Overkill or Target Practice?

Iam just wondering because there are many penetrations to the turret.

 

are you sure they are penetrations or just heavy impacts?

some of the holes look quite small for an anti tank round?

FNG

 

Or a bunch of Yobo's having fun ?

We have road signs peppered with that many holes along our roads

Kym

 

Both trying to shoot a tank with any available weapon even though most of it wouldn't stand a chance of penetrating the armour, and using knocked-out tanks for target practice were fairly common. But since this tank seems to have been fired at from several directions I'm assuming they just let loose on it with everything they had when it came rolling at them.

The small impacts are probably 20mm or 37mm Flak.

 

Nor was it uncommon for tankers to fire a main-gun round into a disabled tank--though the tank in the photo has clearly been severely punished--just to see if anyone was "playing possum" inside.
The assumption being that sometimes the enemy would use a knocked-out tank for ambush purposes...
Clearly not the case in this instance however.

Tim

 

What happened to the barrel? It seems to have "split" - round explode inside? Will somebody rid me of my ignorance?

 

I think neither.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4635/tanks/kv1/kv1_hit_several_times.jpg

Another picture, 30 hits just in the turret.

 

I think thats a KV-2 the only things the Germans had to defeat it when they first encountered it were the infamous 88s.

 

I can confirm that the picture Selesque posted is a KV1.

Compare the turret of the picture Selesque posted with this:



And then with this.

 

My mistake it is a KV-1, not a KV-2 thanks for spotting that one Panzerman

 

I'm no expert when it comes to Russian tanks. But I don't think that the photo is of a KV1.
Look at the gun mantlet. Also the shape & angle of the engine decking is not right.
Click on the link posted above to see a Kv1. The turret shape is also quite different.

 

The original picture is a JS2 tank - compare it to this picture:

http://armoured.vif2.ru/js-2_ar_1.jpg


Selesque's is a KV1, as eveybody has said!

 

It is in fact a KV-1 or KV-1A with the old short 76.2mm L11 gun, which means the picture Panzerman posted will not immediately convince everyone that he is, in fact, right.

Apologies for breaking the page.

 

It is a different version, but still a KV1. Bad example picture.

 

Hit over 30(!) times only on the turret side (without any sign of penetration), this KV model 1940 (with F-32 gun, 39 calibres long) was finished by side hit by an 88. (Original picture explanation)

There is still something that is not right with the first picture. It has no markings. Of any kind. And I'm not that sure it is a JS tank. The large number of concentrated small hits would sugest a few burst of 20mm gun. There are 4 simingly same caliber holes in the turet, and it seems that there is a german infantry helmet on this thing. The turret does look like Ricky's posted picture. But, if the small impacts are 20mm gun projectiles, who wil fire at a JS's turret with a 20mm? And why?

 

when armour is approaching people have a tenency to fire everything at it, especially stuff like 20 and 30 mm cannon and AA guns.

whilst they can't penetrate the armour they force the tank to button up reducing it's effectivness, it may also get crew hits prior to them ducking.

also there are lots of things on a tank that are vulnrable to light guns such as perescopes, viewing slits, radio annteny, tracks, turret and gun mounts and rings

so it's a case of anything is better than nothing and you may get lucky

FNG

 

IIRC, Soviet policy was to shoot any and every weapon available above rifle calibre at armour, for the reasons given by FNG.

 

Well, the noise of projectiles constantly hitting the tank is a factor too. But I don't know how much... Engine noise, tanks noise, artilery shells exploding, infantery fire, aircrafts, mines, grenades, spent cartriges ejected, comander yeling orders.... Lots of noises in those tanks. You had to have nerves of steel to drive around in a tank with closed hatches

 

The markings may have burned off, this tank seems to have suffered from internal fires (the engine deck for one thing is blown open). And if it's not a JS-2 what else could it be?

 

Selesque, compare the turrets:

*Edit: I added the original pic.