Pictures Of Wwii Tanks – Although 830 were produced, they saw little action and no airborne landings. A few were used by the British in their attack across the Rhine, but the Americans never made use of them. The bridge ended up being scrapped at war’s end.
Produced in 1942, the M6 was America’s first serious attempt at a heavy tank. Despite initial defects in the braking and cooling systems, it was an effective machine which pioneered the use of heavy cast construction.
Pictures Of Wwii Tanks
The fighting, characterized by massive losses of Soviet armor, continued throughout 12 July without really any decisive success by either side – contrary to the accounts given in many well-known studies of the Eastern Front, which state that the fighting ended on 12 July with
M Heavy Tank
a decisive German defeat. Many historians have said the battlefield was littered with hundreds of destroyed German tanks. In fact, the fighting continued around Prochorovka for several more days. Das Reich continued to push very slowly eastward in the area south of the town until 16 July.
This allowed the III Panzer Corps to link up with the SS Division on 14 July and encircle several Soviet rifle divisions south of Prochorovka. Totenkopf eventually reached the KartaschevkaProchorovka road and the division took several tactically important hills on the north edge of its perimeter as well.
Designed by J Walter Christie, the American engineer and inventor known for developing the Christie suspension system, this experimental prototype originally built in 1932 led to the Soviet BT series and later to the famous T-34 (and many other prototypes or series).
As mentioned already, this action is one of the best-known battles on the Eastern Front and has been included in books, films and documentaries everywhere. Some are works of pure fiction and many varying accounts exist.
M/M Stuart
In addition, if you consider the statement about all three SS divisions attacking side by side this is both untrue and tactically impossible when you consider that the II SS Panzer Corps had a front of some nine miles wide.
On 13 July, the Fourth Panzer Army combat reports declared that the II SS Panzer Corps had 163 operational tanks, a loss of only 48 tanks. In comparison, Soviet reports show that on 13 July the army lost 400 tanks to repairable damage.
So there are many complex and varying accounts by historians. Personally, I am somewhat skeptical that we will ever know the whole truth and believe the battle will remain the “stuff of legends.” One thing, however, is very clear: the advance of the Fourth Panzer Army was slowed dramatically due to the Panzer Corps’ failure to take Prochorovka on 12 July, regardless of both the number of tanks possessed by the Germans or Soviets and the misuse of German
panzer reserves. During the Second World War, America had to move quickly to arm itself. Tanks had become a vital part of combat, as shown by Germany’s decisive armored offensives in Poland and France. As a result, American arms makers rushed to produce the tanks with which their country could win the war.
Marmon-Herrington Light Tank
Following their defeat at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-43, the German armed forces launched a climactic offensive in the East known as Operation Citadel on 4 July 1943. The climax of Operation Citadel, the Battle of Kursk, involved as many as 6,000 tanks
, 4,000 aircraft and 2 million fighting men and is remembered, rightly or wrongly, as the greatest tank battle in history. There are massive differences between historians about the events of this time and it still remains a slice of history that is surrounded by myth and speculation.
Also a modification of a previous tank, the Light M3, or General Stuart, was first produced in 1940. The experience of combat in Europe led to its having thicker armor than its predecessor, which in turn necessitated changes to the suspension.
Army Ground Forces proved strangely resistant to the new weapon, and it became a source of political conflict within the military. At last, the Army Staff overruled the ground commanders. The M26 was shipped to Europe, where a few hundred took part in the final months of the war.
M Chaffee
The potential was there, if all went to plan, for the Germans to destroy in excess of five Soviet Armies, however, the Ninth Army never came close to defeating the Soviet defenses to the North and likewise the III Panzer Corps faced tough opposition.
Finally, on 11 July the Fourth Panzer Army was in a position to capture the town of Prochorovka and establish a vital bridgehead over the River Psel. Since the mid-1930s, the Indianapolis-based Marmon-Herrington company had been producing a range of light tanks for export.
The early CTL designs did not have turrets. The US Marine Corps occasionally bought one to try it out but was never impressed enough to buy them in bulk. 12 July at 5am – Hundreds of Soviet T-34s and T-70s (with infantry on top) advanced from Prochorovka in groups of between 40 and 50. Infantry dismounted and the tanks continued the advance into the German lines.
There was a pause in the attack and Leibstandarte pushed its armor towards the town and collided with elements of Rotmistrov’s reserve armor. A Soviet attack by the 181st Tank Regiment was defeated by the 13th (heavy) Company of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment, which consisted of several SS Tigers, one of which was commanded by 2nd Lt.
M Sherman
Michael Wittmann – the most successful tank commander of the war. The most commonly accepted version is that three SS Divisions, side by side, attacked Prochorovka over tight and difficult terrain. Between 500 and 700 German Tanks, which included Mark V Panthers and the famous Mark VI Tiger, with the potent 88mm, advanced slowly.
The Soviets in their agile T-34s threw themselves among them, causing confusion and chaos and not allowing the range of the 88s to gain the upper hand. In 1940, the company created the turreted CTM model, designed to meet the requirements of the Marine Corps.
An improved version was made in 1941 for the Netherlands East Indies, but that region was overrun by the Japanese before most of the tanks could be delivered, so they went to the US Army instead.
