The forces needed to penetrate the armor is enough to ignite diesel.
Which fuel a military force uses most likely came down to supply and logistics.
American petroleum is sweet, light crude, making gasoline from it cheap. So during WWII, our tanks ran on petrol. The Shermans supplied to Britain needed to be outfitted with a diesel.
American forces now use diesel, actually jet fuel, because supply one fuel is easier than multiple ones to the battlefield.
Ships use bunker fuel at sea. Which is harder to simply ignite than diesel, but also might require heating to flow.
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