Driftless
Donor
Jeez, I'd guess the recoiling breech block would make some space out the backside of the turret.......
Alternative History Armoured Fighting Vehicles Part 4
- Thread starter Claymore
- Start date
I was thinking Brenda from Bristolto quote the great John Hurt - oh no, not again
for non britons there is a clip of an elderly woman asked about an upcoming snap general election in 2017 replying “ you are joking, not another one oh for gods sake, I can’t stand this”
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Recently discovered the Jigsaw Tank from the Haunted Tank series that was part of DC Comics GI Combat line up from the 60's.
https://archive.armorama.com/features/4513/index.htm
Which for a comic book tank doesn't look half bad.
https://archive.armorama.com/features/4513/index.htm
Which for a comic book tank doesn't look half bad.
Neat tank, the mini-34 chassis is really neat.
Too bad about the terrible flag.
It does pull of the jury rigged Frankenstein's monster of a vehicle that's actually rather effective look rather well.
Though yeah it could do without the flag.
IIRC the tank was haunted by the spirit of a Confederate general, Stuart I believe.
Well more like aided in battle but yes. Being a penitence quest for General Stuart.
Well it was called "The Haunted Tank".
Stuart was kind of a spiritual guide if I recall, I remember one comic where a Tiger tank was haunted by the ghost of Attila the Hun, neither ghost really did anything except trade some trash talk.
This is a collector-example of the Edgar Brandt company 75mm APDS with magnesium-aero-capped 57.5mm tungsten carbide core-slug, that was unsuccessfully pitched to the French Army in early 1940.
All of the collector examples of this round are from a prototype/test/sales production run done by Brandt.
The proposed first application of this round was to be 75mm guns in the Mle 1897 family, for which several AT versions had been developed for second-class defensive use, i.e. 9th Army and so forth. With this round, a Mle 1897 gun that fired a standard full-caliber 75mm AP round using normal artillery propellant at a muzzle velocity of about 625 m/sec, instead achieved 900 m/sec. This gave the gun the power to penetrate any then-known German tank armor out to at least 1500 meters.
However, new gunsight reticles would have been needed, and considerable re-training. And, as a completely new ammo type, there would have been significant logistical complications. There may have been a recognition on the part of the French high command that their logistical system was already incapable of getting ammo where it was needed in dynamic circumstances...as the events of the forthcoming May were to prove...so any new complexity would only make things worse. In any case, Brandt did not make the sale.
Brandt also proposed to the French army that he would produce APDS rounds for the long 47mm...the first-class AT gun. As far as I know, no prototype/test/sales production run of that shell caliber occurred. No sale resulted.
And it's in general making me imagine what kind of other hastily assembled Frankenstein tanks could be built.
I remember that comic. My uncle gave me a huge chest of his old comics when I was a kid in the 80's
M3 Grant/Lee's mixed with Pz 3 and 4 Tanks plus some Italian flair in North Africa would be interesting
that must of looked cool. another interesting one would be a churchhill or Matilda or early war french tanks ?
The only early war French tank with enough room in the turret to fit the recoil of a German full-length 75mm gun would have been the not-ready-for-prime-time G1R.
Matilda wouldn't fit a six pounder, let alone a 75mm.
Matilda wouldn't fit a six pounder, let alone a 75mm.
How about a Matilda 2 Tank hunter with a fixed all round gun shield and a 6 pounder?
So more or less a British Panzerjager1, though that would more properly use a 6E chassis.
I don't think it's a good idea, but might be an interesting exercise to see what does and doesn't work.
I copied an old post of mine from Thread 2.
Captured Matilda II, which I've seen wrongly described as being in the desert. Pintle mounted KwK 38 L/42. I've got the same picture somewhere else - I think it's with a coastal defence unit somewhere in northern France.
Great find.I copied an old post of mine from Thread 2.
Captured Matilda II, which I've seen wrongly described as being in the desert. Pintle mounted KwK 38 L/42. I've got the same picture somewhere else - I think it's with a coastal defence unit somewhere in northern France.
The Matilda II chassis is a bit of a mismatch regarding weight, complexity and mobility, with a splinters-and-bullets-only shield atop. Plus, having only one or two such chassis, anything you develop has a relatively large engineering and mechanic/armorer investment per combat unit produced. And, it'd be too few units to justify tooling up spare parts, so maintenance and repairs would be difficult at best.
Much better to use something of which you have much greater numbers...as Becker did with the Jagdpanzers.
OTL, there were quite a few Universal Carriers captured, along with a fair number of Lorraine 37/38 (already grabbed by Becker). Nothing else from 1940 was a good candidate--the Hotchkiss 35/39 chassis was a poor design for such conversions, being underpowered and unreliable. The Renault 35/40 was underpowered and, suspension-wise, not capable of much speed. The B tanks were way obsolete in regard to some of their mechanics, and way over-complicated in others, plus they were just too tall. The S tanks were the best candidates for gut-and-rebuild conversion, but their turrets and hull openings were too small for simple re-gunning as a tank.
Much better to use something of which you have much greater numbers...as Becker did with the Jagdpanzers.
OTL, there were quite a few Universal Carriers captured, along with a fair number of Lorraine 37/38 (already grabbed by Becker). Nothing else from 1940 was a good candidate--the Hotchkiss 35/39 chassis was a poor design for such conversions, being underpowered and unreliable. The Renault 35/40 was underpowered and, suspension-wise, not capable of much speed. The B tanks were way obsolete in regard to some of their mechanics, and way over-complicated in others, plus they were just too tall. The S tanks were the best candidates for gut-and-rebuild conversion, but their turrets and hull openings were too small for simple re-gunning as a tank.