# When a tank is hit does the crew burn alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117 "2013-11-17T14:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tci707](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@tci707](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tci707)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/1 "2013-11-17T14:50:38Z")
When a tank is hit does the crew burn alive? There is a youtube video of a t 72 tank is syria getting hit with a rpg 29 anti tank rocket [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2TLS1sqMl8) after it gets hit a crew member comes running out from a escape hatch with his clothes burned off him. I can only imagine that the other crew members who didn’t have a escape hatch got burned alive, is this correct? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/2 "2013-11-17T15:34:39Z")
Depends on the tank and it’s armor, what it’s hit with and the interior layout of the tank. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/3 "2013-11-17T15:47:16Z")
Remember that in some (all?) tanks the various crew members aren’t actually in the same compartment at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/4 "2013-11-17T15:52:44Z")
Nobody could live through that. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/5 "2013-11-17T15:53:20Z")
Some may get killed immediately by the initial hit or the resultant explosion/pressure. Burning alive is more common in older tank designs and Russian designs. Older designs would sometimes not provide much isolation between the fuel tank and the crew compartment. Russian designs often lack much separation between the ammo and the crew compartment. NATO designs (and perhaps recent Russian ones) store the ammo in an armored box with a blow off panel which directs the ammo explosion’s blast away from the crew. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/6 "2013-11-17T15:56:04Z")
I spent some time on a M41 tank. Yeah, it was a long time ago. Biggest fear was an armor piercing round entering the tank and touching off the 90mm rounds inside. The tank commander on top, may escape, if the top was open. But, a fast escape was not possible for the rest of the crew. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/7 "2013-11-17T16:07:04Z")
> [@tci707](#): > > When a tank is hit does the crew burn alive? > > There is a youtube video of a t 72 tank is syria getting hit with a rpg 29 anti tank rocket [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2TLS1sqMl8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2TLS1sqMl8) after it gets hit a crew member comes running out from a escape hatch with his clothes burned off him. I can only imagine that the other crew members who didn’t have a escape hatch got burned alive, is this correct? Pretty much, yeah. Military service drastically increases your chance of dying horribly. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/8 "2013-11-17T16:15:59Z")
If they were lucky there was spalling that killed them first. Tank warfare is thoroughly unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![tci707](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@tci707](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tci707)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/9 "2013-11-17T16:21:27Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Some may get killed immediately by the initial hit or the resultant explosion/pressure. > > Burning alive is more common in older tank designs and Russian designs. Older designs would sometimes not provide much isolation between the fuel tank and the crew compartment. Russian designs often lack much separation between the ammo and the crew compartment. NATO designs (and perhaps recent Russian ones) store the ammo in an armored box with a blow off panel which directs the ammo explosion’s blast away from the crew. The tank in the video was a russian made T-72 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/10 "2013-11-17T17:13:19Z")
Sherman tanks during the war were notorious for ‘brewing up’ (catching fire) when hit, so much so that they were nicknamed ‘Ronsons’ or ‘Tommy Cookers’. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/11 "2013-11-17T17:26:49Z")
As stated it depends on the tank. An M1 has an active fire suppression system, it’s ammo is behind an armored door except for the brief time it takes the loader to extract a round and the top of the turret has blow off panels that are designed to channel the blast if it’s a hit to the ammo compartment. It also has a hell of a lot better armor than a T72. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/12 "2013-11-17T18:15:58Z")
> [@tci707](#): > > The tank in the video was a russian made T-72 It’s pretty much certain that a T-72 wouldn’t put much emphasis on crew survival after a hit that was strong enough to take out the tank. Especially the variants the Soviets exported which tended to be one notch below the variants of the same model they used i.e.: the export T-72 wasn’t as good as the T-72 used by the Red Army. So, yeah, get knocked out quick by the hit/explosion or burn alive (or be really lucky like that guy. I wonder what crew position he had). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/13 "2013-11-17T19:11:35Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > If they were lucky there was spalling that killed them first. Tank warfare is thoroughly unpleasant. I think some weapons are specifically designed for this. I remember seeing a show on the military channel that described an anti-tank weapon that had an explosive flatten against the tank before detonating, the idea being that the explosion would not penetrate the tank but would cause a “scab” to peel off the interior and send shrapnel throughout the interior. At least it gets it over with quickly. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/14 "2013-11-17T19:16:42Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I think some weapons are specifically designed for this. > I remember seeing a show on the military channel that described an anti-tank weapon that had an explosive flatten against the tank before detonating, the idea being that the explosion would not penetrate the tank but would cause a “scab” to peel off the interior and send shrapnel throughout the interior. > At least it gets it over with quickly. High explosive squash head. The counter to this is anti-spalling liner which T-72 might very well have. In any case, RPGs don’t use squash heads\*. Against tanks, they pretty much only use HEAT rounds. \*That I know of. It seems like a squash head would require a large explosive charge which a shoulder weapon couldn’t deliver. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/15 "2013-11-17T19:25:43Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > High explosive squash head. The counter to this is anti-spalling liner which T-72 might very well have. > > In any case, RPGs don’t use squash heads\*. Against tanks, they pretty much only use HEAT rounds. > \*That I know of. It seems like a squash head would require a large explosive charge which a shoulder weapon couldn’t deliver. A HEAT round would send a jet of plasma inside the tank, hence the likelihood of burning. A kinetic round would be more likely to send shrapnel or ricochet inside the tank, shredding crew members. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/16 "2013-11-17T20:05:38Z")
If the kinetic penetrator is made of depleted uranium you also get a [fire/exposion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium#Ammunition): > [@](#): > > Depleted uranium is favored for the penetrator because it is self-sharpening and pyrophoric.[30] On impact with a hard target, such as an armored vehicle, the nose of the rod fractures in such a way that it remains sharp. The impact and subsequent release of heat energy causes it to disintegrate to dust and burn when it reaches air because of its pyrophoric properties.[30] When a DU penetrator reaches the interior of an armored vehicle it catches fire, often igniting ammunition and fuel, killing the crew and possibly causing the vehicle to explode. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/17 "2013-11-17T20:19:25Z")
If the first part of the video is linked to the second part (and what’s the point of putting them together if they aren’t?) then it isn’t a kinetic energy round. RPGs don’t get sufficient velocity to have effective KE rounds. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/18 "2013-11-17T20:32:01Z")
Those other two tank commanders are horrible - how long did they just sit there in the open after the hit, they should have been moving almost immediately. Lucky for them the “rebels” didn’t have a couple more RPGs. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/19 "2013-11-17T21:07:04Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Sherman tanks during the war were notorious for ‘brewing up’ (catching fire) when hit, so much so that they were nicknamed ‘Ronsons’ or ‘Tommy Cookers’. To add, the advertising slogan of the Ronson lighter was “always lights first time”. And as a general rule, yes. If you survived the initial hit but didn’t make it out of the tank in _x_ number of seconds, you weren’t going to make it out and would burn to death. ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117/20 "2013-11-17T21:29:06Z")
When an RPG detonates, there is a shaped charge that projects a hypersonic jet of liquid superheated copper straight through the armor. I imagine anything this touches will be lit on fire with a quickness. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-tank-is-hit-does-the-crew-burn-alive/674117.md?page=2)