
www.ipmsfinland.org/ga...at/025.JPG . (BTW, those legs belong to me! )

During rebuilding and upgrade to T-54A or T-54B some had it removed and the hole blanked off, like this one:
www.thetankmaster.com/...54B_17.jpg
…and some not, like these ones:
img202.imageshack.us/m...3642wj.jpg
img485.imageshack.us/m...1423hv.jpg
tanksinmoscow.ru/T-34/...-54_41.jpg

2) 99 % of all the T-54 hulls can be distinguished by the interlocked upper and lower bow plates! See e.g.
tanksinmoscow.com/CMSA...-54_02.jpg
www.thetankmaster.com/...T54_18.JPG
which are very old non-modernized tanks with only one headlight and these younger ones with the headlight and infrared headlight for driver’s IR periscope TVN-2:
www.thetankmaster.com/...t-54_1.JPG
www.thetankmaster.com/...54_025.jpg
www.thetankmaster.com/...-54-07.JPG
www.militaryimages.net...48/si/T-55
photoka.info/t54/image...t54_38.htm
ipmslondon.tripod.com/.../id22.html
tanksinmoscow.ru/Kreks...-55_14.jpg
tanksinmoscow.ru/T-34/...-54_02.jpg
tanxheaven.com/den/T-5...949/02.JPG
tanxheaven.com/ludob/t...CT0619.JPG
tanxheaven.com/mc/t55-...FLW054.jpg
They all are T-54s although the caption or file name might say something else!!!

These are one of the few deviations:
www.boltonipms.co.uk/i...t54-09.jpg
www.thetankmaster.com/...T54_12.jpg

3) The upper and lower bow plates are not anymore interlocked in T-55 thus resulting in a straight weld seam. See e.g.
data.primeportal.net/t...3_of_3.JPG .
Notice, that if you have a straight weld seam, you then have to know and see other features of T-54 (fuel cap locations, hull rear plate joints, final drive housings etc.) to make a proof identification!

4) All Finnish T-55 tanks, built in the Soviet Union between1965-1972, have a hull MG! See e.g. the lower pic on page 103 in the book “The Finnish Armoured Vehicles 1918-1997� published by Apali Oy ( www.apali.fi ) or this photo:
www.ipmsfinland.org/ga...at/063.JPG
…or these photos of other Soviet-built T-55 tanks:
img217.imageshack.us/m...n020oo.jpg
data.primeportal.net/a...5%2001.jpg
www.militaryimages.net...05/si/T-55
photoka.info/t55/image.../t55_5.htm
tanksinmoscow.ru/T-34/...-55_05.jpg
tanxheaven.com/ludob/t...CT0649.JPG

5) The hull MG was deleted from the Soviet production tanks in early 1970s and also from licence production tanks from Poland or Czechoslovakia. These are Soviet tanks without hull MG:
tanksinmoscow.com/Pokl...-55_03.jpg
tanxheaven.com/jg/T55B...140048.JPG
tanxheaven.com/t55ng/DSC00091.JPG

These ones are rare examples of licence built T-55A tanks still having a hull MG:
www.thetankmaster.com/...T55_13.jpg
tanxheaven.com/t55/CNV00005.JPG

Bonus : This tank ( tanxheaven.com/zbc/t55...t55zbc.htm ) has started its life as a T-54 but has been rebuilt in Poland to be a T-55. It requires a lot of work!

Thanks for posting links and not hot-linking all those images Esa...I don't think my mouse, or fingers, could stand scrolling all those!

Great info! So that museum tank is one of the same batch that went to Rhodesia. Interesting stuff. What camo pattern is that? Fictional? It doesn't match the Libyan camo on the Rhodie T-55.

" See e.g. the lower pic on page 103 in the book “The Finnish Armoured Vehicles 1918-1997� published by Apali Oy ( www.apali.fi )"

Esa is being very modest here, he co wrote this great book!

Thanks for the links Esa, and for the as always helpful information you provide.

- Hellfish6

Great info! So that museum tank is one of the same batch that went to Rhodesia. Interesting stuff. What camo pattern is that? Fictional? It doesn't match the Libyan camo on the Rhodie T-55.

No as far as I can figure out it was applied whereever that particular tank went to be rebuilt... still trying to track the location & time period when this was done but I have two conflicting sources - one says it was around 1988 and was sent to a foreign company possibly south america? & the other says it was 1993-4 after the museum acquired it and it was borrowed by a local company to see if it was feasible to setup an upgrade production line and as it has an OMC Engineering badge on one of the mudguards that is probably the answer!

To be Continued...

- timroberts

Hi Jim
You forgot to credit the text you quoted to this website
www.rhodesia.nl/quartz.htm
And you missed out a nice photo

Nah - I didn't know about the site. I merely used some stuff that was sent to me by an ex-Rhodesian Army contact...