2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 4, 2018 20:17:26 GMT -5
1. What was the USs most abundantly produced tank?I
2. Who started calling our M4 Medium TANK the Sherman?
3. What was the nickname for our bizarre, stopgap medium TANK the M3? It was our first to employ a 75know main gun but it only had a 37know in the turret.
4 A.U.S. Armored battalion had 3 Medium TANK Companies (17 tanks each) and how many light TANK companies?
5. While the Russian T34 had a crew of four how many crewmen did US tanks have?
6. Though German tanks were typically better armed and better armored why are more and more military historians considering the Sherman or Soviet T34s the best tanks of the war?
7.The Persing M26 with its impressive armor and powerful, high velocity 90mm gun probably would have prolonged rather than shortened the war had the Sherman M4 been fully replaced by it in 1943. Why? Give 3 reasons it would not have a better TANK for our needs at the time?
8. What was the most productive of our TANK Destroyer on a per capita basis? The M10, M36 or M18?
9. While tankers increasingly blotted out the bold white stars in their tanks and TANK destroyers as they thought they provided aiming points. M18 Hellcat crewmen typically added more. Why?
10.Though most U.S. Tanks were nicknamed after U.S. civil War Generals our M7 SP Howitzer was nicknamed "The Priest". Why?
11. A U.S. Armored platoon was configured to have how many tanks in it. We based this decision on the German table of equipment although German platoons rarely were able to field enough vehicles to adhere to it.
12. List five differences between U.S. Tanks and our TANK destroyers.
13. What are 3 advantages of our 75mm main TANK gun vs the 76mm gun
14. Under what circumstances was the 76mm gun a critical upgrade?
15. What clever way did our tanks deal with the thick bondage country following D-Day?
16. If a Sherman or Stuart encountered a Panther TANK or even more frightening a Tiger TANK from the front what was the smartest first reaction they could take?
A. Back up and retreat B. Fire WP C. Call in Artillery or Tac Air D. Open all your hatches and hold your hands straight up. E. Fire as rapidly as possible and try to get as close to them as you can
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stuka
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Post by stuka on May 6, 2018 2:35:20 GMT -5
I am assuming you ony want us to go one at a time again? anyways I will take a bat at 9
The hellcat had a muzzle break (I think that is what it is called) so I would imagine that it was in order to prevent/mitigate any possible friendly fire as I believe most German tanks at the time had muzzle breaks while the US didn't really have them (with the hellcat being the most immidiate exception I can think of at the moment) so I can see some crews freaking out at the sight of a muzzle break at a distance and firing at it.
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Post by volkssturm on May 10, 2018 20:19:58 GMT -5
#3. I'm not aware of an American nickname for the M3 medium. In British service they were called either the "lee" or the "Grant" depending on some differences in the way they were equipped. The Russians got M3 mediums as well, and nicknamed them "A grave for 6 brothers." (6 man crew). The Russians weren't impressed with their performance against the German tanks on the Eastern Front, but they were useful in freeing up better tanks from quiet fronts.
If I may add to #9, the M18 Hellcat also had large road wheels, which from a distance could be mistaken for the road wheels on the Panther and Tiger. Most American armor had HVSS or VVSS suspension with pair of smaller road wheels. The sloped armor on the M18 also resembled the sloped armor on the Panther.
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Post by volkssturm on May 12, 2018 12:08:23 GMT -5
#15 - The Culin device, invented by a Sgt. Culin. They took steel beams from the obstacles on the Normandy beaches, cut them up into "prongs" and welded them to the fronts of Sherman tanks. Hedgerows were fences used around fields in the bocage country of Normandy. They were made of piled up dirt with bushes and small trees growing on them. The interlaced roots made them impossible for a tank to bust through. With the Culin device, when a tank rammed a hedgerow the prongs broke up the dirt and cut the roots, allowing the tank to punch a hole.
