Originally posted by Hawco
There was a British adaption of the Sherman called the Firefly, had a 25lber gun, one of the best weapons in the war, would open a Tiger like a can of spam.
17 pounder, actually. But, yes, it pwnd . . .
Originally posted by SAS_KID
Did a sherman actually ever DESTROY a Panther much less a Tiger? Heck even with that 76mm they came up with could disable them but could it really destroy a tiger? I think not I read that there are no reports of the tiger's front armour of being pierced. In addition, what size cannon did the first Sherman have? I meen those were like spitwads on Panzer's. I still say the sherman is a Piece of Crap considering how puny it was. To my EXTREMLY limited knowledge of history and regular academics I belive Infantry,planes,and artillery destroyed more tanks than Shermans did. I meen I read a report of 3 M10's ambushing a Tiger firing on the run and got to point blank from the sides and the rear and it just turned its turret Blam! Rinse and repeat and all 3 M10's were left in smoldering wrecks.
Yes.
Yes.
US 76mm could theoretically pierce the thickest front mantlet armor (the thickest) at 100 meters, rear hull at 1000m or more IIRC. This assumes the correct HVAP ammunition.
Standard Sherman had a 75mm gun that was designed off a WW1 artillary piece. It was meant to be an infantry support vehicle, not a tank killer, which job was to fall to the Tank Destroyers. The 75mm had an exceptional HE and Smoke capability for the size of the gun, but armor peircing ability was lacking. US armor doctrine was the "flaw", not the tank, which was clearly capable of carrying a more powerful gun. But even the underpowered 75mm could kill a Tiger or Panther from the side or rear at point blank range, and was more than capable against the Pzkw IV and lighter tanks / armored vehicles.
The encounter you describe is unlikely if the M-10s,which would have had the 76mm gun, had the correct ammunition. At point blank range, even standard steel shot should have penetrated the sides or rear. Sounds more like a failure of the crews to engage properly, or the Tiger was just extremely lucky. I can dig up a story of an 88mm round bouncing off the front armor of a Sherman - doesn't make it commonplace. Strange things happen in war.
