Customer Reviews

Centurion vs T-55: Yom Kippur War 1973 (Duel)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At first glance, Centurion vs. T-55: Yom Kippur War 1973 by Simon Dunstan, is an intriguing title. There are relatively few books available on the tank battles of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (aka War of Ramadan) and Osprey's Duel series offers a compact and affordable analysis of how rival weapons systems performed against each other in combat. Unfortunately, this volume is seriously undermined by three flaws: (1) the author writes entirely from the Israeli point of view, (2) the level of technical detail is insufficient to conduct a true analysis of these two weapon systems and (3) the author's failure to adhere to the series format makes his narrative disorganized and difficult to follow. Readers may also be misled by the title, since this book focuses solely on the Golan Heights. Overall, this volume is not up to the standards of previous volumes in the series and offers at best a one-sided and somewhat derivative account of these tank battles.

There have been a number of Israeli accounts of the tank battles on the Golan Heights, particularly Avigdor Kahalani's The Heights of Courage (1992), upon which this volume draws heavily. However, the author appears to have made no effort to incorporate any Arab viewpoints and no Arab sources are listed in the bibliography. Indeed, not a single Syrian tanker is mentioned by name - they are just ciphers - and the author omits the usual sidebars on opposing combatants in the Duel series and simply provides a profile of Kahalani (wow, that was hard - it could virtually be taken from his book's fly leaf). Although it is clear that the Israeli's won the tank battles in Golan, history is not well served by an account that totally excludes the Syrian combatants. The English-reading world has already been exposed to the Israeli account of the Golan fighting - to which this volume adds very little - and deserve a more well-rounded account than has heretofore been presented.

The level of technical detail is surprisingly low in this volume. While the standard 3-way profile for both tanks is included, the data plates presented on pages 26-27 are rather vague, particularly for the Centurion. It's not clear what model of Centurion the author is referring to and the data appears to be a mix of more than one model. The Israeli modified Centurions he describes in the volume have the 105-mm gun and diesel engine, but the data plate lists the older 20-pounder gun and petrol engine. The T-55 data plate says it had a 100-mm 20-pounder gun (huh?) with 65 rounds of ammunition, which is incorrect; the T-55 carried 43 rounds of 100-mm. The armor data lists thickness but not angle of sloping, which is an important omission. Looks like very poor editing. Crucially, there is no information provided on types of ammunition each tank carried and individual performance (penetration, muzzle velocity) and very little on fire control systems used in 1973. Without this data, it is difficult to compare tank gunnery. Although the author provides enough data to suggest general strengths/weaknesses of each tank - it is clear that that T-55 was superior in mobility and armored protection but the Centurion appears better in firepower - there are simply too many loose ends. This is particularly frustrating when the author claims that Israeli tanks routinely engaged enemy tanks at 2,500-3,000m; this might be possible when firing at a company-size mass of tanks, but engaging individual tanks at that range without a laser range-finder would be very wasteful of ammunition. As a former tanker myself, claims that anyone could routinely hit targets out at 3 km or beyond with the 105-mm (they would be only tiny blobs in the daylight sight) are misleading. Towards the end, the author reverses himself and admits that 70 percent of all engagements occurred at ranges under 2,000 meters.

Finally, the author just didn't avail himself of the Duel series format, so the sections are just jumbled together. The initial section on design and development briefly covers how the British and Soviet tank design philosophies evolved between 1939 and 1946, but this section was supposed to deal with the genesis of each tank in the Duel. The 15-page section on technical specifications actually covers what should have been covered in the design section but spends almost all its entirety discussing the British models of the Centurion, with only a brief nod to the Israeli modified Centurions. Why spend three sentences discussing how British Centurions had a device to boil tea, when this was irrelevant to the duel between Israeli Centurions and Syrian T-55s. Note most of the photos of T-55s in this volume are models in Soviet service, not the ones used by the Syrians. The section on combatants is just horrible and irrelevant, choosing to focus on the Centurion in Korea and Vietnam at the expense of discussing Israeli/Syrian crew training (one paragraph on the Syrians). The strategic situation chapter is equally poor, wasting space on the 1956 War and the 1966 Water War. By this point, it is clear that the author has difficulty deciding what is germane to the Duel analysis and what is not. The final 34-page section on combat is the best part of the volume and gripping at parts, but not too original. While there is an overall map of dispositions in the Golan, this volume should have had a tactical map of the fighting in the Valley of Tears. Overall, this volume is at best an adjunct to earlier books like Kalahani's and at worst, a poorly researched and Israeli-biased account that merely re-packages existing material.

If it were possible, I would have given this title four and one-half stars. This book is readable, insightful, and nicely illustrated. However, unlike other titles in the "duel" series, it's a bit one-sided, giving Israeli experience with its modified Centurions (called "Shot Cal" in IDF jargon), with little background on the Syrians' experience with T-55s.

