So.
Y'all know that one meme of the tank being dumped off the ship saying "I go kill submarine for the motherland"?
If not, here it is:
The origins behind this image are utterly fascinating.
This is not a soviet built tank despite what the meme implies, it is actually a chinese built tank, a T-69-2 to be more specific.
What you don't see in the image are the further 24 tanks that are also on the barge about to dropped into the water as well.
These tanks are being dropped in on personal orders by Queen Sirikit, the queen mother of thailand.
No, for those worried, this was not them discarding old unusable tanks, at least in this instance. Rather, each of these tanks have selected and prepared to make an artificial reef. Rather than melt them down for scrap, in 2010 there were pushed into the water off the gulf of siam to create a home for hundreds of sea creatures. All the internals are gutted, including the engine and transmission, don't worry.
If you looks a little closer into the image, you'll see that all the hatches are open or removed, probably to make room for sea life.
If you want anymore info, I'd suggest checking out ConeOfArc over on youtube, he has a lot more on this and many more fascinating subjects such as the origins behind the panzer of the lake.
Y'all find this as cool as I do, right? Like, this shit is just so damn cool. As a wee bit of a tank nerd, it does make me sad that these are being dumped never to be seen again, but at least their still being used for something rather than being turned into tin cans.
