The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - M4 Sherman Medium Tank - Feb 24th, 2004

www.sproe.com ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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M4 Sherman Medium Tank

The U.S. Army M4 medium tank was specifically designed to favor speed and mobility over firepower. This was in accordance with U.S. Army doctrine that the tank would function as an infantry support weapon, and thus would have to be capable of keeping up with rapidly moving ground troops. To some extent, the M4 was not designed to fight other tanks.

Because of these design factors, the M4 was thinly armored and carried a small main gun. Compared to German armor, the M4 was clearly outmatched. The crews of M4 tanks were vulnerable to the superior penetrating fire of German tank guns, and were themselves hardly able to scratch the heavier armor of their German counterparts. What the M4s lacked in armor, firepower and survivability, they made up for in sheer numbers, a higher rate of fire, increased mobility, and much simpler maintenance. In late 1944 the M4 was outfitted with a 76mm gun, and its suspension system upgraded in early 1945.


The mid-production M4 medium tank. Notice the extra armor welded over the sponson ammunition racks and the front drivers' hoods

The Sherman name was a British designation, and while it was not part of the official name of the M4 tank, was commonly used and known among U.S. troops. The M4 was used by the U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, Britain, Canada and the Free French.

The M4 tank hull was used for a variety of vehicles, including the M32 tank recovery vehicle, M7B1 self-propelled howitzer, M10 Wolverine, and numerous British designs including the Firefly. For D-Day, one of the most significant variations was the amphibious DD Tank.


Sherman Firefly (M4A4 w/17 Pounder Gun)

Both the standard M4 and its DD version were inadequate for the close-support role that they were intended to fill on D-Day. One of the M4's few strengths, mobility, was restricted on the confined beaches of Normandy, and the weaknesses of its light armor and firepower were clearly evident. German defenders quickly attacked any tank that made it to shore, and many were destroyed before they could leave the beach or provide any support fire. The shingle at Omaha Beach was impassable by armor, and it was not until engineers could open up paths and the beach exits were secured that the M4 could make its way off the beach and make use of its maneuverability.


Sherman DD (Duplex-Drive) with screens down.

Ironically, the hedgehog obstacles that littered the beaches would later be used to help Allied tanks break through the numerous hedgerows that cross-crossed the Normandy countryside. Cut up and welded to the front of tanks, these chunks of metal allowed armor to rapidly slice through the hedgerows and quicken the Allied attack inland.


Sherman DD (Duplex-Drive) with screens up.

Between 1942 and 1945 11 production facilities manufactured almost 50,000 M4 Sherman tanks. Production orginally started at 1,000 tanks a month and was eventually upped to 2,000 tanks a month. Among the companies that produced the M4 Sherman were the Pressed Steel Car Co., Baldwin Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Co., Pullman Standard Car Co. and the Detroit Tank Arsenal. The production output of the M4 design was more than all of the tanks produced by both the British and the Germans during the war.

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M4A1

The medium tank M4 was based on the medium tank M3, and the Sherman shared many components with the Lee. The M4 utilized the M3's suspension, lower hull, and power train.


M4A1

The M4A1's cast upper hull gave it distinctive rounded edges. This makes it the easiest of Sherman tanks to identify. Other identifying features of M4A1, which it shares with M4, are the rear of the tank and engine access panels. There are twin engine access doors in the rear hull and air cleaners at the top corners of these doors. M4A1 had twin square muffler tailpipes at the top of the rear hull above the air cleaners, a steel-covered air intake behind the turret, and solid engine access doors in the rear deck behind the turret.




Early Shermans--cast and welded hull--were built with twin fixed .30cal M1919A4 machine guns in the hull which were operated by the driver. These could be locked at any elevation between +8° and -6°. The driver's machine guns were eliminated on March 6, 1942. Also seen on early tanks were spoked idler and road wheels, three-piece differential and final drive housing, two fuel shutoff valves on the rear deck, removable headlights, vision slots for the drivers in the glacis plate, and the siren was placed on the left front fender or under a bracket just offset to the left of the glacis centerline.

