The best weapon of WW2?

One last thing in my anti-Tiger rant.

Tiger I versus a Soviet Infantryman with a PTRD 14.5mm Anti-tank rifle.

Result - One Tiger with its optics shot out in standard Soviet practice. One company from 502 reported that seven Tigers were put out of action in a single day due to having the Optics damaged by A/T rifle fire.

Hence the phrase "The bigger they are..."

 

I think THE WEAPON was a sheaf of granades that the Soviet soldiers hand-made, and used against Wermacht tanks. All you need to do to put the tank out of action, is to throw the sheaf on the tank, mostly no matter on which part of the tank. Comparing to the american "sticky bomb", which you must to adjust to the tank's track, to put the tank out of order.
You can think that I'm writing that, only because I am russian, and I am a patriot of my nation... well, partialy yes , but just think about it, and compare the "sheaf" to the "sticky bomb".
Maybe some people didn't know about the even existence of such weapon, but the Soviet soldiers hand-made it. They took a few RGD granades, binded it together, and got a mortal weapon.

 

Which was copied off the German versions....

 

Sloniksp, I agree with you 100%. )

 

TheRedBaron, what is your messege refered to? Is it refered to the PTRD 14, or to the "sheaf"?

 

Multy headed grenades were first used by the Germans in WW1 and copied by the Soviets.

 

ok, maby somthing a bit diffient i picked the tiger 2 because of the big gun, Panther any better? it set the basic design for the leopared 1 and 2 btw. i cant spell worth crud today dont know why.

 

The Leopards have no design heritage to the Panther other than they all have turrets and tracks.

You watch too many 'Discovery Channel' programmes.

The Leopard I owes more to the M48 than the Panther.

As for the Panther... Hmmm... Good gun... Poor engine, poor transmission, early ones had a habit of bursting into flames, armour spalling...

Face it... the Germans didnt build perfect tanks.

 

The cylindrical warhead was also available as a hand grenade without the stick under the designation Handgranate 43. This cylindrical warhead could be used for other purposes: combined with a pressure-activated trigger they served as mines.
Several Handgranate 43 warheads could also be combined with a Stielhandgranate to make a large explosive grenade bundle. This combination of one Stielhandgranate 24 with 6 of the same warheads without the stick was very popular and often referred to as the "Geballte Ladung" ("forceful/big charge") by the troops although this designation is rather colloquial and was actually semi-officially in use for an engineer weapon. The complete weapon combination looked like a flower with the grenade stick of the central Stielhandgranate as the stalk and the Hd.Gr.43 warheads surrounding it like petals (see sketch at right). It was often used as an improvised makeshift AT weapon.

Hand Grenade Handgranate

 

so the americans did? btw. the T34 was the best tank of ww2.

 

LOL... make ya mind up.

Why would you choose that tank?

I can think of a few problems with it but I would love to hear your arguments for it...

I would say either the Centurion, JS-III or Pershing were the better tanks as they were the last ones to arrive and therefore by definition should have been the 'best'.

Its all pointless. Its the crew that make the difference.

Just look at Hermann Bix taking on KV-1s with a 38t...

 

The "stickey bomb" was not an American invention but British. The 74 S.T. Grenade or "Sticky Bomb ". The US did not have a "Sticky Bomb".
Sticky bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What you seem to be describing is the improvised munition featured in "Saving Private Ryan". As regards to the hand grenade you metioned there is this,


The cylindrical warhead was also available as a hand grenade without the stick under the designation Handgranate 43. This cylindrical warhead could be used for other purposes: combined with a pressure-activated trigger they served as mines.
Several Handgranate 43 warheads could also be combined with a Stielhandgranate to make a large explosive grenade bundle. This combination of one Stielhandgranate 24 with 6 of the same warheads without the stick was very popular and often referred to as the "Geballte Ladung" ("forceful/big charge") by the troops although this designation is rather colloquial and was actually semi-officially in use for an engineer weapon. The complete weapon combination looked like a flower with the grenade stick of the central Stielhandgranate as the stalk and the Hd.Gr.43 warheads surrounding it like petals (see sketch at right). It was often used as an improvised makeshift AT weapon.

