i always hear that the Fireflies could successfully knock out tigers and panthers with their 17 pounder gun but what about king tigers? how come i have not heard of those?
@The Big Red 1 said:
i always hear that the Fireflies could successfully knock out tigers and panthers with their 17 pounder gun but what about king tigers? how come i have not heard of those?
Let's say - the Fireflies were the only more or less mass-produced western Allies' tank which could fight Tigers and Panthers with decent chances for success. As for King Tigers - these fought mostly on the Eastern Front, versus Soviet Army. And were severely beaten there - firstly by T-34/85 (for justice sake - from the ambush) and IS-2 (in direct standoff) at Sandomyr bridgehead, then by heavy TDs (ISU-122, ISU-152 and SU-100) and heavy AT guns (BS-3) near the Balaton lake.
Historically speaking, the sabot round fired by the 17 pdr was very innaccurate. If it hit something, it was effective. The high velocity, combined with the sabot made for some real slop as the sabot came off and imparted its own effects.
BaálthazorThe shoreline by the river Styx.Posts: 1,092
The Firefly has well-documented accords of engaging(and defeating) Tiger 1's and Panthers, but since King Tigers(or rather Bengal Tigers, which was the accurate translation of the German name for it) was only really deployed enmassed during the Battle of the Bulge and really only used piecemeal after that, it's hard to salvage accounts of Fireflys engaging Tiger 2's.
Though for arguments sake, I can refer you to the documentary "The Tiger Files" produced in cooperation by Bovinton Tank Museum in Great Britain, which describes the Tiger 1 in details, also relating many precious facts about the Firefly if one is so interested.
Nothing about the Firefly vs King Tiger though, for the reason explained above...
If I had to guess, Fireflies didn't engage any King Tigers during the war.
The furthest extent the Germans reached in the Bulge, for example, touched British forces yes, but I doubt they were lead by something as large and cumbersome as Tiger IIs.
I don't think a Firefly could beat a Maus if the Maus were developed earlier in the war. Besides Maus's were like Hitler's Giant Tank that he wanted. Even though the Maus would be hard to mass produce due to low supplies, imagine coming face to face with a Maus, thinking before your Firefly could destroy anything. Driving in front of a giant Maus Tank.
@kugelblitz00 said:
Historically speaking, the sabot round fired by the 17 pdr was very innaccurate. If it hit something, it was effective. The high velocity, combined with the sabot made for some real slop as the sabot came off and imparted its own effects.
To my understanding, it was the sabot sometimes hitting the muzzle break on the firefly that made it inaccurate, not the gun or sabot themselves.
Comments
Let's say - the Fireflies were the only more or less mass-produced western Allies' tank which could fight Tigers and Panthers with decent chances for success. As for King Tigers - these fought mostly on the Eastern Front, versus Soviet Army. And were severely beaten there - firstly by T-34/85 (for justice sake - from the ambush) and IS-2 (in direct standoff) at Sandomyr bridgehead, then by heavy TDs (ISU-122, ISU-152 and SU-100) and heavy AT guns (BS-3) near the Balaton lake.
Historically speaking, the sabot round fired by the 17 pdr was very innaccurate. If it hit something, it was effective. The high velocity, combined with the sabot made for some real slop as the sabot came off and imparted its own effects.
Though for arguments sake, I can refer you to the documentary "The Tiger Files" produced in cooperation by Bovinton Tank Museum in Great Britain, which describes the Tiger 1 in details, also relating many precious facts about the Firefly if one is so interested.
Nothing about the Firefly vs King Tiger though, for the reason explained above...
If I had to guess, Fireflies didn't engage any King Tigers during the war.
The furthest extent the Germans reached in the Bulge, for example, touched British forces yes, but I doubt they were lead by something as large and cumbersome as Tiger IIs.
I don't think a Firefly could beat a Maus if the Maus were developed earlier in the war. Besides Maus's were like Hitler's Giant Tank that he wanted. Even though the Maus would be hard to mass produce due to low supplies, imagine coming face to face with a Maus, thinking before your Firefly could destroy anything. Driving in front of a giant Maus Tank.
To my understanding, it was the sabot sometimes hitting the muzzle break on the firefly that made it inaccurate, not the gun or sabot themselves.