Was the King Tiger a Load of Rubbish?

[Timber]

With proper logistical & combined arms support that Allied tanks enjoyed the Tiger II would probably have been the deadliest tank on the battlefield. Problem is that by the time the Germans started fielding it they no longer had airsuperiority, or even parity, and they were short on fuel, oil and their general logistics train was constantly harrased by allied air power. This resulted in the Tiger II being asked to execute tasks/missions no other tank could've concievably been expected to successfully complete. Infact I'd go so far as to say that no other tank of any nation would've done as well in the suicidal spearhed attacks Tiger II units were often asked to conduct by late 44, and the only reason they achieved anything at all was down to the tanks inherent strengths in armour & armament.

Also it should be noted that the Tiger II was quite mobile over rough terrain, infact it was able to negotiate ground a Sherman couldn't. It's biggest limitation mobility wise was coping with river crossings, there weren't many bridges that could hold its weight. In other words it was often as mobile (and sometimes more) as most tanks on a tactical level, but its great weight really hampered it on the strategic level.

[Michael Kenny]

I am sure there is another pic of a TII frontal penetration that is captioned as a test for a 'new' type of Soviet AP round.It might even be the hole to the right on that same TII but I can not remember exactly where it is.

[critical mass]

mk, any more information would be much appreciated, if you come across such.

best regards,
cm (not CM)

[Avalancheon]

I hate that guy, he and the tankarchives owner are a match made in heaven.

If I had to make a judgement call, I would say that Peter Samsonov (aka, TankArchives) is a worse historian than Yuri Pasholok. By pretty much any objective measure. In literally dozens of instances, he was proven to have misread the facts and come to false conclusions. Not only that, but Samsonov has also lied to his audience multiple times, and engaged in outright forgery. His lack of knowledge and integrity (along with his Russian bias) overshadows all of his work, to the point that one must be outright skeptical of his translations of wartime Soviet reports.

Samsonov is also a shameless self-promoter. He recently went on Reddit in an attempt to market his book to a gullible audience. The majority of people browsing that particular forum are unaware of his ignominious history. This man is not only a blatant fraud, but totally incompetent. I alone have debunked him numerous times on Reddit. (ironically, one of my criticisms was removed by the moderators of AskHistorians, who seem to have a soft spot for him) His book appears to be a technical history on the T-34 tank, one of the few subjects he might actually be competent at.


If anyone is interested, they can read the Reddit thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/ ... g_the_t34/

[Michael Kenny]

In literally dozens of instances, he was proven to have misread the facts and come to false conclusions.............has also lied to his audience multiple times, and engaged in outright forgery. His lack of knowledge and integrity............... overshadows all of his work,
..........is also a shameless self-promoter.

You never complained when CM (not Critical Mass) did that here.

[Avalancheon]

In literally dozens of instances, he was proven to have misread the facts and come to false conclusions.............has also lied to his audience multiple times, and engaged in outright forgery. His lack of knowledge and integrity............... overshadows all of his work, ..........is also a shameless self-promoter.

You never complained when CM (not Critical Mass) did that here.

Compared to the failheap that is TankArchives, Christians errors were few and far between. And as far as I am aware, he didn't lie or forge.

The problem with CM is that he enjoys stirring up controversy and ruffling feathers. In my experience, he doesn't play well with others.

[Mobius]

I hate that guy, he and the tankarchives owner are a match made in heaven.

If I had to make a judgement call, I would say that Peter Samsonov (aka, TankArchives) is a worse historian than Yuri Pasholok. By pretty much any objective measure. In literally dozens of instances, he was proven to have misread the facts and come to false conclusions.

One of the reason I added a research section to my wargame website (http://panzer-war.com/) is to counter or at least investigate some of the false or dubious information being put out on the various tank game websites, Tank Archives is an example. It started with the King Tiger tests that presented ranges based on flawed Russian ballistics. Then there was his article on the Ferdinand tests where he made it look like a 152mm could blow off half the driver's plate. I found another site showing that in those tests the front plate was first perforated by two shots from 75mm/70 AP40.

[Stiltzkin]

One of the reason I added a research section to my wargame website (http://panzer-war.com/)

The only complaint I have, concerns the suboptimal design. It reminds me of the early days of the web, when I still had a 56k modem.