Which tank is better - "Tiger" or "34"? "Tiger" or who.
Ecology
Animal Planet recently conducted a poll that found the impressive tiger to be the world's favorite animal. However, much of what we know about these striped predators is common misconceptions, as well as confusion with other big cats.
Tigers are the most diverse members of the cat family and have many unique features. They are magnificent creatures that are unfortunately in danger of extinction due to human carelessness, but perhaps if we get to know them a little better we can help them.
Facts 1-5
1. Tigers' eyes have round pupils, unlike domestic cats, whose pupils are like slits. This is due to the fact that domestic cats are nocturnal, while tigers are crepuscular; they hunt mainly in the morning and evening hours.
2. Even though tiger vision is not very well adapted to seeing in the dark, tigers can see about six times better than humans.
3. Most tigers have yellow eyes, but white tigers also have blue eyes due to the fact that the blue eye gene is linked to the white fur gene. The gene responsible for strabismus is also linked to the gene for white fur, which is why many white tigers suffer from strabismus.
4. Tigers scratch trees and use their urine to mark their territory. Tiger urine smells very strongly of corn oil.
5. Tigers clearly determine the age, sex and reproductive abilities of other tigers, focusing on the subtleties of the smell of urine.
Facts 6-10
6. Male tigers “capture” larger territories than females, so their areas often overlap and tigers mate in this way. The territories of adult females never intersect at all, and the same situation is with the territories of adult males.
7. Tigers usually do not roar at other animals, however, they communicate with each other using roars. When a tiger is about to attack, it does not growl, but, as a rule, hisses or snorts.
8. When several tigers are catching one large prey, the males will almost always wait for the females and cubs to eat first, unlike lions who do the opposite. Tigers rarely argue or fight over prey, they simply wait their turn.
9. Each tiger's stripes are as unique as a person's fingerprint.
10. The markings on the tiger's forehead resemble the Chinese character for "king", giving the tiger cultural status as a royal animal.
Facts 11-15
11. Just like on domestic cats, the markings are on the tiger's skin, so even a shaved tiger will be striped.
12. Unlike most other cats, tigers are very good swimmers. They enjoy bathing and often play in the water, especially when young. As adults, they often swim several kilometers to hunt, sometimes they simply swim across rivers.
13. Tigers are the largest of all cats, and they also come in a wide variety of sizes. The largest subspecies, the Siberian tiger, grows up to 3.5 meters in length and weighs more than 300 kg. The smallest subspecies, the Sumatra tiger, grows up to 2 meters and weighs about 100 kg.
14. Tigresses are capable of conceiving only for 4-5 days throughout the year. During this time they often mate. Their pregnancy lasts a little more than three months, and they usually give birth to 2-3 cubs.
15. During the first week of life, tigers are completely blind. About half of them do not survive to adulthood.
Facts 16-20
16. The tiger's penis does not stand straight when it is aroused, it is covered with bone and special teeth that help it remain connected to its partner during copulation.
17. Tigers prefer to hunt large prey from ambush. If you look a tiger in the eyes, it is unlikely to attack, as the element of surprise will be lost. In India, many people traditionally wear masks on the back of their heads while walking in the forest to prevent attacks from behind.
18. Tigers do not usually view humans as prey, but will attack if they are threatened. In most cases, a tiger will deliberately attack a person only when there is no other prey available or when habitat is lost.
19. A small number of tigers developed a taste for human flesh and became man-eaters. One tigress, having once protected her cubs from humans, began to feed exclusively on people. She is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 430 people.
20. Thanks to their instinctive characteristics of ambush hunting, even man-eating tigers do not attack entire human settlements; they approach from the outskirts and attack lonely people. They tend to hunt at night, when people are less likely to see him sneaking around.
Facts 21-25
21. Tigers do not know how to purr to express delight and joy; they squint their eyes or close them. This is because losing their vision makes them defenseless, which is why tigers, like many other cats, purposefully do this when they feel comfortable and safe.
22. Tigers can run at a maximum speed of 60 km/h.
23. Tigers can jump 6 meters long and 5 meters high. Their muscular legs are so strong that they can stand on them even when they die.
24. The hunt of only one out of ten tigers is successful, so many tigers go without food for several days until a triumphant hunt occurs, as a result of which they can immediately gain 30 kg.
25. Although tigers can easily go without food for several days, they become hungry much more quickly due to their enormous size. A tiger will starve to death after 2-3 weeks without food, while a human can live up to 40 days without food.
Facts 26-30
26. Tigers are known to be able to imitate other animals; they do this in order to attract prey.
27. Bears form part of the diet of many tigers due to habitat overlap. Tigers sometimes imitate the sounds made by bears to lure unsuspecting bears into their webs.
28. A tiger's prey usually dies from strangulation or blood loss. They ambush animals by jumping on them and gnawing their necks. If the main artery is severed, the animal dies within seconds. Otherwise, the tiger does not release the caught prey, and then it quickly dies from suffocation.
29. Although tigers often kill with their 10cm fangs, they sometimes use their paws. The blow from a tiger's front paw is so strong that it can easily break a bear's skull or break its spine.
30. A tiger can bite through bone with its powerful jaws and teeth. They have ways of breaking the cervical vertebrae of animals simply by biting them.
Facts 31-35
31. Tigers are very adaptable to their hunting methods. Although they prefer to kill by attacking the prey's neck, they do not do so when they realize it is inappropriate. For example, a swimming tiger can be bitten by a crocodile, which is immediately blinded by a cat's blow. The crocodile's neck is covered with a very thick layer of skin, so the tiger will gut the reptile's soft belly.
32. Tiger saliva is an antiseptic. He licks the wounds and thereby disinfects them.
33. Like other cats, the top of a tiger's tongue is covered with fleshy bristles, so when they lick themselves, they simultaneously comb their fur.
34. Unlike many other animals, tigers do not drink water by lapping it. Instead, they dip the edge of their tongue into the water, draw water with it, and then simply close their mouth.
35. Today there are six subspecies of the tiger: the Amur tiger, the South China tiger, the Indochinese tiger, the Malayan tiger, the Sumatra tiger and the Bengal tiger.
Facts 36-40
36. Over the past 80 years, three subspecies of tigers have become extinct. The Bali tiger was deliberately exterminated in Bali due to the fact that it carried the “cultural status of evil.” The Javan tiger was also extirpated after its numbers plummeted due to habitat loss. The Caspian tiger became extinct because it was overhunted.
37. In China, poaching tigers or using them for alternative medicine has been illegal for many years and punishable by death. In traditional medicine, there are much more powerful and readily available medicinal preparations than any part of the tiger, which have historically been used to impart solidity and exoticism rather than for any medicinal properties.
38. A common misconception is that various parts of the tiger's body are used in traditional medicine mainly as expensive aphrodisiacs. They are believed to mainly help treat arthritis and improve digestive problems.
39. Unfortunately, in some areas of South-East Asia, especially in Laos and Cambodia, tigers continue to be hunted for the use of their body parts in the manufacture of medicines.
40. Along with different subspecies, tigers can have different fur colors. Colors range from white and gold to black and even blue. All this is caused by a common color gene. There is unconfirmed information about the existence of blue tigers, which are also called Maltese tigers.
Facts 41-45
41. Tigers live for about 25 years, both in captivity and in the wild.
42. It has been established that, in general, cats have better memory than any other animal, including humans, their memory is several hundred times better than that of dogs, and tens of times better than that of primates. A tiger's short-term memory lasts about 30 times longer than a human's, and their memories are formed under a powerful influence on the brain's synapses, which suggests they don't forget things as easily as we do.
43. A tiger's brain weighs more than 300 grams. It is the largest brain of any carnivore except the polar bear, which may be comparable to that of a chimpanzee.
44. There are about 3,500 tigers left in the wild. Also, a large number of these cats live in captivity.
45. Tigers are solitary animals, and unite in groups only to attack large prey, or it may be a mother with cubs.
Facts 46-50
46. Groups of tigers are called a pride.
47. Tigers, like people, have well-developed color vision.
48. Tigers can mate with lions and other cats in captivity to produce hybrids. Thanks to genetics, male lions usually try to have as many children as possible, unlike females, who do the opposite. Tigers have no such "control", so a male lion and a female tiger can regularly produce offspring (ligers), while a female lion and female tiger will produce far fewer cubs.
49. Ligers can reach a length of over 4 meters and are the largest cat in the world.
50. Tigers can produce sterile offspring with other cats, not just lions. Leopards and tigers interact in the wild and can sometimes naturally produce offspring that are born with fewer stripes because they are diluted by the leopard's spots.
In this Topic I would like to compare the weapons and equipment of rivals in the Second World War. Years pass and new myths are born. Especially often lately these myths are self-derogatory.
For example, in one Topic on the Razgovorchik Forum, a certain Ivan Ermakov solemnly announced that the Tiger was the best tank of the Second World War. And he is met with stormy applause, everyone agrees, everyone is very happy to spit on our history and our outstanding designers. And together with the designers, they should belittle our entire people: they say that the bast workers, fools, only knew how to use numbers... And in unison they throw out a humorous story about how one Tiger burned dozens, even hundreds of Russian tanks at a time during a battle. Everyone believes, everyone is delighted... So it turns out as it was....
Where do stories like this come from? Who needs them? It is simply no longer possible to tolerate such insanity. You definitely have to fight him!
So let's look at the famous Tiger tank and identify its deadly shortcomings in comparison with any Soviet tank, including the heavy Soviet IS-2 tank.
The mass of the “tiger” is 57 tons, the mass of the royal tiger is 70 tons. The mass of the Soviet IS-2 heavy tank is 46 tons. This is a death sentence for the Tiger! In fact, the German “masterpiece” had to carry an additional 11 tons on its transmission (we won’t even consider the Royal Tiger). Let's talk further about the monstrous consequences and causes of this factor, which is insurmountable for German designers...
But maybe, with such super-heavy performance, the Tiger tank had better weapons? After all, what is most important for a heavy tank: firepower and armor. Let's compare:
The Henschel Tiger was equipped with a turret from a Porsche tank with an 88 mm cannon (8.8 cm KwK 36) (previously there was a 75 mm cannon).
The IS-2 was initially equipped with a 122 mm D-25 gun.
These are killer indicators for the Tiger. Weighing 11 tons more, the tank had a gun one and a half times smaller in diameter and penetrating power. I would like to note that IS-2 tanks successfully penetrated the vaunted armor of the Tigers from a distance of more than 1 km! The German cannon could not penetrate the armor of the IS-2 from such a distance.
Why were Tiger tanks so heavy? Does anyone know the answer? For some reason, Ivan Ermakov did not highlight this aspect of the “advancement” of German designers. How good it is to casually glorify everything foreign and denigrate everything domestic... It’s so fashionable in recent years.
***
IS-2 frontal armor - 122 mm, side 95 mm, rear 90 mm, having a streamlined turret from which shells simply ricocheted, the IS-2 tank was simply invulnerable to the Tiger both in a frontal attack and during maneuvers.
Tiger-1 frontal armor was 100 mm, it did not have side or rear armor as such and was vulnerable from these attack vectors even to conventional regimental guns.
Why is the streamlined tank shape adopted today, the prototype of which was the Soviet T-34 and IS-2 (IS-1) tanks? Why didn’t they take the box-shaped form of the “advanced” German designers?
In summary, we have: Tigers were inferior to the IS-2 both in combat power and in armor protection. So maybe they were faster and had a longer range? Let's check:
IS-2 Road speed - 37 km/h; off-road - 24 km/h. Cruising range on the road - 250 km;
off-road - 210 km
Tiger-1 Speed on the road - 38 km/h; It is almost unsuitable for off-road use due to its gigantic mass and serious errors in the chassis. It simply elms even in an ordinary peat puddle.
Cruising range on the road - 140 km
Depressing indicators for the Tiger. Having the same speed indicators on the road, the Tigers were significantly inferior to the Russian IS-2 tank in off-road speed and maneuverability. And in terms of power reserve, they generally lost almost twice.
The last parameter is extremely important, especially in conditions of total war and major strategic offensive operations. In simple terms, even if German tanks had begun a forced march from near Volokolamsk to Moscow and NOBODY would have held them back, they would have stopped in the Krasnogorsk area, having used up their power reserve and worn out the main technical components. And our soldiers, having cut off communications for the supply of fuel and lubricants and consumable spare parts, would simply shoot standing tanks point-blank into the unprotected sides. But these are all very rosy assumptions for Tiger tanks. The fact is that they were generally not suitable for winter companies.
***
Now let's talk about who burned whom in reality, the Tigers, Russian tanks in the hundreds at a time, or our IS-2s. It is worth noting that for some reason many unscrupulous “experts” often compare the most famous German tank “Tiger-1” with the most famous Soviet tank “T-34”. But this is an incorrect and amateurish comparison. The fact is that the T-34 was a medium tank, and the Tiger was heavy. You cannot arrange a fight between a middleweight boxer and a heavyweight. These tanks had different tactical goals and objectives. For quick entry into a breakthrough and rapid tank breakthroughs, there were no tanks equal to the T-34.... This unique vehicle has become the pride of our people absolutely deservedly.
