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Removed extremely biased and poorly researched section which failed to take into account the age of the tank, and the fact of how successful it was when it was new.
A reasonable response to the removed section might be:
Q. How well would you expect an unmodified 1950s era tank to perform against the most recent American hardware? A. Not well at all, I imagine the result would be 'unimpressive'.
Are you even remotely aware of the primary reason for the original development of 105mm DU ammunition by the US?
T-54 and T-55 tanks engountered by Israeli M-48 and M-60 tanks were found to be unpenetrated in upwards of 40% of instances in which APFSDS was fired at them. 105mm DU for the M-60 tank was introduced in response to the fact that (contrary to what this section suggested) the T-54 and T-55 series tanks continued to perform well in combat long past what was expected to be their reasonable operating lifespan.
Also contrary to what was suggested in the removed section (which contained little to no unbiased, non-inflammatory, or even useful information), The Iraqi Brigade commander's tanks (Enigma), which were often T-55, Type-59 or Type-69-II (the latter two are Chinese copies) equipped with massive applique of concrete is recorded in one instance as having survived 3 hits from Milan missiles. Incongruous to the T-55's normal behaviour, but no less telling about the potential of upgrades to the platform.
MWAK-- 217.122.44.226 06:04, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I've changed the description of the T-54/55 as a "medium tank" to a "main battle tank", as that fits the tank better. "Medium tank" is more of a historical term than something that is used for modern tanks, as the distinction between heavy and medium tanks has all but disappeared.
-- Martin Wisse 22:04, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC)
From memory, T54 and T55 used to be very similar. In my (albeit somewhat outdated) experience, the greatest difference between T54 and T55 was that the gun in T54 had only vertical gyro stabilization while in T55 it was stabilized both vertically and laterally. One unintended consequence of the lateral stabilzation was that, if one forgot to switch it off when going back on the road, the turret (and the gun) could end up pointing sideways thus collecting telegraph poles or anything else in that direction.
Can someone find a picture or diagram of this?
This? File:Stabilser on t55.gif Wolfmankurd 17:08, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
Someone wrongly said that the T-64 and T-72 were the main units, and the T-80 and T-90 in smaller numbers. Not true, Russia has about 4,000 T-80 tanks, and another 5,000+ T-72s, plus lots of T-62s which are mostly in reserve. Russia also has some 300 T-90s used in Siberia. 4,000 T-80s is hardly a small number, so I changed it. Plus, Russia doesn't even have T-64s. They were all given to fUSSR countries like Ukraine.
The Type 69's service in Iraq could be mentioned here, but the detailed description really belongs in the article about the Type 69. — Michael Z. 2006-08-14 13:36 Z
The vehicle has that "dome" on the turret roof, so it must be T-54 ? Bukvoed 18:15, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
Does this figure include the Type 59 and 69, or the versions produced in Warsaw Pact countries? I had thought I had read elsewhere a much larger production number of "T-54/55 and variants," and was curious. I realize that production figures for the Type 69 should go in that article, but I thought it might be interesting to show these figures along with the T-55 to demonstrate just how unbelievably widespread this tank truly is.-- Raulpascal 15:33, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
The Military Channel and their show Top Ten Tanks and some other sources say that all together 95,000 T-54/55s were made. They are all Soviet made. And they showed a HUGE field with just 1000's of tanks lined up.( Wiki General 21:31, 19 September 2006 (UTC))
Usally programs like the History Channel and The Military Channel are right. Otherwise it would not make sense to show the programs. And I would not doubt the 95,000 number, because the T-55 was designed to combat the Americans and all other Soviet threats during the Cold War. If the Cold War had ever gone hot, the T-55 would have rolled out onto the battlefield all over Europe. Because Soviet doctrine calls for large numbers of manpower and equiment to overpower the enemy. Eventully they took the T-62 as their top tank. But they continued to create large numbers of T-55's for export and such. In either case...the T-55 is the worlds most-produced tank in history anyway u cut it. Next would come the T-34 with 58,000 produced and 40,000 or so M4 Shermans.( Wiki General 09:42, 21 September 2006 (UTC))
Info the on T-34 is wrong. The T-55 whether the number of 95,000 is right or not is regardless the most-produced tank EVER! The T-55 is seen in far more countries and in larger numbers then any other tank. Offical production numbers for the T-34 is said to be 58,000 or so. And I would take what the Military Channel said as true. Cause the show was fairly indepth. And sources for shows like that are usally right, otherwise they would not be educational. They had real/offical military specialists and such on the show Top Ten Tanks. They took the best tanks and compared them. The scales were measured on firepower, armor, mobility, fear factor and production. I forget how the exact list went but I think it was: M4 Sherman - 10, Merkava - 9, T-54/55 - 8, Challenger 1 - 7, Panzer mk4 - 6, Centurion - 5, WW1 Tank - 4, Tiger 1 - 3, M1 Abrams - 2, & the T-34 -1. Now while I would not overall take the list itself entirly serious. They did collect some very good footage for every tank and they put some very good detail into each tank and why they thought it was good and so. I saw some other tank lists on the net, and most of them did not even have the Tiger Tank. No tank list is accurate without the Tiger.( Wiki General 19:22, 21 September 2006 (UTC)) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Wiki General ( talk • contribs) .
Production summary, from Zaloga (2004), T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004
T-54 series (p 11) Soviet Union 24,750 Warsaw Pact 5,465 China (Type 59) 9,000+ China (Type 69) ? China (Type 79) 519 (originally called Type 69-III; p 38) China (Type 88) ? (originally called Type 80 and Type 80-II) Total ±40,000 (not counting associated specialized armored vehicles on the T-54 chassis)
T-55 (p 14–15) Soviet Union ±30,000 Poland ±7,000 Czechoslovakia 8,477 (3,377 T-55, 3,820 T-55A, 1,280 T-55AK1) Romania ±400 (TR-580/TR-77) Total ±45,877
Both T-54 and T-55 Grand total ±85,877
— Michael Z. 2006-10-04 03:53 Z
Production summary, from Zaloga (2004), T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004? - How can that list be from 1944 to 2004? The first T-54 did not appear untill 1949. Wiki General 01:45, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
There are many errors in this Article,look at the german Wiki.The secondary weapon was NOT a SMGT,it was the heavy PKT-Machinegun and so it goes on... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.174.32.15 ( talk • contribs) .
- A Russian T-55 tank was also driven by James Bond ( Pierce Brosnan) in the 1995 Bond movie GoldenEye.
I've tried hard to decide that this is notable, but I don't really see how it is. A T-55 was made up to look like a T-80BV, and used in a chase scene in the movie. Fun scene, but viewers didn't know or care that it was a T-55. It teaches nothing about the T-55 tank. I'll remove it, but feel free to put forward an argument for retaining it that I haven't thought of. — Michael Z. 2006-10-29 23:32 Z
I don't know why people keep insisting that the 100mm D-10T main gun of the T-55 is superior to the main guns of the T-55's Western counterparts like the M-46/48 Patton series and the British Centurion. If people would use the very link from the T-55 re: the D-10T gun, they would find that the Wikipedia article on that gun states that the D-10T is inferior to the Tiger II's main gun. If people would investigate further and consult the gun penetration tables from wwiivehicles.com and compare the penetration performance of the American 90mm, the British 20 pdr, the German 88mm L/70, and the Soviet 100 mm D-10T, they would find that the D-10T is inferior to all the others. In fact, the 90mm American gun in wwiivehicles.com is an earlier version. By the time of the T-55, the American 90mm have been lengthened and become much more powerful.
