PING!

Some time ago, while talking with former crewmen of 1/2 tracks armed with the old French 75 mm that saw action in the Pacific, one of them showed me photos of Jap tankettes and even mediums whose turrets had been literally wrenched off by the impact of a HE round-l guess when the armor is thin enough tyou don't really need AP shot...

 

wait five sec's see if your alive look for damage then countinue but the TD has you so it's just a matter of time before a nother hit but it won't be a ping more like a boom!

I LIKE TD"S A LOT

 

FIrst if the shot didn't hit the ammo of the engine or any other vital part... the crew would be like oh s*** and be messed up. THen the 2nd shell would pry kill therm all.

 

Just read a story about a tanker in Normandy on D Day. His tank, cromwell I think, or something similar from the allied like a Sherman or Churchill, was struck 3 or 4 times by a German beach AT gun around the 60mm size.

Whilst no shot penetrated, the orator, who was in the turret, said it made him go deaf for a fair while. I don't recall if it was days or hours but it certainly upset him.

I suppose it could be likened to being in bell that is hit very hard like in the cartoons.

I'll try and dig out the story again and flesh out some facts.

FNG

 

That must have been a 5cm Pak38, surely?

 

Found it.

A sherman from 70th Tank Battalion C Company landing on Utah Beach.

Struck 4 times from a French 47 mm AT gun, which might actually still be there as a tank turret?. Each shot failed to penetrate but did crack the armour? Does that mean a physical crack was put through it? Anyone any ideas?

Anyway a crewman recalls that his hearing was permanently damaged which suggests more than a tuneful ping

FNG

 

There was a story (sorry, can't remember where I read it, but it was a memoir) of a Vickers Mk.VI which was hit in the turret by, I think a 37mm. The Gunner and commander looked at the entry hole, looked at the exit hole and then looked at each other. Then the gunner dug into his kit bag, pulled out a pair of socks and proceeded to plug the holes with them. Then they carried on with the mission.

 

lol - probably improved the armour of the tank that way...

 

A recent program on the History Channel (US). showed an interview of some years ago with a King Tiger commander. He said that he could "feel it"when the turret was struck by a Sherman 75 mm round, but that, of course, there was no danger because the round would never penetrate.

 

Found this at http://users.pandora.be/dave.depickere/ ... esbob.html
'
Clang!" The impact of the high-velocity armor-piercing shell shook the King Tiger and hurled Rheinhold Minke, its commander, against the cupola. He straightened up and realized that he, his crew, and his tank, were unhurt. They had taken a direct hit at pointblank range from a Sherman and were unscathed. The terror brought on by the impact gave way to a sense of invulnerability and then, blood lust. "Get 'em, Kurt!" he shouted to his gunner.
Kurt stomped on the treadle plate that rotated the turret. Slowly the huge gun came to bear on the Sherman not 200 meters away. An evil grin spread across Minke's face as he imagined what was going on inside that Sherman right now. "Nothing can save you now!" he muttered triumphantly. The huge gun belched fire, and the Sherman's turret was half torn-off by the impact. The driver's hatch popped open and the driver climbed out, his clothing smoking. "Mow him down!" Minke shouted, but Kurt was already firing the machine gun. The American got ten yards and then his body flopped into the snow like a broken doll.
Another round hit the turret; Minke's nose was broken when his face hit the cupola. Kurt's arm was cut by a metal flake that had spalled off the inside of the turret at the impact point. The spot was still glowing a dull red. Again the huge turret traversed, again the mighty gun roared, and another Sherman disintegrated.
More rounds hit, clawing deep gouges in the Tiger's armor, but never penetrating it. Minke's crew was battered and cut, but not incapacitated. Working methodically, they destroyed two more of their attackers. Then the Americans fled. Rheinhold Minke, king of the battlefield, nursing two cracked ribs and bleeding from the nose, let them go.'

 

:roll:

 

Wow

So it doesn't go Ping then.

Must be very scary being in steel box packed with explosives, with inflamable liquid stored behind you and unsighted guns bouncing shells off you.

I'm surprised the claustraphobia, fear and darkness didn't drive the tankers mad.

It also explains why you hear stories of tankers hurriedly abandoning their tank after a none fatal hit when cold logic says you stay inside and return fire for king and country/citizan stalin etc

FNG