Hand Grenade Handgranate

 

Those tanks were complete crap as compared to the M-5 in the recconaissance job. Thinking of it, they were even worse as compared to wheeled vehicles

 

My favorite is the ENfield and the Kar 98k
also the potato masher and the bren gun

 

All completely useless as far as Naval Gunfire Support is concerned. Does this thread have any point at all?

 

Not at all LOL.

 

>>I think THE WEAPON was a sheaf of granades that the Soviet soldiers hand-made, and used against Wermacht tanks. All you need to do to put the tank out of action, is to throw the sheaf on the tank, mostly no matter on which part of the tank. Comparing to the american "sticky bomb", which you must to adjust to the tank's track, to put the tank out of order.
You can think that I'm writing that, only because I am russian, and I am a patriot of my nation... well, partialy yes , but just think about it, and compare the "sheaf" to the "sticky bomb".
Maybe some people didn't know about the even existence of such weapon, but the Soviet soldiers hand-made it. They took a few RGD granades, binded it together, and got a mortal weapon.<<

If you want a candidate for the best improvised anti tank weapon that worked so well it was retained till the 1950's the PIAT Projector Infantry Anti Tank projected a two pound bomb from an improvised projector that was more powerful than the bazooka and could project bombs to considerable distances but was originally only developed as a weapon for local defense volunteers.

It allowed the firer to fire from inside an AVF or a building as there was no flame back blast so it was more than handy in street fighting. It used a powerful spigot spring for initial launching before the charge fired.

For terifying weapons both to the enemy and the crew the Northorp projector takes some beating hundreds were built in 1940 it fired a glass projectile of phosphorpus to destroy tanks . It worked but was so dangerousit was withdrawn once the invasion was no longer likely.

 

MIke, DO you have any references for your statments. A bundle of grenades knocking out a tank? The Germans had a similar design, the panzerfaust was much mor destructive.

The question needs to be more specific, because we could argue the Aircraft was the best weapon of ww2. Capable of battling over any terrain, whether it be snow, mud or even ocean, and was capable of destorying Battleships, the heavist tanks, devastating to infantry formations, and could and did hold up entire armies such as the Germans during the Normandy Invasions.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zergwraith
I think THE WEAPON was a sheaf of granades that the Soviet soldiers hand-made, and used against Wermacht tanks. All you need to do to put the tank out of action, is to throw the sheaf on the tank, mostly no matter on which part of the tank. Comparing to the american "sticky bomb", which you must to adjust to the tank's track, to put the tank out of order.
You can think that I'm writing that, only because I am russian, and I am a patriot of my nation... well, partialy yes , but just think about it, and compare the "sheaf" to the "sticky bomb".
Maybe some people didn't know about the even existence of such weapon, but the Soviet soldiers hand-made it. They took a few RGD granades, binded it together, and got a mortal weapon.

The "stickey bomb" was not an American invention but British. The 74 S.T. Grenade or "Sticky Bomb ". The US did not have a "Sticky Bomb".
Sticky bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What you seem to be describing is the improvised munition featured in "Saving Private Ryan". As regards to the hand grenade you metioned there is this,


The cylindrical warhead was also available as a hand grenade without the stick under the designation Handgranate 43. This cylindrical warhead could be used for other purposes: combined with a pressure-activated trigger they served as mines.
Several Handgranate 43 warheads could also be combined with a Stielhandgranate to make a large explosive grenade bundle. This combination of one Stielhandgranate 24 with 6 of the same warheads without the stick was very popular and often referred to as the "Geballte Ladung" ("forceful/big charge") by the troops although this designation is rather colloquial and was actually semi-officially in use for an engineer weapon. The complete weapon combination looked like a flower with the grenade stick of the central Stielhandgranate as the stalk and the Hd.Gr.43 warheads surrounding it like petals (see sketch at right). It was often used as an improvised makeshift AT weapon.

Hand Grenade Handgranate