Posted on 03/09/2015 12:38:33 PM PDT by C19fan
The Germans are a polarizing people, and so are their products. Sort of like when journalists review a BMW — people either love ‘em or hate ‘em. This is because Germany’s engineering prowess is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it enables Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, etc., to lead the pack when it comes to performance. On the other hand, the Germans are notorious for letting their reach exceed their grasp. They rush new and innovative products to market without giving them a proper shake-down first.
Not only does this odd duality explain Germany’s mixed record in building fine automobiles, it also sheds light on designs going as far back as World War II. Case in point: the Panzerkampfwagen Tiger battle tanks the Fatherland built to counter Allied armor. They were either deadly killers, clunky death traps, or both, depending on who you ask.
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...
Any serviceman who served in a Sherman M4 had huge respect for them and gave them a wide berth.
Oldplayer
The Panther was a better all around tank. Note the sloped armor that was copied from the T34, that allowed it to be much lighter than the Tiger without giving up any protection. The 75mm gun wasn't as powerful as the 88 but could still take out any tank on the battlefield.
And called in an airstrike on them. They were brilliant when they came out but they were a waste of valuable resources in the end.
An 88 mounted on anything was a difference maker.
When it comes to Volkswagen cars, I hear more former owners claiming what an over engineered piece of crap they were.
My father saw them “up close and personal” in the Ardennes and later in Germany. He wasn’t fond of them...to say the least.
They had even bigger ones too - the Tiger II and the Jagdtiger were even bigger and more heavily armed.
And I believe I recall reading about a prototype called the “Maus” - I think only two were made, but they were huge.
Long way from the Blitzkrieg mentality of the early war years with Pzkpfw I, II, and III running amok...
Here’s the Maus...
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/panzer_maus.php
From what I read the 75 mm on the Panther had better armor penetrating performance than the Tiger I’s 88 mm.
Today Germany manufactures some of the finest precision machines in the world. They may make mistakes along the way, but their successes far outnumber them. My husband worked in optics throughout his career. He made dozens of trip to Germany to buy lenses grinding machines. As time went on the machines were more and more robotic in nature. So once they were set up in a plant in the U.S. minimum age employees could operate them. So it was the German employees who made decent wages out of this, never Americans.
Those last two were antitank guns on tracks, literally “tank hunters”. They had no turret, so could mount a bigger gun, but they weren’t tanks.
Don't forget the optics. German optics (Zeiss mostly) really was a force multiplier. They could see as far or farther than the gun could shoot. American, British, and esp. Russian optics couldn't see past their gun range, typically.
The Tiger tank was a monster on the battlefield and instilled terror in all who faced it in battle. Our tanks were little more than peashooters in comparison.
The Tiger tank had a frontal armor of 100mm. An Allied tank firing point blank at Tiger would have it shells bounce right off of it. A Tiger, on the other hand, with its powerful 88mm cannon, could take out an Allied tank a mile away.
The Tiger did have its problems. It was so big and so complex, it was impossible to mass produce. It was also a notorious gas hog at a time when Germany was running dangerously low on fuel. The Germans also developed the Panther tank which also in general, far superior to anything the Allies had on the battlefield. Like the Tiger, it was very complex and difficult to mass produce, although it was faster and more agile than the bulky Tiger.
Hitler always favored size and massiveness over everything and micromanaged weapons production in the Third Reich. Despite their impressive technological achievements, the Germans could never recoup from Hitler’s two biggest blunders:
1) Invading the USSR
2) Declaring war on the US.
He could never begin to compete with the industrial output.
A lot of Speer's history is self-serving, so you have to take what he says there and elsewhere guardedly. What he says about Hitler's disastrous interference in production of the Messerschmitt Me 262 is confirmed by several other sources.
From what I read the 75 mm on the Panther had better armor penetrating performance than the Tiger I’s 88 mm.
Download World Of Tanks or War Thunder and try one out yourself ,LOL
I guess the author just had to make that up in his lead-in to justify what follows. Most sane people know that, if anything, the opposite applies. Or maybe he confused Germany with some (unnamed) Asian country. Hey, geography is hard.
Technically the 88 wasn’t the best anti tank weapon, but boy did the krauts get a lot of mileage out of it.
All this talk of heft and tonnage made me think of Hillary’s ass.
"It's like hitting them with tennis balls!"
Depends on the Ammo. If it was manufactured by a few, select factories, the 75mm ammo out-shot, out-penetrated, and was more reliable. Towards 1944 and 45, the tank ammo was less reliable, more brittle, less accurate, and about 5-10% were sabotaged during the smelting process of AP rounds by slave workers.
Note the good analogy you raise for another example of fascist economics (Corporatism); smart people warned that Obamacare would be a complete disaster, but the big insurance companies readily signed off on it, just like Porsche with the massive tanks, Messerschmitt with the bomber design changes to the Me-262, etc.
Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.