10-31-2020, 08:03 AM | #31 |
Banned
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bristol
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Another field mod was to cover the glacis in sand bags to add another layer of protection.
Zimmerite Paste was used by the Germans to prevent sticky bombs. IIRC this then developed into spaced armour to hold off shaped charges. |
10-31-2020, 10:32 AM | #32 |
Icelandic - Approach With Caution
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Reykjavķk, Iceland
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Magnetic bombs actually. They stopped applying the paste when they discovered that they were the only ones using said bombs.
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10-31-2020, 03:39 PM | #33 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Quote:
As for the skirts and other sheets of steel the Germans started adding - they were not a development of the paste, but a different idea entirely, and were originally intended as a defence not against the HEAT warheads of early LAWs (against which they weren't that useful anyway because those weapons tended to have less stand-off than was optimal so giving them more didn't hurt them much), but against Soviet 14.5mm anti-tank rifles, against which they were reasonably effective. Indeed, their effect vs the AT rifles when mounted on the sides of the Panther's hull was good enough that the Panther II was put on hold, as the weakness of the mid-hull side armour was a major reason for the Panther II's development.
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11-01-2020, 02:16 PM | #34 |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Sticky bombs seem (based on anecdotal evidence) to have mostly adhered to the users' own uniforms, rather than to often-muddy enemy tanks, hence their falling out of use fairly quickly.
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11-01-2020, 04:06 PM | #35 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
They were incredibly dangerous if you were careless or under-trained. Hence why they were rather unpopular with the Home Guard, and with many regular soldiers. People like the Commandos and the Long Range Desert Group found them pretty useful though - but not for tank killing. They were mostly used on trucks and other relatively soft targets, as they had a HE warhead, not a HEAT warhead and were therefore difficult to kill modern tanks with.
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11-02-2020, 11:23 AM | #36 |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Land of Enchantment
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Various folks would apply track-wideners to reduce ground pressure. I think the Americans called these "duckbills". On the other hand, the Germans had to put special narrow tracks on their heavy tanks to get them to fit onto railroad flatcars.
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11-02-2020, 05:44 PM | #37 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
And usually, in practice, didn't bother if they knew the route didn't go through any tight tunnels or the like, even though that was against regulations.
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11-02-2020, 06:13 PM | #38 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Which, it's generally asserted, didn't really provide any useful protection.
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11-02-2020, 06:31 PM | #39 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Things that are broadly effective usually make it into the standard version, so pretty much all field mods are either ineffectual, very situational, or responding to previously unknown threats.
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11-02-2020, 09:44 PM | #40 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Unsually modified Tanks
Quote:
Which might apply in this case - medium tank crews might have generally preferred to have heavier tanks than they were provided. But they didn't have a really effective way to implement that preference.
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Tags |
tank, wwii |
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