Effective range

[rocketman]

Sorry if this has been dealt with before, couldn't find it.

What is roughly the effective range of a Pak38 and Pak40 to knock out a Sherman? Consider both side/front hits.

[womble]

Depends where it hits. Turret hits from a 40 will do it at quite long range. Front hull hits, you can forget about useful penetrations at anything but short range. 38s need flank shots at any range, and can penetrate out to quite some distance. Close range (probably less than 500m) hits can penetrate the turret.

I can't be any more precise because it will depend on exactly where the projectile goes in and what angle the target is sitting at. The complexity of the model is why the information provided is very vague. Greater precision would be meaningless.

[Pak40]

From the Handbook of German Military forces:

Pak38

AP ammo can penetrate 2.2 inches at 30d from normal @ 1000 yards

Pak40

APCBC ammo can penetrate 102mm(4.2 in)homog. at 30d from normal @ 1000 yards

Shermans' armor vary based on type but typically the side hull armor is at least 1.5 inches at vertical angle. That would put a Pak38 possibility kill at well beyond 1000 yards.

Shermans frontal upper hull armor is at least 2 inches at about 50 degrees angle. Turret frontal is at least 3 inches. (these are just minimum values. Actual values depend on tank model and vary on different areas of the tank)

Also, I'm not sure if Shermans are Face Hardened plate or homog plate. These have different capabilities against different types of AP rounds that the Germans used.

[Vanir Ausf B]

I'm fairly sure the Shermans were homogenous plate.

[Killkess]

Cast armor or not?

[Vanir Ausf B]

Turrets were cast. Hulls varied. Generally, the Shermans with rounded hull edges were cast, the ones with welded edges were rolled.

[MikeyD]

Hull side armor is vulnerable for everything besides the heavies, and they're not exactly safe. Panther hullside is vulnerable to 6 pounder from 2200 yards. Early Sherman hullfront doesn't look that bad on paper. 2 inches (50.8mm) at a nice steep 56 degrees. What is that, something like equiv 85mm at 90 degrees? Panther G lower hull front is 50mm at 55 degrees, I believe.

There's an odd data table in an authoritative Jentz Panther book. It lists a German estimate of the range a Panther 7.5cm Kw.K penetrates a Sherman. Gun mantlet - 1000m, nose 2800m, glacis - 100m. That number looks like a typo (they dropped a zero?) but they repeat it twice. A T34/85 nose and glacis they put at just 300m. Everything with unsloped armor is practically off the charts. Cromwell glacis penetated from 3400m, Churchill glacis penetrated from 1700.

[womble]

Early Sherman hullfront doesn't look that bad on paper.

It's not bad in (game) practice, either. I've had lots of PaK40 rounds ricochet off "Front Hull" of my Shermans. Worst hit was some spalling, I think.

It lists a German estimate of the range a Panther 7.5cm Kw.K penetrates a Sherman. Gun mantlet - 1000m, nose 2800m, glacis - 100m. That number looks like a typo (they dropped a zero?) but they repeat it twice.

Panther's L70 gun fires about 20% higher muzzle velocity than the L43 or 48 AT gun. It's quite a lot more powerful than the PaK40. In-game it can easily penetrate the glacis of the Sherman from 350m (the only range I've actually had a chance to engage tanks at!).