Some tanks reshaped the fate of nations. Others only determined how many crews would never make it home.
Today, we’re counting down the 10 worst tanks of World War II—vehicles so badly designed, so mechanically cursed, that many soldiers feared their own machines more than enemy fire.
Let’s begin.

Number 10: Cruiser Tank Mk V – Covenanter

Britain produced nearly 1,700 Covenanters, yet not a single one ever fought in combat.

The reason was simple: the tank was catastrophically unreliable. Its cooling system was so poorly engineered that engines routinely overheated and seized during routine movement. To make matters worse, the radiators were positioned in a way that made maintenance nearly impossible—crews often had to partially dismantle the vehicle just to access them.

British tankers joked that the Covenanter was the most dependable tank in the army—because you could always depend on it to break down.

Thousands of tons of steel, millions of pounds, and endless labor hours were poured into a machine deemed too risky to send into battle. Instead, it spent the war as a training vehicle, preparing crews for tanks they would actually use—while the Covenanter itself never fired a shot in anger.

Number 9: Type 89 I-Go

Japan entered World War II using tanks designed for a different era.

The Type 89, conceived in the late 1920s, was already obsolete by the time it faced modern warfare in 1941. Its armor—only 57 mm at best—could barely stop heavy machine-gun fire, let alone dedicated anti-tank weapons. Its short-barreled 57 mm gun was inaccurate and lacked penetration.

But Japan had no real alternative.

Despite its inadequacies, the Type 89 continued to be deployed throughout the Pacific War. Against American M3 Stuarts and M4 Shermans, it was hopelessly outmatched.

The tank symbolized the core weaknesses of Japan’s armored forces: outdated designs, limited industrial capacity, and a military doctrine that never fully embraced the importance of tanks.

Number 8: M3 Lee / Grant

The M3 Lee represented America’s awkward transitional phase in tank development.

Standing nearly ten feet tall, it was impossible to conceal on the battlefield. Its primary 75 mm gun was mounted in a side sponson, forcing the entire tank to turn just to aim—severely limiting its effectiveness. A smaller 37 mm gun sat in a turret above, creating a bizarre two-gun system operated by a seven-man crew.

British forces, receiving the tank under Lend-Lease, renamed it the Grant and did their best with what they had. In North Africa, however, its height made it an easy target for German anti-tank guns.

One British tanker described it as “a factory on tracks”—too large to hide and too clumsy to fight effectively. Everyone knew it was a stopgap until the Sherman arrived. Unfortunately, that knowledge offered little comfort to the men climbing inside.

Number 7: T-26

When Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Soviet Union technically possessed more tanks than the Wehrmacht.

What it lacked were survivable ones.

The T-26, derived from an early British design, carried only 15 mm of armor in many areas. German 37 mm guns could destroy it from over a kilometer away. Even heavy machine guns posed a threat at close range.

Soviet crews grimly referred to the T-26 as a “coffin on tracks.”

Thousands were annihilated in the opening months of the invasion—not in heroic last stands, but in lopsided slaughter. The T-26 stands as a symbol of the Soviet Union’s early-war disaster: a doctrine that prioritized numbers over survivability.

Number 6: Infantry Tank Mk I – Matilda

The original Matilda had one advantage: thick armor.

Everything else was a liability.

Its top speed barely reached 8 mph—slower than a running soldier. Its two-pounder gun was already outdated at the war’s outbreak and quickly became ineffective as enemy armor improved.

By 1942, Matildas could neither penetrate German tanks nor escape them. In North Africa, extreme heat turned the crew compartment into an oven. Tankers routinely fainted from heat exhaustion. Some crews propped open hatches during combat, choosing ventilation over protection.

Designed for trench warfare, the Matilda was thrown into a fast-moving mechanized war it was never meant to fight.

Number 5: Type 94 Tankette

Calling the Type 94 a tank is generous.

Weighing under 3.5 tons, with armor thin enough to be pierced by rifle fire, it offered virtually no protection. Armed only with a single machine gun—the same weapon carried by infantry—it was hopeless against anything heavier.

Two crewmen were crammed into a space barely larger than a phone booth. No room. No safety. No chance.

Over 800 were built, each representing precious resources Japan could have spent on real combat vehicles. In practice, the Type 94 was little more than a faster way to get its crew killed.

Number 4: Type 95 Ha-Go

The Ha-Go was Japan’s most-produced tank, with over 2,000 built—and one of the deadliest for its own crews.

Its 37 mm gun couldn’t penetrate American Shermans from any direction. Meanwhile, its thin armor could be pierced by nearly every Allied weapon. Worse still, it ran on gasoline, meaning penetrations often resulted in instant fires.

U.S. Marines quickly learned not to fear Ha-Go tanks. Flamethrowers could breach the armor and incinerate crews inside. Even tank destroyer units reported feeling pity for Japanese tankers before killing them.

Japanese crews knew the truth: they were driving death traps. Yet doctrine and honor demanded they fight anyway.

Number 3: M3 Stuart

The M3 Stuart began the war as a capable light tank.

By 1943, it was obsolete—and lethal to its own crews.

Its 37 mm gun could no longer penetrate modern enemy armor. It couldn’t harm a Panzer IV frontally and was utterly useless against Tigers. Meanwhile, virtually any enemy tank gun could destroy it with ease.

American crews nicknamed it the “Purple Heart Box”—getting hit meant someone was getting wounded. Some Pacific crews welded scrap armor onto their tanks in desperation. It rarely helped.

Tankers reassigned from Shermans to Stuarts saw it as punishment duty.

Number 2: Panzer III

This one surprises many.

The Panzer III was an excellent tank in 1940. By 1943, it was a death sentence.

Its 50 mm gun couldn’t defeat the T-34’s frontal armor. Its own armor couldn’t withstand Allied 75 mm or Soviet 76 mm guns. German crews knew assignment to a Panzer III unit meant short odds.

Yet Germany kept producing it. Factories were tooled. Supply chains were fixed. And so crews kept dying in tanks everyone knew were obsolete.

One tanker wrote before Kursk:
“They gave us Panzer IIIs. We knew then command had abandoned us.”

Number 1: Infantry Tank Mk IV – Churchill

The Churchill earns the top spot not because it was the worst idea—but because it was the most crushing disappointment.

Its combat debut at Dieppe in 1942 was a disaster. Of 30 Churchills that landed, none escaped the beach. Some threw tracks, others broke down, the rest were destroyed.

Early models mounted two-pounder guns while German tanks carried 75 mm weapons. Reliability was atrocious. Speed was laughable. Retreat and maneuver were impossible.

One commander summed it up perfectly:
“Excellent armor. Can climb anything. Shame it can’t shoot, breaks constantly, and moves slower than infantry.”

Only by 1943 did improved versions become acceptable. By then, thousands of tankers had already paid the price.

Britain wasted enormous resources on a flawed concept—resources that could have produced better tanks or imported proven ones.