The first several chapters tell how each tank developed from its WWII predecessors. Then the book gives a wealth of background on the role of tanks in the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948, 1956, and 1967 that led up to the October War of 1973. There is plenty of information on the two sides' competing armored doctrines. Syrian doctrine was heavily based on Soviet ideas and weapon systems, albeit somewhat handicapped by Syria's 60 percent literacy rate. Israeli doctrine was more nuanced, built on western weapon systems, but with plenty of home-grown technical and tactical innovations. An interesting tidbit: the Israelis put Centurion/Shot Cal on the Golan front because it was better-adapted to rough terrain. Their U.S.-built M-48 and M-60 tanks went to Sinai because they were less well suited to the rocky Golan, but faster on open terrain.

The actual story of armored combat on the Golan Heights is well-told and dramatic. But at this point the Syrian point of view disappears. About all the reader can see or hear about them is the dust clouds and shellfire thrown up by hordes of T-55's as Syrians advanced with 1,400 tanks against just 177 Israeli Shot Cals. The author gives the Syrians their due for courage and tenacity despite appalling losses. He comments on the failure of Syrian commanders to exploit their breakthrough on the southern end of the front. Aside from this, the story is told completely from the Israeli side, with plentiful Israeli personal accounts and not one account from the Syrian side.

What factors made the Israeli Shot Cals so far superior to their enemies, on a tank-for-tank basis? By failing to give Syrian perspectives, the author misses an opportunity. He alludes to Israeli advantages - their costly but effective tactic of having tank commanders fight out in the open, their use of tank ramps on the Golan, the superior effective range of their 105-mm guns, their crews' ability to accurately fire ten rounds per minute, and other factors. But the author never directly evaluates the strengths and (especially) weaknesses of the T-55 against the Centurion. Sure, the T-55 had a cramped turret, and the T-55's gun sights were inferior at long range. But there is more to the story than that.

That said, the Israeli side of the story is well-told. The fighting on the Golan Heights October 6-10th 1973 belongs alongside the greatest epic battles in the history of armored warfare, like Kursk, Gazala,and El Alamein. This detailed and informative title will take a prominent place in any collection on armored weapons and tactics.

The book should have had the title and the subtitles reversed; it would have got three or four stars if this was the case. There was very little information here about tanks. There are books about the war that are A LOT better written, if that is what you are interested in.

The book begins by describing the origins of the Soviet T-55 (and its kin) and the British Centurion. Countries throughout the world purchased these on the weapons market. Arab countries acquired many of the Soviet tanks (although they also purchased other tanks--including some Centurions); Israel bought the Centurion.

The book begins with a brief introduction to the background of the tanks at issue in this book. Then, a chronology (pages 6-7), to provide some context. Then, "design and development" and "technical specifications" sections. A comparison of the specifications for the two tanks appears on pages 26-27. We see, for instance, that the weight of the Centurion is about 50,728 kilograms and the T-55 weighs in at 36,000 kg. Maximum road speed for the Centurion is 34.6 kilometers/hour with the T-55 topping at about 50 kilometers/hour. Training for tankers in the different armies is then discussed as well as the background to the Yom Kippur War.

Finally, the story of the tank battles at the Golan Heights. The Israeli forces were heavily outnumbered--and did not expect an attack by the Syrians. When the attack took place, Israeli forces fought desperately. The review of the battle here is done pretty well.

There is much more of an Israeli rather than a Syrian face to the tale of the battle itself. Nonetheless, this is a useful rendering, in a short space, of the tank battle at the Golan Heights.

This is an excellent book. I rate it four out of five stars. Contrary to what other reviewers wrote about this book, I found the author's comparison of the two tanks even-handed. Other reviewers concluded this book was one-sided, that is, it covered the Israeli view point only. Sure, there are no first-hand accounts of the battles fought in this book from the Egyptian or Syrian combatants. Even so, I found the battle narratives adequate in revealing the strengths and weaknesses of both tanks. In conclusion, I found this book both highly entertaining and informative.

The reason that Syria isn't represented, indeed, the reason why the West tends to triumph in these situations, is because of a cultural habit of audit and review that is missing from non-Western cultures, that in turn leads to improved battle performance---see Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson for a thorough discussion of this topic. For example, there's a reason why you don't see incisive, critical reviews of the Greek-Persian war from the Persian side. There aren't any. So RA's criticism, while valid, may be a little misplaced. I haven't heard of any Syrian perspectives of the battle that mirror Khalani's, because Khalani comes from a Western intellectual tradition and his opponents don't.

Therefore, the reason why highly technical, critical evaluations seem to be one-sided only is because they exist on one side only. Seen any translations of Iraqi experiences in the Second Gulf war in print? I could go on, but I don't think I need to. By the way, if these do exist, and RA knows of them, I would love to be proven wrong. I just don't think those records exist because of the Eastern, corrupt, non-introspective approach of the Syrian military---which, by the way, is the reason they LOSE.

This Osprey Book arrived in good order, along with four other military books. Besides enjoying naval warfare, the other area of interest for me is tank warfare, especially Arab-Israeli tank warfare. This is where the book addresses a good portion of that type of armored strengths and weaknesses for the various tanks used by the Arabs and Israelis. Overall, this is a very good book on tanks, such as the Centurion vs the T-55. Hats off to Amazon for this book and this order. Thanks. B.L.