Stillborn Maus

The Pz.Kpfw. Maus is one of the most famous German tanks. It was the heaviest tank ever built in history. Opinions about the Maus tend to be extreme opposites, some believe that the Maus was the Wehrmacht's last hope, others say that it was the proverbial straw that broke the back of German industry.

As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle. The Maus was unlikely to save Germany, but it would have been a nasty thorn in the side of the Allies if it ever reached the battlefield. German industry didn't need to apply any kind of heroic effort to produce it. However, the damage dealt to German industry was so severe that the Maus was impossible to produce by the fall of 1943.

Penal Company

"HQ

371st Rifle Division

Personnel department

August 8th, 1942

#0770

To the Chief of Staff of the 30th ARmy

RE: #04/01114

I report that a penalty company could not be organized within the 371st Rifle Division due to a lack of personnel guilty of crimes against the Motherland. The tank units did not send anyone guilty of crimes against the Motherland either.

Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sakayev

Staff Military Commissar, Battalion Commissar Popov"

Via Yuri Pasholok

Tanker's Syllabus

"Approved

Deputy Technical Commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, Guards Major General of the Tank Engineering Service, Solovyev

June 14th, 1945

Program for technical training of tank and SPG crews in the units and formations of the 3rd Guards Tank Army

Topic	Number of hours	Diagrams and materials
Tactical-technical characteristics and a brief description of the overall operation of tanks and SPGs	2	Brief user’s manuals of tanks and SPGs.
Operation of the engine, purpose and design of its components. Common issues, diagnosis and correction methods. Engine service.	20	Brief user’s manuals of tanks and SPGs, brief user’s manual for the V-2 engine, fuel system, lubrication system, and cooling system.

Soviet Tank Observation

From "Observation from Modern Tanks"

Engineer-Major L.S. Tolokonnikov

Vestnik Tankovoy Promyshlennosti (Tank Industry Herald) 1944 #10

"Presently, tanks use simple observation devices

1. Observation slits with protective glass and without.
2. Mirror observation devices (periscopes).
3. Commander's cupolas with observation slits or periscopes.
4. Observation ports.

Optical (aside from sights) and mechanical observation devices are completely absent. until a new type of tank observation device is discovered, further improvement of observation from tanks, protection of the observer, and convenience of observation can only be increased by improving the design of existing devices, increasing their quality, positioning them more rationally, and improving their attachment inside the tank.

This article will examine only a portion of the issue, that is the position, amount, and observation angle of modern tanks, domestic, captured, and allied (25 in all).

Video: Hunting Tigers, North Africa 1943

The Tiger was undoubtedly at the height of its power in early 1943, but could it still be defeated? I take a look at British weapons available at the time in North Africa and how effective they were against this new enemy.

An Intermediate Step

The road to a new tank often goes through a number of intermediate prototypes. The Germans took this road to the Tiger and Panther, the American Pershing also evolved in a similar fashion. Soviet tank building also followed this road. For instance, the KV-13 tanks may not have gone into battle but they served as a foundation for the IS-2, the best Soviet tank of the war. The T-43 tank was also such an intermediate step. This interesting tank fell victim to trials that dragged on and a rapid increase in tactical-technical requirements in the second half of 1943.

T-43 Wishlist

"Tactical-Technical Characteristics for a Medium Tank

November 9th, 1943

1. Overall characteristics

1. Type: tracked, single turret
2. Mass: 33-34 tons
3. Crew: 4
4. Armour: rolled, homogeneous, high hardness:
1. Hull front: 90 mm
2. Sides: 75 mm
3. Rear: 60 mm
4. Roof and floor: 20 mm
5. Turret: 110 mm (cast front), 75 mm (rolled sides)

Japanese Tank Destroyers

"Directions on tactical techniques and military misdirection used by the Japanese army and countermeasures against them

...

Tank destroyer groups

In all types of anti-tank defenses, the Japanese consider the most common and effective anti-tank weapon to be groups of suicide tank destroyers. Other techniques (anti-tank guns, tanks, anti-tank obstacles) are considered ineffective. In practice, tank on tank battles are rare and accidental.

In reality, this low effectiveness is explained by the insufficient amounts of tanks and artillery in the Japanese army.

Common Questions: Sherman vs. Tiger

The topic of Sherman vs. Tiger is one of the most consistently popular ones that comes up during the discussion of WWII armoured warfare. Despite the years that have passed, such simple questions as "at what range can a Sherman penetrate the Tiger's armour" can get results ranging from "point blank" to "not at all". Many contemporary sources had much more optimistic evaluations, for instance the Americans estimated this range to be over 1000 yards (914 meters). Results of Soviet testing were much more conservative, ranging from 400 to 625 meters.

Video: Christie Tanks and BT-2

My newest video is up! This time I take a look at how Christie came up with his revolutionary suspension, what exactly made it so good, and how his designs came to influence Soviet tanks.