- Thread starter
-
- #41
Better than the P-51H?
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
The Ta 152 might have been better than the P-51
The P-51H never saw combat...too late for the ETO and several units made it to the PTO before Japan surrendered but again, none ever saw combat.Better than the P-51H?
The P-51H never saw combat...too late for the ETO and several units made it to the PTO before Japan surrendered but again, none ever saw combat.
Comparing it to the Ta152 enters the realm of *what if*...
Adam Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, página 462:
The Me 262, the world's first operational jet fighter, was a truly extraordinary technological achievement. The fact that in 1945, in the most difficult of circumstances, Germany was capable of producing hundreds of these aircraft should give the lie to any claims about the inherent weaknesses in the German 'technological system'. In the list of dei ex machina with which Hitler might have changed the course of the war, it is amongst the most commonly cited. But it is also one of the weapons most surrounded by self-serving post-war mythology. After the war, Ernst Heinkel, Willy Messerschmitt and the chief of Germany's fighter forces Adolf Galland colluded in the construction of a highly one-sided account of theMe 262's history, designed to celebrate the genius of German technology, whilst at the same time demonstrating the incompetence of the Nazi leadership. In their account, popularized in best-selling biographies and television interviews, it was the meddling of Hitler, Göring and Milch that robbed Galland and his valiant fighter pilots of a weapon with which they might have protected Germany against the merciless onslaught of the bombers. This was a myth that appealed to numerous themes in post-war German political culture: regret at the chance of a victory wasted, the consolation provided by the supposed superiority of 'German technology', the self-righteous commemoration of the horror of Allied bombing. But contrary to legend, all the evidence, in fact, suggests that the Reich Air Ministry seized the opportunity of jet power with every possible speed. What prevented the Me 262 from exercising a decisive influence on the air war was not incompetence and conservatism, but the debilitating material limitations of the German war economy.
Which metals are you referring to?
In fact there was nothing wrong with Tiger servicibility (which was pretty much the same as the ordinary German tanks like Pz IV, and better than Panther) or that of the Me 262. Its just a fact that that dogs detractors of both.
German methods, ideas, procedures, organizations, strategy and tactics were all comprehensively and irrecoverably defeated. Why?
54% of Tigers were lost to non-combat related causes, more than double the rate of their mediums (not talking about the panther).
This failing is perhaps best illustrated by the Tiger Tank Battalion supporting Peiper near Stavelot. 45 crossed the border, more that 20 lost due to breakdowns before any contact was made, Delyed, then fell back, Just 7 returned across the border roughly 1 week later. Many were lost, abandoned due to lack of fuel, but thats not true for the early part of the campaign. they just were junk as far as serviceability was concerned.