TANKS!!

[Folmeister]

O.k., Treadheads! We managed to hijack the airplane thread for a while, but now it's our turn. I have a passion for German World War II armour. My current favorite is not a heavy tank, but a soft-skin vehicle. It's the early SdKfz. 232 6 rad. These are, for some reason, appealing in their odd shape and lack of utility. What's your favorite military ground vehicle? Why?

 

[Mike Money]

The M1 Abrams will kick your ass.

 

[srxplayer]

I'm not really a Tank-oPhile but I saw this and thought I would share a story that you might find interesting or funny.

My dad served in WWII and was with the 101st Airborne division. He was talking to me about the German tanks and how it would scare the crap out of them when they would hear German tanks. He said they were superior to anything the allies had for most of the war.

Anyway he told me of a time when they were in a street battle with some German units(I think this was in France) and they were getting tank support from a British armor unit that was equiped with American Sherman tanks. They had got word that there were German tanks moving into the area. I believe he said the German tanks were Tigers and the gun was huge compared to the Shermans.

The German tanks did arrive and they most of his unit was hiding to try to avoid the German tanks as were the Shermans.

He saw a Sherman hit a German tank with a direct hit at about 150 yards. It hit the Turret on the left side and bounced right off "DOINK". When the crew of the German tank relized what hit them the turret of the Tiger spun left towards the Sherman. The crew in the Sherman had already started to bail out of the tank and run. They were were in between two buildings and would have to pull into the street towards the German tank to escape so they just bailed out of the bottom and the top of the tank and ran like hell.

My dad figured they spent their only chance against that Tiger and they had better get out of there before the German tank blew them all to hell. My dad said he thought they all got out before the German tank destroyed the Sherman.

He also said the only way to stop the German tanks was to hit the tracks with a Bazooka in an attempt to knock the tracks off and hopefully inflict enough damage to disable it or you could destroy them with a Bazooka if you hit the top of a turret from above.

He did say the best thing to do was to just try to avoid them or run like hell.

 

[seanm]

srxplayer, there is a really good book by Belton Y. Cooper that talks about the American tanks, the crews, and the people who repaired them. It is called:

DEATH TRAPS
The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II

He was the front line officer responsible for the recovery and repair of the tanks in the 3rd Armored Division and was in a unique position to comment on the tanks.

P.S. Americans drop the "u" in Armour. The above use of Armored are not typos.

 

[srxplayer]

srxplayer, there is a really good book by Belton Y. Cooper that talks about the American tanks, the crews, and the people who repaired them. It is called:

DEATH TRAPS
The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II

He was the front line officer responsible for the recovery and repair of the tanks in the 3rd Armored Division and was in a unique position to comment on the tanks.

P.S. Americans drop the "u" in Armour. The above use of Armored are not typos.

I love that kind of stuff. I will check it out.

 

[slugworth]

The German WW2 "Tiger" tank was the best of that era,
everybody knows that..

Slug

 

[Frank Martin]

The German WW2 "Tiger" tank was the best of that era,
everybody knows that..

Slug

The only better one was the Tiger II...
Even tougher, sloped armor and even more powerful gun...
Most of them were destroyed in airstrikes, though, and not many were produced (due to the constant bombings).
But it was a true killing machine - as was the Tiger and the Panther, as well

My favourite tanks? Well I love the Tiger II, the Panther, the Jagdpanther the most from that era. Of more modern tanks, I really like the Loepard IIimproved and the Challenger. The M1 Abrams doesnt really appeal to me, though... dont like those small wheels, I dont know how well that works for tougher terrain...

 

[Frank Martin]

After all this speaking about tanks, I think I need to play Afrika Korps vs Desert Rats
Anyone have that game?
I like it, except for that there are not too many missions.... and there isnt a non-campaign single-player mode on random maps like with most strategy games

 

[Folmeister]

I'm not really a Tank-oPhile but I saw this and thought I would share a story that you might find interesting or funny.

My dad served in WWII and was with the 101st Airborne division. He was talking to me about the German tanks and how it would scare the crap out of them when they would hear German tanks. He said they were superior to anything the allies had for most of the war.

Anyway he told me of a time when they were in a street battle with some German units(I think this was in France) and they were getting tank support from a British armor unit that was equiped with American Sherman tanks. They had got word that there were German tanks moving into the area. I believe he said the German tanks were Tigers and the gun was huge compared to the Shermans.

The German tanks did arrive and they most of his unit was hiding to try to avoid the German tanks as were the Shermans.

He saw a Sherman hit a German tank with a direct hit at about 150 yards. It hit the Turret on the left side and bounced right off "DOINK". When the crew of the German tank relized what hit them the turret of the Tiger spun left towards the Sherman. The crew in the Sherman had already started to bail out of the tank and run. They were were in between two buildings and would have to pull into the street towards the German tank to escape so they just bailed out of the bottom and the top of the tank and ran like hell.

