Best/Favourate Tank in the west

[Gnomey]

The Panther. Ausf G was the best tank of the war, in my opinion. And the 6th Coldstream Guards probably agree.

I would agree with that, the Panther is the best tank of the war for me too.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I go with the Panther as the best as well. I like the Tiger better but I think the Panther was a better overall vehical. It combined the good protection of the Tiger with sloped armour.

Ofcourse to counter this opinion m kenny will show pics of destroyed Panther Tanks.

 

[ndicki]

Pity the Centurion didn't make it - the thing is STILL in service here and there!

They tested a couple of Panthers at Bovvie against Centurion Is, and they found that the Cent was better. Just.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

So they let them shoot at each other.... test each others armour against each other?

 

[plan_D]

I would rank the Centurion superior to all German armour of the war. It was very adaptable to modern technologies too.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I dont eneogh about it. Armour was never really what I cared to study. I know the basics and nothing more. Aircraft on the other hand....

 

[Soren]

The Centurion with its 105mm gun was certainly superior to any WWII tank, no doubt about it - even beat the crap of the T-72.

 

[Hunter368]

I would rank the Centurion superior to all German armour of the war. It was very adaptable to modern technologies too.

PlanD,

I was just wondering, b/c I am not sure, how many Certurion tanks were made and reached active units (combat) before the end of WW2?

 

[m kenny]

PlanD,

I was just wondering, b/c I am not sure, how many Certurion tanks were made and reached active units (combat) before the end of WW2?

6 Centurions were sent to Europe on 14th May 1945. They were tested by Gaurd's crewmen attached to 7th Armoured Division. They returned to the UK in July 1945. The tanks were found to be inferior to the Cromwells (and even the Chaffee!) in cross country performance.

David Fletcher, in his book on 'The Universal Tank' points out that it was easy to get carried away with praise for the Centurion but in most respects it was no more than the equal of the Panther tank-and it was from 1943.

 

[Hunter368]

6 Centurions were sent to Europe on 14th May 1945. They were tested by Gaurd's crewmen attached to 7th Armoured Division. They returned to the UK in July 1945. The tanks were found to be inferior to the Cromwells (and even the Chaffee!) in cross country performance.

David Fletcher, in his book on 'The Universal Tank' points out that it was easy to get carried away with praise for the Centurion but in most respects it was no more than the equal of the Panther tank-and it was from 1943.

Thanks

 

[Soren]

The first centurion was nothing special, however the later versions were very potent machines.

 

[102first_hussars]

For a tank that came in 1946 it was a pretty modern looking tank, the first MBT in IMO

 

[plan_D]

The Centurion I was just a benchmark and wasn't even put into full production. It is a shame the six sent to the 22nd Armoured Brigade were a little too late, it certainly would have been a shock to the German armoured units.

Cross-Country the Centurion was supposed to match the Comet, I doubt it did because it was quite a bit heavier. Which became a problem in Korea because of the light bridges. I'm not surprised it couldn't match a Chaffee in cross-country...

It arrived in 1945, Hussars. It was just a little too late for the war.

 

[102first_hussars]

Details Details The machine still proved itself, it served with distinction with the Israeli Army

 

[plan_D]

Well, being a year out isn't a MINOR detail, hussars. And I must point out the Centurion I didn't look like the picture you showed.

 

[ndicki]

That Cent is at least a Mk10 or so - it has the 105mm L7 gun used on later types, although it was retrofitted to earlier vehicles, bringing about a change in mark number. The very first Cent Mk1s had a 17Pdr with a co-axial 20mm cannon; the Mk3, which served in Korea with great distinction - proving by the way that it was able to reach points where tanks were supposedly unable to operate... - was the first service version to carry the 20Pdr gun. The fume extractor was introduced on the 20Pdr guns of the Mk5/2.

Incidentally, it's hardly useful to compare a light recce vehicle - the Chaffee - with a fully-fledged MBT.

 

[ndicki]

Just out of interest, these are Olifant Mk1Bs of the South African Army - there's a Centurion under there if you look very hard ! Still in service.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Pretty cool.

There are still several nations that still use WW2 tanks. In Africa there are still nations using the Sherman. When I was in Kosovo several years ago we found some Shermans in a warehouse there with Serbian markings on them. They had just been upgraded.

 

[102first_hussars]

The Iraqis in the First Gulf War used them

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeap and during the Iran Iraq war as well. I think the Iranians used them during that time as well. I am going to have to look at my pics from the Iranian bone yard in Iraq that I visited. I think there were Centurians (looks like the ones in the pic up there) in Iranian markings. Not sure though.