Tiger II

A March 1945 German report stated that the operational ratio of the tank in frontline units was 59 percent of the strength, second only to the Panzer IV with 62 percent and much better than Panther at only 48 percent. This is against some common ideas which want the Tiger II as a big, slow and unreliable monster. Many faults were overexploited by inexperienced drivers but with mature drivers and the needed pauses for restoring and maintenaince reliability greatly increased.


http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Qu...er2/tiger2.htm

__________________

Quoting from your link........

The s.Pz.Abt. 503 was the first operational unit to receive Tiger IIs in late May 1944 but received only 12

Therefore a 59% availability in a training unit - probably Panzer Lehr - and not in combat is not very impressive.

If this 59% refers to the 5 tanks supplied to Panzer Lehr Panzer Kompanie 316 (Funklenk) then 3 tanks out of 5 in total does not speak well of the abilities of the mechanics.

__________________
If dogs don't go to heaven, I'd like to go where they go.

In the June 1944 jump the 101st Airborne Division were issued .30 calibre browning light machine guns. This was in response to a need for a light machine gun that had more fire power than the Browning automatic rifle. The LMG was in fact heavier in weight than the BAR but the increased firepower more than compensated.

When the Division dropped into Holland for Market Garden they were issued with BAR's, however it is not unlikely that many LMG's were also held onto to beef up their firepower.

I believe the correct designation for the Browning LMG is M1919A6. It has a wooden stock. If you own Rendezvous with Destiny there is a good picture of this weapon on the front dust cover.

Of course they also used the tripod-mounted M1919A4 Browning Machine Gun.

__________________
If dogs don't go to heaven, I'd like to go where they go.

Bf 110 G-4/U7, Night Fighter
As Bf 110 G-4, but

Fuel: additional 440 kg GM 1 for 45 min
Flexible armament: without MG 81 Z
Armor: none in aft compartment

Compare with Bf 110 G-2/U7. The first ten Bf 110 G-4/U7 high altitude night fighters for combating Mosquitos were delivered in June 1943, and were in fact converted Bf 110 G-4s. The General Staff ordered that 50% of the aircraft be so equipped on 6/29/43. According to a report in the RLM, the field considered the GM 1 systems to be useless and potentially dangerous ballast in some cases and, since the British never flew at altitudes above 8000 m, these were largely removed. At this time the systems had not yet been fully developed. Trials with Bf 110 G-4/U7 W.Nr. 5457, NM+SE at Messerschmitt's Augsburg facility showed that the aircraft with full GM 1 tank and without ammunition was tail-heavy and unstable at higher altitudes. This effect was exaggerated with extended landing flaps, making any second pass after an aborted approach nearly impossible.

http://stonebooks.com/archives/030608.shtml

__________________

now lets see. i clicked m-1 grande and got fighters?well back to the orriginal subject... i think general patton was right. the m-1 garande was the best, not anymore, mind you. i feel for the m-16 and its bigger brother, the m-15 rifels.

__________________
I hid my brain and forgot where I put it...

Who me? Jk, yeah he said the M1 was good.

__________________
The objective of war is to not die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his! - General Patton
Older men declare war. It is the youth that must suffer. - General Patton

now, of course there is the prototype wepon they are makeing now. cant remeber what its called tho. the one that changes type and cal just by changeing barrels and stocks

__________________
I hid my brain and forgot where I put it...

I don't know either. Probaly an improvement on the M-16. Perhaps something like a cross between the M-16 and a Ak-47?

__________________
The objective of war is to not die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his! - General Patton
Older men declare war. It is the youth that must suffer. - General Patton

eh sorta. not so much the AK but it looks exactally like the m16 just has a shorter barrel when in rifel mode. it has a crap load of mechanics on it, like infer red, night vision, around the corner tracking(i dont know what to call it. it has a hight cal in rifel and mg modes. it has rifel, MG and sub-MG modes.