The fact is, the main gun of the T-54/55 series when it first arrived was an obsolete relic of WWII. Its penetration is much less than that of its Western counterparts. On the other hand, the T-55s extremely thick front turret armor may be able to shrug off even the superior firepower of Western guns.
I will monitor this and continue keeping the information on the T-55's main gun accurate.
67.99.248.194 06:08, 15 December 2006 (UTC)Victor 67.99.248.194 06:08, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
Okay, I did a little research and added some information. I'll add some more about ammunition improvements to D-10 tank gun. Still no direct comparisons.
But it's not fair to make a straight comparison between the 36-tonne T-54's gun and that of the 70-tonne King Tiger, without mentioning that the 46-tonne, 122mm-armed IS-2 was in service since 1944. It should also be noted that the 52-tonne Centurion was heavier than any Soviet heavy tank. — Michael Z. 2006-12-15 21:42 Z
67.99.248.194 07:38, 16 December 2006 (UTC)Victor
I'm still doubtful of these two statements. The 105-mm Royal Ordnance L7 was specifically developed in response to the T-54 tank, and mounted on the UK Centurion and US Patton tanks around 1959. Does anyone have sources comparing these other guns to the D-10?
I think Cuban T-54s faced South African Centurions (Olifants) in Angola. Does anyone know of a balanced account of their relative performance? — Michael Z. 2006-12-17 22:42 Z
I found some references to real-world capabilities. Zaloga (2004:40):
By the standards of the 1950s, the T-54 was an excellent tank, combining lethal firepower, excellent armor protection and good reliability in a tank that was lighter and smaller than comparable Western designs such as the British Centurion or the American M48 Patton. On the negative side, the T-54 was forced to rely on HEAT ammunition in tank engagements due to the lack of effective sub-caliber armor piercing ammunition until the 1960s, and this type of ammunition was not particularly accurate at long ranges when used with the T-54's simple fire control system.
In an older book, Cockburn (1983:127) writes:
Back in the 1960s, when the T-55 was the main Soviet battle tank, the U.S. Army insisted on the basis of engineering calculations derived from measuring covertly obtained sample tanks, that the T-55's 100-millimeter gun was quite powerful enough to knock holes in the U.S. M-48s; similarly, the Army claimed the American tanks could destroy the T-55 with the U.S. 90-millimeter weapon. When the two tanks finally confronted each other in the 1967 Middle East war, it transpired that neither of them had the wherewithal to punch holes in the other's frontal armor.
Back to Zaloga:
By the time of the 1973 October war, the T-54A and T-55 tanks ... already more than two decades old by this time, the T-55 was past its prime. The Israeli Centurions had been uparmed with the 105mm gun and the newer M60A1 offered better armor and firepower than the T-55. Yet the T-55 was far from obsolete, and with the newer sub-caliber ammunition, was capable of penetrating the thick turret armor of the Israeli tanks at two kilometers.
Time to update the article. — Michael Z. 2006-12-18 04:12 Z
What a piece of coldwar BS propaganda: "South Vietnamese M48 Pattons (former worn-out US M48s) were able to destroy T-54s at 2,500 to 3,000 m, in many cases without losses to their own". I doubt that either tank can relaibly hit anything at such distances, much less penetrate (except for HEAT round maybe, but HEAT is even less accurate after 2km). Thats 60s, not 90s, and both tanks weren't latest models even at that time. Not to say that ARVN armored troops were annihilated very quickly when they lost US support. 195.98.64.69 04:34, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
Hear, hear. Given the disgraceful performance of the ARVN when it wasn't being given massive American air support (and its mediocre performance when it was), I doubt that this is anything more than propaganda. Even if it were true, it didn't seem to help them a whole lot. Kensai Max 16:18, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
In this website, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/t-54.htm, are a great number of information re: the T-54/55 series. Of special interest are the sections on "capabilities" and "limitations". I will try to work on adding information to the Wiki article, however I may not be able to quickly complete this project. Perhaps other editors/researchers on Wiki would like to assist? 67.99.248.194 08:14, 16 December 2006 (UTC)Victor
even in the 50's and 60's the tanks were outclassed by their Western counterparts
Do you even care about this? Because I don't see you contacting the guy/gal I mentioned. Instead you're telling me to buy this when I pointed you towards someone who has it. Regards. - SuperTank17 ( talk) 09:03, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
Hey, it say that the machine gun mounted on top of the turret is a DShK, but some pictures show a twin-barreled machine gun that doesn't look like a DShK. Can anyone identify what sort of machine gun that was? 24.250.1.196 19:58, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
Is a fume extractor the same thing as a bore evacuator? If so, the link needs to be fixed, or a redirect added.
I put in the section in the foreign users, the reference is the Tankograd Gazette which has some excellent pictures and an article, however, I'm still not sure how to link the footnotes. How do you get them to appear as different numbers for one? Anyway, if anyone else can sort that I'd be grateful. Douglasnicol 16:46, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
It's not about what issue I had, it's about what the article looks like after you change it.
Don't add headings with nothing under them. This is not an unfinished draft, it's an article meant to be read right now.
Don't make up headings to make a point. Those operators are neither "clear" nor "unclear": they are merely operators, past and present. — Michael Z. 2007-08-18 00:26 Z
I removed the propaganda about North Vietnamese tanks being blasted apart by ARVN M-48s and M-41s (with a big 76mm gun). It was facially ridiculous, I don't care if it was cited. I've provided a cite for the new statement and can provide more if needed. Kensai Max 00:25, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
Does anyone know the name of Czechoslovak manufacturer of T-54/T-55? SuperTank17 14:44, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I have a problem with those tanks because it says that tanks with "-1" designation are tanks with V-46 engine from T-72. However in T-62 article it says that tanks with "-1" designation have 690 hp (515 kW) V-46-5M engine. While another site says that T-62s with "-1" designation have a "V-46 T-72-type" engine.
Can anyone clear this up? — SuperTank17 13:52, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
On Global Security it says that in 2006 Israel used 126 of both Tiran-5 (modified T-55) and Tiran-6 (modified T-62). However in the T-55#Israel section it clearly says that Tiran-5s are no longer in service with Israeli army.
Can somebody clear this up? - SuperTank17 ( talk) 18:57, 19 November 2007 (UTC)
Does the T-54 chassis-based APC used by the SLA have a name on it? Ominae ( talk) 09:10, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
There is one model missing - in the early 2000s, the Finnish company Patria developed a self-propelled artillery vehicle, by combining a T-55 with a domestically produced turret and a Tampella 155 mm gun. This was a prototype intended for the Egyptian market (the Egyptian Army was at the time purchasing towed 155 mm guns from Finland and were looking to upgrade its self-propelled artillery units as well). I have never seen any designation for this prototype, but I have seen pictures of it, e.g. in the book "From Tampella to Patria 70 years of Finnish heavy weapons production" ( ISBN 952-5026-26-4). I also remember seeing the picture in the "Soldier of Finland" magazine (Suomen Sotilas). I don't think that the prototype was that successful, perhaps the gun and turret was too heavy for the chassis. Anyhow, I haven't seen or heard of it in years, so it is probably filed and forgotten by now. -- MoRsE 22:55, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
The T-54/T-55 article has reached a size of 85,691 bytes and it will still increase in the future.
