What is the best tank in WW2

Bore 2.24 in (57 mm)
Shell types
Armour-piercing
APC from September 1942
APCBC from January 1943
APCR from October 1943
APDS from March 1944
HE
Range: 5000 yards (4,600 m)
Muzzle velocity: 3000 ft/s (900 m/s) APDS round
Penetration: 60 to 140 mm at 1000 yards (900 m) depending on shell/gun combination
Crew: 6
Weight: including Carriage: 2520 lb (1140 kg)
Traverse: 45 degrees left and right of centre.
The gun carriage was of the split trail type with a large gun shield.




wikipedia ( not the best source)


another bad source

A.P.D.S. (A.P. Discarding Sabot, 1944),

http://miniatures.de/html/int/AT-57mm-6pdr-gun.html


anyway, I am fairly certain that I have read about the Sabots during the Ardennes battle numerous times..



140 mm at 1000 yards (900 m)

wink wink etc..

better source maybe

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/unitedkingd ... Tables.htm


APDS (SABOT) 4,000 0 146, 136

 

There weren't employed as many during the war, though.

 

I guess that any tank can be destroied by any tank in the right conditions...

 

Pretty much, although it is relative, as you point out.

 

the best tank , as a compromise of speed, hitting power,range and total
cost is the panther , no question .
the most influential was the T34 ,german tankist in the winter 41 were
screaming for the manufacture of T34 in germany ,in fact there was a
battalion of reequiped T34 (+ commander cupola , +radio ) used by
the "Das Reich" at kursk .

 

I still think T-34/85 was the bestwith all around comprimise and the 85mm helped increase the firepower

 

Yes, but the 85 mm. wasn't really that powerful. Its armour penetration was about the same as the 7,5 cm Pak 40.

 

I have seen polls where the Panther was voted best

 

so (exit)polls also shown that Kerry would win the election.

 

it was not an exit poll, it was the election,


there was no primary either :roll:

 

also the T-34/85 had a lower productipon cost (im pretty sure). and also the 7-34 had a simplier construction process

 

That doesn't make the tank better.

 

still they are very close

 

Which tanks are close?

 

Firepower is not such a simple term that it can be estimated by barrel diameter. The 75 mm L/70 was better in the AP role. The 85 mm would have a larger HE round, however.

The T-34/85 was als of overall lower quality than the Panther, and had armor with high BHN values, so that even if a shot did not penetrate, splintered fragments could still fly around inside.

In a strategic sense the T-34/85 is better, but tactically (and in one vs one engagements) I would rate the Panther higher.

 

I would rather be in a Panther than a T-34(any variant), but the tanks were pretty much equal, so i would say it comes down more to personal preferance.

 

How were these tanks pretty much equal?

The Panther was vastly superior in anti-tank firepower, whereas the T34/85 had a more potent HE shell. The Panther's frontal armour was much thicker than that of the T34/85; it was also of a more beneficial BHN value. Neither tank was renowned for its reliability, but the T34/85 was much easier to maintain simply because its engine and suspension were of a simpler design and could be replaced integrally. The German tank had better sights and was more roomy. The Russian tank weighed a lot less.

All of the above are points at which the Panther and the T34/85 are not "pretty much equal", the advantage going to different tanks in different cases. Like Panzerman already said, in practice the Panther will be better suited to win battles where the T34/85 is more suited to win wars.

The M4A3E8 should really be considered here, though. It had thicker armour than the Panther on all sides, a gun comparable to the Pak40 and the 85mm Zis-s-53, good reliability and speed, smaller weight than the Panther and some other interesting features such as wet storage.

 

Back to the "best tanks of WW2" debate, please, gentlemen...

 

it's the T-34 or the Panther Tank, but i think it is the T-34 :bang:

 

i have to agree on the M4A3E8

Reliable, superior aiming devices (optics+motorized turret), adequate armour, superb mobility, and relative confort for the crew (makes em fresher in the battle)

and most imortant of all: available in large numbers.

btw: here a comparision of the us 76 mm hvap and the russian 85mm hvap, the US gun is very superior.

"as long as technology is vaguely similar, it's the numbers that win"
(don't remember where i read it tough)

Aglooka