First impressions last.

[MarkF617]

Hello,

Since I have been reading this forum I have had many myths shattered. Things I had read about and watched on documentaries turned out to be completely untrue. One common theme that I have come across is that many pieces of equipment and vehicles are commonly remembered for their early marks and how they performed when first introduced, they tend not to be remembered for how they perform later. Some examples are:

T34. In 1941 these tanks were amazing, the most advanced tank at that time. This is how they are remembered even though a couple of years later they were merely average, still a good tank but no longer the world beater they are remembered as.

Sherman. The early versions of this tank had no wet storage so regularly exploded when penetrated leading to names like Tommy Cooker and Ronson. This is the image passed down for 70 years. A tank that was massively inferior to German Tanks. Later versions, however, had wet storage along with many other improvements making late Shermans at least equivalent to the Panzer 4, Germany's most numerous tank, and the Soviet T34.

Sten Gun. Early versions tended to break, mainly through holding the magazine while firing causing the magazine to bend with the recoil. Later versions were more robust and had a handle to hold rather than the magazine. These weapons were cheap but very effective causing both the Germans and Americans to build cheaper sub machine guns of their own. These are, however, remembered as substandard guns that always jam.

Panther. This tank was rushed into service for the Kursk offensive before it was ready, consequently most of them broke down. Later these problems were sorted and the Panther became an awesome tank. Many people though, even on this forum, still believe that Panthers were always massively unreliable.

These are what leap to mind at the moment but what other items of equipment or vehicles are remembered for their early versions?

Mark.