Best Tank of WW2

Best Tank of WW2

  • King Tiger

    Votes: 16 15.0%
  • Panther

    Votes: 48 44.9%
  • Sherman

    Votes: 11 10.3%
  • T-34

    Votes: 32 29.9%

  • Total voters
    107

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Well your implying I know nothing about tactics and modern mobile warfare. Now do you think you know more than me? Because I think I know a fair amount, I've been reading on the subject for 8 years.

No, I am not saying you do not know anything.

I am saying you are:

NOT the forum's technical expert on tactics and modern mobile warfare. That is what got you all of this attention...

8 years is quite a bit, I will admit that. Considering there are people that have more years than you have been alive reading on the subject though says even more.

Once you have as many years as some of the people here and the real world experience, then you might be able to be considered our forums expert.

Until then, get off the high post, and you might be able to learn some stuff from people here, and just maybe might be able to teach others some stuff as well.
 
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You forgot the super slow turret traverse. Overall I just think the Panther is better all around. Panther is an excellent balance of firepower, armor, and mobility. Clearly you don't understand that by the time the Tiger II came into production the Germans were facing severe fuel shortages. Which is why the Panther is the best all around tank, Tiger IIs guzzeled too much fuel and do to allied airpower, the number of large bridges available was numbered. Panthers could get across makeshift bridges much easier than Tigers could.

Super slow turret traverse? Destroyer once again you blew it. The Tiger Ausf.E featured a slow turret traverse, the Tiger Ausf.B didn't, it featured a rather fast turret traverse infact.
 
Damn, after so many years looking for a 'mobile tank warfare expert', we've lost the opportunity to have one. :cry:
 
wonder why he got banned

Edit:

I read back through the posts and can see why. What a toady!!!!, resident expert indeed!!!

For the record Mr Destroyer, I spent nearly five years in officer training school including two years at staff college. And i consider myself to be mostly ignorant on the subject of military tactics.....

What a dweeb
 
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Parsifal,

Not saying that your 2.5 to 3.0 exchange rate figure is wrong, but I'm curious as to how exactly you wound up at this number.

That having been said it wouldn't surprise me if the PzIV was around 15,000 dollars more expensive to produce than a Sherman.


There are a number of tests you can apply to determine the true exchange rates. The most relaible is to compare the cost of living indices, based on the basic cost of purchase of essential items such as bread, milk fuel and the like. For example, if the cost of living in Germany equates to a certain level that is say 40% higher for essentials than say the US, then the currency, which is basically a measure of the nations wealth, is overinflated by a similar amount.

Im no economist, but a simple and fundamental error is to fall for the basic exchange rates that are listed, without trying to compensate for what are referred to as "externalities"

Im not going to BS you Soren, my estimate is just that.....but I have read a number authors dealing with precisely the issue of the finacial econmies of each of the belliegerents. i would recommend Overy as perhaps the best author on this issue and a good starting text is "Why the Allies Won" by the same author.

He soes not pull punches, is critical of the allies and their consistent botching of campaigns and resources

Another good read on this issue in a general sense, is Ellis and his book "Brute Force"
 
i'm a economist and can tell that monetary comparation for that time are useless, but if you want make a monetary comparation it's sure that Pz IV cost a fraction of Sherman, all in europe (continental) cost low comparate to US
 
Well I went for the Panther (because the Comet was not an option).
The T34 was a very competent tank and more than a match for the Pzkw 3 and 4. As such it caused the Wenrmacht significant problems with its combination of spped firepower and armour. So much so that the 88mm AA guns were used against it - as they were against the Matildas!
The King Tiger was too few, too heavy for its engine and transmission and bridges. This is a major reason for it being transported via rail - and this was no easy task for a Tiger let alone a KingTiger!
The Panther had a killer gun and very good protection and fair mobility.
 
IMHO, the best tank was the 6pdr Cromwell equipped with APDS ammo. Fast, well armoured, and able to knock out a Tiger 1 at 2000 yds...
 
can you give some reference for this?

6pdr info:
6 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun

and here is a penetration chart for the 6 pdr APS versus the Tiger 1 hull:
http://www.wwiiequipment.com/pencalc/1.jpg?16

0deg = frontal armour, 180deg = rear armour. Red = penetration.

The APDS round gave the 6pdr some real "giant killer" capability. Add the 6pdr and APDS to the Cromwell and you have the best all round tank of the war.
 
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You do realize that the armour of the Tiger was so tough that the APDS projectile would likely simply shatter once it hit it right? Plus the fact that the effectiveness of APDS rounds falls off very sharply as soon as any impact angle is added. Furthermore the accuracy of the APDS round was very bad, making hits at 2000 or even 1000 yards very unlikely.

As for the Cromwell tank, sorry but it was at most a match for the PzIV, and even then I'd prefer the Pz.IV for its better optics and internal ergonomics. And seeing that the heaviest armour on the Cromwell was just 76mm thick, the Pz.IV's 7.5cm L/48 gun would be dangerous to it from ranges of 2,500m and beyond with the std. APCBC round, punching through exactly 76mm of 240BHN RHA armour at 2,500m during armour penetration tests conducted in Aberdeen USA.
 
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You do realize that the armour of the Tiger was so tough that the APDS projectile would likely simply shatter once it hit it right? Plus the fact that the effectiveness of APDS rounds falls off very sharply as soon as any impact angle is added. Furthermore the accuracy of the APDS round was very bad, making hits at 2000 or even 1000 yards very unlikely.

Ok, well I produced some data on the APDS penetration. Maybe you can produce something on the Tiger resisting APDS shot?
 
I dont think the Cromwell faired any better in head to head shoot out with the Tiger than a Sherman would have done.
I like the Cromwell - but it needed sloped armour and a 17 pounder to make it have any chance against a Tiger.
Soren is right - the Panzer IV with the long barrel 75mm would take out a Cromwell from outside the Cromwells reach. There is not much argument to be had on the accuracy of the 75mm - it was awesome!
If you had gone with a Comet with the 77mm - then that would have had a better chance in my opinion.
 
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Ok, well I produced some data on the APDS penetration. Maybe you can produce something on the Tiger resisting APDS shot?

Question is where is your data from?

The Tiger Ausf.E's armour was the best put on any tank during WW2, being so tough that it shattered projectiles which in theory should've penetrated it. The armour used was Rolled Homogenous Armour carefully treated to reach a Brinell Hardness Number of 260 to 265, which offers the optimum range of toughness alasticity for RH armour. You can read all about it in Thomas L. Jentz's series of books on the tank.

The thickness of armour isn't everything, the composition of it is just as important.
 

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