jpinard Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 > 1. What two weapons claimed the most Tiger I and II tanks during WWII? For the tough part.. what > was one of the most unusual ways to knock one out yet leave the tank intact? *** The two weapons that claimed the most kills were the aircraft HE bomb or heavy artillery. One of the few weak spots on the Tiger I/II tanks was the roof of the engine which is also where alot of pilots would aim their bombs at. The most unusuall way to "disable" one was brought about by the P-47 Thunderbolt with its 8 .50 cal HMG's. The pilots would shoot out the ground from underneath one of the tracks and tip them over. Needless to say trying to get a 45-60 ton vehicle back on its tracks is no easy chore! Interesting note.. the Tiger I/II tanks weighed more then most modern day main battle tanks. Tiger I weighed in at 57 tons and the Tiger II at 68 tons! While fighting on the Eastern Front one of the tactics used the Russians was to rush at high speed towards and ram the Tiger I and try to knock it out with a point blank range flank or rear shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michlos Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 I have a question conserning anti tank tactics. I did my military service a while back and during explosives training we did something that here in Sweden is called "bog lifting". The idea was that you would dig holes for packs of explosives in a zig-zag pattern. When you blew the charges it would lift the ground up a bit without leaving any large craters or anything like that. The main idea of this was to destabilize the ground so that any heavy unit (tanks or heavy apc's) that passed over it would get bogged in. Anyone know if this also was used during WWII?? Considering the weight of some of the German tanks i would think that this would be a very useful tactic. ------------------ < All gave some, some gave ALL> Owner of MiNa's CMBO Page http://www.combat-mission.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapdragon Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 The two most effective weapons against Tigers were the Gerbil and Hamster of course. The question we should discuss though is which one was more effective. [This message has been edited by Slapdragon (edited 09-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 jpinard wrote: *** The two weapons that claimed the most kills were the aircraft HE bomb or heavy artillery. I seriously doubt that HE bombs destroyed that many Tigers. According to some figures that I've read, only about 5% of German tank losses could be directly attributed to airplanes. However, fighters and fighter-bombers were very efficient in destroying soft vehicles of panzer formations and crippled them by knocking out fuel transports. Most (60%) of tank losses were cases where the tanks were abandoned by their crews after malfunctions or running out of fuel. This table didn't classify the German losses into different tank types but I'd guess that the Tigers had similar percentages. - Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kollos Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Hey, Also please note that the US air Force would record tank kills on already dead or abandond vehicles. Wittmans tank was already knocked out when the Air Corp bombed the heck out of the villiage. I am sure the pilot raced home to record another Tiger kill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dittohead Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The two most effective weapons against Tigers were the Gerbil and Hamster of course. The question we should discuss though is which one was more effective.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You fool, everybody knows that gerbils and hamster were only effective against the rear of a tiger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valdor Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Actually, based on my many years of experience as a tanker, I can tell you that the biggest killers of tanks are.... MECHANICS On a more serious note, the preferred aircraft weapon against tanks in WWII were rockets. Also, jpinard is right about the back deck armor on tanks usually being pretty weak. Even on an M1A1 there are points (like over the batteries) that can be penetrated by 7.62mm fire and almost all of it can be penetrated by concentrated 12.7/.50 cal fire. ------------------ "Battle is the ultimate to which the whole life's labor of an officer should be directed. He may live to the age of retirement without seeing a battle; still, he must always be getting ready fot it exactly as if he knew the hour of the day it is to break upon him. And then, whether it come late or early, he must be willing to fight---he must fight!" General Charles F. Smith, US Army (circa 1862) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PzKpfw 1 Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Well we can compare the *British reports on cause of K'O'd German tanks conducted in 1944 - 1945. June 6 - August 7 1944 110 tanks examined: 53 - AP shot 8 - Hollow charge 9 - Artillery, HE 1 - Mine 7 - Aircraft RP 3 - Aircraft cannon. 7 - Destroyed by crew 4 - Abandoned 18 - Uknown cause August 8 - August 31 1944 223 Tanks examined: 24 - AP shot 1 - Hollow charge 4 - Artillery, HE 7 - Aircraft RP 1 - Aircraft Cannon 2 - Aircraft bomb 108 - Destroyed by crew 63 - Abandoned 13 - Uknown cause December 17 1944 - January 16 1945 57 Tanks examined: 18 - AP Shot 3 - Artillery HE 1 - Aircraft bomb 3 - Possibly by Aircraft 13 - Demolished 11 - Abandoned 8 - Uknown causes Regards, John Waters *See: Jentz Thomas L Panzer Truppen Vol 2. p.189, 190, 202. ------------------ Notice: Spelling mistakes left in for people who need to correct others to make their life fulfilled. [This message has been edited by PzKpfw 1 (edited 09-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 John's post clearly shows that the most effective AT weapons system was the Hamster. What do you think made all those crews demolish their tanks? Professor Doktor Hamster X Generalissimo and President-for-Life Hamster Liberation Front* 1-800-HAMSTER Death from Behind™ *<font size=1>The HLF is a wholly owned subsidiary of SalomonSmithBarneyHewlettPackardPriceWaterhouseCoopersSnapple. All rights reserved. Only one per customer. Your mileage may vary. </font> [This message has been edited by Hakko Ichiu (edited 09-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havermeyer Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Mines place in cobblestone roadways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapdragon Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Many of the unknown causes are in fact caused by Gerbils though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Captitalistdoginchina Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Mortars fired from cellars!! ------------------ "Death solves all problems - no man no problem" J.V.Stalin, 1918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slapdragon Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 Mortars fired from cellars using Gerbils as HE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slapdragon: Mortars fired from cellars using Gerbils as HE!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This is highly unlikely, as everyone knows that Gerbils don't bounce. Prof. Dok. Ham. X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntelWeenie Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 .50 cal MGs mounted on T-8s, which were then considered too effective and prodution stopped. ------------------ Canada: Where men were men, unless they were horses. -Dudley Do-right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Bates Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 I like using HTML code (my first try). [This message has been edited by M. Bates (edited 09-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted September 22, 2000 Share Posted September 22, 2000 RPGs - Rocket Propelled Gerbils. Of course... only from behind. (I hear one of these was used on the MI6 building in London - the Mark 22 - must have been a atrophied gerbil though). Otherwise I'd say malfunctions and a lack of fuel coupled with the fear of being a target of fighter-bombers made them highly likely to be abandoned. That or Hamsters were gnawing on everything. "A Hamster can give you a good edge..." [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 09-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts