-E Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Tauchpanzer III: "Diving tank." 168 Ausf F, G, H, and PzBefWg III Ausf Es were converted from June to October 1940 for Operation Seeloewe (Sealion, invasion of Britain) by the 18th Panzer Regiment of the 18th Panzer Division. The air intakes were closed by rubber seals and the exhausts had non-return valves installed. An inflatable rubber seal was placed around turret ring. The hull MG and commander's cupola had rubber covers installed. There was a pump that removed excess water that got inside tank. When under water it would get air from a 59' long and 8" diameter hose which was attached to a float that on later models had a radio antenna. It could operate to a depth of 50' for around 20 minutes. Explosive charges were installed to the seals to be set off to remove the seals when tank reached dry land. A command vessel would communicate to the submerged tank via the radio to guide it. ...I think we've been short changed by BTS!! *grin* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Hey, there were a couple Russian amphibious light tanks as well, and they were probably used much more freely than those super-deep wading PzIIIs. I can guess the reason why they're not included: GAME ENGINE. Can't reproduce floating or submerged vehicles. This'll probably keep a Pacific Theater version of CM from ever appearing, too. How could you do a convincing Pacific campaign without modeling amphibious assets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Schwimmwagen would certainly be in if they could do it...how often would you swim a tank or jeep under fire though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-E Posted October 4, 2002 Author Share Posted October 4, 2002 While this was in jest, if under fire I would certainly love the cance to submerge! (not schwim) LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Originally posted by MikeyD: GAME ENGINE. Can't reproduce floating or submerged vehicles. This'll probably keep a Pacific Theater version of CM from ever appearing, too. How could you do a convincing Pacific campaign without modeling amphibious assets?So how do you explain assault boats then, huh? Huh!?! They move on water and land alike. And certainly with later engines they could reproduce anything - hmm, multiturreted tanks, maybe we can see battlecruisers as well... Also the very rare PanZeppelin, a Königstiger which could float in air with the 70 metres long helium balloon tied to it. Death from above, say! Were those amphibious gadgets anything useful or just displays of engineership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-E Posted October 4, 2002 Author Share Posted October 4, 2002 Originally posted by Sergei: So how do you explain assault boats then, huh? Huh!?!That's no help... they're useless underwater! Also the very rare PanZeppelin, a Königstiger which could float in air with the 70 metres long helium balloon tied to it. Death from above, say!Again no help... every attempt at submerging ran into serious boyancy problems. Were those amphibious gadgets anything useful or just displays of engineership?Actually, I later ran into another mention of one of these which included a picture of one emerging from the river [insert some semi-famous Russian river name here]. After careful study of the aforementioned picture and very careful consideration with a serious eye to grognardom, I came to the conclusion that it looked like a wet tank. [Crap! I hit my grognardom while typing this message! ...boy, that smarts!] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigurd Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 these amphibious tanks were used on June, 22th, to reinforce a bridgehead across the Bug, near Pratouline. They did cross, and were very useful to pull away the russian armored counter attack. It's explained (in french) at Bug underwater crossing On this page stand the famous photo of the wet tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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