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Post by volkssturm on May 13, 2018 12:09:41 GMT -5
12. List five differences between U.S. Tanks and our TANK destroyers.
Some are obvious. The TD's were comparatively thinly armored. They were designed to be faster than a tank (though "fast" is a relative term. The M10/M36 were only marginally faster than an M4). The TD's were designed with open top turrets to give he crews better observation. Later in the war they began to reconsider this idea, as the crews were vulnerable to shrapnel, snipers, hand grenades etc. The TD's, after the improvised M3 with the 75mm gun, were armed with guns with good anti-armor performance at the expense of HE, where the 75mm on he Sherman and Chaffee was a good general purpose gun with mediocre anti-armor capability. Not all TD's were tracked. The M3 was a half-track while the totally obsolete for Europe M6 was a 37mm gun mounted on Dodge 4x4 (the original "technical"?) TD tactics were very different from tank tactics. TD's were intended as defensive weapons that were supposed to write down attacking enemy tanks, preferably from ambush. It turned out to be a flawed tactical concept.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 15, 2018 2:28:53 GMT -5
Books and Stuka you are spot on with your answers. Many M10s were Diesel powered. The American TDs M18, M10 and M36 also lacked a hull machine gun which severely limited their use in Infantry support roles during assaults, assignments they frequently got late in the war. Their sloped over hanging armor also made them wider and much more awkward to climb into from the side and back. The U.S. Would have been better served to have had more specialized tanks like the British 17 pounder and the late war "Jumbo" Sherman with its double thick armor.
The M3 "Grant" or "Lee" provided the excellent and reliable Chassis of the M4. Which notably would have lost significant durability and reliability issues had it carried thicker armor and less fuel economy which of course effects logistics.
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Post by volkssturm on May 21, 2018 21:16:07 GMT -5
16. If a Sherman or Stuart encountered a Panther TANK or even more frightening a Tiger TANK from the front what was the smartest first reaction they could take?
B. Fire WP
Firing white phosphorus was a common tactic, since at worst you'd blind the Tiger allowing an escape or maneuver into better position. There was also the possibility of setting a fire with a hit on the engine compartment. German tank crews were as frightened as everyone else of a burning tank. There were instances where Germans abandoned their tanks because they thought they were on fire when it was just smoke from the WP. The Germans also complained that shooting WP wasn't fair.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 28, 2018 13:52:54 GMT -5
Indeed Volks you are correct. The vast majority (nearly 80%) of TANK rounds fired were High Explosive as relatively few German armored targets were encountered. The Anti TANK rounds were typically the tank killer rounds but White Phosphorus was generally the best initial round to fire for the reasons given. One of the reasons there was resistance to adopting the high velocity 76know gun on our M4 was its HE found was decidedly less effective against bunkers, buildings and Infantry type targets.
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Post by volkssturm on May 30, 2018 10:08:42 GMT -5
The more I learn about designing tanks the more obvious it is that everything is a balancing act. A good AT gun needs very high velocity. But for the HE rounds higher velocity means the walls of the shell have to be thicker to withstand the stresses. Thicker walls mean less room inside for explosives. The German solution for their 75mm tank/at gun was to have HE rounds that fired at lower velocity, but that meant that they had a different trajectory than the AP rounds. If I recall they had sights that were marked for both AP and HE, but that introduces more problems. If a nervous gunner uses the wrong scale he misses. So it's all a game of trying to get the compromise that works best most of the time.
"10.Though most U.S. Tanks were nicknamed after U.S. civil War Generals our M7 SP Howitzer was nicknamed "The Priest". Why?"
The M7 was a M4 chassis with a box-like body mounting a 105mm howitzer. On the right front was a raised ring mount for a machine gun. Some people thought is looked like a church pulpit, so the M7 got the nickname "priest." A very successful vehicle.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 30, 2018 13:32:10 GMT -5
Perfect Volks. The M7 (and other self propelled artillery) increasingly replaced towed artillery and towed AT guns although towed artillery was never completely abandoned. The M7 was often tasked to accompany and support armored units but it's open top and thin armor was inadequate for direct assault. The Army therefore developed an M4 with a 105howitzer and one such weapon system was attached to each Medium TANK company bringing the number of Medium tanks in a Medium TANK Company to 18. Each TANK Battalion in both the Armored Divisions and the Separate TANK Battalion (attached to Infantry Divisions) had 3 Medium TANK Companies and 1 Light TANK Company of 17 light tanks. With the Battalion HQ platoon of three tanks that meant a full compliment TANK Battalion had 57 Medium Tanks and 17 Light tanks. A Regiment had 3 Battalions. Typically Artillery, Armored Cav and TD units who likewise be attached. Most Armored Divisions by 1944 had a Single Armored Regiment, An Armored Infantry Regiment Mounted in Halftracks and An Artillery Regiment as their primary organic units. The 2nd and 4th Armored Division maintained the 1942 design and had 2 Armored Regiments. They were considered "Heavy" Divisions. Add TANK Destroyer units, Fav recon units and additional Artillery units along with all the support elements and that's lots of vehicles, lots of fuel, ammo and food.
