Comments by "David Himmelsbach" (@davidhimmelsbach557) on "Soviet "War-Winning" Tanks in 1941? The Role of Tanks on the Eastern Front WW2" video.

@Secret Moon STILL thinking like a civilian. Tanks are lousy on the defense. They can only be justified as attack machines. EVERY other asset does a better job on defense: AT guns, infantry, bazookas, artillery, mortars... tanks are not supposed to even be in the line. If they are, then things have really gone to Hell.
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@Secret Moon You're not thinking like Adolf Hitler, that's for sure. The Tiger and Panthers were to sweep all before them and roll on to victory. Your very notion is defeatist. Hitler totally shunned defensive weapons at every turn. Only when events overwhelmed him did he even stop bomber production. Yes, until very late in the war, Adolf was deluded enough to think that he could out-bomb the United Nations. (America, Britan, Russia = the UN -- yes that's where the term started -- forget those dingbats at turtle bay. )
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@Ken McD Gas economy. The 190 used more avgas. And, on paper, the Me109 looked VERY competitive with Russian planes. The problem was that the 109 was NOT designed for field conditions. It really needed a paved runway. In Russia, about 2% of the 109s would crack up with each landing. Do the math, after X number of missions these planes have destroyed themselves. The Russians don't have to lift a finger. This landing weakness also existed -- in spades -- for the Ju52. The ENTIRE Ju-52 fleet lost its landing gear in Russia. THIS ^^^^ is the REAL reason that Hitler turned away from Moscow. It changed the course of the war. The Luftwaffe general most responsible planted his brains on his office desk with a PPK later in December. EVERY HQ blamed him for ph uc king things up, royally. Because the Germans were never able to repeat it, it has been lost to history: the magic solution in the early weeks for the panzers was re-supply by air, by Ju-52. This was totally novel. Guderian's grand plan was to break-through and then just keep going. The popular idea that the panzers are circling around to the rear is total nonsense during these weeks. It, encirclement, was never tried, never intended. Blitzkrieg dictated that the panzers go ULTRA deep and attack the rail net -- and the truck fleet. Both were totally defenseless against panzers -- even ones armed with a pathetic 37mm gun. NOW you understand why OKH found that pop gun tolerable. A 37mm gun is actually BETTER for such a campaign. Each panzer could pack in some crazy amount of ammo. And each 37mm round would totally destroy one truck. Each round would ruin a steam locomotive. It would also ruin any small block house. Just aim for the vision slit. Eventually, you'll get a round inside. Everything was clicking until the Jus52 fleet lost its feet. The landing gear could NOT take the abuse it suffered while landing in Russia. The Luftwaffe ph uc ked up Big Time. Then a TOTAL panic overcame the Luftwaffe. Up until the last, the Luftwaffe was LYING to the Heer! BTW, there are wartime photos of 'beached' Jus52s all over Russia at this time. You might imagine that the Germans kept this a Top, Top Secret at the time. You'll not be surprised that the Germans KEPT this boner top secret straight through the Cold War. To reveal it would be to reveal that the Luftwaffe let EVERYONE down -- to include the dictator. No excuses were possible. Repair kits were soon crafted, and repair crews were flown out to fix the fleet. This took about a month... just the repairs... so MANY planes. The last time I Googled Ju-52 the first page detailed a Ju-52 with broken landing gear. Heh. Heh. Heh. The deep drive of the Summer was over. Suddenly Adolf became obsessed with BOTH flanks. The Ju-52's absence was the reason why. Every other tale is PURE BS -- put out to hide the fact that the Luftwaffe lost its ENTIRE logistical fleet -- due to stupidity and crappy engineering. The fix was no biggie, BTW. If the Luftwaffe had come clean from the beginning this war shifting fiasco would never have occurred.
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@Jordy You were going great until you spelled out panzer formations. You've got it exactly backwards. It was ALWAYS Germany's scheme to place the heaviest tanks at the REAR of the wedge. I realize that this is totally counter-intuitive to civilians... but that's what they did. Why? The ultra-powerful guns of a Tiger could reach all the way PAST those tanks in the front ranks. Hence there is absolutely no reason for the most expensive tanks to run over mine fields or get shot up by anti-tank guns. In American military jargon this concept is also known as "Over Watch" or in civilian-speak "watching from behind your shoulder." The older, weaker tanks are expected to bob around like small cats and drive the rats in front of them. They are also MUCH better at shooting up anti-tank guns. Even a pitiful 37mm gun blows a gun crew away. And it loads and shoots so FAST, too. (In today's army, that role has been shifted towards 25mm rapid fire guns. They'd hose down anyone crazy enough to pop-off at American tanks.) And the whole formation is always aimed AWAY from enemy strength. Kursk being the obvious exception to this universal rule. In the beginning, two Tigers would ship out with two to four ordinary panzers, usually Mk IIIs. Both Tigers would be at the base of the wedge. If anything showed up, the Mk IIIs would break left and right and cover the flanks. If this was chess, the Tigers would be queens, the Mk IIIs would be knights... hopping all over the place.
