Confusion over armour penetration tables...

Hey guys!!

I am looking at some armour penetration tables in the book TigerI Heavy Tank by Osprey and I am confused by some things.
It says that the 88mm firing Pzgr39 can pierce 120mm at 100 meters, 110mm at 500 meters and 99mm at 1000 meters, all sloped at 30 degrees from the vertical.
Then on another table it says that the TigerI can penetrate the driver's front plate of the Cromwell at 3500 meters and the driver's front plate of the Churchill at 1300 meters.
It then goes on to say that the TigerI can pierce the nose of the Sherman A2 and A4 at 2100 meters but 0 meters to pierce the driver's front plate!!
How can this be?
I thought Tigers penetrated the fronts of Shermans numerous times, Panthers and Pzkpfw IV's I thought did so as well. Is this table simply wrong?
Out of all of these tanks I am sure the Churchill had the thickest driver's front plate armour so how could the Tiger pierce the driver's front plate of the Churchill and not the driver's front plate of the Sherman from a distance?
Thanks in advance to anyone that can clear this up for me!
Jon

 

Hi Jon :

At present Osprey is still reporting old, and confusing news. In the future I believe Osprey will put it together and remove , hopefully all the typos in their varied selection of books. I will mention I will be co-authoring possibly two books next year on the Fw 190's in the Air battles over the Reich. I have studied the Normandy campaign, especially the W-SS armor units, and during this time the Tiger I's could penetrate andything the Allied armor forces could dish out. The Churchill was easily brewed as was the Sherman. The figures quoted are simply wrong ! You are also correct that the high velocity 7.5cm of the Panther auf A and G as well as the Pz IV H and J could crack either Sherman or Churchill as well.......

Erich

 

Hey Jon,
Look ur quite right...the Churchill did have one of the thickest plates...if you ask my opinion, you should get some updated books.

No offense or anything

 

Thank you very much Erich!
I thought there was a chance that the tables were wrong because it seemed kind of funny that the Tiger could not penetrate the front of the Sherman, but yet it could penetrate the front of a Churchill.
No offence taken, Chaos_Flame, I thought that this would be an updated book, seeing on how it is the New Vanguard Osprey printed in 1999. Like Erich said, though, Osprey is still printing outdated info. Hopefully they will reprint with correct info.
Thanks again guys!
Jon

 

Jon :

don't be alarmed too much. Osprey still has some of the best profile artists in the business. Their napoleonic booklets I thouroughly enjoy. It appears though that their Luftwaffe and even Allied a/c books are not something to be desired as there are gross errors in many of them, painting details and photo captions. Again I have been told that Osprey is trying very hard to clean up their own act and be more reputable.
For actions of the Tiger 1's I would suggest something a bit more indepth, as one of the many Wehrmacht or W-SS armor histories. Surely you will have to cough up a bit of cash but in the long run it will be worth it. suggestion to you if you have the funds is to try and purchase the 2 volumes on the Tiger by Wolfgang Schneider. About $ 95.00 each but the stories and photos are incredible.......save, save, save !!

E

 

I really like the Automotive series Osprey put out in the mid '90's. Goerge Forty's "WWII Tanks" is great.
Chamberlins,"Tanks of the World: 1939-1945" is also good.

 

Thanks Erich, I'll look for those books and start saving up!!
Jon

 

One thing I ought to add is this-
due to the mass production of AFV's the actual strength of an armored hull could vary quite a bit from vehicle to vehicle depending on production flaws, weather, steel type, alloys added, etc.

 

Interesting and very valid point. The same also goes for - to some degree - the penetration capability of the ammunition.