Heavy tanks are intended specifically for tank battles. So let’s see how the battles on the battlefield between the vaunted “Tiger” and the IS-2 actually ended.
Let's start with testing the gun: State tests of the IS-122 tank (object 240) were very quick and successful. After which the tank was transferred to one of the training grounds near Moscow, where a shot was fired at an empty captured German Panther tank from a 122-mm cannon from a distance of 1500 meters in the presence of K.E. Voroshilov. The shell, having pierced the side armor of the turret turned to the right, hit the opposite sheet, tore it off at the weld and threw it several meters away. That is, the Panther heavy tank was easily destroyed by the IS-2 cannon from a distance of 1500 m!!! The shell tore holes right through the German monsters, piercing two walls of armor. It is worth noting that, according to numerous memoirs of WWII participants, German heavy tanks had a very weak turret mount (the turret was removable, any engine repair required the mandatory removal of the turret, we will talk later). The frontal impact of the IS-2 shell simply demolished the Tiger's turret and threw it back. The non-streamlined shape of the Tiger tank led to the fact that the entire power of the 122 mm blank hitting it turned into a powerful force and the tank failed after the first hit. No rate of fire or other conveniences during charging saved the German tanks, because while the German tank was approaching the distance of a conditional opportunity to inflict at least some damage on the IS-2 (about 300 m when hit on the side), the Russian miracle machines calmly shot at the approaching slow-moving Tigers starting from one and a half kilometers.
The IS-2 received its baptism of fire at the final stage of the liberation of right-bank Ukraine. During this period, the regiment of the 1st GvTA conducted combat operations in the area of Obertin (Ivano-Frankivsk region). Over twenty days of continuous fighting, the regiment's personnel destroyed 41 Tiger tanks and self-propelled guns Ferdinand (Elephant), 3 armored personnel carriers with ammunition and 10 anti-tank guns, while irretrievably losing 8 IS-122 tanks.
In December 1944, the formation of separate Guards heavy tank brigades began. Usually they were created on the basis of brigades with T-34. The appearance of these units was caused by the need to concentrate heavy tanks in the directions of the main attacks of fronts and armies in order to break through heavily fortified defensive lines, as well as to fight enemy tank groups.
The first meeting of the ISs with the “Royal Tigers” (Tiger II) was not in favor of the Germans. On August 13, 1944, a platoon of IS-2 tanks of Guard Senior Lieutenant Klimenkov from the 3rd Tank Battalion of the 71st Guards Heavy Tank Regiment from pre-prepared positions entered into battle with German tanks, knocked out one Royal Tiger and burned another. Around the same time, a single IS-2 of the guard, Senior Lieutenant Udalov, acting from an ambush, entered into battle with 7 Royal Tigers, and also burned one and knocked out another. The surviving five vehicles began to retreat. Udalov's tank, having maneuvered towards the enemy, burned another Royal Tiger.
So who burned whom, the Russian Tigers, or our German Ivanov ISs?
***
With the appearance on the battlefield of Soviet IS-2 tanks, which easily dealt with the clumsy Tiger-1, the German command requested the creation of a new tank capable of resisting the Soviet Tiger fighter. So, at the very end of the war, a 68-ton monster appeared, called the “Royal Tiger”. Considering the gigantic cost of this vehicle (119 tons of steel were spent on the production of one tank), it was produced in small quantities. But the main task - to be invulnerable against the Russian IS-2 - was solved using the ax method: the armor was made even heavier and the barrel of the old 88-mm cannon was lengthened. Having an extremely clumsy and cumbersome appearance, the "Royal Tiger" was intended to be used only from ambushes and as a mobile command post for officers.
Let's think about what tank the famous "Royal Tiger" was based on. No, not at all based on Tiger-1. The "Royal Tiger" was called a hybrid between the "Elephant" and the "Panther". From the first he received the famous 88-mm cannon, and from the second he received a hull shape with rational angles of inclination of the armor plates. Why didn’t the designers take the main components for optimization from the Tiger I??? The answer is obvious - since 1944, the Tiger-1 has become irrevocably outdated. Morally. The Tiger-1 could not withstand the much more advanced Soviet IS-2 tanks with any additional modifications. Therefore, only an amateur can say that the Tiger-1 was the best tank of the Second World War. In addition, the formulation itself is not correct, we must say “the best heavy tank.”
Why were German tanks so heavy and expensive? The answer lies in the mistaken decision to make tanks rear-wheel drive. The Germans never managed to make a front-wheel drive tank, while Russian designers made front-wheel drive vehicles. To transmit torque to the front shaft, it was necessary to additionally install a multi-ton and bulky driveshaft, which stretched across the entire hull and made German tanks heavier and larger. But that's not all. This design miscalculation forced hundreds of German tanks to be written off as non-combat losses. The thing is that the often breaking gimbal could not be repaired and replaced without dismantling the Tiger turret. And to raise such a colossus, special workshops are needed. As you understand, the Germans could not afford such a service in the second half of the Second World War. Soviet tanks did not have a similar problem, because they did not have a driveshaft itself. Moreover, all the main components of Soviet tanks were easily removed through the side technical hatches. The German monsters almost had to remove the tower. But in addition to these problems, the very weight of the tank led to inevitable costs for all components of the chassis. Their wear and tear became significantly higher than that of the much lighter IS-2 tanks.
Total: The Tiger, in addition to having a significantly smaller power reserve and service life, was extremely inconvenient during repair work. And this is a very important component, if not the main one.
Let's continue to study the misunderstandings of the Tiger-1 in comparison with the Soviet IS-2 tank.
Specific power:
Tiger: 11.4 hp/t
IS-2: 11.3 hp/t
Specific ground pressure:
Tiger: 1.06 kg/cm
IS-2: 0.8 kg/cm.
That is, with almost the same power, the Tiger had almost 30% more pressure on the ground! And this is not a trifle at all, this is an extremely important point, more important than any conveniences for pointing and charging. A tank is, first of all, mobility in any conditions. And what do we see: since the specific pressure of the Pz.Kpfw.VI was 30% greater than that of the IS-2, already in the first battle on September 22, 1942, when the Tigers went on the attack near the village of Tortolovo near Leningrad, they stuck in the mud! Three tanks, supported by artillery and infantry, were evacuated a few days later, but the fourth tank remained in no man's land and a month later was blown up on Hitler's orders.
