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Panther, burns easily ?


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Hi,

I just read a few german veteran story about their combat in Normandy in 1944... It seems the Panzer V burned easily. In a memo (Nr.052/44 g.K.) he sent to Hitler

the June 28th 1944, Guderian made the same constatation:"...Panther amazingly burns easily..."

According to the vet' the main reason of this was the lack of fuel. The fuel tank of the panzers were never full-filled. So the vapours(Air + fuel) in the tank were very highly explosive...

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Different tank, but you may find this interesting: the Tiger had an automatic fire-supression system in the engine compartment, with capacity for five seven-second supression cycles. It was triggered by thermostats near the carburetor and fuel pumps.

Source: Ford, Roger. The Tiger Tank. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks Intl., 1998.

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I rode a tank, held a general's rank

When the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank.

--Rolling Stones

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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maj. Bosco:

Those damn kids with their BB guns need to stop getting side upper hull penetrations on my Hellcats dammit!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, but you can't have both speed and heavy armor. Keep moving fast, dodging around cover to prevent getting shot in the first place. IIRC, the hellcat is the fastest tank in CM, so use its speed and fast turret to outmaneuver the enemy. "A tank's engine is as much a weapon as its gun."-Heinz Guderian

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No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. -Ender's Game

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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Yeah, but you can't have both speed and heavy armor. Keep moving fast, dodging around cover to prevent getting shot in the first place.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The problem is the terrain you generally encounter BB-gun weilding children in. Now if I was in a small french village or in the hills or whatnot then it wouldn't be a problem. But when driving around sub-urban chicago you just can't get away from 'em!

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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by paullus:

The original production model of the Panther A (used & abused at Kursk)

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That was the Ausf.D biggrin.gif.........

Regards, John Waters

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"We've got the finest tanks in the world. We just love to see the

German Royal Tiger come up on the field".

Lt.Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. February 1945.

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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Xavier:

Hi,

I just read a few german veteran story about their combat in Normandy in 1944... It seems the Panzer V burned easily. In a memo (Nr.052/44 g.K.) he sent to Hitler

the June 28th 1944, Guderian made the same constatation:"...Panther amazingly burns easily..."

According to the vet' the main reason of this was the lack of fuel. The fuel tank of the panzers were never full-filled. So the vapours(Air + fuel) in the tank were very highly explosive... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Panthers tendency to turn crematorium when penetrated is well documented from Kursk onwards. The problem was the unprotected ammunition racks combined with the large amount of propellant in the shells. When penetrated, the Panther burned just as fast and well as the early Shermans.

Then why is this not so widely publicisized as the Flamin' Shermans? I would suggest the following:

A: The Panther was better protected than that Sherman, so it could take more damage before blowing up.

B: Germany did not have journalists writing in a realtively free press about how bad the Panther burned. Nor did Germany have politicians trying to topple the goverment by criticizing their tank-policy. (Those who tried got piano-wire neckties smile.gif

C: German tank crews had more confidence in their ability to fight back (big, bad guns) and get a second chance if hit (comparatively thick armour)

Claus B

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