On tanks with dry ammunition stowage, one-inch thick applique armor was welded over the sponson ammunition racks and to the turret on the right of the gun mount where interior armor had been ground away to make room for the gunner's controls. Heavy-duty suspension bogies, with the return roller on the rear of the bogie instead of on top like earlier bogies, were introduced by summer 1942. The new bogies had 8" (20cm) diameter springs, 1" (2.5cm) larger than the springs of the earlier type. Originally, there was only one turret hatch (the commander's) in the 75mm gun turret, but a small oval hatch was introduced for the loader in December 1943. Retrofit kits were developed for tanks built before the loader's hatch was designed. A cupola for the tank commander later replaced his circular split hatch. The main gun in the first M4A1s built was the 75mm M2, which was shorter than the M3 and needed double counterweights on the end of the barrel to be compatible with the tank's gyrostabilizer.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on February 24:
1304 Muhammad ibn Battutah Arab travel writer (Travels in Asia & Africa)
1463 Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Italy, scholar/platonist
1500 Emperor Charles V king of Spain (1516-56)/Holy Roman Emperor
1536 Clement VIII [Ippolito Aldofireini], Fano Italy, last Counter-Reformation pope (1592-1605)
1545 Don John of Austria the elder, Austrian general
1547 Jan of Austria Spanish military man/land guardian of the Netherlands
1557 Matthias C Sarbiewski [Sarbievius], Vienna, Polish Jesuit/poet/Holy Roman emperor (1612-19)
1684 Catherine I Empress of Russia 1725-27, Dorpat, Estonia
1766 Samuel Wesley Bristol England, composer/organist (Exultate Deo)
1786 Wilhelm Karl Grimm Hanau Germany, story teller (Grimm's Fairy Tales)
1811 Daniel A Payne Bishop/reformer/educator of AME Church
1811 Edward Dickinson Baker Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1861
1824 John Crawford Vaughn Brigadier General(Confederate Army), died in 1875
1827 Charles Davis Jameson Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1836 Winslow Homer US, painter (Gulfstream)
1838 Thomas Benton Smith Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1923
1874 Honus Wagner HOF shortstop (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1900-17)
1885 Admiral Chester Nimitz US Admiral (commanded Pacific fleet in WWII)
1898 Kurt Tank German WWII aircraft designer
1909 Max Black Dutch/British/US philosopher (analytical philosophy)
1914 Zachary Scott Austin TX, actor (Spotlight Playhouse, Mildred Pierce)
1914 David Langdon cartoonist/illustrator
1917 William Fairbank Minneapolis MN, physicist (superconductivity)
1921 Abe Vigoda New York NY, actor (Barney Miller, Fish)
1922 Steven Hill Seattle WA, actor (Goddess, Raw Deal, Yentl, Law & Order)
1932 John Vernon Canada, actor (Animal House, Chained Heat, Dirty Harry)
1934 Bettino Craxi Italy's 1st socialist premier (1983-87)
1938 James Farentino Brooklyn NY, actor (Dead & Buried, Final Countdown)
1942 Joe Lieberman (Senator-D-CT)
1944 Nicky Hopkins rock pianist (Stones-Ruby Tuesday, Jeff Beck, Quicksilver)
1945 Alain Prost France, Formula 1 race driver (1985, 86, 89, 93) & current team owner
1946 Barry Bostwick San Mateo CA, actor (Spin City, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Lexx, Megaforce, Movie Movie, Scruples, Foul Play)
1947 Edward James Olmos California, actor (Miami Vice, Stand & Deliver, Triumph)
1947 Lonnie Turner bassist/vocalist (Steve Miller Band-Abracadabra)
1955 Steven Jobs cofounder of Apple Computer
1956 Eddie Murray Los Angeles CA, 1st baseman (Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians)
1958 Sammy Kershaw Kaplan LA, country vocalist (Cadillac Style)
1963 Fuad Reveiz NFL kicker (Minnesota Vikings)
1973 Oscar de la Hoya boxer
1978 Louise Woodward Elton England, nanny who killed Matthew Eappen

