Alexei Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hi, I am looking for some info about these. It would be nice if some expert around here could tell me how many captured SU-85 have been used and the size and sectors of the unit(s?) they operated in. Or maybe this was just "occasional" captures? Thanks! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 My guess is that they were an occasional capture. The SU-85 first saw action in Sept '43, and by then the days of wide-sweeping German offensives, the kind that used to round up entire armies in one fell swoop, were long gone. They certainly could have captured a fair number, but most likely it would have been 1 here, 3 there, etc. Not enough to justify equipping an entire German unit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 I have seen 2 photographs on the same SU-85 vehicle in German service. It was the summer of 1944 in white Russia. The vehicle was repainted dark yellow, with German crosses. It is clearly the same vehicle, one shot from the front and the other from the right rear side. The German designation for captured SU-85s was Jagdpanzer SU-85 ®. I doubt they captured many, and that is the most likely time you'd see them - 1944, from the start of the year to mid-summer. Probably taken in various local counterattacks from very late 43 on. Before then, they weren't out or ground was changing hands too uniformly in the Russian favor. And after Bagration, it is unlikely many survived. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimorodok Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Every photo I've seen is, as JasonC says, of the same SU-85: is the same as and this guy Here's an SU-122 with German Markings. That would've been fun to play with. Zimorodok 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Yep that is it. 2nd and 3rd were the ones I've seen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce70 Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Well it would appear to my untrained eye that the first and third are not the same vehicle, not without some modifications at least. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Originally posted by Bruce70: Well it would appear to my untrained eye that the first and third are not the same vehicle, not without some modifications at least. Well, maybe it's the one behind it in picture 3. There is no 213 on the vehicle in picture 3 that I can make out. But as I said, there is another SU-85 behind and to the left of the prominent one in the photo. Who knows. At best we now have a photographic record of exactly THREE SU-85's captured by the Germans. Not much to go on is it?! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 After further review of photo 1 and 3 it appears that the SU-85 in photo 1 is the one to the rear of the SU-85 in photo 3. The fence is in the right place as are the trees. You decide. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer_M Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 So the german atleast had two. lol 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 There used to be a terrific site called Red Steel, which had a wealth of captured AFV photos on it, but it has gone the way of the dodo. Maybe one of those Internet site archives has it? Battlefield.ru normally also has a pretty good section, but the site is undergoing major overhaul, and that section hasn't been reposted yet. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexei Posted December 7, 2005 Author Share Posted December 7, 2005 Thanks guys for the answers and photos So it looks like really not too many of them have been captured... I assume that a similar number of SU-122 or SU-152 may have been captured as well, but these have not been added to CMBB units because of the lack of evidence? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce70 Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Originally posted by Panzer_M: So the german atleast had two.Actually, what it shows is that they had two in the same place. Couple more and you have a platoon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 At first glance I thought the one in the first photo was a museum display. Looks rather shiney. Guess it is just a photo quality thing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEY Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 A few links that may be of some interest in this regard. http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=42954&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=7ae9addfc88edac8f1c482658af5b0ab http://beute.narod.ru/Beutepanzer/su/su_trophy.htm http://www.tincrossmilitaria.com/Tincross%20Militaria%20-Armor%20Pix.htm Pre-war polish stuff, http://derela.republika.pl/armcarpl.htm Here is one for you, junk2drive, http://www.santacruzchronicles.com/scwveh.html I don't think there is any doubt that it may had be better if it came to either one or the other, it would have made more sense to had included a captured KV instead of the SU-85. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junk2drive Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Thanks for thinking of me. I hadn't seen that one. Good stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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