Best Tank of World War II

[Mihail]

The il-2 was not slow, but it was not a fighter thus not very fast, it was called a flying tank because of it's armor and how well protected it was, it was called a tank killer because of how effective it was to counter-tanks with.

And I highly doubt america could have won ww2 without us, because england would have simply lost, afrika would have been taken, england would have been taken, and there would have been no way for america to attack germany if that had happened.

Our men fought for our homes, yours did not, yours fought for your goverment that's it. Your mind is cluster-fucked with alot of russian hate.

[Anlushac11]

The B-29 Superfortress, B-32 Dominator, and B-36 Peacemaker were all designs intended to allow the US to bomb Germany from the USA.

If Germany had won in Europe I feel the war against Japan would have taken longer to win because the US would have had to divert Naval forces to the Atlantic. But the end result would still have been Germany's defeat. What would have been likely is a US task force taking the Azores and later the Canary Islands and Iceland. These would have had large airbases built on them to mirror operations against Japan from the Marianas. US carrier groups and Bombers from these Islands would have kept pressure on Germany while US, Canada, and Brit in Exlie from Canada built up for a invasion. The needs to deliver a amhibious landing force across the Atlantic to Europe would have been greater and required more resources which leads to my earler prediction that a invasion would not have happened til at least summer of 1945.

As for Soviets?, not sure. It is said the Red Army was prepared to withdraw from Moscow like they did before Napoleons arrival. Other sources say the Soviets were prepared to turn Moscow into antother Stalingrad.

I have other sources that state Stalin refused to leave Moscow and said that it was win or die here, that if Moscow falls, then Russian falls. It is also stated that he refused the requests of his generals to withdraw to safety east of Moscow. What I do know is that if the Germans had captured Moscow it would have cut the rail supply lines feeding Stalingrad and Leningrad, Moscow was the hub of all the rail lines.

Even if the Soviets had been defeated the Partisans would have tied up huge numbers of German troops and equipment.

You can say what you want about the Americans but if the Soviets had been forced East of Moscow the US would have made every effort to get the Soviets what they needed to continue the fight.

Sorry Mihail, at a max speed of 258mph (415kph) the Il-2 was considered slow but in its defense it is hard to detroy.

[Mihail]

Depends on what version of the IL-2, IL-2M, IL-4, IL-10, all used commonly during the war. And also, if you compare it with the hawker Hurricanes they were only a little slower, besides the Il-10 which was of equal speed.

[Count Nosferatu]

Originally Posted by Nesh_reanimator

In Kursk, if you are interested, were 900 000 soldiers, 10 000 artilery, 2700 (!!) tanks. It`s not propoganda, it is facts.

Fact is it? Says who?

Since when would the Germans have most of their available tanks built up in one sector just to straighten out a salient?

NOTE: the IS3 wasn't the best tank insofar as the British 105mm could make mincemeat out of it. Why? NOt only was the 105mm the best postwar gun until the 120mm Rheinmetall and 120mm British rifled but the Pike's engine was so slow it could easily be outmanoeuvered. For this reason if nothing else it was outphased very early on.

And I'd rather have a Stuka with twin 37mm cannons [Rudel's tool of art] than an equivalent Il2...

[Mihail]

it's true, kursk was the single largest tank battle in history.

The IS3 infact was

And I myself would prefer neither I would refer a la-7

[USMA2010]

The La-7 was a fine fighter, but the engine was prone to overheating. Here is good comparison between the Tempest and the La-7.
HAWKER TEMPEST
Max speed: 426MPH/686KMH
Service Ceiling: 11,125 m/36,500 ft
Armament: 4x 20mm Hispano Cannon
Secondary Weapons: 8 Rockets, 2x 500lb bombs, 2x 1000lb bombs.

Lavochkin La-7
Max Speed: 415mph 665 kmh
Service Ceiling: 36,090ft
Weapons: 3x 20mm ShVAK cannon.
Secondary armament: 2x 100kg bombs.

Oh, Max Speed of the IL-2 was 283MP/H...
It was very slow, but hard to kill. However, Rudel used his dual 37mm cannon to kill 9 of them in air combat.

[FreakNasty]

Originally Posted by Anlushac11

HVSS does not mean easy eight. The HVSS suspension was available on all models of Shermans except the Jumbo. There were even M4A1 cast hull 76mm Shermans with HVSS, and M4A3(105MM) HVSS versions.

actually it does. the prototype sherman tanks with HVSS were M4A3's. they were named M4A3E8 and nicknamed "Easy Eight". the E8-suffix on the prototypes comes from the E-8 shape of the HVSS. the suffix "E8" however was never used on M4A1's and M4A2's that also have been upgraded with HVSS, but later on it also wasn't on M4A3's. the M4A3E8 is identical to the M4A3(76)W HVSS. whatever, you are right that only M4A3's with HVSS were nicknamed "Easy Eight", but E8 stands for HVSS...

[Count Nosferatu]

Originally Posted by Mihail

it's true, kursk was the single largest tank battle in history.

The IS3 infact was

And I myself would prefer neither I would refer a la-7

I'm aware of that but how do you know that it was?

What I'm getting at is that I wouldn't trust the sources for Kursk.

[Mihail]

The LA-7 did not have a heating problem.

[Hohenzollern]

" On land, I am a god. At sea, I am a coward." - Adolf Hitler circa 1940


I don't think our Russian allies really understood just how difficult and costly it would have been for Germany to conquer England in 1940. You see they had this little ole thing called the Royal Navy. One of the most powerful and professional military forces afloat at that time. With 18 dreadnought battleships, 3 dreadnought battlecruisers, 7 aircraft carriers, 15 heavy cruisers, 46 light cruisers and about 100 destroyers and smaller craft.

Granted this force was spread out some but even the Home Fleet was powerful enough to disrupt or stop any cross channel invasion provided the RAF could give effective air cover. Those Stuka boys were real good at hitting stationary and slower moving ground targets, but I wonder how good they would be at hitting a capital ship moving at 21 to 30+ knots while throwing up a storm of 5.25 inch, 40mm and 20mm triple A at them. All the while being dogged by seasoned Spitfire and Hurricane drivers. And don't even think to count the level bombers as effective ...... unless the Heinkels and Junkers were dive or torpedo bombing .... then they couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with the broadside of another barn when it came to anti-shipping via high-level bombing.

The Royal Navy was a first class deterrant to a successful Sea Lion.