My proposal is to split this article into T-54 article and T-55 article. It has been done a long time ago on other Wikipedias (for example Polish Wikipedia) and I don't see the reason for not doing it here since even in the "Soviet and post-Soviet armoured fighting vehicles after World War II" template the T-54 and T-55 tanks are listed separately. - SuperTank17 11:06, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
It might be better to split it into a general article about the tank, with a separate article about the variants, similar to the Sherman articles. I think that makes a lot more sense than a T-54 article and a T-55 article. DMorpheus ( talk) 16:23, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I'm getting a little concerned that the massive use of images are starting to hamper the readability of the article. I would consider using the "gallery" function to display the alternative models. You just put in the code like this and add the images:
<gallery>
Image:test.jpg|Text
Image:test.jpg|Text 2
Image:test.jpg|Text 3
</gallery>
...and this will come out:
-- MoRsE ( talk) 18:34, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
The information in the article detailing a joint production prototype by the USA and PRC appears to be untrue, I could not find a single reference to such a vehicle. Germany produced a similar vehicle that was described in the article the Jaguar 1 & 2 and that's as near as I could find. The reference that was cited has no such vehicle or information that matched. If I'm wrong that's fine, but I'd like to see detailed, verifiable references on claims like that. I found a reference to retrofit and upgrade packages produced by US companies, so I rv my deletions, added info to the appropriate section with a reference. I still left in a citation request for the development details because I still could not find the specifics. The JED website listed has different info and the single page linked to for many of the references is only for one page and that needs to be addressed throughout the article because there still appear to be errors. I did leave out the United States section, private companies producing prototype retrofit packages for other countries vehicles is not the same as a sanctioned US Armed Forces production program and isn't appropriate here. Sorry for the initial skepticism.
Awotter (
talk)
06:43, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
(I recycle), you can see some image options. There is a multiple image frame with caption. And two collapsible image galleries (second has They have image place holders for now. Took down test page
Awotter (
talk)
05:26, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
In my opinion, some of the sections have information that seems to read like original research. That may be because of the way a sentence is written, no inline citation, or repeated one source citations with no direct link to the information cited or a combination of those. I know English is not everyone's first language, nor is it easy to convey technical information sometimes (in any language), but we have to be careful to avoid making conclusions or statements (valid as they may be) without making sure they have a strong reference/secondary source or sources. Awotter ( talk) 06:45, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
If editors want to add information and references to the article about the relative merits and demerits of the T-55 that's fine. The lead quote referring to the T-34 is referenced and is a generally accepted statement and goes toward explaining the notability of its successor. That sentence is not an appropriate place to debate another tank that has nothing to do with this article. The Panther may or may not have been qualitatively better than the T-34. but it is a stretch to even consider it as the best all around tank of the war because it came into the conflict relatively late, had numerous production problems in its initial production run and did not come close in numbers or variants to the T-34. Awotter ( talk) 02:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
User going by the name of Kensai Max seems to have an issue with the part of the article that clearly states T-54/T-55 tanks as being outperformed by M41 Bulldog and M48 Patton. The said user has been removing the said parts of the article without showing any kind of sources whatsoever and calling it a "propaganda". That's not how we treat fellow editors on this site. If we want to correct something in the article we show sources that can back up our claims. This is NOT a place for Original Research. - SuperTank17 ( talk) 12:41, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
The performance of the M41's main gun against a T-55 would have been very, very marginal. Figures are easily available online. Also, given the total collapse of the ARVN in the face of the VPA I wouldn't be making any big claims about their tank-fighting skills or taking claims made by them about successful encounters with the enemy seriously. They were few and far between. Kensai Max ( talk) 03:22, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
Claiming that ARVN tankers enjoyed any measure of success against the VPA is like claiming Saddam Hussein's army put up a good fight in 1991. The proof is in the pudding. Kensai Max ( talk) 15:22, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
Template:Infobox weapon "may be used to summarize information about a particular weapon or weapon system." It is not meant to replace the article. It is not meant to present information about multiple weapons. Individual fields are meant to contain simple data items, not the complete data from another infobox or two [secondary armament lists an AK-47's ammunition count!?]. Some fields contain data for two named models plus one unidentified one, others simply have data for one, falsely implying that it represents all.
This is unreadable, confusing, and misleading.
Let's pick a representative model, and clean up the infobox. If there isn't a better suggestion, I'll enter the specs for the T-55.
Significant differences between models can be shown in a table, à la T-34#Table of tank models. — Michael Z. 2008-04-28 15:05 Z
The reference in front of me [1] states that the T54 was developed in 1954 and was "Standard equipment of the medium-tank regiments and of the tank battalions in the mechanised infantry since 1955." That is not shortly after WWII, and is certainly not 1947. I am trying to ensure that Tank is accurate. Dhatfield ( talk) 12:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
References
The Pancerni.net [4] source seems to get its basic facts wrong, i.e. places start of T-55 production 3 years too early (see my undo [5]), and it doesn't cite any other sources in turn. All of its citations in the article should be fact-checked, and it should be removed from the article. — Michael Z. 2008-05-24 15:30 z
Please use edit summaries according to the guideline at Help:Edit summary. The talk page is for discussion of disputes, or use Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. Please find a consensus, then update the article. If it will help to protect the article, just let me know and I will gladly do so. Regards. — Michael Z. 2008-06-11 19:30 z
It appears that SuperTank17 insists on reverting my edits about the samples of tanks that the T-55 performance was raised into it's performance, when it was upgraded. i am trying to say that many of these upgrades are from western origins, and/or intended to match the performance of some western tanks, but he insists of mentioning the T-72, and T-80 only. i am not asking for mentioning all of them, but not mentioning any of them is better, since the term "modern tanks", or "newer tanks" would be much more generalized. Supertank17's comment was that he is not just reverting my edit, he is improving it, but i think that the one who adds a summery for his edit is the one who is really trying to improve the article, rather than....maybe having the last word ? if u wanna have the last word go ahead, supertank17, but do it right.
Ten days, no word. I assume that there is no thing to be said then. One last pharaoh ( talk) 17:28, 15 July 2008 (UTC)
This article is a mess, put simply. The grammar is terrible, and I see bits of POV everywhere, and plenty of claims without footnotes such as "When first produced, the Soviet T-34 medium tank of 1940 had the best balance of firepower, protection and mobility of any tank in the world." - Who says it was the best in the entire world? POV without citation. — Wackymacs ( talk ~ edits) 07:01, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
I suggest we split off the 'Variants' section and create a separate article for that content. There are a few very popular vehicles such as the T-55, Sherman and T-34 that have so many variants it makes sense to split it off. Both articles would then be more readable. Thoughts?
DMorpheus ( talk) 20:45, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
The production history section is very hard to read and might better be presented as a table. Thoughts? DMorpheus ( talk) 20:57, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
The article relies on some self-published sources such as JED (unreliable) and gary's equipment guide. I suggest we eliminate those and add only cites from reliable sources. DMorpheus ( talk) 20:59, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
In January 1965, the M41A3 Walker Bulldog light tank began arriving in South Vietnam to replace their aged M24 Chaffee light tanks.(Ref: Mounted Combat in VN by General Starry; page 45). The M41A3 light tank was armed with a M32 76mm high velocity gun, which fired the AP-T M339 (Armor Piercing with Tracer), HVAP-T M319 ( Hypervelocity Armor Piercing with tracer), and HVAP-DS-T M331A2 (Hypervelocity Armor Piercing with tracer)(Ref: Hunnicutt/Sheridan Volume 2, page 25). The two hypervelocity armor piercing warheads were capable of exceeding 3,220 feet per second and could penetrate 5 inches of homogeneous steel (one piece solid steel) placed at a 30 degree angle (sloped armor) at 1,000 yards.(Ref: Hunnicutt/Sheridan Volume 2, page 9). The 76mm was effective against Russian T-34 tanks (up to 63mm of armor), but up against the North Vietnamese Army's T54s used during their 1972 Easter Offensive, the 76mm Gun Walker Bulldogs "could" be effective, especially if the M41A3 light tank crewmen struck the 99mm armored areas of the T54 medium tank. As that armor protection easily falls within the "5 inch penetration" capability of the M41 light tank.
