![]() ![]() Shermans were mainly employed in an infantry support role and a breakout role where HE was deciding factor. German tanks in Normandy and on the Russian front were employed almost solely in an anti tank role and were designed for that role. Which is more important a great AP capability or a great HE capability. However the bigger explosive charge in the Sherman 75mm HE round was far superior to the smaller charge in the German tank HE round. True the armour piercing round of the Sherman 75mm was barely adequate compared to the higher velocity German tank guns which were superior in that respect. This relationship would not be so simple when viewed at the battalion level. This was due to the higher casualty rate in the tanks that caught fire (1.28 crew casualties per tank) and those that did not (0.78 casualties per tank).ĭupuy found the relationship between tank losses and casualties to be straightforward and obvious. Only 40% of the tanks in the sample burned, but casualties were distributed evenly between the tanks that burned and those that did not. Whether or not a destroyed tank caught fire made a big difference for the crew. Interestingly, although gunfire accounted for the most tank and crew casualties, infantry anti-tank rockets (such as the Panzerfaust) inflicted 13% of the tank losses, but caused 21% of the crew losses.Ĭasualties were evenly distributed among the crew positions. For each tank loss, an average of one crewman was killed or wounded. The data sampled included 797 medium (averaging 5 crewmen) and 101 light (averaging 4 crewmen) tanks. 1st Army between June 1944 and May 1945 (pp. In his 1990 book Attrition: Forecasting Battle Casualties and Equipment Losses in Modern War, Trevor Dupuy took a look at the relationship between tank losses and crew casualties in the U.S. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |