rexford Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 The following two interesting pieces of information were found on the Russian Battlefield site: http://history.vif2.ru/atwar/tankers/loza/loza1.html Interview with Mr. Loza: "I want also to add that the Sherman's armor was tough. There were cases on our T-34 when a round struck and did not penetrate. But the crew was wounded because pieces of armor flew off the inside wall and struck the crewmen in the hands and eyes. This never happened on the Sherman." T34 had very high hardness armor with brittle tendencies, Sherman after 10/43 had ductile armor with little tendency to shed fragments. In other paragraphs Mr. Loza comments on the accurate German tank sights as well as a host of other issues. ------------------------------------------------ http://history.vif2.ru/atwar/artillerymen/monyushko/comments.htm Interview with Mr. Monyushko: "What strengths and weaknesses of German guns can you point out? - When combat qualities are concerned, the 88mm guns installed on Tigers and Ferdinands were very accurate. Although, I don't know if that was connected with the gun itself or the sight, since their optics were excellent. But their field artillery was too complicated. There were very many various devices on a gun. This seemed like a shortcoming to me. It also couldn't be transported conveniently: all our guns had tires made of elastic resin. A gun wasn't as shaken during transportation, and its mechanisms were not upset. But Germans had either metal wheels, or those made of tight resin that absorbed shock badly. You had to recheck all sights after it got jolted during movements. Plus, their guns were heavier. As to the strengths, I would note excellent sights with illumination. The design of their guns even included a place for an accumulator. But it was difficult to work with ours in the darkness." Little differences that could make a large difference. One of the interesting statements in the Russian Battlefield site Artillerymen interviews was a comment that the Russians gladly traded guns for tanks. 45mm and 76.2mm towed guns could usually knock out a few tanks before they would be lost to tank gun fire, machine guns or mortars/artillery, which was considered to be a good exchange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcitizenkane Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Great stuff, tells us even what was considered a great tank of the time had faults! http://history.vif2.ru/library/archives/stat/stat7.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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