Bottom line: It is quite conceivable that ARVN M41 tank crewmen knocked out NVA T54's during the Vietnam War. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.105.32.52 ( talk) 01:24, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
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Is http://www.scribd.com/doc/39181626/Armor-Osprey-New-Vanguard-N%C2%B0-37-Modern-soviet-combat-Tanks a proper source for this article? It is older than the 2004 Zaloga book, but it is online and thus more easily verifiable. TGCP ( talk) 23:00, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
Well, originally T-55 was designated as a medium tank, not a "main battle tank", and it was set to operate along with T-10 heavy tanks. The tank's operating manual ( http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/Modern/T54/manual/ ) also describe it as being a medium tank, that's probably because the concept of main battle tank being implemented in the USSR only with T-64 tank -- 84.204.121.241 ( talk) 13:58, 30 December 2012 (UTC)
What happens to spent shell casings in the T 54/55's? Is there a hatch they're thrown out of, or are they put back in the magazine?
176.24.241.158 ( talk) 18:33, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
Somebody keeps adding inaccurate information from either of these two sources - and - that 10 Olifant tanks were knocked out by T-55s during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. This is pure disinformation. It's a popular myth circulated by the Cuban/FAPLA propaganda machine to exaggerate the enemy's losses during a time when the ongoing peace talks with South Africa over Namibian independence and the SADF's withdrawal from Angola were gaining ground. Some Olifants were damaged in an airstrike by MiG-23s, three were left behind in a minefield, and at least one other was disabled when it actually struck a mine. No Olifants were lost to T-55 fire....it's simply preposterous to suggest that "10" were lost. If South Africa lost a single armoured car it was big news because they had such meagre resources and couldn't afford to take serious casualties like Cuba. "The Cubans destroyed 10 Olifants" is like saying a US armoured division was totally obliterated in one day - considering there were only 13 Olifants anywhere within 500 km of Cuito Cuanavale. This figure of 10 is only mentioned in antecedotes by Cuban veterans or in press releases by Cuba/Angola during the final days of the South African Border War, which ended in 1990 (the separate, though intertwined, Angolan Civil War went on until 2002).
Hoaxes like this one are recognisable by their vague language and total lack of any other battlefield specifics (time, place, specific callsigns/units involved, etc.) beyond the body count.
Source text - ...Это был кубинский подполковник Эктор. Он не погиб, а полу-чил два тяжёлых ранения, одно из которых – в область рта, так что, впоследствии, с трудом мог говорить. В кубинском фильме про Куито-Куанавале есть материал о нём, и он там сам выступает. В га-зете «Красная Звезда» за тот год была статья про него и про его атаку. Естественно, в той статье не было сказано, что кубинскую контратаку возглавил советский майор Вихров на своём БТРе. Через некоторое время в его БТР попал юаровский снаряд, советские советники чудом остались живы. После этого они выскочили из БТРа и вынуждены были уходить от юаровцев по минному полю. Как они его пробежали, одному Богу известно, поскольку очень много ангольцев, бежавших вместе с ними, подорвались на минах. В той контратаке было под- бито семь кубинских танков, остался один с подполковником Экто-ром, дважды раненым, но юаровцы потерпели жестокое поражение, потерь, по кубинским данным, 10 танков «Олифант». (Прим. Олега Грицука.) (Ветераны локальных войн и миротворческих операций ООН вспоминают, by Tokarev)
Source text - By this superiority of forces, they achieve to break the defense of the 59° Angolan Brigade. To cover this place were urgently thrown the unique 8 T-55 Cubans in movement in Cuito, by the command of the lieutenant colonel Héctor Aguilar. They stop the South African, destroying 10 Olifants and 4 armored cars, and losing 6 T-55 (3 by anti-tanks rockets RPG, and 3 by the Olifants). The remainder of the Olifants retires behind march. In this collision die 14 of the 39 Cubans perished in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, but this sacrifice went not in vain, therefore the attack of its T-55 saves the situation of the battle, that already was in crisis. This is the first collision in the war between Olifants and Cubans T-55, and is a victory for these, which would be the norm until the end of the war. March 23 the Olifants support the last attack to Cuito Cuanavale, that finishes with another disaster, when the SADF lost 3 Olifants in minefields and by artillery fire. ( http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/Tanques3-e.html)
I can provide a lengthy list of even more sources discrediting this ridiculous anecdote if any user has an issue with it. If it continued to be added to the article its removal will be justified under WP:DNCH.
Thanks, -- Katangais ( talk) 21:18, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
If you really spent hours reviewing my sources, you wouldn't keep disputing the casualty counts I cite. Or facts like Cubans crewed the tanks on the 9th. You're being intentionally coy with me.
Dispute resolution is the same thing as requesting a third opinion. Plus, it's likelier that somebody whose efforts you actually respect will get involved. That's my perspective on things. -- Katangais ( talk) 14:14, 6 April 2014 (UTC)
Mulitple parts of the article are flagged (July 2009) as doubious and lack reliable sources or citations. I have cleaned the disputed sections. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.141.163.11 ( talk) 02:18, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
I saw the article mentions that the first prototypes were produced in 1945, and I've seen the same claim elsewhere on the internet, but I've been having trouble finding much information about them. Does anyone know any more about these? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.77.210.237 ( talk) 07:33, 10 February 2015 (UTC)
What exactly is a dead track? And what's a live?track? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.101.38.242 ( talk) 05:17, 14 April 2019 (UTC)
Battlefield Vegas have a T55 & a T62 and they say that the T62's hull is a foot wider, and it looks it. Can somebody please double-check these measurements. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Corrector2021 ( talk • contribs) 13:47, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
Was it really necessary to create a whole new article just for this relatively narrow topic? Schierbecker ( talk) 07:03, 5 September 2022 (UTC)
While the Tank has not arrived at Ukraine its impossible to verify if they are going to be used or not by the russians, while likely, since its what happened with the T-62s, theres the possibility its not, at least at this moment its better to be safe and not say they are going to be send there, but that they are going to be moved, until its verifiable (which can be showed by modernizations or modifications, or actually crossing the border), A Train moving tanks from a place A to a place B tells us nothing but them being moved, other information shows the context of why. Gerfand ( talk) 05:03, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
The article currently says: "This eliminated the need for the tank to carry a tank filled with air." This sounds almost like the T-55 drives around with another T-55 filled with air.
Maybe someone who is better at English can change the words. E.g. oone could write "...need for the tank to carry pressurized air" or something. Jaksel ( talk) 06:25, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
The army appears to be using them although still waiting for RS. ©Geni ( talk) 16:55, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
I don't think the previous main image (the early T-54 at Kazan Victory Park) was adequately representative of this particular tank type, when we have so many other better source images available. The later T-54B and T-55 were both manufactured in massive, massive numbers compared to the example used for the article's main image, and they are the vast majority of this tank type in existence. I think an image of the later production models is more appropriate and have added one accordingly. Katangais (talk) 01:32, 4 May 2023 (UTC)
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Removed extremely biased and poorly researched section which failed to take into account the age of the tank, and the fact of how successful it was when it was new.