It was not only mud that was an insurmountable obstacle for the Pz.Kpfw.VI. Many bridges in Russia could not support the weight of a 55-ton tank and the help of sappers was needed to cross a small stream. The range on the highway was 100 km, and on rough terrain only 60 km. The tank needed constant escort from gas stations. But a gas station is a tasty target for enemy attack aircraft and fighter-bombers! In conditions of air supremacy of enemy aircraft, organizing the movement of the Tigers under their own power resulted in a serious problem.
Transporting Tigers by rail also presented a big problem. They could only be transported on a special transporter. In the train between two conveyors, it was necessary to hook up four ordinary cars so as not to exceed the permissible load on the railway bridges. But even on a special transporter it was impossible to load the Tiger without additional problems. It had to be “re-shoeed” into special transport tracks and the outer row of road wheels had to be removed. (http://www.wars20cen...u/publ/6-1-0-28)
But this is not all the problems associated with the Tiger’s super-heavy mass. The tigers were absolutely unable to withstand mines. Any mine that exploded under the caterpillar brought the expensive colossus to the enemy’s trophy. On all Soviet tanks, even if the roller turns out to be broken, the tank has at least five of them and changing them is not a problem. The main thing is that the tank remained on the move, quickly inserted a spare track and continued the attack. Well, driving a tank for another day on four rollers instead of five is not a problem, but after the battle they will install a new roller. Any Soviet tank, including the IS-2, but not the Tiger. The tiger on four rollers could not continue moving - the load became prohibitive. Therefore, it simply stopped and needed major repairs. Without a truck crane and a dozen assistants, it was impossible to cope with replacing the skating rink. How to do this in combat conditions? That’s why, after the battles, almost untouched Tigers stood as trophies, and German aviation tried to blow up the irretrievably lost tanks due to the failure of just one roller.
Well, about other misunderstandings of this “best tank”... Here Ivan alone on Razgovorchik praises the rate of fire of the Tiger tank. Yes, it was like that, it really took 8 seconds to reload the gun and fire a new shot. But for some reason, our brilliant weapons expert kept silent about the main parameter of aimed shooting in battle. For accurate and aimed shooting you need a quick rotation of the turret. Let's compare this most important aspect of aimed fire:
Tiger-1 turret rotation 360 degrees - 60 seconds
IS-2 turret rotation 360 degrees -22 seconds.
The question immediately arises (by the way, it was also asked on Razgovorchik): who needs such a rate of fire if the turret does not have time to turn behind targets? How can such a “hut on chicken legs” be called “the best tank”?!
Therefore, the main trump card of the rate of fire was simply offset by the slowness of the turret rotation.
Below is another important characteristic of armor-piercing at a distance of 1 km:
Tiger - 100 mm in the range of 60 degrees
Is-2 - 142 mm in the range of 90 degrees
And there is no need to treat naive listeners that the 88 mm gun installed on the Tigers was better than the 122 mm IS-2 gun due to its super design. Yes, indeed, the best weapon of the Second World War was, perhaps, the 88 mm FlaK 18 anti-aircraft gun. No doubt. But even it, with all its advantages, could not compete with the super-powerful 122 mm IS-2 cannon. Considering the thickness of the frontal armor, the IS-2 could easily shoot German Tigers from a distance of more than 1 km, and while the barely crawling Tiger reached the conditional distance to hit the IS, all the ammunition could be sent to it. But, I repeat, ONE hit was enough.
And why didn’t the Germans install a more powerful gun on the Tiger, no one knows? :)
In summary, we state: the Tiger loses to the IS-2 in all main characteristics.
Let's look again at what the Tigers can get caught up in in a dispute with the IS-2. All the pro-German Ivans sing in unison the same story about the rate of fire. As we have convincingly proven, with the Tiger’s super-sluggish turret, such a rate of fire lost its meaning. More Tiger supremacists begin to sing a hymn about the semi-automatic breech of the German 88 mm cannon. Allegedly, it was convenient for the Germans, but it was extremely inconvenient for ours, they pushed it manually.... Now let's see how things really stood on the IS-2. From the beginning of 1944, the IS-122 began to be equipped with the D-25T gun (this designation was given to the D-2-5T gun in general production), which was distinguished by the presence of a horizontal wedge semi-automatic bolt and a new muzzle brake of the “German type” (its design was borrowed to a certain extent from the muzzle brake of German 88 mm guns and 105 mm howitzers). The gun was equipped with more compact recoil devices, and the location of the controls was improved for the convenience of the gunner in the cramped fighting compartment of the tank. The introduction of a semi-automatic bolt almost doubled the gun's rate of fire from 1...1.5 to 2...3 rounds per minute.
Designers Usenko, Pyankov, Gromov and others put a lot of work into the creation of the D-25T. The employees of the experienced Kotin Design Bureau did not stand aside either. He sent his designers G.M. to Petrov Design Bureau. Rybin and K.N. Ilyin, who, in a difficult situation for that time, took an active part in the development and debugging of a new semi-automatic bolt for such a powerful weapon.
But our outstanding compatriots did not stand still and went further than the Germans! In March 1944, the “German type” muzzle brake of the D-25T gun was replaced by a domestically designed TsAKB muzzle brake, which had a simpler manufacturing technology and high efficiency.
Our designers were the best in the world and very quickly caught up with the enemy in those few components where they lagged behind. Therefore, fairy tales about manual loading of the IS-2 cannon are nothing more than a fairy tale. Belief in such fairy tales is amateurism of the purest water.
