[Screaming_Gerbil]

The .50 round ( many of them ) were used by P-47 pilots to take out Tiger Tanks. They did this by shooting at the road in front of the tank and bouncing the rounds off the road and up into the tank.

Sorry to burst you bubble when we're on a .50 cal roll here, but that's an old WW2 myth.

P-47 takes out Tiger Tanks

The harassing file from the planes was very valuable though. Combined arms - aircraft strafing the tank (that's gotta sound LOUD inside the tank!) allowing the ground troops the ability to get in position close enough to attack the tank with explosives or a bazooka.

[Leisler]

“‘Get him with your guns!’ I yelled. ‘Make a steep angle of attack and aim for the ventilator grates. Set his engine on fire! He’s on hard surface,’ I continued, ‘ricochet them up into his belly – front and rear!’”

A Tiger I’s hull armor was impervious to nearly all American tank fire, and even the 25mm armor on the turret top and rear decking would defeat a .50-caliber round. On paper, .50-caliber machine gun fire would do nothing but rattle the Tiger crew’s eardrums. But there were cooling fan gratings and air intakes on the rear deck, and thin armor on the underside, that might allow a P-47’s sheer volume of fire with its eight Browning M2 guns to score a lucky hit and disable a Tiger’s engine.

“A glance back to the intersection showed the third tank backing to the north about a hundred yards into an orchard. He could wait his turn, I thought."

Hell Hawks: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler’s Wehrmacht, has been called the best book ever written about the P-47 Thunderbolt and the war on the European continent. The book is available from co-author Dorr at robert.f.dorr@cox.net

The top and bottom armour was 25 mm (1 in) thick;