Black-and-white photo of a WWII Sherman Crab tank with a rotating chain flail mine-clearing attachment in operation

Sherman Crab Tank

2024viral video / edit formatdeclining

Published November 13, 2026

Sherman Crab Tank is a British WWII mine-clearing vehicle fitted with rotating chain flails that became a TikTok edit format in January 2024. Fancam-style videos set to Cortex_Sound's 'Blaue Monarchie, Vol.3' glorified the tank's spinning chains, often joking about aiming them at Just Stop Oil road protestors. By February 2024, TikToker @47dimmka's edit passed 23 million plays.

tiktok sound trends military memes protest memes mashup video memes 2024 memes

Overview

Edits typically splice archival clips of the Sherman Crab in action, usually its chains rotating against a dirt road, over the thumping bassline of 'Blaue Monarchie, Vol.3'2. Captions often reference what the uploader would do with the tank, with Just Stop Oil protestors and other roadblockers being the most common hypothetical targets4. On TikTok, where the format caught on, many commenters referred to the vehicle as the 'spinny chains tank' or 'tank with spinning chains' because they did not recognize the actual name4.

Away from the fancam edits, users made DIY recreations. @sahaj8303's paper-clip Sherman model earned over 356,000 plays in nine days by replicating the flail mechanism in miniature5. The humor comes from giving an obscure engineering vehicle the same slow-motion, music-video edit treatment people reserve for Abrams or Leopard 2 clips3.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok
Date
2024

Sherman Crab vehicles were M4 Shermans modified by the British army in 1942 with a front-mounted rotor of chain flails designed to detonate land mines through controlled impact1. South African Major A.S.J. du Toit originated the mine flail concept, and the British paired the design with their Sherman tank for Allied operations across Western Europe1. Period footage of the chains beating the ground survives on YouTube6.

Meme edits began with a TikTok photo slideshow by @danklumi on January 17th, 2024, which joked about driving a Sherman Crab over Just Stop Oil protestors blocking a road4. That post attracted roughly 288,700 plays and 46,900 likes within a month4.

How It Spread

Two days after @danklumi's slideshow, TikToker @gamer9673 reposted the same joke on January 19th, 2024, reaching roughly 4.3 million plays and 591,200 likes in a month4. Static slideshows then gave way to fancam-style video edits. On January 31st, 2024, @music2023www23 published a Sherman Crab edit that gained over 8.9 million plays and 806,700 likes in 18 days2.

@47dimmka escalated the trend on February 4th, 2024 with a similar mine flail edit that surpassed 23 million plays and 2.8 million likes within two weeks3. All of these clips used Cortex_Sound's 'Blaue Monarchie, Vol.3,' which became tied to the format on TikTok2. On February 9th, 2024, @sahaj8303 posted a DIY paper-clip Sherman Crab replica that attracted 356,300 plays and 16,400 likes in nine days5.

Timeline

1942

The British army fields the Sherman Crab, a Sherman M4 fitted with a front-mounted chain flail based on Major A.S.J. du Toit's mine-clearing design.

2024-01-17

TikToker @danklumi posts a photo slideshow joking about using a Sherman Crab on Just Stop Oil road protestors, the earliest known meme post about the tank.

2024-01-19

TikToker @gamer9673 reposts an identical slideshow and reaches about 4.3 million plays, broadening the joke's audience.

2024-01-31

@music2023www23 publishes a fancam-style Sherman Crab edit set to Cortex_Sound's 'Blaue Monarchie, Vol.3,' gaining over 8.9 million plays in 18 days.

2024-02-04

@47dimmka's Sherman Crab edit passes 23 million plays and 2.8 million likes within two weeks, the format's peak viral post.

2024-02-09

@sahaj8303 shares a DIY paper-clip Sherman Crab build, showing the trend expanding beyond music edits into homemade recreations.

How to Use This Meme

A typical Sherman Crab edit splices archival footage of the mine flail, often slowed down or zoomed on the rotating chains, against Cortex_Sound's 'Blaue Monarchie, Vol.3'2. Captions commonly name a target the chains should clear, usually road protestors or traffic obstacles3. Some creators skip the edit entirely and instead film homemade models assembled from paper clips and craft materials5.

Frequently Asked Questions