We will continue to smash supporters of the theory of the total superiority of German tank construction over domestic ones. Very often, supporters of the latter theory say that the Germans had everything better: a walkie-talkie, machine guns, and optical sights... Yes, it was like that... at the beginning of the war. It is what it is. The presence of a radio on German tanks was indeed an extremely effective innovation. But we are now considering the entire war, and not the tragedy of 1941... we are looking for the best weapons that the participating countries were able to recreate and put into serial production. Let us return in this aspect to the IS-2 and once again record the depressing indicators for the Tiger-1 in terms of main weapons:
Excellent armament allowed the Is-2 tank to reliably hit the Tiger from a distance of 2000m from all angles. The presence of a powerful cannon on the Is-2 forced the enemy to open fire on it from greater distances than they usually started shooting at the T-35/85, KV-85 and Is-85. The "Tigers" were forced to open fire on the Is-2 from a distance of already 1300m, since even at this range the Is-2 could already calmly shoot them, but they were not there yet and they had nothing left to do. The Is-2's powerful armament indirectly enhanced the tank's security. A 7.62mm DT machine gun is paired with the cannon. Another 7.62mm DT machine gun was located in a ball mount in the rear plate of the turret. They were used to destroy enemy personnel and lightly armored targets. To protect against attacks in the air, a 12.7mm DShKT anti-aircraft machine gun is installed on the commander's cupola. Instruments: For the gunner - articulated telescopic sight rangefinder TSh-17 with 4x magnification. The commander has a PT-8 articulated telescopic rangefinder sight, a commander's cupola with a 360-degree rotating sector. MK-4 device, 6 sighting slits with triplex. The loader is given a prismatic, periscope device MK-4. The driver - two MK-4 devices, a sighting slit with triplex. Optical sight for the rear and anti-aircraft machine gun, main sight TSh-17 for the coaxial machine gun. Communication means - radio station 9РМ and TPU for four subscribers.
From the beginning of 1944, the IS-2 was not just a cool tank - it was a miracle of tank building. All the most advanced technologies have been included in this masterpiece. In addition to super-powerful weapons and super-sufficient armor, ALL tank crews had radio communications, and there were TWO MACHINE GUNS on convenient mountings. And on top there was an anti-aircraft machine gun, which made it possible to destroy diving attack aircraft. All crew seats were equipped with excellent optics.
IS-2 is the pride of the Russian tank industry. It was not for nothing that he bore the name of the leader. These tanks were ahead of their time in all respects and therefore remained in service with the USSR until 1954. Unlike the Tiger-1, which was already obsolete by the beginning of 1944, and in comparison with the IS-2 it looked like an ugly duckling against the background of a white swan.
The outstanding qualities of the IS-2, undeservedly forgotten in our time, were well known during the war years. It is not for nothing that Stalin, who was very stingy with praise, said: “This is a tank of victory! We will end the war with him.” For its gigantic contribution to the defeat of the German Wehrmacht, it is the IS-2 (and not the T-34) that stands on a pedestal in Karlshorst near the house where G.K. Zhukov accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany... It was this tank that for many years personified the all-crushing power for the whole world The Soviet Union and the greatest potential of domestic designers and people who created this masterpiece. Created and rode it to Berlin!
Therefore, let all pro-German Ivans, Stepans, Fritzes, Hans throw aside propaganda treatises about the greatest Tiger tank and look at things with a sober, unclouded look.
Before we move on to studying other WWII tanks, their general disadvantages and advantages, we will finish with the Tiger-I and undoubtedly the best heavy tank of that war, the IS-2.
Many stubborn supporters of Tiger-I, after presenting the above table, stubbornly disagree with the characteristics that are deadly for the Tiger. And they clutch at a saving straw. Allegedly, yes, the Germans had only an 88 mm cannon versus the 122 mm of the IS-2, but it was the best, and also anti-aircraft, cannon and the projectile energy was greater than that of the D-25T. Here is one tank lover from Krasnoyarsk who “authoritatively” declares:
Quote
Where did you get this from? I'm talking about muzzle energy... The Germans have a higher initial velocity. The difference between the guns is that 88 has armor-piercing specialization, and 122 has high-explosive specialization. 122 breaks through armor, if you're lucky, and 88 penetrates.
It was as if they had made a special gun for each projectile: for some it was high-explosive, for others it was armor-piercing. :) It's amazing what cockroaches are in people's heads.
We will not discuss the seriousness of such allegations here. Let's just present the facts and close this issue:
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The 122-mm D-25T tank gun was the most powerful serial tank gun of the Second World War - its muzzle energy was 820 tm, while the 88-mm KwK 43 gun of the German heavy tank PzKpfw VI Ausf B "Tiger II" had equal 520 t.m.
Total: the Is-2’s cannon gave the projectile a muzzle energy of 820 t.m. versus 520 t.m. the Tiger-II (the most powerful German tank with an extended modification of the 88 mm gun). And the Tiger I had even less, 368 tm, due to a shorter muzzle. That is, this indicator for the “bad” IS-2 cannon is more than twice as good as for the “good” Tiger cannon! I think we are done with this issue too.
Regarding the shells. Soviet specialists developed unique shells for the IS-2. Both high-explosive and armor-piercing. But the high-explosive projectile with the OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation cannon grenade weighing 25 kg (the mass of the explosive - TNT or ammotol - 3 kg) became especially famous. When hit by this shell, the Tigers simply burned like torches. Moreover, when hit at an angle of 60 degrees. the effect was even better. If an armor-piercing projectile simply pierced the German monsters and they could continue the fight even after being hit, then the Soviet OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation grenade from an IS-2 tank shell destroyed the seams upon impact and simply burned out the Tiger until its gas tanks burst into flames along with the ammunition. This grenade simply did not leave the Tigers a chance.
And the IS-2 had different shells:
Cases and shells of the D-25T tank gun. From left to right: an armor-piercing shot casing, a high-explosive fragmentation shot casing, an OF-471 high-explosive fragmentation cannon grenade, a sharp-headed armor-piercing tracer projectile BR-471, a blunt-headed armor-piercing projectile with a ballistic tip BR-471B. All shells are shown from both sides.
The IS-2 was decades ahead of its time and was later used in the USSR army until the introduction of the T10 tank. No new modifications could compare with the IS-2 in terms of reliability and efficiency. The IS-3 was withdrawn in 1946, because it was inferior to the more ancient IS-2... The same fate befell the IS-4...IS-7. Therefore, it was decided to stop at the IS-2, modernizing it a little - it was too good.
They didn’t even rename it, they just added the letter M - modernized. So the IS-2M served until the eighties of the last century as one of the main tanks of the most powerful tank power in the world!!! The last known exercise with the participation of the IS-2M took place in 1982 near Odessa. The official order of the Minister of Defense to remove the IS-2M from service with the Russian Army was given only in 1995! This is what the tank was like...
Tigers are magnificent creatures, now, unfortunately, endangered. We bring to your attention interesting facts about these animals.
1. Unlike domestic cats, tigers have round, rather than slit-shaped, pupils. This is due to the fact that domestic cats are naturally nocturnal animals, while tigers are crepuscular: they hunt at dawn and dusk.
2. Even though tigers' eyes are not particularly dark-adapted, their night vision is 6 times better than that of humans.
3. Most tigers have yellow eyes, but white tigers have blue eyes, due to the fact that the same gene is responsible for the color of the eyes and fur of tigers.
