Or maybe this:
Posted on 09/08/2014 12:08:25 PM PDT by C19fan
Only the most techno-fanatic would argue that a certain type of tank has changed history. There are so many other causes -- military, political, economic, social -- that explain victory and defeat far better than size of gun or thickness of armor.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
Or maybe this:
True, but only part of the truth. “The rest of the story” is that Tiger and King Tiger tanks were difficult/expensive to produce, and were mechanically unreliable.My uncle was a Sherman tanker. He noted the maneuverability of the German tanks, which could turn in place by reversing one tread while forwarding the other. What he didn’t know, that the French learned in using German tanks operationally after WWII, was that actually using that capability made the tank even less mechanically reliable.
It was Hitler himself who was infatuated with size in tanks; he committed significant resources to the development of the “mouse” - a monster tank even compared to the King Tiger which never went into production. And which would have been dangerous to cross most bridges in. Bridge carrying capacity was an issue with the King Tiger as well.
The cost/producibility issue was expressed by a German tanker who said that the Tiger was ten times better, but there were usually eleven Shermans to contend with. Not exactly comforting if you are in the ninth Sherman, tho . . .
The other issue with the huge tank was its high target value for aircraft - that probably was enough to make the “mouse” impractical in its own right.
I read somewhere an example of tank design approaches between the German, US and Soviet tank designers (and I’m paraphrasing).
If you took some nameless gizmo common to each tank, the Germans, being clockmakers, would build something precise and delicate that had 30 parts.
The Americans, being tinkerers and producers of the Model T automobile, would produce something robust with 20 parts.
The Soviets, being what they were, would build something using 10 parts that you could beat on with a hammer.
The top one would be closer to what I was thinking, lol
I am sure being on the receiving end sucked rather badly, but it is mechanically an unremarkable rifle.
In short, long enough to establish the concept of blitzkrieg. The PzII was used as the main tank in Poland and France. That is one of the ultimate game-changers in the history of warfare.
“It would seem the M1 exposed the myth of Soviet/Russian armor when it dominated the feared T-72 in Desert Storm.”
Again, nice equipment, but it didn’t change the war.
It’s like the VW Bug. I’d argue it was the most historically significant passenger car, ever.
And it was NEVER the best car.
“The M1A was a giant leap.”
Yes, but a giant leap after armor ceased to be the game-changer it once was in war. (Still important, but not like WWII.)
The Russians had a knack for designing nice looking tanks. I’ve always thought the T-72 had good lines as tanks go.
“The top one would be closer to what I was thinking, lol”
And in case anyone didn’t recognize them, the top one is the Landmaster from “Damnation Alley,” and the bottom is the Urban Assault Vehicle from “Stripes.”
I often wondered about that, why were the Germans interested in capturing a gasoline depot when their tanks ran on diesel?
I recognized them. I think the 3 wheel thing might actually work. lol
German Tanks used gasoline for fuel. not diesel. Only the Russians used diesel engines exclusively in their tanks.
We made a diesel engine variant of the Sherman. Half of these were sent to the Soviets and the remainder went to the U.S. Marine Corp. the U.S. Army Sherman’s were all gasoline powered.
The Stryker and LAV series are already built on an 8x8 platform.
While over half of our Shermans were manufactured by Ford or Chrysler automobile companies, the remainder were manufactured by variety of non automotive builders. lima, AlCO, and Baldwin manufactured locomotives. Pacific Car and Foundry, Pullman Standard Car Company, and Pressed Steel Car Company built railroad cars. Fisher built automobile bodies for General motors.
“I often wondered about that, why were the Germans interested in capturing a gasoline depot when their tanks ran on diesel?”
Tigers ran on gasoline.
Not hardly. Genghis Khan is but one example that predates Sherman by centuries.
your feeling is correct. The Germans manufactured 1350 tigers, 6557 Panthers and 13522 Mk-IVs during the war. We manufactured 48966 Sherman tanks of all models. The Soviets manufactured 57339 T-34 tanks and tank destroyers based on t-34 hulls by the end of the war.
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