Oh, come on!
True early 122mm ammunition was near useless. In tests performed against Panthers, the 122mm AP rounds failed/or penetrated with difficulty, whereas the HE shells ripped the glacis clean off!
You seem to be very fond of these rubbish tests, well they're useless Schwarz, useless ! And its already been explained countless times why, so stop referring to them, alright ! And start looking elsewhere for info than on that truly biased website Battlefield.ru !
And no Schwarz, not just early Russian projectiles were of low quality, also late war ones. Throughout the war Russian quality control was lousy at best !
Not all commanders were like Wittman, believe it or not! I wish I could find that photo of the Tiger used by Hitler Jugend - what a state it was in!
No but do you know what, in general they were a hell of alot better than any Russian tank commander, and 'again' that is something you 'should' know.
And about the picture, well Im still waiting for that picture of a Tiger Ausf.B's frontal armor having been penetrated you promised(Eventhough there isn't one), I wonder if I'll have to wait just as long for this one as-well
Also one was worn out, scorchmarked barell, muzzle brake missing, barrel probably worn out, wheels missing. Suppose you could put that last one down to a severe lack of spares though, there was a reason Russian equipment was easy to produce you know - you think that's a bad thing??
Is there something unusual about a worn tank ? And about it missing some wheels and a muzzle-brake, well then its most likely on its way to repair.
What, every 5 seconds! The Tiger was very unreliable, like a 60 ton Austin Allegro.
Again let us see some evidence to confirm that, name of source, everything..
It's been proven, but ten again 1000m is average overall tank battle range in WW2.
Western front included, yes, on the Eastern front alone, no. Go ask a German vet about how the Russian landscape looked, and he'll tell you about the great stretches of landscape that seemed never ending, something that could be very depressing at times.
My comparison with the AK47 works here, as it may not be good beyond 400m, but if average combat range is -300m...
No it doesn't, Schwarz, we're talking cannons here, not small arms, there's a significant difference in both ballistics and energy loss.
Only if the higher-ups found out... Even then you could become one of Goebels proganda darlings.
Higher-ups ?
Well Schwarz, they would ! The Germans were VERY strict when it came to making claims, more so than any other country in the war !
Unfortunately warped pride happens often, even nowdays. e.g. GI's in Vietnam were told what to say about their M16's, unsurprisingly - it wasn't the truth! Reports were ignored 'till people like Guderian (and even Hitler!) stamped their feet - even then it took time. The PzIII was near useless against all opponents, though in fainess Hitler originally ordered the 50mm L60 to be fitted.
We're not talking about what was said to the press here Schwarz !! We're talking about after action reports for Christs sake ! And NO, nomatter how much you want it to be true, they didn't boast about such things in reports, cause what good would that do ?! Please tell me what good that would do ?
Soldiers at the front didn't give a damn about what Hitler thought of his material, they would speak their heart about their material in their reports, and that was also their duty !
How else are you supposed to be able to improve on things, if you don't get any feedback from they guy's who actually use the damn thing.
Your very misinformed Schwarz, do you know that ?
The warhead on early PzFausts was terrible for bouncing off sloped armour and failing to detonate.
Early panzerfausts ?! Schwarz what year did the SU-100 enter the scene if I may ask ?! 1944 !! Is that early in the war ?!
What?? - and risk a HE shell coming your way?? I wouldn't try that with a 122mm!!
Schwarz, how will you fire a HE shell at an enemy who is well above you, and out of sight, and btw has just taken you out ??!! Even in an open field a tanks limited vision makes it VERY vulnerable to AT fire ! Ever wonder why AT guns and infantry was Wittmann's worst fear ?
Don't expect me to believe even the Russian's were stupid enough to run into a hostile area with guys sitting all over their tanks to protect them from AT fire ! I can assure you even the dumbest person would only make that mistake once !
It worked - anyone stupid enough to run up would face a hail of PPSh's - DP's and maybe even a cupola DShK 12.7mm!
Run up ?! You really think thats even considered ?! They'd simply be hiding Schwarz, laying in wait for the tank to pass them !
There's a reason why its considered very foolish to send tanks into Urban area's, as-well as tightly vegetated area's.... They're sitting ducks !
I have video footage of Tankovy-Desant wielding captured StG44's, I bet they were executed for that.
Huh ? Yeah and I suppose all those Russian tankers who used captured Panther's were all murdered as-well
Theory of Relativity taken too far...
Yeah, about 91 times too far
Yes, the Henschel-type was good for this, but not as good as the Christie-Koshkin - though not far off, admittedly. Christie suspension does not collect packed snow, the Panther's wheel rubber gave problems, the touching wheel rims often froze together too.
No Schwarz, the Panther had better suspension for negotiating Off-road terrain, maybe not an advantage in the winter, as the many wheels would cause things to freeze together easier, but once on the move it was particularly better than the T-34's !
The Churchil, with it's Rhomboidal-type tracks was good at cross-country - unless you wanted to get there fast.
The Churchill was very good off-road, however too slow, and not in any way better than the Panther.
Because it's unarguable - it's true after all.
Nope.
Nope, it was reliable and had a good combination of mobility, firepower and armour for it's day (in that order).
Schwarz you can't be serious ! Even the Pzkpfw.III massively outclassed it !
Unless the tracks were frozen solid.
Do you know what happens when a Tiger is turning? - the earth builds up and the tracks snap.
First, no, the tracks will not snap.
Second, thats one of the reasons the steering mechanism in German tanks was so good, cause they used regenerative steering, hydraulically operated, so the separate tracks could be turned in opposite directions at the same time, so they could neutral steer, and completely turn around in a very short distance. This greatly reduced the risk of dirt build-ups and tracks falling off because of it. And since the T-34 and its variants didn't use regenerative steering, they were at a great disadvantage here.
Well I never, I doubt it's much? - @ what rpm?
Huh ? We're talking the 'max' output here, not the output at certain rpm's. And yes, the Maybach has more torque.
If you could make the block, heads, pistons, inlet manifold, carburettor, sump and various anclliaries out of iron/steel or aluminium - what would you choose?
Schwarz take a look at the power-displacement ratio of the W-2 engine, and compare that to other Western diesel engines, or the HL230 engine for that matter. There's no doubt which one I would choose.
Thanks very much. I've now ordered the T34/76 one, thanks again!
Good, but you need both sides of the story Schwarz, so I recommend buying some of Thomas L. Jentz books about the Panzers as-well. They're excellent.
"...In closing, I can't get around adding a few words on a very sad story, despite the fact that it was exactly the way I had thought it would be: Panther. There were a great many who expected the decision to come from the new, untried weapon. The initially complete failure therefore had somewhat a depressing effect, particularly since, on the basis of the Fuhrer Order, special expectations had been aroused... So long as one builds such a valuable weapon, one must not build in an unusuable gasoline pump or deficient gaskets. There is no shadow of a doubt that the majority of the technical deficiencies resulted from substitute materials which simply did not measure up to standard."
Oberstleutnant von Grundherr
Oh thats great, use a quote from the period of the battle of Kursk, the time where the Panther was plagued by teething problems !
We're discussing the JagdPanther and SU-100 here remember ?! Both didn't see service until 1944, at which point all the Panther's teething problems had been solved !