A reasonable response to the removed section might be:
Q. How well would you expect an unmodified 1950s era tank to perform against the most recent American hardware? A. Not well at all, I imagine the result would be 'unimpressive'.
Are you even remotely aware of the primary reason for the original development of 105mm DU ammunition by the US?
T-54 and T-55 tanks engountered by Israeli M-48 and M-60 tanks were found to be unpenetrated in upwards of 40% of instances in which APFSDS was fired at them. 105mm DU for the M-60 tank was introduced in response to the fact that (contrary to what this section suggested) the T-54 and T-55 series tanks continued to perform well in combat long past what was expected to be their reasonable operating lifespan.
Also contrary to what was suggested in the removed section (which contained little to no unbiased, non-inflammatory, or even useful information), The Iraqi Brigade commander's tanks (Enigma), which were often T-55, Type-59 or Type-69-II (the latter two are Chinese copies) equipped with massive applique of concrete is recorded in one instance as having survived 3 hits from Milan missiles. Incongruous to the T-55's normal behaviour, but no less telling about the potential of upgrades to the platform.
MWAK-- 217.122.44.226 06:04, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I've changed the description of the T-54/55 as a "medium tank" to a "main battle tank", as that fits the tank better. "Medium tank" is more of a historical term than something that is used for modern tanks, as the distinction between heavy and medium tanks has all but disappeared.
-- Martin Wisse 22:04, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC)
From memory, T54 and T55 used to be very similar. In my (albeit somewhat outdated) experience, the greatest difference between T54 and T55 was that the gun in T54 had only vertical gyro stabilization while in T55 it was stabilized both vertically and laterally. One unintended consequence of the lateral stabilzation was that, if one forgot to switch it off when going back on the road, the turret (and the gun) could end up pointing sideways thus collecting telegraph poles or anything else in that direction.
Can someone find a picture or diagram of this?
This? File:Stabilser on t55.gif Wolfmankurd 17:08, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
Someone wrongly said that the T-64 and T-72 were the main units, and the T-80 and T-90 in smaller numbers. Not true, Russia has about 4,000 T-80 tanks, and another 5,000+ T-72s, plus lots of T-62s which are mostly in reserve. Russia also has some 300 T-90s used in Siberia. 4,000 T-80s is hardly a small number, so I changed it. Plus, Russia doesn't even have T-64s. They were all given to fUSSR countries like Ukraine.
The Type 69's service in Iraq could be mentioned here, but the detailed description really belongs in the article about the Type 69. — Michael Z. 2006-08-14 13:36 Z
The vehicle has that "dome" on the turret roof, so it must be T-54 ? Bukvoed 18:15, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
Does this figure include the Type 59 and 69, or the versions produced in Warsaw Pact countries? I had thought I had read elsewhere a much larger production number of "T-54/55 and variants," and was curious. I realize that production figures for the Type 69 should go in that article, but I thought it might be interesting to show these figures along with the T-55 to demonstrate just how unbelievably widespread this tank truly is.-- Raulpascal 15:33, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
The Military Channel and their show Top Ten Tanks and some other sources say that all together 95,000 T-54/55s were made. They are all Soviet made. And they showed a HUGE field with just 1000's of tanks lined up.( Wiki General 21:31, 19 September 2006 (UTC))
Usally programs like the History Channel and The Military Channel are right. Otherwise it would not make sense to show the programs. And I would not doubt the 95,000 number, because the T-55 was designed to combat the Americans and all other Soviet threats during the Cold War. If the Cold War had ever gone hot, the T-55 would have rolled out onto the battlefield all over Europe. Because Soviet doctrine calls for large numbers of manpower and equiment to overpower the enemy. Eventully they took the T-62 as their top tank. But they continued to create large numbers of T-55's for export and such. In either case...the T-55 is the worlds most-produced tank in history anyway u cut it. Next would come the T-34 with 58,000 produced and 40,000 or so M4 Shermans.( Wiki General 09:42, 21 September 2006 (UTC))
Info the on T-34 is wrong. The T-55 whether the number of 95,000 is right or not is regardless the most-produced tank EVER! The T-55 is seen in far more countries and in larger numbers then any other tank. Offical production numbers for the T-34 is said to be 58,000 or so. And I would take what the Military Channel said as true. Cause the show was fairly indepth. And sources for shows like that are usally right, otherwise they would not be educational. They had real/offical military specialists and such on the show Top Ten Tanks. They took the best tanks and compared them. The scales were measured on firepower, armor, mobility, fear factor and production. I forget how the exact list went but I think it was: M4 Sherman - 10, Merkava - 9, T-54/55 - 8, Challenger 1 - 7, Panzer mk4 - 6, Centurion - 5, WW1 Tank - 4, Tiger 1 - 3, M1 Abrams - 2, & the T-34 -1. Now while I would not overall take the list itself entirly serious. They did collect some very good footage for every tank and they put some very good detail into each tank and why they thought it was good and so. I saw some other tank lists on the net, and most of them did not even have the Tiger Tank. No tank list is accurate without the Tiger.( Wiki General 19:22, 21 September 2006 (UTC)) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Wiki General ( talk • contribs) .
Production summary, from Zaloga (2004), T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004
T-54 series (p 11) Soviet Union 24,750 Warsaw Pact 5,465 China (Type 59) 9,000+ China (Type 69) ? China (Type 79) 519 (originally called Type 69-III; p 38) China (Type 88) ? (originally called Type 80 and Type 80-II) Total ±40,000 (not counting associated specialized armored vehicles on the T-54 chassis)
T-55 (p 14–15) Soviet Union ±30,000 Poland ±7,000 Czechoslovakia 8,477 (3,377 T-55, 3,820 T-55A, 1,280 T-55AK1) Romania ±400 (TR-580/TR-77) Total ±45,877
Both T-54 and T-55 Grand total ±85,877
— Michael Z. 2006-10-04 03:53 Z
Production summary, from Zaloga (2004), T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004? - How can that list be from 1944 to 2004? The first T-54 did not appear untill 1949. Wiki General 01:45, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
There are many errors in this Article,look at the german Wiki.The secondary weapon was NOT a SMGT,it was the heavy PKT-Machinegun and so it goes on... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.174.32.15 ( talk • contribs) .
- A Russian T-55 tank was also driven by James Bond ( Pierce Brosnan) in the 1995 Bond movie GoldenEye.
I've tried hard to decide that this is notable, but I don't really see how it is. A T-55 was made up to look like a T-80BV, and used in a chase scene in the movie. Fun scene, but viewers didn't know or care that it was a T-55. It teaches nothing about the T-55 tank. I'll remove it, but feel free to put forward an argument for retaining it that I haven't thought of. — Michael Z. 2006-10-29 23:32 Z
I don't know why people keep insisting that the 100mm D-10T main gun of the T-55 is superior to the main guns of the T-55's Western counterparts like the M-46/48 Patton series and the British Centurion. If people would use the very link from the T-55 re: the D-10T gun, they would find that the Wikipedia article on that gun states that the D-10T is inferior to the Tiger II's main gun. If people would investigate further and consult the gun penetration tables from wwiivehicles.com and compare the penetration performance of the American 90mm, the British 20 pdr, the German 88mm L/70, and the Soviet 100 mm D-10T, they would find that the D-10T is inferior to all the others. In fact, the 90mm American gun in wwiivehicles.com is an earlier version. By the time of the T-55, the American 90mm have been lengthened and become much more powerful.