My dad figured they spent their only chance against that Tiger and they had better get out of there before the German tank blew them all to hell. My dad said he thought they all got out before the German tank destroyed the Sherman.

He also said the only way to stop the German tanks was to hit the tracks with a Bazooka in an attempt to knock the tracks off and hopefully inflict enough damage to disable it or you could destroy them with a Bazooka if you hit the top of a turret from above.

He did say the best thing to do was to just try to avoid them or run like hell.

A great story, thanks for sharing. The only U.S. tank that had any chance against the German armour was the Pershing, which, I believe, had a 90mm gun. Unfortunately, they only showed up very late in the war. American M-18 Hellcats (and later Jacksons)were tank destroyers with an obsolete naval gun mounted in a flimsy open turret (believe it or not these were still in service in Yugoslavia during the conflict during the early 90s). The Germans had a name for Shermans - Tommy Cookers - as they quickly ignited upon being hit.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

I'm a M1A1 fanboy.

WWII tanks are defintely cool, but so were the WW1 tanks. Especially the Mark series, which were basically giant fortresses with guns. The Renaults were also cool, because the were basically the prototype for the modern tank.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

American M-18 Hellcats (and later Jacksons)were tank destroyers with an obsolete naval gun mounted in a flimsy open turret (believe it or not these were still in service in Yugoslavia during the conflict during the early 90s.)

Yeah, if you look around, you'll find that many 3rd world countries are using Western weaponry from WWII. There are still countries employing Sherman tanks, and most of the 3rd world's armoury consist of old Soviet T-34s.

 

[dancehallclasher]

you're welcome.

 

[Folmeister]

I'm a M1A1 fanboy.

WWII tanks are defintely cool, but so were the WW1 tanks. Especially the Mark series, which were basically giant fortresses with guns. The Renaults were also cool, because the were basically the prototype for the modern tank.

The Renault "Whippet" tanks were the first tanks the U.S. army acquired. There is a classic picture of George Patton wearing this really goofy uniform he designed in front of one. Modern tank design owes as much to the French as anyone else. They created the revolving turret design for practical use.

 

[jrthebassguy]

http://www.blitwise.com/ptanks.html

 

[srxplayer]

I'm a M1A1 fanboy.

WWII tanks are defintely cool, but so were the WW1 tanks. Especially the Mark series, which were basically giant fortresses with guns. The Renaults were also cool, because the were basically the prototype for the modern tank.

If you have not read it already. You should check out a book by Tom Clancy called Armor.

It's about an armored brigade in the Army, it's weapons systems, leadership, training and it's role in combat situations. The book has a lot of cool stories of M1A1 and A2's in combat during the first Gulf War. Nothing is fiction in the book except for the possible future engagements that could happen and how the weaponry would be used.

It shows how the M1A1 & M1A2 are the most potent tanks in the world.

 

[Folmeister]

If you have not read it already. You should check out a book by Tom Clancy called Armor.

It's about an armored brigade in the Army, it's weapons systems, leadership, training and it's role in combat situations. The book has a lot of cool stories of M1A1 and A2's in combat during the first Gulf War. Nothing is fiction in the book except for the possible future engagements that could happen and how the weaponry would be used.

It shows how the M1A1 & M1A2 are the most potent tanks in the world.

For fiction, check out Harold Coyle's Team Yankee. I read this as I was also reading Clancy's classic Red Storm Rising. Both great books!

 

[Zirc]

We managed to hijack the airplane thread for a while

Spectacular pun.

As for the ground vehicles, I've always like this little remote controlled recon beast.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/gladiator.htm

I guess since I'm all about not risking the lives of troops, I like the unmanned RC stuff.

 

[Fuzzbass]

My favorite is this Hunting Tiger, because I've climbed on it (Aberdeen Proving Ground ordnance museum in Aberdeen MD):

The cool thing about this tank is that you can see where some large caliber rounds just bounced right off the armor... a half-dozen locations. The easiest one to see in the photo is the mantle of the main gun.

 

[Fuzzbass]

And.... I'm not the greatest treadhead, but I tend to agree that the Soviet T-34 was the best tank of the war. It wasn't going to outgun a Tiger, but it was a heckuva lot more reliable, and also a heckuva lot more cost efficient to produce. The cleverly sloped armor was copied by the Germans in their later tanks such as the Tiger II and Panther.

 

[Folmeister]

Spectacular pun.

As for the ground vehicles, I've always like this little remote controlled recon beast.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/gladiator.htm

I guess since I'm all about not risking the lives of troops, I like the unmanned RC stuff.

The Germans used remote piloted units not too different from what's in the picture. They were cool little treaded exlosive delivery vehicles called "Goliaths"