Best Tank of World War II

[USMA2010]

Ahh ha! We have one more intellegent person here! I agree, the M4A3E8 is a great tank, my favorite allied tank of the war. But again, I would say overall the Panthers were the best.

[Thrall]

I personally believe that although the T-34 rocked that the King Tiger was the overall best because it was slower, but had tremendous fire power and could basically fire a whole through any tank.

[Lt. Taco]

Originally Posted by Thrall

I personally believe that although the T-34 rocked that the King Tiger was the overall best because it was slower, but had tremendous fire power and could basically fire a whole through any tank.

i dont know what kinda advantage being slow is. It did have fire power but firepowers no good if it doesnt get to the battlefield. The shermans however were reliable and some variants such as the firefly could actually put a dent in something.

[+Fascista+]

They say the best tank of WW2 was the Communist T-34 tanks. I say it was the Nazi's Tiger Tank. That tank was beautiful...a magnificant masterpiece of warfare. The way it would send the enemy's running with intimidation and the way it ripped other tanks apart. To the man who designed it, and to the Fuhrer who put it into action...I salute you both Kameraden!

[Hohenzollern]

I change my vote ....the best tank of WWII was one of those big silver round ones sitting near the harbor over there in Hawaii, full to the rim with fuel oil. Now thats a nice tank!

[absolute10]

twas the tiger tank...thing

[Fake Shemp]

Neo-nazis... eek....

Anyway, that one three-turreted Soviet tank that couldn't turn owns all.

[Anlushac11]

T-234/85 was not without its problems.

The larger turret and longer gun caused the tank to be nose heavy which made it hard to turn and caused excessive wear on the rubber roadwheels in front. To reduce track wear it seems many Soviet tanks used steel tracks which wore well but were incredibly noisy. Reading a interview with a Soviet tanker one thing he loved about the Sherman was that it had rubber pads on the tracks and rubber bushed track pins. The rubber pads made it possible for the Shermans to move up quietly and get alot closer before being heard or detected. The same Soviet tank commander said the T-34's steel tracks clacked so loud he could not imagine how they could suprise anyone due to the noise.

The T-34/85 turret was a major improvemnt in firepower and useability. By adding a loadder it freed the tank commander to actually command and maintain tactical awareness. It also improved the rate of fire by having a dedicated loader.

The downside was that the larger turret was not a ballistically shaped as the T-34/76 was. The front had a large shot trap and the sides were more vertical which reduced the probability of a shot glancing off.

The Early Panthers were the ones with the problems. It is a common misconception that all models of the Panther were trouble prone. The first batch of 20 early pre production Panthers and the D models were very trouble prone. The early models had the evil prone to catching fire 600hp Maybach HL 210's, electric radiator cooling fans, and had 16 bolts holding the road wheels on. The D models also had a shot trap problem where the rounded gun manlet deflected some shells down into the hull roof destroying the vehicle.

The A model had the same much improved and not prone to catching fire 700hp Maybach HL230 as the Tiger I ausf E, but now it was pulling around 11 tons less weight. The electric fans were replaced by gear driven fans, the transmission was improved, the roadwheels upgraded from 16 to 24 bolts which all but eliminated sheared off bolts and loss of roadwheels.

The trap shot problem was not eliminated til the late G model which had the chin armor added to the bottom of the gun manlet.

I chose the Panther because it had a excellent gun, excellent mobility, very good armor protection, its interleaved suspension and wide tracks gave a very smooth ride, and it was actually fairly easy to produce.

And contrary to popular belief it was indeed a medium tank. Panthers were used in medium tank units and served with PzIV's in a 50/50 mix except SS units which might have a higher number of Panthers in a medium tank unit.

[USMA2010]

Originally Posted by +Fascista+

They say the best tank of WW2 was the Communist T-34 tanks. I say it was the Nazi's Tiger Tank. That tank was beautiful...a magnificant masterpiece of warfare. The way it would send the enemy's running with intimidation and the way it ripped other tanks apart. To the man who designed it, and to the Fuhrer who put it into action...I salute you both Kameraden!

Looks like we got a skinhead on our hands boys! Lets lynch 'em!

The Tiger sucked. It may have caused terror, but guess what else did? The sound of that P-47 loaded with rockets or bombs coming to rip that Tiger a new one.

Anyone who salutes Hitler is f*cked up.

[Munchausen]

It's been said that the Panther is a German refinement of the T-34/76. I have to agree. But all in all, the T-34/85 is still the best if your a general. The more ammo you can send downrange, the more damage you can render. It turns tactics into a mere matter of mathematics. Look at Kursk; again if you will. Sure the Wehrmackt had wonderful tanks but they were dragged into a brawl that needn't have happened. The 88's had enough range that they didn't have to go toe-to-toe with the Sov't. But they did and attrition was in the favour of the Reds. So there. If I were a tanker who had his choice, sure, I'd go king tiger too. Fancy schmancy, innit? But if I really had my choice, I'd be in the air force driving a Hawker Typhoon or a Mustang with some good ground attack capability.