The fact is, the main gun of the T-54/55 series when it first arrived was an obsolete relic of WWII. Its penetration is much less than that of its Western counterparts. On the other hand, the T-55s extremely thick front turret armor may be able to shrug off even the superior firepower of Western guns.
I will monitor this and continue keeping the information on the T-55's main gun accurate.
67.99.248.194 06:08, 15 December 2006 (UTC)Victor 67.99.248.194 06:08, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
Okay, I did a little research and added some information. I'll add some more about ammunition improvements to D-10 tank gun. Still no direct comparisons.
But it's not fair to make a straight comparison between the 36-tonne T-54's gun and that of the 70-tonne King Tiger, without mentioning that the 46-tonne, 122mm-armed IS-2 was in service since 1944. It should also be noted that the 52-tonne Centurion was heavier than any Soviet heavy tank. — Michael Z. 2006-12-15 21:42 Z
67.99.248.194 07:38, 16 December 2006 (UTC)Victor
I'm still doubtful of these two statements. The 105-mm Royal Ordnance L7 was specifically developed in response to the T-54 tank, and mounted on the UK Centurion and US Patton tanks around 1959. Does anyone have sources comparing these other guns to the D-10?
I think Cuban T-54s faced South African Centurions (Olifants) in Angola. Does anyone know of a balanced account of their relative performance? — Michael Z. 2006-12-17 22:42 Z
I found some references to real-world capabilities. Zaloga (2004:40):
By the standards of the 1950s, the T-54 was an excellent tank, combining lethal firepower, excellent armor protection and good reliability in a tank that was lighter and smaller than comparable Western designs such as the British Centurion or the American M48 Patton. On the negative side, the T-54 was forced to rely on HEAT ammunition in tank engagements due to the lack of effective sub-caliber armor piercing ammunition until the 1960s, and this type of ammunition was not particularly accurate at long ranges when used with the T-54's simple fire control system.
In an older book, Cockburn (1983:127) writes:
Back in the 1960s, when the T-55 was the main Soviet battle tank, the U.S. Army insisted on the basis of engineering calculations derived from measuring covertly obtained sample tanks, that the T-55's 100-millimeter gun was quite powerful enough to knock holes in the U.S. M-48s; similarly, the Army claimed the American tanks could destroy the T-55 with the U.S. 90-millimeter weapon. When the two tanks finally confronted each other in the 1967 Middle East war, it transpired that neither of them had the wherewithal to punch holes in the other's frontal armor.
Back to Zaloga:
By the time of the 1973 October war, the T-54A and T-55 tanks ... already more than two decades old by this time, the T-55 was past its prime. The Israeli Centurions had been uparmed with the 105mm gun and the newer M60A1 offered better armor and firepower than the T-55. Yet the T-55 was far from obsolete, and with the newer sub-caliber ammunition, was capable of penetrating the thick turret armor of the Israeli tanks at two kilometers.
Time to update the article. — Michael Z. 2006-12-18 04:12 Z
What a piece of coldwar BS propaganda: "South Vietnamese M48 Pattons (former worn-out US M48s) were able to destroy T-54s at 2,500 to 3,000 m, in many cases without losses to their own". I doubt that either tank can relaibly hit anything at such distances, much less penetrate (except for HEAT round maybe, but HEAT is even less accurate after 2km). Thats 60s, not 90s, and both tanks weren't latest models even at that time. Not to say that ARVN armored troops were annihilated very quickly when they lost US support. 195.98.64.69 04:34, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
Hear, hear. Given the disgraceful performance of the ARVN when it wasn't being given massive American air support (and its mediocre performance when it was), I doubt that this is anything more than propaganda. Even if it were true, it didn't seem to help them a whole lot. Kensai Max 16:18, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
In this website, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/t-54.htm, are a great number of information re: the T-54/55 series. Of special interest are the sections on "capabilities" and "limitations". I will try to work on adding information to the Wiki article, however I may not be able to quickly complete this project. Perhaps other editors/researchers on Wiki would like to assist? 67.99.248.194 08:14, 16 December 2006 (UTC)Victor
even in the 50's and 60's the tanks were outclassed by their Western counterparts
Do you even care about this? Because I don't see you contacting the guy/gal I mentioned. Instead you're telling me to buy this when I pointed you towards someone who has it. Regards. - SuperTank17 ( talk) 09:03, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
Hey, it say that the machine gun mounted on top of the turret is a DShK, but some pictures show a twin-barreled machine gun that doesn't look like a DShK. Can anyone identify what sort of machine gun that was? 24.250.1.196 19:58, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
Is a fume extractor the same thing as a bore evacuator? If so, the link needs to be fixed, or a redirect added.
I put in the section in the foreign users, the reference is the Tankograd Gazette which has some excellent pictures and an article, however, I'm still not sure how to link the footnotes. How do you get them to appear as different numbers for one? Anyway, if anyone else can sort that I'd be grateful. Douglasnicol 16:46, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
It's not about what issue I had, it's about what the article looks like after you change it.
Don't add headings with nothing under them. This is not an unfinished draft, it's an article meant to be read right now.
Don't make up headings to make a point. Those operators are neither "clear" nor "unclear": they are merely operators, past and present. — Michael Z. 2007-08-18 00:26 Z
I removed the propaganda about North Vietnamese tanks being blasted apart by ARVN M-48s and M-41s (with a big 76mm gun). It was facially ridiculous, I don't care if it was cited. I've provided a cite for the new statement and can provide more if needed. Kensai Max 00:25, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
Does anyone know the name of Czechoslovak manufacturer of T-54/T-55? SuperTank17 14:44, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
I have a problem with those tanks because it says that tanks with "-1" designation are tanks with V-46 engine from T-72. However in T-62 article it says that tanks with "-1" designation have 690 hp (515 kW) V-46-5M engine. While another site says that T-62s with "-1" designation have a "V-46 T-72-type" engine.
Can anyone clear this up? — SuperTank17 13:52, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
On Global Security it says that in 2006 Israel used 126 of both Tiran-5 (modified T-55) and Tiran-6 (modified T-62). However in the T-55#Israel section it clearly says that Tiran-5s are no longer in service with Israeli army.
Can somebody clear this up? - SuperTank17 ( talk) 18:57, 19 November 2007 (UTC)
Does the T-54 chassis-based APC used by the SLA have a name on it? Ominae ( talk) 09:10, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
There is one model missing - in the early 2000s, the Finnish company Patria developed a self-propelled artillery vehicle, by combining a T-55 with a domestically produced turret and a Tampella 155 mm gun. This was a prototype intended for the Egyptian market (the Egyptian Army was at the time purchasing towed 155 mm guns from Finland and were looking to upgrade its self-propelled artillery units as well). I have never seen any designation for this prototype, but I have seen pictures of it, e.g. in the book "From Tampella to Patria 70 years of Finnish heavy weapons production" ( ISBN 952-5026-26-4). I also remember seeing the picture in the "Soldier of Finland" magazine (Suomen Sotilas). I don't think that the prototype was that successful, perhaps the gun and turret was too heavy for the chassis. Anyhow, I haven't seen or heard of it in years, so it is probably filed and forgotten by now. -- MoRsE 22:55, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
The T-54/T-55 article has reached a size of 85,691 bytes and it will still increase in the future.
