Armor quality of Panzer III and IV

[Peasant]

Data in this thread here indicates that the soviet 45mm gun with v0=760m/s should reliably defeat 40mm/0° FHA at 663m/s (500m) and 40mm/30° at 765m/s (not likely).
Therefore this confirms the theory that lower side armour on this Panther was made from FHA while the hull rear was not.

[Peasant]

...
According to Jentz's "Panzertruppen" the germans credit this gun with penetration of 42mm/30° at 100m, I assume against RHA using german 5/5 criteria so if the 50mm plates on this Pz.IV were not face hardened these results make sense.
...

If we compare the data for the soviet 45mm gun with the actual soviet FTs, we'll see that numbers are remarkably similar for 30° obliquity:

(FTs for Mod 1932 and 1937 guns, 4th edition from 1942. 5th edition from 1943 looks the same)

Could this "data from german testing" actually be a reprint of captured soviet FTs?

[Peasant]

Source: "The Tiger Tank and Allied Intelligence Vol.III p.330"

Interestingly the quoted figure (600m) is almost exactly in line with one obtained by british in testing, which lends credibility to it and opens up a possibility that germans had also tested the US 37mm gun (they had captured plenty of M3 Stuart tanks in NA) against some wrecked Pz.IIIs

[Peasant]

I have opened a new thread for discussing this, but that discussion is intimately related to this one, so I leave a link: viewtopic.php?f=79&t=270182

[Peasant]

ADA954940: Panther side armour (52mm), BHN: 293 - 302, Impact toughness at +70°F: 7,9 - 9,5 , at -40°F: 2,2 - 3,2

ADA954952: Panther glacis plate (3,25in) BHN: 262-269, Impact toughness at +70°F: 30,0 - 34,5 , at -40°F: 10,5 - 15,0

ADA954370: Pz.IV G-2 tank:
1) (0,48in) BHN: 415, Impact toughness at +70°F: 11,2 , at -40°F: 9,7
2) (1,23in) BHN: 331, Impact toughness at +70°F: 39,3 , at -40°F: 20,0
3) (1,99in) BHN: 331, Impact toughness at +70°F: 28,7 , at -40°F: 19,7

Following table was originally posted here.



The US specs calls for min value of impact toughness for 4in plate of 32 ft*lb. The 102,6 mm plate has a lower ballistic limit against 90mm M82 shell, then the 106mm plate, even when we take into account its lower thickness. It had likely developed serious cracks after this attack, although this information is not included in this table.

To be continued...