Poll: Best Western Allied tank of World War II

Actually I know that tanks that entered service in 1935 can't stand up to tanks that are a decade younger.
My post was intended to be ironic....

 

Yes, I know.
I was answering the point that all the tanks on the list were very late WW2 tanks. Sorry for any confusion!

 

I can't see why so many people apparently prefer the Firefly over the E8. It had a better gun, no doubt, but its armour was lighter, it lacked a hull MG, its tracks were more narrow and its suspension obsolete to that of the Easy Eight. It was, overall, much more up to the challengeof facing Tigers than the Firefly.

 

I....ghg.....errrg.....Oh, just shut up. You see, the Konigstiger had ALOT of armor and fire power to make up for the lack of mobility, and, since the B1 was slow and unmanuverable, the German tanks just went right around it and hit it in its weak spots. If you hit the S35 DEAD center in the front of the hull, you would literally split the tank in half, top to bottom.

 

Maybe with an 88, but the most common German tank guns of the period couldn't penetrate the Somua from the front at all. This was a problem the Panzer also faced with the B1 and the Matilda II.

 

Okay, the S35 had the top and bottom of the hull BOLTED together, so if a tank round, say 50mm+, it would break the bolts and the tank would fall apart.

 

More so with the Matilda and the B1. the Somua could be penetrated frontally by the 50mm equipped Panzer III's. (Few of which were available admittedly since the 37mm was still the standard). Another option was the 37mm equipped with PzGr 40 (tungsten) ammo ...also the Panzerjaegar I was available in limited numbers. the 75mm L/24 of the Panzer IV using AP ammo could do the job also with a well placed hit.
As Patton pointed out the bolted together hull was another weakness as was the poor quality of French cast armor which was found to be deficient due to impurities.
That being said, the Somua with its decent armor protection(for that day) and its good 47mm gun and better mobility than the B1 or Matilda was a fairly potent tank though on the verge of being obsolete.

 

Agreed, the gerams had tank guns that could penetrate a Somua, but these were as you pointed out only available in limited numbers.

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In no way was the Somua on the verge of being obsolete.
Like every tank it would have been improved.
Under it's 1940 configuration it would have stayed at least equal to german tanks till early 1942.
The french army planned to improve it with a 2 man turret and a 75 mm gun,as well as a more powerfull engine.
This improved version would have been up to the PZKW 4 series troughout the war.

 

Firefly like medium tanks abd it had a longer gun thatn the us sheman