Chicom Type 59 Tank

By Will Dabbs, MD

When we think of tanks that changed history, names like Sherman, Tiger and T-34 might pop into mind. The Chinese Type 59, however, likely left an indelible image in the minds of many readers — though you might not realize it. Today, Dr. Will Dabbs considers the Type 59 main battle tank and the unnamed man who, for a moment, proved more powerful than an entire column of them.

What would I do? It’s an easy enough thing to ponder from the comfort of my favorite recliner while killing a quiet evening behind my laptop. I was born and raised in the United States of America. I served in uniform, but I never had to really lay it on the line for my freedom. In my case, that was a gift bestowed upon me by countless selfless patriots who came before. But what if I really had to stand up? What would I do then?

Tank Man likely did not get up on June 5, 1989, intending to change the world. He got up intending to go buy groceries. It was simply that, when the circumstances presented themselves, this nameless man laid absolutely everything on the line to take a stand against tyranny and oppression. Nobody knows how much that decision ultimately cost him.

Statistics

According to Freedom House, only one in five humans today lives in a free country. 1.4 billion people currently reside in communist China. The government there is inviolate. It perfuses everything about daily life. As a free American, I have a difficult time even visualizing that. However, I do know some people.

A friend spent six months over there as a student. She told me that it was kind of novel at first. She could tell that her email was being monitored because any time she wrote anything even remotely negative about the country or the government her internet service would die for a time. It was predictable. After six months of that she was starving to get back home to a place where the people were in charge rather than the government. We free Americans really have no idea.

Background

The 1980s saw seismic changes in Chinese culture. Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 ended a quarter century of isolation following WWII. A decade later, the inimitable engine of capitalism was transforming life in Red China. You know that cheesy Happy Meal toy that your kid got at McDonalds last week? Here’s where it all started.

Freedom is like some addictive contagion. Once a starving man gets a taste, all he wants is more. He is also driven to share that with others. This immutable aspect of the human condition drove countless Chinese to rise up against the government and demand reforms to their draconian practices. Part of that protest involved the occupation of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. After weeks of failed negotiations, the Chinese government declared martial law and moved in with troops and tanks.

The Type 59 Tank

The principal armored vehicle used by the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) to put down the pro-democracy protestors in Beijing was the Type 59. First produced in 1958 and then accepted for service a year later, the Type 59 was a Chinese-made copy of the Soviet T-54A. Though there were several upgrades and modifications throughout its service life, the biggest difference between the Chinese Type 59 and the Soviet T-54 was its lack of both an infrared searchlight and main gun stabilization.

For its era, the Type 59 was a solid design. It featured a compact cast steel turret and welded steel hull. Armor ranged from 20mm on the floor of the hull to 100mm on the frontal aspect of the turret. Primary armament was the 100mm Type 59 rifled cannon. Standard stowage was 34 rounds of main gun ammunition.

The ZPL-81 main gun used on the Type 59-II was actually a license-produced version of the esteemed British L7. This was the product of the thawing of relationships between China and the West in the early 1980s. However, arms embargoes that arose after the Tiananmen massacre put a stop to such exchanges of military technology.

The Type 59 also included a Type 59T 7.62mm coaxial machinegun along with a Type 54 12.7mm heavy machinegun mounted externally for anti-aircraft defense. The Type 54 was a Chinese copy of the Russian M1938/46 DShKM heavy machinegun. Standard loadout for the machine guns was 3,500 rounds of linked 7.62mm and another 200 rounds for the Type 54 up top.

The turret had a mechanical traverse that would spin the gun through 360 degrees in 21 seconds. However, like the Russian T-34 that came before it, there was not a separate turret basket built into the vehicle. This forced the members of the turret crew to dance around a bit during a rapid traverse to keep from being caught up in the mechanism. Unlike later Combloc tanks, the Type 59 utilized a human loader rather than the carousel mechanical sort that has shown to be such a liability on the T-72 tanks in combat in Ukraine.

The Type 59 was powered by a Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled engine that produced 520 hp. This gave the tank a top speed of 31 mph and an unrefueled range of 280 miles on internal tanks. The torsion bar suspension offered a fairly smooth ride. However, the low silhouette and compact turret dimensions made the Type 59 legendarily cramped and uncomfortable, particularly when operating for long periods.

Combat Use

The total production run for the Type 59 was 9,500 vehicles. Roughly 5,500 of these remained in PLA service, while the rest were exported. There were at least 20 foreign governments who made use of the Type 59 at one point or another.

The Type 59 saw limited action against South Vietnamese M41 Walker Bulldogs and M48 Patton tanks at the very end of the Vietnam War. Pakistani Type 59 MBTs faced Soviet-made Indian T-54 and T-55 tanks throughout their sundry conflicts during the 1970s. The Chinese made widespread use of the Type 59 against their former allies during the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979, losing 48 of them in combat.

Type 59’s saw action during the Iran-Iraq War that spanned the 1980s. They were also encountered in Iraq by coalition forces during the first Gulf War. However, the most publicity the Type 59 received during its long service life was when it faced down a solitary Chinese man apparently out buying groceries.

Confrontation

On June 4, 1989, PLA forces opened fire on the protestors. Many were killed. The absolute numbers will never be known. The Chinese government has always been tight-lipped, and they ruthlessly suppressed details of the exchange. They did, however, successfully clear Tiananmen Square. The following day, a column of Type 59s was cruising up Chang’an Avenue on the northeast edge of the square. That’s when Tank Man chose to intervene.

Imagery of the exchange almost never made it to the outside world. The five best examples were confiscated by the PSB, the Chinese Security Police. The best surviving images of the event were shot by a British photographer named Stuart Franklin. He smuggled his undeveloped roll of film out of the country via a French student in a box of tea. His images ended up in both TIME and LIFE magazines. The video is particularly poignant.

CNN videographers captured the scene. You can see it here:

With machine gun fire in a background, a huge column of a dozen or more Type 59 tanks rumbled single file down the long, deserted avenue. Then a single man ran out and posted himself in front of the lead vehicle. For a moment nothing happened.

The confused tank driver tried to drive around the insane man who waved his groceries in a failed effort at getting the tanks to reverse course. The man skipped to the side, ensuring that his skinny little body was directly impeding the 72,000-pound tank’s movement. He then climbed on top of the tank, exchanged words with the crew, and leaped back down. These have been described as some of the most iconic images ever put to film, on par with Joe Rosenthal’s flag raising on Iwo Jima.

The Rest of the Story

Nobody knows for sure who the Tank Man actually was. A couple of names have been proffered, but Chinese government censorship has successfully obfuscated the details. One story claims he was executed 14 days later in anonymity. Others assert he was never successfully identified. Nobody will ever know.

So, what would you do? I like to think that, had I been out buying groceries like him, I also would have acted. However, I’ll never know. Regardless, cherish your freedom, my friends. Absolutely nothing about it was free.

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