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WW2 is just fully of bizarre weapons isn’t it? I can’t remember the last time I did a fail for America so guess what? It’s his turn again.

As you know, WW2 started rolling not to long after WW1. The trench warfare was still fresh in everyone’s minds and many were doing what they could to avoid a repeat. An inventor from Texas, A. J. Richardson, had the idea around 1936 of a tank that would decrease the chances of a stalemate on No Man’s Land. The idea was to have a tank be in the shape of a ball that is heavily armored and that could roll out onto the battle field to make way for footmen soldiers. The outside would have two rotating spheres on either side to propel the tank forward. The inside would be hollow and like a cab that two men could sit in. I first had the impression of the tank being like a hamster ball except the inner sphere is stationary so that the soldiers can fire the guns. The Tumbleweed Tank was designed to be impenetrable to firearms as to its curved outer shell and to protect the inside from poisonous gas to boot.

Now for the problem. This tank only got as far as an idea since no prototype was ever made because Richardson forgot one important factor. Whoever was inside the tank wouldn’t be able to see what was going outside meaning… they would be firing haphazardly in every direction to both friend and foe without realizing it. The Tumbleweed Tank would be too disastrous and unpredictable to nearby friendly troops.

So the idea was scrapped. Although, Germany adapted the idea and made his own ball tank later on the in the war.

Description
WW2 is just fully of bizarre weapons isn’t it? I can’t remember the last time I did a fail for America so guess what? It’s his turn again.

As you know, WW2 started rolling not to long after WW1. The trench warfare was still fresh in everyone’s minds and many were doing what they could to avoid a repeat. An inventor from Texas, A. J. Richardson, had the idea around 1936 of a tank that would decrease the chances of a stalemate on No Man’s Land. The idea was to have a tank be in the shape of a ball that is heavily armored and that could roll out onto the battle field to make way for footmen soldiers. The outside would have two rotating spheres on either side to propel the tank forward. The inside would be hollow and like a cab that two men could sit in. I first had the impression of the tank being like a hamster ball except the inner sphere is stationary so that the soldiers can fire the guns. The Tumbleweed Tank was designed to be impenetrable to firearms as to its curved outer shell and to protect the inside from poisonous gas to boot.

Now for the problem. This tank only got as far as an idea since no prototype was ever made because Richardson forgot one important factor. Whoever was inside the tank wouldn’t be able to see what was going outside meaning… they would be firing haphazardly in every direction to both friend and foe without realizing it. The Tumbleweed Tank would be too disastrous and unpredictable to nearby friendly troops.

So the idea was scrapped. Although, Germany adapted the idea and made his own ball tank later on the in the war.