4. Tigers mark territory by urinating on trees, and their urine has a distinct smell of buttery popcorn.
5. From the smell of another tiger's urine, a tiger can get a lot of information: age, gender, reproductive status.
6. Male tigers have a larger home range than females, so they can find each other in a common area to mate. Moreover, the territory of an adult female never intersects with the territory of other females, and males never meet each other.
7. Tigers usually do not roar at other animals, but they can use their roars to communicate with other tigers from afar. If a tiger is about to attack, he does not growl, but snorts and hisses.
8. When, after a hunt, several tigers claim one victim, the males will let the females and cubs go ahead, unlike lions, who do the opposite. Male tigers will not argue over food, but will simply wait their turn.
10. The stripes on the tiger's forehead resemble the Chinese character for "King".
11. Just like domestic cats, the stripes on a tiger's fur are “duplicated” on its skin, so even a shaved tiger will still remain striped.
12. Unlike most other cats, tigers love water and are excellent swimmers, capable of swimming several kilometers and crossing rivers while hunting. Tigers often swim and play in the water just for fun.
13. Tigers are the largest of the cats, but the sizes of their subspecies differ greatly. The largest subspecies, the Siberian tiger, grows up to 3.5 m in length and weighs 300 kg, while the smallest, the Sumatran tiger, grows to only 2 m and 100 kg.
14. Tigresses are able to conceive offspring only 4-5 days a year. During this period, they try to mate as many times as possible. Pregnancy lasts 3 months, and one litter usually contains 2–3 tiger cubs.
15. For the first week of life, tiger cubs are completely blind. About half of them do not survive to adulthood.
16. The male's penis remains quite flaccid during erection, so it contains bone (called the baculum) and is covered with spiny barbs that maintain the joint during copulation.
17. Tigers prefer to ambush their prey. If the object of the hunt notices a tiger, the likelihood that the tiger will attack is quite small, as it will become confused. In some parts of India, when people enter the forest, they wear a face-shaped mask on the back of their head to prevent attacks.
18. Tigers usually do not view humans as prey, but if they feel threatened, a tiger will attack. In most cases, attacks by tigers on people are provoked by the lack of other prey in their habitat.
19. A small number of tigers, having tasted human meat, become cannibals. One tigress, who once protected her cubs from people, subsequently began to attack only them. Until it was killed, it ate about 430 people.
20. Thanks to their instinctive preference for ambush hunting, even man-eating tigers do not attack human settlements and only attack a person who is alone. As a rule, they hunt people at night, because they know that people cannot see well in the dark.
21. Tigers are not able to purr. They show their state of bliss by squinting or closing their eyes. Since loss of vision for even a second means vulnerability to attack, a tiger can only allow itself to cover its eyes when it feels absolutely safe.
22. When running short distances, the tiger reaches speeds of up to 60 km/h.
23. Tigers can jump forward up to 6 m and up to 5 m. Their legs are so muscular and powerful that tigers can remain standing even when killed.
24. Only 1 out of 10 hunts are successful, so the tiger tries to eat more whenever possible. After a successful hunt, a tiger can gain up to 30 kg of weight in reserve.
25. Although the tiger can easily go without food for several days, it begins to experience hunger quite quickly compared to other animals, since due to its enormous size it quickly loses weight. A tiger will die of starvation within 2–3 weeks, while people can starve for 30–40 days without much harm to their health.
27. Due to similar habitat conditions, bears make up a significant part of the tiger's diet. Tigers can growl in a bear-like manner to lure prey into their claws.
28. Tigers kill prey by strangulation or gnawing their necks. If the cervical arteries rupture quickly, the animal dies within seconds. If the tiger grabs unsuccessfully, it will hang on the victim’s neck without opening its jaws until it bleeds or suffocates.
29. Occasionally a tiger uses its paws to attack. One blow from such a paw can crack a bear's skull or break its back.
30. Tigers' jaws are so powerful that they can bite through bones.
31. Tigers adapt well to hunting conditions. For example, having met a crocodile, a tiger will not try to kill it in its favorite way - biting its neck, since it knows that the crocodile's neck is covered with a thick layer of strong skin. Instead, the tiger will try to blind the reptile by hitting it in the eyes with its paw, and then turn it over and grab its soft, vulnerable belly.
32. Tiger saliva has an antiseptic effect. They lick wounds to disinfect.
33. Like other cats, the tiger's tongue is covered with fleshy bristles that can be used to comb the fur when licking.
34. Today there are 6 species of tigers living on Earth: the Amur tiger, the South China tiger, the Indochinese tiger, the Malayan tiger, the Sumatran tiger and the Bengal tiger.
35. Different subspecies of tigers have different colors: white, golden, black and even blue. There is unconfirmed evidence of the existence of blue tigers, the so-called Maltese.
36. Over the past 80 years, three subspecies of tigers have become extinct. The Balinese tiger was deliberately exterminated, since in the Balinese cultural tradition it was considered the embodiment of evil. The Javan tiger became extinct after coffee plantations in Java deprived it of its habitat. All Caspian tigers died due to human hunting.
37. Tigers live about 25 years both in the wild and in captivity.
38. There are only 3,500 tigers left in the wild on Earth. However, many tigers are kept in captivity.
39. Tigers are solitary animals, only tigresses spend some time in a group with their cubs until they get stronger.
40. Tigers can mate and produce offspring with other wild felids, with the exception of lions.
Children raised by animals
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"Tiger" or who?
Many people are still concerned about the question of which tank was the best tank of the Second World War. They carefully compare performance characteristics tables, talk about the thickness of armor, armor penetration of shells and many other figures from performance characteristics tables. Different sources give different figures, so disputes begin about the reliability of the sources. In these disputes, it is forgotten that the numbers in the tables themselves do not mean anything...
Aviation of the USSR
Remember that MiG
The I-200 fighter (hereinafter referred to as MiG-1 and MiG-3) can be called a distant descendant of the I-16, differing from it in many ways, but nevertheless retaining certain “ancestral features”. .
The first of the new generation fighters in JanuaryIn 1940, the aircraft of aircraft designer A.S. entered testing.Yakovleva I-26, later renamed Yak-1.
The most prominent representative of the “wooden style” in Soviet fighter aircraft during the war was the aircraft of aircraft designers S.A. Lavochkina, V.P. Gorbunov and M.I. Gudkov I-301, which received the designation LaGG-3 when launched into production, as well as its further development - La-5 and La-7
Luftwaffe aircraft
This is the thing
The disdainful assessment of the Yu-87 dive bomber was as commonplace in our literature as the praise of the Il-2 attack aircraft...
