Best tanks of WWII

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Warhistoryonline.org "Was the Russian T-34 the best tank of WWII"? Steve McGregor has a very detailed article on the T-34 the most mas produced tank or least one of them in WW2. The T-34 was certainly superior to the Panzer MkIII with it sloped armor that made it safe from frontal shots from the 50mm gun of the Panzer MkIII and the 57 mm anti tank gun.
Unfortunately the T-34 was surprisingly unreliable but it had very low ground pressure so it could handle mud and slush much better then German tanks.
As Germany produced Tiger and Panther Tanks the original 76mm gun was replaced by the more powerful 85mm gun although most T-34's throughout the war were the older 76mm version.
On the other hand the Soviets could out produce the Germans so quantity beats quality.
Arguably the best tank of WWII was the Soviet IS-II.
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Ace Destroyer has a good video of the top Western allied tank ace Sidney Rapdly Walters of Canada. Walters had 18 tank kills including Tigers and Panthers while using a Sherman. It's not clear if it was a Firefly.
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Just saw,an interesting WWII US Army training film" How to destroy a German Tank" it on Periscope Films YouTube.
All sides used infantry alone to destroy tanks as an expedient measure.
It's dangerous but doable. There's one video clip a few years ago of a Syrian teenager all by himself that took out a Russian built tank.
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Military history now.com has an excellent article "Tank clash Panther vs T-34/85. The Panther had better vision and a better gun but only approximately 6k were produced and divided between two fronts. The Panther often broke down vs the more reliable but cramped T-34/85. Panther crews were much better trained . Unfortunately for the Germans quantity beats quality and thus Soviet tanks win.
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Mark Felton has a good video "Sherman Tank vs Panther" about the 37 Tank Battalion lead by Col.Creighton ( so?) Abrams who 20 plus years later was commander of US Forces in Vietnam after General Westmoreland. That's the same Abrams the Abrams tank is named after.
Sherman tanks outnumbered two to one destroyed 11 Panther Tanks for no loss in the battle of Angiecourt (sp?) France.
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An interesting video is"wartime reports of the Panther" World of Tanks.
The author reviews WWII German reports on the Panther and talks two two experts at the French Tank Museum at Samorua (sp?) who have restored a Panther.
Overall it's pretty much what I concluded that the Panther had great frontal armor protection and a great gun although not so much for anti infantry and fortifications but a great tank killing gun. Reliability was an issue although easy to steer maybe the best steering tank of WWII. Easy access to fix the engine but transmission problems and overall reliability problems.
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An interesting video is"wartime reports of the Panther" World of Tanks.
The author reviews WWII German reports on the Panther and talks two two experts at the French Tank Museum at Samorua (sp?) who have restored a Panther.
Overall it's pretty much what I concluded that the Panther had great frontal armor protection and a great gun although not so much for anti infantry and fortifications but a great tank killing gun. Reliability was an issue although easy to steer maybe the best steering tank of WWII. Easy access to fix the engine but transmission problems and overall reliability problems.
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A great web site is english.battlefield.ru
It has translated reports from the Soviet Union that were declassified and made public after the fall of the Soviet Union. One report is of a battle in Poland where the Soviets destroy a number of Panthers and King Tiger tanks.
The other is of a series of tests the Soviets preformed on two captured King Tiger's. They found the King Tiger not to be reliable as it broke down often and required quite a bit of fuel. Due to the lack of molybdenum the armor of the King Tiger was very brittle and even is a high explosive she'll from a Soviet 100mm, 122mm or 152mm mm didn't penetrate it would cause severe sprawling.
The American 76mm high velocity gun could penetrate a King Tiger on the side or tear at 500 meters which is the average combat range of tank to tank combat.
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The American 76mm high velocity gun could penetrate a King Tiger on the side or tear at 500 meters which is the average combat range of tank to tank combat.
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if in brought daylight and open terrain You make it that close
 

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if in brought daylight and open terrain You make it that close
Apparently tank to tank battle's were fought in broad daylight. For a tank to advance at night in enemy territory would be extremely risky actually suicidal.
Large scale tank Battle's do happen in open territory.
In mountainous territory the defender will have the advantage as there are only a few roads at best for a tank to transverse.
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The American 76mm high velocity gun could penetrate a King Tiger on the side or tear at 500 meters which is the average combat range of tank to tank combat.
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you may want to check at what distance a tiger II could shred that sherman frontally
 

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you may want to check at what distance a tiger II could shred that sherman frontally
No doubt. As I stated before the Sherman while a very reliable tank simply had thin armor easily pierced by the Panther or Tiger.
On the other hand Sherman's were cheaper to make more numerous and the British created the Firefly variant with their 17 pounder 76.2 mm gun that killed Tiger and Panther Tanks. Also with the high velocity 76mm American varient the Sherman could take out Panthers and Tiger Tanks from the side or tear and also a turret hit.
The Israeli varient if the Sherman " the super Sherman" took out Soviet made T-54 and T-62 tanks in the 1973 Yom Kippur War with it's French 105 mm gun.
Definitely pluses and minuses for the Sherman.
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No doubt. As I stated before the Sherman while a very reliable tank simply had thin armor easily pierced by the Panther or Tiger.
On the other hand Sherman's were cheaper to make more numerous and the British created the Firefly variant with their 17 pounder 76.2 mm gun that killed Tiger and Panther Tanks. Also with the high velocity 76mm American varient the Sherman could take out Panthers and Tiger Tanks from the side or tear and also a turret hit.
The Israeli varient if the Sherman " the super Sherman" took out Soviet made T-54 and T-62 tanks in the 1973 Yom Kippur War with it's French 105 mm gun.
Definitely pluses and minuses for the Sherman.
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= that sherman driver needed a lot of luck (or bushes - whatever) to get close enough for his chance
 

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= that sherman driver needed a lot of luck (or bushes - whatever to get close enough for his chance)
Yet they did at least on occasion. I already gave some examples.
As far as has a basic infantry support tank the Sherman was excellent at it's 75mm gun ( on the earlier variants) was excellent for that task and the Sherman was reliable. The Sherman was perfectly adequate in tank to tank combat in North Africa especially El Alamain.
The Sherman was outmatched by the Panther and Tiger Tank but with the right gun it could take out either tank.
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Yet they did at least on occasion. I already gave some examples.
As far as has a basic infantry support tank the Sherman was excellent at it's 75mm gun ( on the earlier variants) was excellent for that task and the Sherman was reliable. The Sherman was perfectly adequate in tank to tank combat in North Africa especially El Alamain.
The Sherman was outmatched by the Panther and Tiger Tank but with the right gun it could take out either tank.
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'nuff said
 

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Yet they did at least on occasion. I already gave some examples.
As far as has a basic infantry support tank the Sherman was excellent at it's 75mm gun ( on the earlier variants) was excellent for that task and the Sherman was reliable. The Sherman was perfectly adequate in tank to tank combat in North Africa especially El Alamain.
The Sherman was outmatched by the Panther and Tiger Tank but with the right gun it could take out either tank.
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other shermans be destroyed and the luck of being the sole survivor of their company
Clearly the Sherman was outmatched by the Panther and Tiger Tanks but then again the main purpose of the Sherman was infantry support and not tank fighting.
In US Army doctrine it was tank destroyers not tanks who's main goal was tank fighting. By September 1944 the M-36 Jackson with it's 90mm gun was a threat to Panthers and Tiger's.
The Germans couldn't produce nearly enough tanks and they had issues with reliability,quality of steel especially lack of molybdenum and lack of fuel.
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Clearly the Sherman was outmatched by the Panther and Tiger Tanks but then again the main purpose of the Sherman was infantry support and not tank fighting.
In US Army doctrine it was tank destroyers not tanks who's main goal was tank fighting. By September 1944 the M-36 Jackson with it's 90mm gun was a threat to Panthers and Tiger's.
The Germans couldn't produce nearly enough tanks and they had issues with reliability,quality of steel especially lack of molybdenum and lack of fuel.
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the main purpose of Your TDs was defending when Your army attacked somebody had to deal with Tiger & Panther in the defense Your TD doctrine was defending nothing else, they weren't StuGs
 
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