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@Fazole You're both right and wrong. The 190D was brought out solely for the anti-bomber campaign. It was never sent to Russia. What's up for discussion is the early 190 (A & B) which was an air cooled machine. It was PERFECT for Russia. Strangely, the Luftwaffe kept a slew of them back in France and Germany to fight the latest marks of Spits. Not really a smart play. The early air cooled machine did not have a turbo-charger. ( indeed, the Luftwaffe did not favor turbo-chargers as they, like jet engines, used trick alloys. ( Nickel and all the rest. ) The Luftwaffe went with 'valving.' They were the first to go with four valves per cylinder -- and radical cams, too. Naturally, down low, this was a kick-ass solution. There is only so much boost that a sea-level engine can take. And then there's the knock problem. And German fuel is crappy -- low octane... shockingly low. They'd use what we'd call regular auto gasoline and call it avgas. (!!!) Their automobile gasoline was absolute crap... with octane numbers so low that I figure I'm reading a misprint.
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@John Burns Finally you've found an acorn. However the Tiger was designed in response to the KV series -- all of them. This becomes obvious when reading the historical record -- and above all when you put their stats side-by-side. They read like TWINS. Slab-sided boxes... with 110mm frontal armor... check... and so forth.
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@ friki143 Right on both. The Germans only ever advanced because of the Luftwaffe, not because of the panzers. Once the Luftwaffe was taken out of play, the panzers stopped being remotely successful. THIS is why both the Americans and the Russians -- and now the Red Chinese are obsessed with their air forces. They may not take any ground, but no army takes ground without dominating the skies. Hell, they'll be lucky to even hold the line. Just ask the Taliban.
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@Lion 24 You're on target. The REAL play was to ramp up the Stg III and the Mk IV. The focus on the heavies was totally misplaced. You'd be SHOCKED as to how few heavies were actually up and running. December 31, 1943 the Ostheer had less than 250 Panthers operational across the ENTIRE front. The Reds were destroying them as fast as the factory could crank them out. They started out with over 200 during Kursk! Like the Red Queen, they needed to run twice as fast if they expected to stay in place. All tanks only ever have utility for attacks. They are NOT defensive weapons -- EVER. If that's happening -- man you've lost the war.
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@Alaskan Christian Later in the war, the Allies ran into entire T-34 battalions that had been converted to accept German 75mm ammo -- they were remanufactured with the Mk IV 48 calibur gun! The Nazis were so short on tanks that they even had a battalion of crappy French tanks, too. They were nothing but a bump in the road in front of Patton. Heh. You'd just be amazed at how many captured Soviet arms were re-manufactured by the Germans. They even went so far as to start up a production for 76,2 artillery ammo. That's how many howitzers they captured at Kiev and elsewhere. Yes, enough for entire German armies. That howitzer, BTW, can easily double as a PAK gun... and has ammo at the read for such a duty. Think of it as a cheaper version of the FLAK36. (nee 88)
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@John Burns Can't you get anything right? The Soviets were MILES behind the British. The Centurion was a world class tank that went on and on and on. It was at least 1.5 generations ahead of ANYTHING the Russians had. And the whole planet -- other than you -- knows it. The Stalin tanks were -- in so many words -- de facto abandoned by the Red Army. Just too much trouble. Of course, this could not be done while Uncle Joe was calling the shots. They were so chitty that the Reds inflicted them upon the Egyptians. It was not long before the Egyptians regarded them with all the adoration you'd have for an over flowing outhouse. Yeah, they stunk.
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@Wolf Just too damn expensive. Speer bitterly regretted ever having been its champion. He figured that it cut three months off of the Third Reich all by itself. (!!!) It kept using CRITICALLY short materials for a one-way flight.
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@Goddard You might also add that the armor of the T34 is INSANELY over-rated. It's about 45mm at the glacis, 40mm most other locations. This was more than enough to frustrate the 37mm and the short 50mm 42. But the long 50mm 60 was able to zap the T34 from all angles. BTW, you're over rating the escape chances for ANY of the T34 crewmen. The Chieftain has a video illustrating that NO-ONE is going to get out of a burning T34. It'd be a major miracle if the commander gets out. This fact goes a LONG way towards explaining why virtually every T34 crew is a green one. Most fellas are dying in their first engagements with the Germans.
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