page_title: T-54/T-55
section_title: Vietnam War
hierarchical_section_title: T-54/T-55 / Service history / Vietnam War
caption_attribution_description: English: T-54 tank in Vietnam Military History Museum
context_page_description: The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945. Initial production ramp up settled for 1947 at Nizhny Tagil, and 1948 for Kharkiv were halted and curtailed as many problems were uncovered; the T-34-85 still accounted for 88 percent of production through the 1950s. The T-54 eventually became the main tank for armoured units of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and many others. T-54s and T-55s have been involved in many of the world's armed conflicts since the later part of the 20th century.
  The T-54/55 series eventually became the most-produced tank in military history. Estimated production numbers for the series range from 86,000 to 100,000. They were replaced by the T-62, T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks in the Soviet and Russian armies, but remain in use by up to 50 other armies worldwide, some having received sophisticated retrofitting.
  During the Cold War, Soviet tanks never directly faced their NATO adversaries in combat in Europe.
context_section_description: During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese PAVN used T-54s, along with its Chinese-built copy (the Type 59), extensively against the South Vietnamese ARVN and their allied US forces.
  The NVA and the ARVN engaged each other with tanks for the first time during Operation Lam Son 719 in February 1971. During that battle, 17 M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks of the ARVN's 1st Armored Brigade destroyed 22 NVA tanks, a total of 6 T-54s and 16 PT-76 light amphibious tanks, at no loss to themselves, but their friendly units lost 5 M41s and 25 armored personnel carriers (APCs), mainly M113 APCs.
  On Easter Sunday, 2 April 1972, the newly-activated 20th Tank Regiment of the ARVN, comprising approximately 57 M48A3 Patton main battle tanks (note that ARVN regiments were equivalent to US battalions, and ARVN squadrons were equivalent to US companies or troops) received reports from friendly intelligence units of a large NVA armoured column moving towards Dong Ha, the largest South Vietnamese city near the Vietnamese DMZ located on the 17th Parallel. At about noontime, the tank crewmen of the ARVN's 1st Squadron observed enemy armour moving south along Highway 1 towards Dong Ha and promptly concealed their tanks on high ground with a good vantage point against their enemy. Waiting for the NVA tank column to close to between 2500 and 3000 meters, the 90mm main guns of the Patton tanks opened fire and quickly destroyed nine PT-76s and two T-54 tanks. The surviving NVA armour, unable to locate their enemy's positions, hastily turned about and withdrew shortly afterwards.
  On 9 April 1972, all three squadrons of the 20th Tank Regiment fought hard against enemy armour, firing upon NVA tanks accompanied by large masses of infantry, again while occupying the strategically important high ground. This time, similarly, the South Vietnamese Pattons opened fire at approximately 2800 meters. A few answering-shots from the North Vietnamese T-54s fell short and the NVA tanks began to scatter after suffering considerable losses and heavy casualties. By the end of the day, the 20th had destroyed sixteen T-54s and captured one Type 59 at no loss to themselves. However, by 2 May, this same unit had lost all of their tanks by enemy fire, predominantly to enemy infantry-based anti-tank weapons like anti-tank grenades, heavy land-mines and anti-tank rockets, which the North Vietnamese infantry became skilled and very adept at using against enemy armour.
  NVA armoured units equipped with the T-54 tank achieved one of their greatest victories in April 1972 when the NVA 203rd Armoured Regiment attacked the ARVN's 22nd Infantry Division based at Tân Cảnh Base Camp, which dominated a main route into the city of Kon Tum, located near the 17th Parallel. After a two-day-long intense artillery barrage, eighteen T-54 tanks from the NVA side attacked the South Vietnamese infantry camp at dawn from two different directions, thus breaking apart the ARVN unit into two and splitting up its forces, which quickly abandoned its positions and withdrew. T-54 tank No. 377 had managed to destroy seven ARVN M41s before it was finally destroyed by M72 LAW anti-tank rocket launchers fielded by the South Vietnamese infantry. The NVA destroyed 18 M41 light tanks together with 31 M113 APCs and captured 17 M41s as intact, while losing only two T-54 tanks and one PT-76 tank in the armoured skirmish.
  At the very end of the Vietnam War on the 30 April 1975, an NVA T-54 tank smashed through the opulent main gate of the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace in their capital city of Saigon, accompanied by onrushing North Vietnamese troops, at the conclusion of North Vietnam's conquering of South Vietnam. This widely seen image has come to be regarded by many as perhaps the defining moment of the end of the bloody 20-year-long conflict in Vietnam, as well as the fall of South Vietnam and the imminent end of American participation in anti-communist activities in that region of Southeast Asia. According to the Pentagon, during the 1975 Spring Offensive, the ARVN forces lost 250 M48A3 tanks, 300 M41
caption: An NVA T-54 tank on display in the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi.
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