My proposal is to split this article into T-54 article and T-55 article. It has been done a long time ago on other Wikipedias (for example Polish Wikipedia) and I don't see the reason for not doing it here since even in the "Soviet and post-Soviet armoured fighting vehicles after World War II" template the T-54 and T-55 tanks are listed separately. - SuperTank17 11:06, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
It might be better to split it into a general article about the tank, with a separate article about the variants, similar to the Sherman articles. I think that makes a lot more sense than a T-54 article and a T-55 article. DMorpheus ( talk) 16:23, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I'm getting a little concerned that the massive use of images are starting to hamper the readability of the article. I would consider using the "gallery" function to display the alternative models. You just put in the code like this and add the images:
<gallery>
Image:test.jpg|Text
Image:test.jpg|Text 2
Image:test.jpg|Text 3
</gallery>
...and this will come out:
-- MoRsE ( talk) 18:34, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
The information in the article detailing a joint production prototype by the USA and PRC appears to be untrue, I could not find a single reference to such a vehicle. Germany produced a similar vehicle that was described in the article the Jaguar 1 & 2 and that's as near as I could find. The reference that was cited has no such vehicle or information that matched. If I'm wrong that's fine, but I'd like to see detailed, verifiable references on claims like that. I found a reference to retrofit and upgrade packages produced by US companies, so I rv my deletions, added info to the appropriate section with a reference. I still left in a citation request for the development details because I still could not find the specifics. The JED website listed has different info and the single page linked to for many of the references is only for one page and that needs to be addressed throughout the article because there still appear to be errors. I did leave out the United States section, private companies producing prototype retrofit packages for other countries vehicles is not the same as a sanctioned US Armed Forces production program and isn't appropriate here. Sorry for the initial skepticism.
Awotter (
talk)
06:43, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
(I recycle), you can see some image options. There is a multiple image frame with caption. And two collapsible image galleries (second has They have image place holders for now. Took down test page
Awotter (
talk)
05:26, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
In my opinion, some of the sections have information that seems to read like original research. That may be because of the way a sentence is written, no inline citation, or repeated one source citations with no direct link to the information cited or a combination of those. I know English is not everyone's first language, nor is it easy to convey technical information sometimes (in any language), but we have to be careful to avoid making conclusions or statements (valid as they may be) without making sure they have a strong reference/secondary source or sources. Awotter ( talk) 06:45, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
If editors want to add information and references to the article about the relative merits and demerits of the T-55 that's fine. The lead quote referring to the T-34 is referenced and is a generally accepted statement and goes toward explaining the notability of its successor. That sentence is not an appropriate place to debate another tank that has nothing to do with this article. The Panther may or may not have been qualitatively better than the T-34. but it is a stretch to even consider it as the best all around tank of the war because it came into the conflict relatively late, had numerous production problems in its initial production run and did not come close in numbers or variants to the T-34. Awotter ( talk) 02:51, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
User going by the name of Kensai Max seems to have an issue with the part of the article that clearly states T-54/T-55 tanks as being outperformed by M41 Bulldog and M48 Patton. The said user has been removing the said parts of the article without showing any kind of sources whatsoever and calling it a "propaganda". That's not how we treat fellow editors on this site. If we want to correct something in the article we show sources that can back up our claims. This is NOT a place for Original Research. - SuperTank17 ( talk) 12:41, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
The performance of the M41's main gun against a T-55 would have been very, very marginal. Figures are easily available online. Also, given the total collapse of the ARVN in the face of the VPA I wouldn't be making any big claims about their tank-fighting skills or taking claims made by them about successful encounters with the enemy seriously. They were few and far between. Kensai Max ( talk) 03:22, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
Claiming that ARVN tankers enjoyed any measure of success against the VPA is like claiming Saddam Hussein's army put up a good fight in 1991. The proof is in the pudding. Kensai Max ( talk) 15:22, 5 February 2008 (UTC)
Template:Infobox weapon "may be used to summarize information about a particular weapon or weapon system." It is not meant to replace the article. It is not meant to present information about multiple weapons. Individual fields are meant to contain simple data items, not the complete data from another infobox or two [secondary armament lists an AK-47's ammunition count!?]. Some fields contain data for two named models plus one unidentified one, others simply have data for one, falsely implying that it represents all.
This is unreadable, confusing, and misleading.
Let's pick a representative model, and clean up the infobox. If there isn't a better suggestion, I'll enter the specs for the T-55.
Significant differences between models can be shown in a table, à la T-34#Table of tank models. — Michael Z. 2008-04-28 15:05 Z
The reference in front of me [1] states that the T54 was developed in 1954 and was "Standard equipment of the medium-tank regiments and of the tank battalions in the mechanised infantry since 1955." That is not shortly after WWII, and is certainly not 1947. I am trying to ensure that Tank is accurate. Dhatfield ( talk) 12:13, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
References
The Pancerni.net [4] source seems to get its basic facts wrong, i.e. places start of T-55 production 3 years too early (see my undo [5]), and it doesn't cite any other sources in turn. All of its citations in the article should be fact-checked, and it should be removed from the article. — Michael Z. 2008-05-24 15:30 z
Please use edit summaries according to the guideline at Help:Edit summary. The talk page is for discussion of disputes, or use Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. Please find a consensus, then update the article. If it will help to protect the article, just let me know and I will gladly do so. Regards. — Michael Z. 2008-06-11 19:30 z
It appears that SuperTank17 insists on reverting my edits about the samples of tanks that the T-55 performance was raised into it's performance, when it was upgraded. i am trying to say that many of these upgrades are from western origins, and/or intended to match the performance of some western tanks, but he insists of mentioning the T-72, and T-80 only. i am not asking for mentioning all of them, but not mentioning any of them is better, since the term "modern tanks", or "newer tanks" would be much more generalized. Supertank17's comment was that he is not just reverting my edit, he is improving it, but i think that the one who adds a summery for his edit is the one who is really trying to improve the article, rather than....maybe having the last word ? if u wanna have the last word go ahead, supertank17, but do it right.
Ten days, no word. I assume that there is no thing to be said then. One last pharaoh ( talk) 17:28, 15 July 2008 (UTC)
This article is a mess, put simply. The grammar is terrible, and I see bits of POV everywhere, and plenty of claims without footnotes such as "When first produced, the Soviet T-34 medium tank of 1940 had the best balance of firepower, protection and mobility of any tank in the world." - Who says it was the best in the entire world? POV without citation. — Wackymacs ( talk ~ edits) 07:01, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
I suggest we split off the 'Variants' section and create a separate article for that content. There are a few very popular vehicles such as the T-55, Sherman and T-34 that have so many variants it makes sense to split it off. Both articles would then be more readable. Thoughts?
DMorpheus ( talk) 20:45, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
The production history section is very hard to read and might better be presented as a table. Thoughts? DMorpheus ( talk) 20:57, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
The article relies on some self-published sources such as JED (unreliable) and gary's equipment guide. I suggest we eliminate those and add only cites from reliable sources. DMorpheus ( talk) 20:59, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
In January 1965, the M41A3 Walker Bulldog light tank began arriving in South Vietnam to replace their aged M24 Chaffee light tanks.(Ref: Mounted Combat in VN by General Starry; page 45). The M41A3 light tank was armed with a M32 76mm high velocity gun, which fired the AP-T M339 (Armor Piercing with Tracer), HVAP-T M319 ( Hypervelocity Armor Piercing with tracer), and HVAP-DS-T M331A2 (Hypervelocity Armor Piercing with tracer)(Ref: Hunnicutt/Sheridan Volume 2, page 25). The two hypervelocity armor piercing warheads were capable of exceeding 3,220 feet per second and could penetrate 5 inches of homogeneous steel (one piece solid steel) placed at a 30 degree angle (sloped armor) at 1,000 yards.(Ref: Hunnicutt/Sheridan Volume 2, page 9). The 76mm was effective against Russian T-34 tanks (up to 63mm of armor), but up against the North Vietnamese Army's T54s used during their 1972 Easter Offensive, the 76mm Gun Walker Bulldogs "could" be effective, especially if the M41A3 light tank crewmen struck the 99mm armored areas of the T54 medium tank. As that armor protection easily falls within the "5 inch penetration" capability of the M41 light tank.
