#2
Post
by Christian Ankerstjerne » 11 Aug 2002, 14:02
Personally, I find that the article is somehwat suspecious. I made a list of what I think is wrong/suspecious previously:
#1 The malfunctions reported can't be used to anything. They say it broke down very fast, but how long had it been used before it was captured?
#2 The article says nothing about what unit the vehicles belonged, or even when they were captured - so we know nothing about any conditions it might have faced. Since the vehicle has Zimmerit, it must be quite early. The late production Krupp turret had just went into productions, and of course the turret will then be weaker than usually.
#3 The Russian mechanics were not trained for maintenance of the vehicle - so it is unlikely that they did what a German crew could have done to it, especially with the proper spare parts.
#4 The driving tests were most likely performed AFTER the vehicle had broken down, and then repaired (86kms is not enough to show how a vehicle operates) - so how can the results be used for anything?
#5 I have seen movies where Tiger IIs run coniderable fatser than what is mentioned in the article - on a grass field, they have been seen running with 15-20 km/h, and since this was in a column in what could appear as being on teh way to the front, the vehicles have been unlikely to run at full speed, wearing the tracks and engine down faster.
#6 The Tiger II has been hit by so many shells that any armour plate would have been completely destroyed - just look at how the plate is bulging. The mere number of shots will have weakened the armour structure so much it is admireable taht the vehicle held together for so long in the first place.
The fireing test cannot be used for anythig, as no vehicle would suffer so much damage in real combat. There are still not a single war-time picture showing penetration of the Tiger IIs frontal armour.
Christian