Although the Panther was the finest tank that the Germans produced during the war, they overlooked the advantages of simple design. Over-engineering meant that the Panther was more complex, slower to produce and less easily repaired.
Damian Lucian
Even now new information is being found as new archives are unearthed that have previously remained buried and hidden. As an example, the Waffen SS formation records were not declassified until around 1981, by which time many so-called ‘historical reports’ had already been produced.
Rommel’s success in North Africa owed much to the German Panzer III, which could reach 25 mph, had a 37 mm gun that grew to 50 mm and 19 mm armor, as well as the Panzer IV, which boasted a 75 mm gun.
First tested in 1943 and produced from April 1944 onward, the M24 was named the Chaffee after General Adna R. Chaffee, a pioneer of US armored warfare who had died in 1941. It used the twin Cadillac engines of the M5A1, as these had proven
a very reliable option. If you study the combat records and strength reports of II SS Panzer Corps it reports only moderate losses. Reports of numbers of tanks involved also vary wildly. In fact, the report shows that, by 11 July, the II SS Panzer Corps had a total of 211 operational tanks –Totenkopf had 94 tanks, Leibstandarte had only 56 and Das Reich possessed just 61. Only 15 Tiger tanks were still in action at
Prochorovka and there were no SS Panthers available. It soon became apparent that the Stuart, with its 37mm gun, was behind the curve of modern warfare, lacking the firepower to take out German tanks. In 1942, American engineers began working on the replacement that would become the M24.
Wittmann’s group was advancing in flank support of the German main attack when it was engaged by the Soviet tank regiment at long range. The Soviet charge, straight at the Tigers over open ground, was suicidal as the frontal armor of the Tiger was more than a match for the 76mm guns of the T-34s at a distance.
None of the Tigers were destroyed, but the 181st Tank Regiment was annihilated. Late in the day, the last Soviet reserves, elements of the 5th Mechanized Corps, were deployed. This finally halted Leibstandarte. The Germans’ main aim during Citadel was to secure a large salient in the Eastern Front that extended 70 miles towards the west.
Field Marshal Günther von Kluge’s Army Group Center would attack from the north flank, with the Ninth Army leading the effort, the XLVI Panzer Corps on the right flank and the XLI Panzer Corps on the left.
General Joachim Lemelsen’s XLVII Panzer Corps planned to drive towards Kursk and meet up with Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s Army Group South, the Fourth Panzer Army and the Kempf Army. By the time the M6 was ready for production, the Army’s Armored Force had decided that mobility was more important than armor and firepower.
They used the tank’s supposed unreliability as an excuse to reject it. The tank was operated by a driver and a commander who loaded and fired the gun. Armor thickness on the turret front was 60 mm, hull front and sides: 45 mm, rear and turret sides: 35 mm, roof and bottom: 10 mm.
It was armed with a 45-mm L/46 gun Model 38 with forty-five rounds carried, and a coaxial 7.62-mm DT machine gun. The French Char B1-bis was as well equipped for offense as later tanks, with a superficially impressive 75 mm gun.
On the battlefield, however, this proved difficult to use effectively due to issues of reliability, tactics and personnel. The Lee/Grant tank was only ever meant as an interim measure. Even while it headed into battle with its side-mounted sponson, engineers were frantically working to create a medium tank that could carry a 75mm gun in its turret.
The result was the M4 Sherman. Damian is a history geek that’s worked for War History Online for almost a decade. He can talk about the history and its chain of events for hours and is 100% legit fun at parties.
Aside from history, geography and etymology of all things are no less exciting for him! An avid video game player, meme distributor, and your comment section moderator all in one. Mythologies of all cultures are fascinating to him, Greek, Nordic, Slavic – you name it, and he’s in!
Das Reich attacked southwest of Prochorovka and was quickly engaged by battle groups of the II Tank Corps and II Guards Tank Corps. Battle groups of 20 to 40 Soviet tanks, supported by infantry and ground-attack planes, met with Das Reich’s regimental spearheads.
The Soviets continued to push armor against the division and combat raged throughout the day with heavy losses of Soviet armor. Das Reich continued to push slowly eastward, advancing into the night while suffering relatively light tank losses.
This British light tank made by the renowned engineering company Vickers inspired many countries to produce their own versions of the tank. These included the Polish 7TP, Italian M11/39 and later models, Soviet T-26, Type 95 Ha-Go and the M2 light tank.
An officer seated on top of a General Grant M3 medium tank explaining the method of operating an American type pistol for firing smoke-screen shells from inside a tank. Credit: Australian War Memorial / Public Domain.
It remained in service until 1948 and was used as a basis for both the T-80, which was more advanced and had a two-man turret, and the T-90 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, which drew on the T-70’s
chassis. Developed in 1940, the previous M2A1 was a medium tank with a 37mm gun, but the fighting in Poland and France showed that this weapon would be too weak for modern purposes. The turret was too small to carry a 75mm gun, so a sponson was instead added at the side of the hull to carry the 75mm weapon.
The resulting vehicle was the Medium M3.
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Emma Nehls is a military writer and historian with a passion for exploring the intricacies of warfare and the human experience within the military. With extensive knowledge and a deep understanding of military strategy, tactics, and historical contexts, Nehls brings a unique perspective to his writings.
