Top Ten Tanks (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter jazzeum
- Start date
Louis Badolato
Lieutenant General
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2005
- Messages
- 17,228
I'm watching it right now. There are some British Tankers talking about the Sherman being basically a really great tank to drive around in in peacetime, but an absolute deathtrap in combat. At one point one of the veterans talks about passing burned out Shermans as he advanced, and counting the graves (apparently the crews were temporarily buried next to the tank until the graves registration crews could identify and remove them), and always seeing 2, 3 somtimes 5 crewman killed with each tank knocked out. They discuss operation Good Wood, when Monty lost 400 Shemans, by advancing them at dug in German armor and artillery, before a Sherman got close enough to fire a shot. One British tank commander attests to firing at a Tiger from within 50-60 yards, and having the shell bounce off. A German tanker talks about how his tank was often hit by Sherman's shells, but with no effect on the crew. The only thing the Sherman had in its favor was mobility and a faster traversing turret. That and the U.S. automobile industry's ability to produce a lot of them. Every single tanker interviewed, British and German, stated unequivocally that they would choose to be in a Tiger over a Sherman.
OzDigger
Colonel
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2006
- Messages
- 8,215
I really want that Military Channel but can't seem to get it downunder, meanwhile I've been watching shorts of the series online and just checked out the Steyr AUG being number 7 in the top ten infantry rifles. But first I had to watch an advert for Bank America, man you just can't get away from ads can you 
Here's a vid of the Steyr, but first a message from your sponsor : http://military.discovery.com/video/top-rifles.html?playerId=1681730402&titleId=1213938952
Here's a vid of the Steyr, but first a message from your sponsor
: http://military.discovery.com/video/top-rifles.html?playerId=1681730402&titleId=1213938952
fmethorst
Command Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2008
- Messages
- 2,437
I have read dozens of first hand accounts, war diaries, memoirs from Tiger crews and one thing is perfectly clear. The Tiger could be driven into combat, take punishing hits from enemy guns and dish out a lethal reply. It was an offensive weapon to be placed right at the front of the Schwerpunkt. Kursk represents the best example of the Tiger being used the way it was intended. On the defensive it was held in reserve and sent to counterattack enemy breakthroughs. To portray it as some sort of lumbering giant only useful in the ambush role isn't accurate. As for reliability it compared quite well with other German tank models. The German recovery and maintenance units had an amazing ability to recover, repair and return tanks to combat.
One reoccuring theme that I came across in my reading was the number of Tigers that were scuttled by the crew. I suspect that more Tigers were destroyed by their own crews than enemy fire. The reason for this was usually to prevent stuck, damaged or out of fuel vehicles from falling into enemy hands.
Its biggest deficiency was it's tremendous weight which precluded the use of all but the sturdiest bridges and strained the drive components.
One reoccuring theme that I came across in my reading was the number of Tigers that were scuttled by the crew. I suspect that more Tigers were destroyed by their own crews than enemy fire. The reason for this was usually to prevent stuck, damaged or out of fuel vehicles from falling into enemy hands.
Its biggest deficiency was it's tremendous weight which precluded the use of all but the sturdiest bridges and strained the drive components.