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Deaths which occurred on February 24:
1624 Vicente Espinel Spanish adventure/chaplain (Marcos de Obrégon), dies at 72
1642 Marco da Gagliano Italian opera composer, dies at about 66
1799 Broerius Brorius theologist (Pensive Christian), dies at about 41
1815 Robert Fulton steamboat pioneer, dies
1825 Thomas Bowdler self-appointed Shakespearean censor, dies
1907 Otto Goldschmidt composer, dies at 77
1926 Eddie Plank pitcher (won 327 games in 17 years), dies at 51
1945 Ahmed Maher Pasha Egypt's PM, assassinated in parliament
1953 Karl R G von Rundstedt German General-field marshal (Ardennes), dies at 77
1970 Conrad Nagel actor (Celebrity Time), dies at 73
1975 Nikolai A Bulganin marshal/premier of USSR (1955-58), dies at 79
1982 Virginia Bruce actress (Born to Dance, Great Ziegfield), dies at 71
1983 Tennessee Williams US playwright (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), dies at 71
1990 Johnnie Ray singer (Cry), dies of liver failure at 61
1990 Malcolm Forbes CEO (Forbes Publishing), dies of a heart attack at 70
1991 George Gobel Chicago IL, comedian (George Gobel Show), dies after surgery at 71
1991 Jean Rogers actress (Flash Gordon, Hot Cargo), dies at 74
1991 Webb Pierce US country singer (Bye Bye Love), dies of cancer at 64
1993 Toy Caldwell guitarist (Marshall Tucker Band), dies at 45
1994 Dinah Shore singer (Chevrolet), dies of cancer at 76
1996 Laurence Richard Deniz jazz guitarist, dies at 71
1998 Henny Youngman comedian (Take my wife please), dies at 92

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 FRAKES DWIGHT GLENN---LOS ANGELES CA.
1966 HETRICK RAYMOND H.---BROOKVILLE PA.
1968 FRIESE LAURENCE V.---HURON SD.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 MARVEL JERRY W.---EVANSVILLE IN.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DIED MAY 1995]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0303 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued
1208 St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in Portiuncula Italy
1296 Pope Boniface VIII degree Clericis Iaicos
1389 Battle at Falköping Danes defeat King Albert of Sweden
1496 England's Henry VII ends commercial dispute with Flanders
1510 Pope Julius II excommunicates the republic of Venice
1525 Battle at Pavia Emperor Karel V's troops beat French king, François I caught taken/8700 killed
1527 Ferdinand of Austria crowned as king of Bohemia
1528 János Zápolyai, Hungarian king, recognizes Sultan Suleiman's suzerainty
1530 1st imperial coronation by a Pope, Charles V crowned by Clement V
1541 Santiago, Chile founded by Pedro de Valvidia
1552 Privileges of the Hanseatic League in England are abrogated
1581 Pope Gregory approves the results of his calendar reform commission
1582 Pope Gregory XIII announces New Style (Gregorian) calendar
1779 George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes IN from British
1786 Charles Cornwallis appointed Governor-General of India
1803 Supreme Court 1st rules a law unconstitutional (Marbury vs Madison)
1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain
1835 Siwinowe Kesibwi (Shawnee Sun) is 1st Indian language monthly magazine
1836 3,000 Mexicans attack 182 Texans at the Alamo, lasts 13 days
1839 Steam shovel patented by William Otis, Philadelphia
1848 King Louis-Philippe abdicates, 2nd French republic declared
1855 US Court of Claims established for cases against the government
1857 1st perforated US postage stamps delivered to the government
1857 Los Angeles Vineyard Society organized
1863 Arizona Territory created
1863 Forrest's raid on Brentwood TN
1864 Battle of Tunnel Hill GA (Buzzard's Roost)
1868 House of Representatives vote 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson
1868 1st US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile AL)
1876 Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" premieres in Oslo
1881 De Lesseps' Company begins work on Panamá Canal
1888 Louisville KY becomes 1st government in US to adopt Australian ballot
1895 Cuban war of independence begins
1902 Battle at Yzer Spruit Boer General De la Rey beats British
1903 US signs agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay Cuba
1917 German plan to get Mexican help in WWI exposed (Zimmerman telegram)

