From Official Army After Action Reports describing the battle at St. Vith, Belgium, during the Battle of The Bulge:
"While the northern and eastern flanks had been heavily engaged, the northeastern sector (Troop A, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron; Company A, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion; Troop E, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron) had been rather quiet. The only excitement there had been when an M8 armored car from Troop B destroyed a (King) Tiger tank.
The armored car had been in a concealed position near the boundary of Troop 3, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron and Company A, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, when the Tiger approached the lines at right angles to move along a trail in front of the main line of resistance. As the tank passed the armored car, the latter slipped out of position and started up the trail behind the Tiger, accelerating in an attempt to close. At the same moment the German tank commander saw the M8, and started traversing his gun to bear on it. It was a race between the Americans, who were attempting to close so that their 37-mm gun would be effective on the Tiger's thin rear armor, and the Germans, who were desperately striving to bring their 88 to bear. Rapidly the M8 closed to 25 yards, and quickly pumped in three rounds; the lumbering Tiger stopped and shuddered; there was a muffled explosion, followed by flames which billowed out of the turret and engine ports, after which the armored car returned to its position."
Sound familiar?
My regards,
Widewing
The only noted exception I would make is that this was a KING Tiger II Tank...not a Tiger I. The King Tiger tank had a rear escape hatch and pistol port on the back of the turret. A weak point. The Tiger I did not have this...it was 80mm thick with an 8 degree slope. It was thicker than the front armor on an M4!
The stats on the Bofors 37mm Anti-Tank Gun.
Penetration: Range, m mm at 60 degrees
300 40
457 33
600 30
900 20
1000 20
1200 15
The US 37 MM
Distance in yards 457 914 1,371 1,828
AP M74 Shot (meet angle 0°)[2] 36mm
AP M74 Shot (meet angle 20°)[5] 25mm
APC M51 Shot (meet angle 0°)[2] 61 mm
APC M51 Shot (meet angle 20°)[5] 53mm
APC M51 Shot (meet angle 30°, homogeneous armor)[21] 53mm 46mm 40mm 35 mm
APC M51 Shot (meet angle 30°, face-hardened armor)[21] 46mm 40mm 38mm 33mm
Wonder what Shell HTC modeled the M8 with.
Softail.