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Tanktowers should blow off

Todesblitz

FNG / Fresh Meat
Jun 14, 2007
2
0
Hi!
I have read some stories about tankbattles during WW2 and in all of this stories it was common that the towers were blown off. At least when a Tiger shot a T34 or smaller tanks. Is this a hard nut to crack graphicaly? Many with me would really love if the towers could blow up if you hit at the right spot.
 
In the UT 2.5 engine, yeah.
Also you coul only do that when some insane caliber gun like the IS2's 122mm cannon or the Maus/Jagdpanther's 128mm cannon hit tanks with weak turret armor like the Panzer IV, Panzer III Or is rare cases the T34.
It's easier to pop the lid off a can of Nazis due to the Panzer IV's maximum turret armor being 30mm and that of the T34 being a whopping 90 mm if I recall correctley.
Also it's called a turret, btw.
 
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In the UT 2.5 engine, yeah.
Also you coul only do that when some insane caliber gun like the IS2's 122mm cannon or the Maus/Jagdpanther's 128mm cannon hit tanks with weak turret armor like the Panzer IV, Panzer III Or is rare cases the T34.
It's easier to pop the lid off a can of Nazis due to the Panzer IV's maximum turret armor being 30mm and that of the T34 being a whopping 90 mm if I recall correctley.
Also it's called a turret, btw.
If ammostore of a tank gets hit, anything is possible,use your imagination(back them up with photos)
 
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Correct me if im wrong, but Shermans were also prone to this happening weren't they?

I've read some accounts of Shermans have they turrets propelled right into the air when under fire from Tigers.
Generally when a tank was hit by an armour piercing shell, it would make a nice little hole, of the same size as the shell calibre. Sometimes the armour plate could fail catastrophically, but this was due to manufacturing defects in either the structure or due to the alloy being brittle.
If a turret was "ripped off" a tank, it was due to an internal explosion of the magazine and/or fuel. It wasn't due to the shell physically knocking it off.

The 88mm projectile used by German was (off the top of my head) about 20lbs and had a bursting charge of between 45g to 60g (depending on the exact type).
This shell isn't going to "rip" a turret of a tank.
The bursting charge was so small because it's purpose is to destroy the shell, not to directly destroy (the internals of) the tank by an explosive force.
The other reason to keep the bursting charge as small as possible is maintain the structual strength of the shell while penetrating the armour. The size and shape of the HE filler on early Russian 76mm shells was a contributing factor in the problem with the shells shattering.

Will post pretty pictures of tanks later.
EDIT:
These pictures are of shattered (brittle) armour on Pather tanks. The damaged areas are larger than the shells that produced them.
Pics originally posted by Wokelly
panthershatter1vj6kh0.jpg
panthershatter2uu2eb1.jpg


And a T-34 who's fuel tanks have exploded.

t34_06.jpg



And T-34 after the magazine exploded.
t34_16.jpg


And a KV-1 after the magazine exploded
kv1_07.jpg


And a KV-1 hit in the turret by an 88mm
kv1_01.jpg
 
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From my understanding, turrets pop off usually when the ammo burns off into an explosion. If there is a simple penetration of the turret, it won't knock the turret off.

Which is why there is less change an 88 will cause this because it will simply go through one side of the turret and out the other.

Usually involving a dead tank crew member...
 
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Actually, it could do that also. I've seen a photo of some parts that were once a German tank. AP round of KV-2 (that's a 152mm there) hit it. It literally smashed all the upper part of the tank.
"Literally smashed". So the armour failed catastrophically.
I still hold that turrets thrown clear of the tank were due to an internal explosion, such as the magazine and/or fuel.
And that the calibre wasn't that important, just so long as it penetrated the armour and started a fire and/or explosion.

BTW, as I posted, a German 88mm shell was 20lb.
A 152mm HE shell, of a M-10 howitzer was about 88lb and a Naval semi-AP was about 112lb.
Unfortunately I don't know the type shells the KV-2 was issued with.
I have to confess, I'm getting the 152mm shell weights from Wiki (the shame of it :eek:), as I can't translate this page of Russian. http://www.soldat.ru/doc/mobilization/mob/table17.html

Panther hit in the hull by a 152mm shell, and turret by 57mm or 76mm
panther_11.jpg
 
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