1917 Russian revolution breaks out

1918 Estonia declares independence from Russia
1920 Peace treaty gives Estonia independence
1921 1st transcontinental flight in 24 hours flying time arrives Florida
1923 Flying Scotsman goes into service
1923 Mass arrests in US of Mafia
1924 Johnny Weissmuller, swims 100 meter record (57:2/5 seconds)
1924 Mahatma Gandhi released from jail
1925 Thermit explosive 1st used to break up ice jam, Waddington NY
1932 Malcolm Campbell drives record speed (253.96 mph) at Daytona
1933 Final demonstration of German communist party in Berlin
1933 League of Nations tells Japanese to pull out of Manchuria
1938 Du Pont begins commercial production of nylon toothbrush bristles
1940 Frances Langford records "When You Wish Upon a Star"
1942 Voice of America begins broadcasting (in German)
1943 Texas League announces it will quit for the duration of WWII
1944 Argentina coup by Juan Peron minister of war
1945 Egypt & Syria declares war on Nazi-Germany
1945 Manila freed from Japanese
1946 Juan Peron elected President of Argentina
1948 Communist Party seizes complete control of Czechoslovakia
1949 V-2/WAC-Corporal 1st rocket to outer space, White Sands NM, 400 km
1949 Israel & Egypt sign an armistice agreement
1950 Labour wins British parliamentary election
1952 Betty MacKinnon & Sam Snead win LPGA Orlando Mixed Golf Tournament
1960 US beats Germany in Olympics hockey finals round, 9-1
1961 Explorer (10) fails to reach Earth orbit
1965 Beatles begin filming "Help" in the Bahamas
1965 East German President Ulbricht visits Egypt
1966 Coup ousts President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana
1968 1st pulsar discovered (CP 1919 by Jocelyn Burnell at Cambridge)
1968 US troops reconquer Hue Vietnam
1970 KVDO TV channel 3 in Salem OR (IND) begins broadcasting
1971 Algeria nationalizes French oil companies
1974 Pakistan officially recognizes Bangladesh
1976 Cuba adopts its constitution
1976 Leonid Brezhnev opens 25th congress of CPSU
1977 President Carter announces US foreign aid will consider human rights
1979 Highest price ever paid for a pig, $42,500, Stamford TX
1979 War between North & South Yemen begins
1981 Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Scarsdale diet doctor Tarnower
1981 Britain's Prince Charles announces engagement to Lady Diana Spencer
1985 Jim Kelly (Houston USFL) passes for pro football record 574 yards
1986 Voyager 2, 1st Uranus fly-by
1986 Texas Air buys Eastern Airlines for $676 million
1988 Supreme Court votes 8-0 Jerry Falwell cannot collect for Hustler parody
1989 150-million-year-old fossil egg (oldest dinosaur embryo) found
1989 US Boeing 747 loses parts of roof over Pacific, 9 die
1991 US & allies begin a ground war assault on Iraqi troops
1996 Cuba downs 2 US planes

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

World : Friendship Week (Day 3)
Cuba : Baire Uprising
Estonia : National Day (1920)
Ghana : Liberation Day (1966)
Indiana : Vincennes Day-George Clark's defeat of British (1779)
México : Flag Day
US : Engineers Week (Day 3)
US : Null and Void Day
US : Obnoxious Day
International Boost Your Self-Esteem Month

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Religious Observances
Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Matthias the Apostle (non-leap years)
Christian : Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)

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Religious History
303 The first official Roman edict for the persecution of Christians was issued by Roman Emperor Galerius Valerius Maximianus.
1208 St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in the Italian village of Portiuncula. He founded the Franciscans the following year, and is regarded by some Catholics as the greatest of all Christian saints.
1500 Birth of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Reigning 1519-56, it was Charles who officially pronounced Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic.
1782 Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: 'It is my constitutional weakness to be gloomy and dejected; the work of God puts life into me.'
1967 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'The statement that God is dead comes from Nietzsche and has recently been trumpeted abroad by some German and American theologians. But the good Lord has not died of this; He who dwells in the heaven laughs at them.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good."

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Word of the day...
AIBOHPHOBIA - the fear of palindromes.

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You May Be An Engineer If...
If you are aware that computers are actually only good for playing games, but are afraid to say it out loud

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Astounding fact #912...
The metal instrument used in shoe stores to measure feet is called the Brannock device.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Some fun variants from www.wwiivehicles.com ... which may even show up on Snippy's computer :)

Full-Track Prime Mover M34: M32B1 removed a-frame and winch. Used as tractor for heavy artillery guns. In service 1944.

M4 Dozer: M4s fitted with dozer blades. Some had turret removed and were used by Engineer Corps.