Bottom line: It is quite conceivable that ARVN M41 tank crewmen knocked out NVA T54's during the Vietnam War. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.105.32.52 ( talk) 01:24, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
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Is http://www.scribd.com/doc/39181626/Armor-Osprey-New-Vanguard-N%C2%B0-37-Modern-soviet-combat-Tanks a proper source for this article? It is older than the 2004 Zaloga book, but it is online and thus more easily verifiable. TGCP ( talk) 23:00, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
Well, originally T-55 was designated as a medium tank, not a "main battle tank", and it was set to operate along with T-10 heavy tanks. The tank's operating manual ( http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/Modern/T54/manual/ ) also describe it as being a medium tank, that's probably because the concept of main battle tank being implemented in the USSR only with T-64 tank -- 84.204.121.241 ( talk) 13:58, 30 December 2012 (UTC)
What happens to spent shell casings in the T 54/55's? Is there a hatch they're thrown out of, or are they put back in the magazine?
176.24.241.158 ( talk) 18:33, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
Somebody keeps adding inaccurate information from either of these two sources - and - that 10 Olifant tanks were knocked out by T-55s during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. This is pure disinformation. It's a popular myth circulated by the Cuban/FAPLA propaganda machine to exaggerate the enemy's losses during a time when the ongoing peace talks with South Africa over Namibian independence and the SADF's withdrawal from Angola were gaining ground. Some Olifants were damaged in an airstrike by MiG-23s, three were left behind in a minefield, and at least one other was disabled when it actually struck a mine. No Olifants were lost to T-55 fire....it's simply preposterous to suggest that "10" were lost. If South Africa lost a single armoured car it was big news because they had such meagre resources and couldn't afford to take serious casualties like Cuba. "The Cubans destroyed 10 Olifants" is like saying a US armoured division was totally obliterated in one day - considering there were only 13 Olifants anywhere within 500 km of Cuito Cuanavale. This figure of 10 is only mentioned in antecedotes by Cuban veterans or in press releases by Cuba/Angola during the final days of the South African Border War, which ended in 1990 (the separate, though intertwined, Angolan Civil War went on until 2002).
Hoaxes like this one are recognisable by their vague language and total lack of any other battlefield specifics (time, place, specific callsigns/units involved, etc.) beyond the body count.
Source text - ...Это был кубинский подполковник Эктор. Он не погиб, а полу-чил два тяжёлых ранения, одно из которых – в область рта, так что, впоследствии, с трудом мог говорить. В кубинском фильме про Куито-Куанавале есть материал о нём, и он там сам выступает. В га-зете «Красная Звезда» за тот год была статья про него и про его атаку. Естественно, в той статье не было сказано, что кубинскую контратаку возглавил советский майор Вихров на своём БТРе. Через некоторое время в его БТР попал юаровский снаряд, советские советники чудом остались живы. После этого они выскочили из БТРа и вынуждены были уходить от юаровцев по минному полю. Как они его пробежали, одному Богу известно, поскольку очень много ангольцев, бежавших вместе с ними, подорвались на минах. В той контратаке было под- бито семь кубинских танков, остался один с подполковником Экто-ром, дважды раненым, но юаровцы потерпели жестокое поражение, потерь, по кубинским данным, 10 танков «Олифант». (Прим. Олега Грицука.) (Ветераны локальных войн и миротворческих операций ООН вспоминают, by Tokarev)
Source text - By this superiority of forces, they achieve to break the defense of the 59° Angolan Brigade. To cover this place were urgently thrown the unique 8 T-55 Cubans in movement in Cuito, by the command of the lieutenant colonel Héctor Aguilar. They stop the South African, destroying 10 Olifants and 4 armored cars, and losing 6 T-55 (3 by anti-tanks rockets RPG, and 3 by the Olifants). The remainder of the Olifants retires behind march. In this collision die 14 of the 39 Cubans perished in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, but this sacrifice went not in vain, therefore the attack of its T-55 saves the situation of the battle, that already was in crisis. This is the first collision in the war between Olifants and Cubans T-55, and is a victory for these, which would be the norm until the end of the war. March 23 the Olifants support the last attack to Cuito Cuanavale, that finishes with another disaster, when the SADF lost 3 Olifants in minefields and by artillery fire. ( http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/Tanques3-e.html)
I can provide a lengthy list of even more sources discrediting this ridiculous anecdote if any user has an issue with it. If it continued to be added to the article its removal will be justified under WP:DNCH.
Thanks, -- Katangais ( talk) 21:18, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
If you really spent hours reviewing my sources, you wouldn't keep disputing the casualty counts I cite. Or facts like Cubans crewed the tanks on the 9th. You're being intentionally coy with me.
Dispute resolution is the same thing as requesting a third opinion. Plus, it's likelier that somebody whose efforts you actually respect will get involved. That's my perspective on things. -- Katangais ( talk) 14:14, 6 April 2014 (UTC)
Mulitple parts of the article are flagged (July 2009) as doubious and lack reliable sources or citations. I have cleaned the disputed sections. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.141.163.11 ( talk) 02:18, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
I saw the article mentions that the first prototypes were produced in 1945, and I've seen the same claim elsewhere on the internet, but I've been having trouble finding much information about them. Does anyone know any more about these? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.77.210.237 ( talk) 07:33, 10 February 2015 (UTC)
What exactly is a dead track? And what's a live?track? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.101.38.242 ( talk) 05:17, 14 April 2019 (UTC)
Battlefield Vegas have a T55 & a T62 and they say that the T62's hull is a foot wider, and it looks it. Can somebody please double-check these measurements. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Corrector2021 ( talk • contribs) 13:47, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
Was it really necessary to create a whole new article just for this relatively narrow topic? Schierbecker ( talk) 07:03, 5 September 2022 (UTC)
While the Tank has not arrived at Ukraine its impossible to verify if they are going to be used or not by the russians, while likely, since its what happened with the T-62s, theres the possibility its not, at least at this moment its better to be safe and not say they are going to be send there, but that they are going to be moved, until its verifiable (which can be showed by modernizations or modifications, or actually crossing the border), A Train moving tanks from a place A to a place B tells us nothing but them being moved, other information shows the context of why. Gerfand ( talk) 05:03, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
The article currently says: "This eliminated the need for the tank to carry a tank filled with air." This sounds almost like the T-55 drives around with another T-55 filled with air.
Maybe someone who is better at English can change the words. E.g. oone could write "...need for the tank to carry pressurized air" or something. Jaksel ( talk) 06:25, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
The army appears to be using them although still waiting for RS. ©Geni ( talk) 16:55, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
I don't think the previous main image (the early T-54 at Kazan Victory Park) was adequately representative of this particular tank type, when we have so many other better source images available. The later T-54B and T-55 were both manufactured in massive, massive numbers compared to the example used for the article's main image, and they are the vast majority of this tank type in existence. I think an image of the later production models is more appropriate and have added one accordingly. Katangais (talk) 01:32, 4 May 2023 (UTC)