CITY DESTROYERS
The most reliable assessment of the effectiveness of the actions of German bomber aviation can only be based on evidence from the side that suffered losses from its impact. That is, according to reports and reports of commanders at different levels of the Red Army. And these reports indicate the high performance of German pilots...
You look at these photos and it’s not clear how the German “scientific genius” did not come up with such a seemingly simple idea as tilting the armor! How many unique pieces of equipment have been produced by German designers, but looking at this photo you are perplexed. And after all, the T-34s were already available at the beginning of the war, when the Tiger was still being designed. This also did not affect his appearance in any way. Or are there some other motives and reasons hidden here?
Let's try to speculate on the age-old question: which tank was the best tank of the Second World War - the Tiger or the T-34?
Many people are still concerned about the question of which tank was the best tank of the Second World War. They carefully compare performance characteristics tables, talk about the thickness of armor, armor penetration of shells and many other figures from performance characteristics tables. Different sources give different figures, so disputes begin about the reliability of the sources. In these disputes, it is forgotten that the numbers in the tables themselves do not mean anything. Tanks are not designed for duels with their own kind in perfectly identical conditions! They are designed for combat, combat in cooperation with other branches of the military. Excessive enthusiasm for tables has led to the fact that many myths have piled up around the question of the best tank of the Second World War. In the articles “T-34 - the best tank of the Second World War?” and “Our answer to Aders and Vibicke - Tank T-34-85.” this issue was considered in relation to the Soviet medium tanks T-34 and T-34-85. Another contender for the role of the best tank is the German Tiger heavy tank.
One of the most common myths about tanks of the Second World War is the myth about the invulnerability of the Tiger to enemy tanks and anti-tank artillery. Tests at the Kubinka training ground in April 1943 showed that the only domestic gun capable of penetrating the frontal armor of the Pz.Kpfw.VI was at that time the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun. She was able to do this from a distance of 1000 meters. The attacking Tiger posed a serious problem for the anti-tank defense of the Soviet troops. But the thick armor had a serious drawback - it was very heavy. The same degree of protection could be achieved with thinner armor located at rational angles of inclination and make the tank lighter and more compact.
The most popular anti-tank guns in the Red Army were 45-mm cannons. The sub-caliber shells of this gun penetrated the 82-mm side armor from a distance of 350 meters. The lower part of the side was weaker armored - only 62 mm. Of course, it was very difficult to hit it between the rollers, but a good gunner could do it from a short distance. Using the right tactics made it possible to fight the attacking Tigers. It was done like this. One or more guns opened fire on the German tank and forced it to expose its side to the guns, which were in ambush and did not open fire. As soon as the "Tiger" exposed the side, they hit the tank in vulnerable places.
The appearance of new Soviet tanks IS-1, and then IS-2, T-34-85 and self-propelled guns based on T-34, such as SU-85 and SU-100, the resumption of production of the ZIS-2 anti-tank gun of 57 mm caliber and the creation of a new BS-3 anti-tank gun of 100 mm caliber made the Pz.Kpfw.VI vulnerable to attack. The Allies re-equipped the Sherman with a new 76mm cannon and began producing a 17-pounder anti-tank gun, which could also penetrate the frontal armor of the Tiger. The strengthening of anti-tank weapons of Germany's opponents occurred simultaneously with a decline in the quality of the armor of German tanks. The economic blockade did not allow obtaining alloying additives, and Germany did not have its own deposits of many of them. German metallurgists were forced to reduce the amount of highly scarce additives in armor, the resistance of which to armor-piercing projectiles was decreasing.
The Pz.Kpfw.VI was a superbly protected tank, but it was not invulnerable. The correct tactics of the defenders made it possible to inflict serious losses on the attacking Tigers. Over time, the Tigers maintained superiority over enemy tanks only at long ranges.
One of the undeniable advantages of the Pz.Kpfw.VI tank over other tanks is its firepower. The Tiger tank was equipped with an 88 mm KwK 36 cannon, based on an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun. This gun is probably the best tank gun of the Second World War. It was distinguished by its high armor penetration and rate of fire; its high-explosive fragmentation projectile did an excellent job with almost all unarmored targets on the battlefield.
The Pz.Kpfw.VI optical sight made it possible to fire at armored vehicles without preparation at a distance of 1200 meters. After zeroing, the Tiger could hit a stationary tank at a distance of 2500 meters. The design and excellent quality of the sight made it possible to fire at dusk.
You and I even discussed it once Wehrmacht infrared sights, remember this too.
Mobility is the Achilles heel of the Pz.Kpfw.VI tank. Any tank is a compromise between firepower, security and mobility. The creators of the Tiger chose fire and protection, but had to sacrifice mobility. The tank turned out to be very heavy - 55 tons! Maybach engines installed on the tank with a power of 650 or 700 hp. were too weak for such a heavy machine.
It is necessary to talk about one very common myth. Maybach engines were carburetor engines, so many consider them to be very fire hazardous compared to diesel engines. Proponents of this point of view argue in their favor that if you throw a lit match into a bucket of gasoline, the gasoline will ignite, but if you throw a lit match into a bucket of diesel fuel, the match will go out. But no one throws burning matches into the fuel tank of a tank in battle! When an armor-piercing projectile or cumulative jet hits a tank tank, any type of fuel ignites. As statistics from the Second World War showed, diesel tanks burned as often as carburetor tanks.
The difference was only a few percent!
German engineers did everything possible to make operating the Tiger as simple as possible. The automatic hydraulic servo drive of the transmission made it possible to change gears, of which there were eight forward and four backward, with two fingers! And the tank was turned by lightly turning the steering wheel. Such convenient control was not found on any tank of the Second World War, with the exception of the “Royal Tiger”, which used the same transmission. But even the ease of operating the tank could not compensate for its weight.
If we compare the tabular data on the power density of the Tiger with its main competitors, everything seems to be fine. The Tiger has a specific power of 11.4 hp/t, the IS-2 has 11.3 hp/t, and the English Churchill tank has only 9 hp/t! But mobility is determined not only by specific power. The specific ground pressure and the total weight of the tank are very important. The specific pressure of the Pz.Kpfw.VI was 30% higher than that of the IS-2! Already in the first battle on September 22, 1942, when the Tigers went on the attack near the village of Tortolovo near Leningrad, they got stuck in the mud! Three tanks, supported by artillery and infantry, were evacuated a few days later, but the fourth tank remained in no man's land and a month later was blown up on Hitler's orders.