M4 Mobile Assault Bridge: Double track bridge with a-frame. Small number built.

Mine Exploder T1E3 (M1) "Aunt Jemima": Two roller units each of 5 10' steel discs. 75 built. Used in Normandy and Italy. Most widely used mine exploder. Sometimes a 2nd tank was used to push it.

Mine Exploder T8: Steel plungers carried on a pivoted frame. Beat up and down on the ground as vehicle moved forward. Steering was adversely affect. "Johnnie Walker"

Rocket Launcher T34 Calliope: 60 4-6" rocket tubes mounted above the turret. 2 sets if 12 tubes on bottom. First used by 2nd Armored Division in France. Limited combat.

And, finally...

Mine Exploder T2 Flail: Small number used by US Army in NW Europe.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Radu.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy.

Sort of a graphic heavy thread today.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Aeronaut

A "vintage" version

[Aeronaut]

Hi Sam. Easy to see how she got the nickname "flying bathtub" isn't it.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

So far so good, it pays to have a "High" starting letter for your screen-name. Haven't been hit yet.:-)

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Mayor.

[SAMWolf]

Morning aomagrat.

Great shots of the BIG Guns. I think the first ship model I ever built was the USS IOWA.

[Pukin Dog]

You guys do such an amazing job with these Military History posts, you should consider creating a separate web site and go for some advertising revenue.

Nice work.

[Johnny Gage]

Air Power
Henschel Hs-129

Henschel's Hs-129 was the Luftwaffe's first aircraft designed from the start to be used as a ground attack aircraft (the famed Ju-87 was a dive-bomber). Attempts at modifying other airframes with extra armor proved to be less than satisfactory. When the dust settled, there were two contenders, both of which performed about the same: the Hs-129 and an armored version of the FW-189. Seeing that the Hs-129 had a greater prospect of continued development as well as being a smaller aircraft and therefore a smaller target, it was chosen in September 1939.

Prototype versions of the 129 were powered by two Argus inline, air-cooled engines and had two 7.9mm MG 17 machine guns and two Oerlikon MG/FF 20mm cannon. However the preproduction Hs-129A-0 had the Oerlikon cannon replaced with Mauser MG 151/20 cannon. These weapons had a much higher rate of fire than the Oerlikon guns. It was found that the Argus engines were seriously underpowered and other than being used for initial testing and unit familiarization, were quickly passed on to training units.

Anticipating the Luftwaffe's refusal to accept the production Hs-129A-1, Henschel proposed building a slightly larger version powered by the more powerful Gnôme-Rhône 14M engine. The Luftwaffe didn't want any delays encompassed by a redesign and Henschel was told to convert the A-1 airframes to accept this new engine, the type being the Hs-120B-0. These engines were produced in two variants, each turning a different direction, one clockwise and the other counterclockwise. This prevented any torque problems with takeoff and landing. Despite the problems associated with this engine, it was used on all succeeding variants of the Hs-129.

Differences from the B-0 to B-1 were mostly minor, but the biggest was the cockpit. The vee shaped windscreen was replace with a larger, flatter paneled one. A variety of underfuselage weapons racks were available for the Hs-129 to carry a number of different weapons. Other weapons such as a pack with four 7.9mm machine guns, a bomb carrier for four 100kg bombs were designed for the 129. However, it was the MK 101 30mm cannon that really made the Hs-129 a superb anti-tank weapon.

The B-2 was version built in the greatest numbers, having just some minor differences from the B-1 including higher rated Gnôme-Rhône 14M engines and the ability to handle the BK 103 30mm gun later in 1943. The final variant was the C-1 with the 75mm cannon. There were less than a handful of these completed and only one or two actually saw any action in the last months of the war.

The 129 served primarily in North Africa and in the Eastern Front, not being used at all in the Western Front. The only air arm other than the Luftwaffe to use the aircraft was Romania, which used them against the Germans after they changed sides late in 1944.

The first pilot to earn the Ritterkreuz - Knight's Cross for his tank kills in the Hs-129 was Hptm. Rudolf-Heinz Ruffer for his 72 tank kills on 9 June 1944. He was killed by flak in July 1944. Less than a handful of 129 pilots would earn that distinction during the war.

