Post by volkssturm on Feb 19, 2022 15:16:56 GMT -5
My current reading is "Brothers in Arms," by James Holland. It's about a British Armored (excuse me, Armoured) regiment, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, from D-Day to the end of the war. In British usage, the yeomanry were volunteer cavalry units. The Sherwood Rangers started the war as horse cavalry and were converted to armor in the Middle East. They landed on D-Day and were involved in the fighting in the bocage.
Some interesting points have come up about the Sherman tank. Most of the regiment used the 75mm Sherman, with a small number of 17 pdr "Fireflies" for back up. The Firefly's gun could penetrate a Tiger at 1,000 yards or more. The 75mm had to be much closer, and probably couldn't penetrate the frontal armor at any range. The 75mm gun has come in for a lot of criticism because of its perceived lack of penetration, but in reality it wasn't that bad. The Sherwood Rangers answer to a Tiger was for everyone to fire as fast as possible. Something I've never heard mention of before is that the 75mm was very fast to reload. A good crew could get off a shot every three seconds, at least as long as the ready rounds held out. So, a handful of Shermans firing at a Tiger, even at 1,000 yards, could be landing a hit every couple seconds. This would be very disconcerting to the crew, making it harder for the gunner to aim and forcing the commander to button up, greatly restricting his vision. Additionally, all those 75mm AP shells bouncing around could damage the tracks, radio antenna, gunsight, vision blocks. Tiger 131 at the Bovington Tank Museum, the only remaining operable Tiger tank in the world, was captured in North Africa when a 6 pdr AP round jammed the turret and the crew abandoned it. Keep pounding and sooner or later something breaks or the Germans put it in reverse and get out of Dodge. In one instance mentioned in the book a Sherman fired at ta Tiger at about a thousand yards. The driver of the Tiger had left his hatch open, the Sherman's shell hit the gun mantlet above the driver and showered him with hot metal fragments. Afte a few more hits the Germans bailed out. In another instance, in the hedgerows a Sherman managed a side shot on a Tiger at 120 yards and penetrated the hull. So, the Tigers didn't have it all their own way. Still, you need ed a lot of luck facing a Tiger.
Some interesting points have come up about the Sherman tank. Most of the regiment used the 75mm Sherman, with a small number of 17 pdr "Fireflies" for back up. The Firefly's gun could penetrate a Tiger at 1,000 yards or more. The 75mm had to be much closer, and probably couldn't penetrate the frontal armor at any range. The 75mm gun has come in for a lot of criticism because of its perceived lack of penetration, but in reality it wasn't that bad. The Sherwood Rangers answer to a Tiger was for everyone to fire as fast as possible. Something I've never heard mention of before is that the 75mm was very fast to reload. A good crew could get off a shot every three seconds, at least as long as the ready rounds held out. So, a handful of Shermans firing at a Tiger, even at 1,000 yards, could be landing a hit every couple seconds. This would be very disconcerting to the crew, making it harder for the gunner to aim and forcing the commander to button up, greatly restricting his vision. Additionally, all those 75mm AP shells bouncing around could damage the tracks, radio antenna, gunsight, vision blocks. Tiger 131 at the Bovington Tank Museum, the only remaining operable Tiger tank in the world, was captured in North Africa when a 6 pdr AP round jammed the turret and the crew abandoned it. Keep pounding and sooner or later something breaks or the Germans put it in reverse and get out of Dodge. In one instance mentioned in the book a Sherman fired at ta Tiger at about a thousand yards. The driver of the Tiger had left his hatch open, the Sherman's shell hit the gun mantlet above the driver and showered him with hot metal fragments. Afte a few more hits the Germans bailed out. In another instance, in the hedgerows a Sherman managed a side shot on a Tiger at 120 yards and penetrated the hull. So, the Tigers didn't have it all their own way. Still, you need ed a lot of luck facing a Tiger.