The logistic aspects of the Sherman vs the German tanks was by far it's primary advantage and lead to victory. An elusive upside to a TANK platoon or company in an armored clash with better armored more powerful guns. They don't see the German tanks who never arrived at the battle because they broke down or ran out of fuel.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 6, 2018 23:49:12 GMT -5
Though introduced later in the war the M18 Hellcat accounted for more German vanilla than the M10 or M36. It's high speed (some drivers claimed 55 mph) and low profile made it quick and stealthy. The Christie suspension also helped its ride quality. It had a muzzle brake and together with the large road wheels made it look at long range like a German tank. To avoid friendly fire incidents their crew often put extra stars and avoided laying foliage on them.
They were an extremely popular allied vehicle and remain popular among collectors today.
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Post by volkssturm on Jun 14, 2018 20:41:18 GMT -5
13. What are 3 advantages of our 75mm main TANK gun vs the 76mm gun
The primary advantage of the 75mm was that it had a much more effective High Explosive round. The 75mm had 1 lb. 8 oz of explosive, while the 76mm had only 14 oz. This made it better for attacking field fortifications, rear areas facilities, etc. which was the tactical role the Army originally envisaged for the tank.
The short barrel of the 75mm made it more maneuverable in forest and urban terrain where a longer gun barrel was prone to hang up. Part of the design specification for the Sherman was that the main gun couldn't overhang the front of the tank. On the other hand, a shorter barrel means lower velocity, so I'm not sure if that was a brilliant insight or just someone's arbitrary decision.
The 76mm round was larger than the 75mm round. A 76mm Sherman could carry 71 rounds of main gun ammo, while a 75mm Sherman could carry 90 to 104 (according to Wikipedia).
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 21, 2018 0:32:35 GMT -5
Give n that 85% of U.S. TANK rounds fired were HE the 75know gun was not one to abandon. The eventual mix of 75know guns and 76s within a platoon of 5 tanks as was the case by 44 was quite sound. Ideally as with the British 4 TANK platoons 1 of them should have been a 17 pound er!
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Post by volkssturm on Jun 22, 2018 0:29:47 GMT -5
7.The Persing M26 with its impressive armor and powerful, high velocity 90mm gun probably would have prolonged rather than shortened the war had the Sherman M4 been fully replaced by it in 1943. Why? Give 3 reasons it would not have a better TANK for our needs at the time?
Well, for one there's no way it could have replaced the Sherman in 1943. They were still getting the bugs out of it well into 1944. Had they pushed it into production in time for Normandy it's probable a lot of them would have suffered the fate of the early Panthers on the way to Kursk, broken down by the side of the road.
Fielding full divisions of M26's would have impacted fuel supplies. It was a much heavier tanks than the Sherman which means fuel consumption would be greater, so more fuel would have been needed to cover the same distance as a Sherman. The main gun ammunition was also large and heavier, so less could have been transported for the same amount of transport fuel.
One of the flaws of the design was that it was underpowered, with a 500 hp engine as compared to the 750 hp of the Panther. So it was a slower tank, and probably somewhat less reliable because of the strain on the engines. This would have impacted the big advances across France in 1944. Being a new tank, maintenance crews would still be learning how to work on them where there the Sherman was very familiar to the mechanics.
That's my guesses.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 22, 2018 18:54:04 GMT -5
All absolutely spot on. The intimate view of a US tanker facing a Panther or Tiger would much prefer to be in an M26 than an M4 but the Big Picture is absolutely on the side of the Armies choice to stick with the M4.
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