The ten best machines and ten best Small-arms of WW2

IMHO, it sounds Russian, but thing I'm suspecting is that how the che- goes to cha?

 

IMHO it doesn´t, but it doesn´t matter, does it? The reason for "cha" can be explained (qualified guess), that the Russians tended to speak of many weapons in female form: "tridtsat´chetvyorkha" -for T-34, "Katyusha", "Pepesha" (PPSh) etc. For some reasons, they couldn´t apply this to "Tigr" of "Ferdinand", but it worked with "Pantyera".

 

Just a little schoolboy I am, who knows nothing...

 

right, Sir!

 

The best warmachine is by my humble opinion Il-2

 

Effective against ground targets maybe and durable but very hard to fly. The pilots received a medal after 10 hours of flying.

 

First single seat all metal planes were relativly good flyers, later single seat wood wings and fuselage ( known as deska - plank to the pilots) were heavyer, first two saet models ( 1942) had some problems with C.G. ( tail heavy) wich was corrected by new wing with arrow ( so strelkoi) in 1943 ( also known in the west as Il-2m3).
Actually there was a period early in the war when after 10 sorties pilots were promised a golden star of Hero of Soviet Union ( HSU-top soviet medal something like US Congressional Medal of honour). As I reccal only a couple of pilots recived it for that. In that period single seat Il-2's were flying without fighter escorts and in small groups. And losses were horrible mostly due german fighters and flak. Viktor Emelyanenko of 7.GShaP in his book states that there was a period when his entire regiment had only 2 operational planes.
After some modifications in tactics ( mostly larger formations), with aperrance of two seat planes and with fighter escorts loss rates were significatly lowered, the main killer beeing flak. Flak losses were lowered by using larger formations wich ment more targets = less concetrated fire and some planes hitting flak positions.
One should read book written by Viktor Emelyanenko (title translated from Slovene): In the cruel air of War. I don't know the original title or if english translation exists.
Also interview with Yuri Mikhailovich Khukhrikov:
http://www.iremember.ru/pilots/pilots_htm

It is also interesting to note that soviet pilots were given financial rewards for their missions ( every fifth or tenth or planes destroyed). Most pilots used those rewards for improving living conditions for them and their ground crews. Also each pilot was eligable for one glass of vodka for every mission.

 

comments after the posts

i'm glad to see someone listed the M-1 garand- far and away the best rifle
i would not list the M-1 carbine. its a nice little gun but not a war winner
no problems with either the sherman or the t-45. both good choices
liberty ships for sure, without them there's a major shipping problem
of course carriers
ike listed the M-1, the C-47, and the jeep as his choices. he should know
the U-Boat and the US fleet subs
the M-2HB fifty - rock on, and on, and on
the US 105 Howitzer, the 155 long tom and the "88"
sensors- radar, huffduff, sonar
the lancaster, B-17, B-24, B-29 all carried the mail and did a good job
alantic escorts- DEs , flowers, CVEs, river class- take your pick
MG-43
higgens boat and its sisters- without them no landings
the service fleets that kept the warships on the front lines and fighting
F6F- beat the zero as much or more than any other plane
P-38- perhaps the most widely used USAC fighter, was everywhere
Bf-109, FW-140, and the zero- not the best but were there for the whole thing and did a good job in the face of stiff odds
PZ-IV- a good tank that carried most of the load for germany. the tiger and panther were better tanks but the IV did most of the work
the hedgehog- killed a lot of subs
the A-BOMB- the final weapon
the 40mm bofors- best light AA of the war along with the 20mm obericon
the 5"-38- best all around naval gun of the war. everything and everywhere
the red ball express- kept the breakout going
MP-38
the H8K Emily flying boat- the best maritime recon aircraft
the SMLE rifle- another old warrior that was there for it all
Rosie the rivetter- was a major reason for the US war output
air dropped mines- did as much to starve japan as anything
the SBD dauntless- winner of midway [with lots of help]
the TBM [or TBF]- best carrier bomber/ torpedo plane of the war
any of the fine british fighters already listed
the ME 262- first combat jet- a good plane misused and overwhelmed
coal gasifaction- kept germany in the war, a very large part of her fuel was made from coal



OK so I have a rather generous view of what i think of as a weapon. this list is things that either were the best, that answered that call well and long, or were outstanding is some way. i could think of more but this is the cream right now to me

 

mg-42
m-1 garand
panther
german 88
colt 1911
p-51 mustang
bismark
jagdpanther
t-34
sherman

 

From a strategic viewpoint, the Studebaker 6x6 2.5 ton truck also qualifies. ("The Red-Ball Express" would not have been coined if not for the "Stude.")

Also agree with the M1 Garand. Finest semi-automatic rifle in the world at that time. Equipping the GI with an M1 gave him an immediate advantage over his Japanese opponent with his bolt-action Arisaka... and likely his German opponent armed with a K98 Mauser.

The Liberty Ship for sure. Churchill and the British would concur. Without the lifelife provided by shipping--and Liberty ships--the battle for the Atlantic would have been lost.

Where would America have been without the PBY-5a Catalina? It--and earlier versions--served as eyes and ears in the Pacific, and carried quite a sting against Japanese naval forces in the "Black Cat" configuration. It was a legendary flying-boat.

From there, without question there are many fine arms, arnor, ships and aircraft that could plead a passionate case. I have many favorites.

Tim

 

Why? It was slow, relatively short ranged, had poor manouevrability, a low ceiling, and an unremarkable bombload. The only thing in its favour was that it was well armoured ...at least for the pilot and engine... and was crude enough that it could be churned out in record numbers.

 

*Low-tech, but the Hawker Hurricane (so tough and simple that it stayed as front line equipment in Burma thru Aug '45!)
*The Jeep
*The semi-auto rifle
*The assembly lines that mass produced the liberty ships and CVE's
*The Pratt & Whitney radial engine - Hellcats had pieces shot off, and still they returned to the carriers
*The armored CV ( i.e. Illustious-class) that took Kamikaze hits yet continued operations within hours (p.s. I read that these ships influenced the design of the Midway class)
*Browning Hi-power semi-auto, AND twice the ammo of a revolver
*U.S. mark 8 radar
*Proximity-fuzed AA shells
*Big Band music
*"window" - anyone know what that is?
just a partial list mind you

 

Oops I got carried away a bit from the topic question, sorry.
Here's another then:
*MI carbine with the long curved clip (30 rounds??) wow that seems handy for paratroopers, assault, tankers, commandos, anyone.

 

Strips of aluminum cut to a length to reflect radar signals. Used extensively by Bomber Command to disrupt German night ground (and air?) based radar.

 

Here's my tops, in no particular order:
Hawker Hurricane: for helping to win the Battle of Britain
MI Carbine: well, it was good, and it was the ancestor of the M16
Hellcat: for giving the US Navy something that could beat up those Zeros
P51: for giving the US a top-performance bomber escort
M2 heavy machine gun: what would the US infantry have done without it?
Bouncing bomb: instrumental for blowing up German dams
Lancaster: instrumental in carrying bouncing bombs
*Big Boy bomb: instrumental in sinking Axis battleships
B29: what else could carry the atomic bomb?
Atomic bomb: if it wasn't for it, Japan might not have surrendered
*I'm not sure of the name. Can anyone help?

 

'Tallboy', not 'Big Boy'. I'm sure it had a more official name as well.

 

Right. Tallboy. Thanks, Varyag.

 

Despite being a remarkable feat of precision bombing the Dams Raids were basically a failure in terms of what was expected of them, for this reason I would not list the Bouncing Bombs.

The Lancaster had a lot more going for it than simply the Operation Chastise, I certainly wouldn't use that as a reason to pick the aircraft for the reasons above.

The Tallboy was hardly instrumental in sinking Axis Ships, AFAIK it was only used against the Tirpitz, which was already damaged (Perhaps someone can correct me, but was the Tirpitz not being abandoned by this point too?) by midget submarine attacks anyway.

 

It was damaged, but not sunken or abandoned. She was then attacked with Tallboys twice, first on 15 September 1944 when a Tallboy went right through her bow and pretty much ended her career as a sea-going vessel, and then again on 12 November when a near miss capsized her.

 

churchill17:
I wondered when someone would mention the VT 'proximity-fuse."
In terms of aa guns, and artillery, it was a marvel of the first order.

Tim