This small twin-engine airplane was developed towards the late 1930's as a pioneering concept in attack warplanes, to meet a requirement to carry at least two 20-mm cannon and extensive armour protection. Henschel designed the HS 129 and the first prototype (of three in all) flew in early 1939. It was made of very sturdy construction, with a low-wing monoplane design, a distinctive triangular section fuselage accommodating an armoured nose and a very "cosy" cockpit with thick armoured glass.

A more powerful engine was fitted to production Hs 129 aircraft, which were redesignated Hs 129B series, and entered service in 1942. A total of just over 850 aircraft, in several variant forms, was produced, with most being employed over the Eastern Front against Russia - although smaller numbers were deployed to North Africa, Italy and France.

The Hs 129B-3 was a converted aircraft design to carry an electropneumatically operated 75-mm BK 7.5 gun under the fuselage, proving itself to be a formidable tank buster, able to withstand a fair amount of damage caused by anti-aircraft guns, even though it was very difficult to fly.

There are no surviving Hs-129s, only a cockpit shell exists in Australia.

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Type: Close Support and ground attack aircraft Origin: Henschel Flugwerke AG Crew: One Models: A & B First Flight    Hs 129V-1: Early 1939    Hs 129B: October 1941 Service Delivery:    Hs 129A-0: Early 1941    Hs 129B: Late 1942 Final Delivery: N/A Number Produced: 841 B-Series (879 total) Engine: Hs 129S Series:   Model: Argus As 410A-1   Type: Ari-Cooled inverted V12   Number: Two      Horsepower: 495 hp Hs 129B Series:   Model: Gnome-Rhône 14M 04/05   Type: 14-Cylinder two-row radials   Number: Two      Horsepower: 690 hp Dimensions: Wing span: 46 ft. 7 in.(14.2m) Length: 31 ft. 11¾ in. (9.75m) Height: 10 ft. 8 in. (3.25m) Wing Surface Area: 312.16 Sq. Ft. (29.00²) Weights: Hs 129B-1, Typical Empty: 8,940 lb. (4060 kg) Loaded: 11,265 lb. (5110 kg) Performance: Hs 129B-1, Typical Maximum Speed: 253 mph (408 km/h) Initial Climb: 1,390 ft/min (425 m/min) Service Ceiling: 29,530 ft. (9000m) Range: 547 miles (880km)

Armament: Hs 129B-1/R1 & Hs 129B-1/R-4: Two 7.92mm MG 17 Machine Guns in nose. Two 20mm MG 151/20 cannon in nose. Hs 129B-1/R2: Two 7.92mm MG 17 Machine Guns in nose. Two 20mm MG 151/20 cannon in nose. One 30mm Mk 101 cannon mounted under fuselage. Hs 129B-1/R3: Two 7.92mm MG 17 Machine Guns in nose. Two 20mm MG 151/20 cannon in nose. Four 7.92mm MG 17 Machine Guns in ventral box. Hs 129B-2 Series: Two 13mm MG 131 Machine Guns in nose. Two 20mm MG 151/20 cannon in nose. Various weapons were fitted inclusding 37mm BK 3.7 and 75mm BK 7.5. An interesting weapon was a battery of six 75mm smoothbore recoiless rifles that fired downwards and to the rear. This system was fired by an automatic magnetic trigger that fired when the aircraft flew over metal objects. This system was reported to be quite successful. Payload: Hs 129B-1/R1: Fuselage racks for two 110 lb. or 48 fragmentation bombs. Hs 129B-1/R4: Fuselage racks for up to 551 lb. of bombs.

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          Note the big 75mm gun in front

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          Rear view, notice "tank kill" markings.

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All information and photos Copyright of Warbird Resource Group

[SAMWolf]

I'm sure Sam will provide. :-)

SAM "The Provider" Wolf :-)

[Colonel_Flagg]

Morning, Sam .. you are just that good, sir. Thanks for the pics!

[SAMWolf]

1898 Kurt Tank German WWII aircraft designer

Designer of the (Long Nose)Focke-Wulf Ta 152 Late-War, High-Altitude Fighter

[Colonel_Flagg]

Just once I'd like to get a look at the sites you must have bookmarked for pictures like these .. thanks!

[SAMWolf]

Yeah, it is a strange looking fuselage shape

[SAMWolf]

Goof Morning Feather.