It was not only mud that was an insurmountable obstacle for the Pz.Kpfw.VI. Many bridges in Russia could not support the weight of a 55-ton tank and the help of sappers was needed to cross a small stream. The range on the highway was 100 km, and on rough terrain only 60 km. The tank needed constant escort from gas stations. But a gas station is a tasty target for enemy attack aircraft and fighter-bombers! In conditions of air supremacy of enemy aircraft, organizing the movement of the Tigers on their own resulted in a serious problem. Transportation of the Tigers by rail also presented a big problem. They could only be transported on a special transporter. In the echelon between the two conveyors, it was necessary to hook up four ordinary cars so as not to exceed the permissible load on the railway bridges. But even on a special transporter it was impossible to load the Tiger without additional problems. It had to be “re-shoeed” into special transport tracks and the outer row of road wheels had to be removed.
Tank Pz.Kpfw.VI - quality and ease of use.
Like any new type of weapon, created in a hurry and not sufficiently tested, the Tiger tanks had many “childhood diseases”. Due to the heavy weight of the tank, the engine and transmission worked under very intense conditions. Fires from overheated engines and transmission breakdowns were common. The build quality and components were surprisingly low. The first Tigers on the Eastern Front and in Africa were constantly plagued by oil and fuel leaks and cooling radiator leaks. Ersatz rubber, used due to the lack of supplies of natural rubber, could not withstand high temperatures.
Gradually, some of the problems were solved, but many design flaws could not be eliminated. The complex suspension of the Pz.Kpfw.VI ensured greater smoothness, but it was very heavy and, for example, in winter the dirt that got between the rollers froze and could completely block the tank’s ability to move. Replacing the inner roller required removing several rollers in other rows, and the inner rollers wore out quickly.
The operation and repair of the Tigers presented quite a serious problem. For example, replacing a transmission, which often failed, required dismantling the tower. And in order to remove the tower, a special gantry crane was required! German tank crews noted that after five to six days of fighting, the Tigers began to fail due to mechanical failures.
With an experienced crew, the Tiger posed a great threat to the enemy. Powerful weapons and armor made it dangerous for any tank from the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Lowly vulnerable to most anti-tank weapons, the Tiger made it quite easy to break through enemy defenses. But the small range and maneuverability, problems with moving the tank outside the battlefield, design flaws and insufficient reliability, the difficulty of evacuating damaged vehicles and repairing them prevented the realization of its potential. The complexity of the design and high cost did not allow the tank to be produced in a large series; most sources provide information that a total of 1,355 Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger Ausf.E were produced. Despite all the inherent shortcomings of the Tiger, it can be considered the most formidable and serious weapon on the battlefield, and meeting any World War II tank with it in open battle did not bode well for its rivals.
At the same time, no one thought to doubt the combat power of the Soviet army, which crushed the strongest military machine of the West - Hitler's Germany. The symbol of this power was the T-34 - the best Soviet tank of the Great Patriotic War. It’s sad, but in our time many consider this to be propaganda, believing that the “thirty-four” does not deserve the honor of being the best tank of World War II. These strange people are not convinced even by the memoirs of famous Nazi military leaders, such as the commander of the 2nd German tank group, Heinz Guderian, who wrote about the superiority of Soviet T-34 tanks over German ones back in the summer of 1941 in the battles near Mtsensk. Subsequently, many Nazi officers who encountered the T-34 on the battlefield repeatedly spoke and wrote about this.
And indeed, the Soviet tank in 1941 at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War had absolute superiority over any tank of the German army. Let us remember that at the beginning of the war the main tank of the Nazis was the PzIII, which had 30mm frontal armor and was armed with a 37mm gun. What could this “main” German tank oppose to the “thirty-four”? Only combat at extremely short distances. The armor of the Soviet tank was 45mm at a good angle (in fact, the T-34 was the first tank in the world with rational angles of inclination of the armor plates), and this increased its armor resistance. As a result, German shells fired from 37mm guns were unable to penetrate such armor from medium and long ranges.
The Soviet 76mm cannon mounted on the T-34 penetrated any German tanks of 1941, including the newest PzIVs, from fairly long distances, remaining out of the range of weak German guns. In collisions with the T-34, this forced the Germans to bypass them, approach them at extremely close and very dangerous distances for fire combat, or use heavy 88mm anti-aircraft guns with a high initial projectile speed to fight the T-34, which would certainly penetrate "T-34". More often than not, at the beginning of the war, German tanks avoided a direct collision with the T-34s.
However, the lack of trained crews for the T-34 and the extremely poor operational management of tank forces in the first months of the war did not allow the Red Army to realize superiority in technology. A large number of "thirty-fours" died in the fire of the collapsed Western Front under the attacks of German tank and motorized units. A large number of these excellent tanks were destroyed by inexperienced crews and abandoned in encirclement in the first months of the war. Of course, the T-34 had its drawbacks - problems with the gearbox, cramped fighting compartment, poor placement of ammunition and poor optics. But this tank, in addition to its excellent gun and armor, had one more trump card that German combat vehicles could not boast of.
This trump card was simply the phenomenal maintainability of the tank in field conditions. The components and assemblies of the "thirty-four" were easily removable, their dismantling and replacement was carried out very quickly, which made it possible to return a disabled tank to battle in a short time, while German tanks were extremely difficult to repair in the field, they had to be sent into deep rear for factory repairs.
In the second half of the war, with the appearance of Tigers and Panthers in large numbers among the Germans, the T-34 lost its absolute superiority over German technology, but after a solid modernization, the T-34, armed with an 85mm gun, again began to pose a threat to the Germans. tanks, albeit not as serious as before. In the hands of a skilled and trained crew with some combat experience, she could successfully fight Tigers and Panthers. In 1944 - 1945, the IS-2 heavy tanks began to come to the fore in the Soviet tank forces. However, as we see, the T-34 in its modernized version remained the main tank of the Red Army almost until the end of the war.
It was with him that our troops marched from Kursk across Europe to Berlin and ended the war with the defeat of Hitler’s army in its capital. All this time, the “thirty-four” served Soviet tankers without fail. The T-34 became the most successful and balanced tank of the Second World War. Both German generals and American military experts noted at that time that the Russian tank was the most successful design of that period. The combination of good driving characteristics, agility and mobility with good armor and powerful weapons, as well as the vehicle’s amazing maintainability made it the best tank of the Great Patriotic War.
And a review of these two tanks in a game known to many men