__________________
I hid my brain and forgot where I put it...

hmmm.. I saw that on the History Channel

__________________
The objective of war is to not die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his! - General Patton
Older men declare war. It is the youth that must suffer. - General Patton

yeah thats where i saw it. mail call right?

__________________
I hid my brain and forgot where I put it...

Yeah.

__________________
The objective of war is to not die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his! - General Patton
Older men declare war. It is the youth that must suffer. - General Patton

" You mean our 76 won´t knock these Panthers out? I thought it was going to be the wonder gun of the war. Why is it I´m always the last to hear about this stuff? Ordnance told me this 76 would take care of anything the Germans had. Now I find you can´t knock out a damn thing with it!"

Ike after first encounters with Panthers

From Yeide´s " The tank killers"

__________________

Kai - id 4gotten how irrit8ing PFC Wilks and 'Gen. Patton' were..... [img]graemlins/no.gif[/img]

Back to the point, I've often wondered why the 76 was introduced when it seemed to offer so little advantage over the original 75....

One of these days I must study the 'Firefly' a little more.

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

When in the IS-2 begin take take picture..

and the IS-3? O.O




And can I get some random tank killing ration?

like 1 panzerIV for 1 sherman? or w.e

__________________
Time is only enemy you'll never get rid of.

All Heavy Tank Regiments had been reequipped from the KV-1 to IS-2 in February '44. The IS-3 did not enter service in time for the war. It appears one regiment was sent East for the Japanese held Manchuria invasion (Op. August Storm) but this is not certain. What is certain was that they did appear in the Berlin Victory Parade of Sept. 7 '45, 52 of them!

__________________
Bah!

How much Combat did the IS-2?

Any good battles they we're in?

__________________
Time is only enemy you'll never get rid of.

As heavy breakthrough tanks the IS-2 was in the spearhead of ALL battles from the beginning of 1944 onwards. The list is too long

See more in http://www.battlefield.ru/index.php?...d=33&Itemid=50

__________________
Bah!

sweeeeeet


still looking for some kind of ratio.

__________________
Time is only enemy you'll never get rid of.

Finding ratios are a more difficult exercise, there is the famous 1 Tiger / 5 Shermans but the base for that is rather vague. And what does it mean anyway? Does one take one battle or one days event if the battle takes more than one day and calculate 'x' Shermans and 'y' M-24s KOed against 'k' StuGs, 'l' Hetzers, 'm' Pz IVs, 'n' Panthers dead? First I don't think this will be easy to find, working from both sides, and then will the data make any sense?

I wouldn't go that way.

__________________
Bah!

yikes! :P

__________________
Time is only enemy you'll never get rid of.

Was the Jagdtiger any good? Im a fan of big tanks.

__________________
Time is only enemy you'll never get rid of.

That's a good point Za, I've heard these "figures" in every group, and have mistakenly quoted them before I realized the frivality of the source.
I kinda think it depends more on the crew/pilot/captain than the machine. The best do tend to gravitate to the best machines for the simple reason that they know what is best, (and get the opportunity)(to save the best operators)(to avoid the blow to morale with their loss).
Best in best alters the status of best to extraordinary superb. Then when one of these gets crushed/shot down/sunk it's a shock.
On any "Sunday", as the football saying goes, a loser can become a giant killer.
The "Majic Bullet", the "Golden BB", (as some pilots say).
I don't think any numbers are "pat", dependable because of the too many varibles that always exist.
A Tiger (after devouring a platoon of Shermans) could be looking out for airplanes and get bushwacked from behind. A Stalin could decimate some StuGs and get nailed by (magnetic mine) infantry. A Cromwell could flank a couple of Panthers and get an "egg" dropped on it from a Stuka. Who knows all the details?
Final numbers and then divide? These are "phoney" numbers for politicians to quote. Not what happens, these are what happened. Overall is not battle by battle, day by day, second by second.
When was the field empty with these exact numbers under perfect conditions?
Never?
Never say never. Unlikely...at best.

__________________
"Danger Will Robinson!"