Jump to content

WW2 Armor...


Maj.Hans

Recommended Posts

Another thread got me thinking, and I don't really remember this story well so I want to get some input from all of you to see what you remember, how much truth their is to it, etc.

Speaking about WW2 tanks, someone related a story about German armor.  It goes something like this:

 


 

Quote

 

From the start of the war, German tanks were designed and built with the best top quality, most technologically advanced, face hardened rolled armor plate.  It was superior to a casting of the same thickness or weight, and superior to the rolled armor used by other countries which was not face hardened in most applications.  This special face hardened armor was very effective against uncapped AP rounds, but the Germans went through all this trouble to make their armor defeat AP rounds with an AP cap (APC).

 

None of the Allies fighting against Germany deployed APC rounds in meaningful numbers, until later in the war around 1944, when they decided they needed every advantage they could get against the heavily armored Panzers and their high-tech face hardened armor.

 

Around 1944, the Germans decided that face hardened armor wasn't worth it.  The Allies weren't bothering to use APC shells, so why take the time and trouble to armor your tanks against a threat that doesn't exist?  So they stopped hardening the armor, just as the Allies were making a push to start using APC shells.

 

Thus, the Germans wasted valuable time and effort making a useless product early in the war, and when it was finally going to pay off, they quit.  To make matters worse, in their rush to get tanks to the front, they now began accepting low quality steel, and sending vehicles to the front that had brittle armor that would fracture severely when it was hit.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

Tiger II.

I always hated that tank...

 

This is just my opinion, but I feel like the de-bugged Tiger-I made a good tank, while the increase in weight wasn't worth it given how little improvement was done to much of the Tiger II's armor.

 

A Tiger-I with the longer gun, however, would have been interesting to see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...