DudleySmith
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- Dec 21, 2020
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The Battle for Moscow took place in Sept. 1941 to Jan.1942. As already mentioned, Churchill sent enough tanks to allow the Soviets to conduct few small offensives, but not to drive the Germans off. It was over a year and half later before the Soviets could launch real offensives against German armies, Kursk in the summer of 1943. The Soviets were saved in no small part by massive mine fields, some 27 to 25 miles deep, and anti-tank guns, their two main weapons at the time, sufficient to stop the 'blitzkreigs' and rapid armor advances.
The Allies had already launched their massive bombing campaigns by then, and the U.S., now fighting on multiple fronts, was supplying all our allies as well, and we were landing in North Africa in Nov. 1942 and in Italy a month or so after the Kursk offensive started. the U.S. now fighting on three fronts, and with Normandy, 4, all the while supplying our allies as well as ourselves.
Only complete idiots still claim 'Russians won the war n stuff'. They were just the hired help, and were only in the war because we paid and fed them. This isn't even debatable.
And, the T-34 was not 'the best tank of the war', it was a pieces of shit and don't do much until the 1944 models rolled off the lines with British engineers overseeing the lines an American improvements made in the design. Even then it fared badly against German armor. The Sherman did pretty well against them in Korea.
From this topic at the Quora; more stats there as well.
www.quora.com
Also see
Even the Soviets realised that the 1943 loss/kill ratio was unsustainable. In order to restore the technological balance they attenuated T-34/76 production and moved quickly to up gun the T-34 with a new turret and the 85mm M-1944 ZIS-S53 L/51.5 gun, designated the T-34/85.
By 1944 the Soviets had the absolute strategic initiative, with massive numerical superiority, and in terms of supply distribution and support, operational superiority. They had the luxury of being able to concentrate large armoured forces at any points on the front they desired while still being able to strongly defend everywhere. In terms of tactical combat proficiency, the Soviets could claim to have tank crews as well trained and experienced as the Germans. In addition the RAF and USAF had given the Soviets critical air superiority for the first time. For most of 1944 the Soviets had technical parity in terms of AFVs, with the large majority of T-34s now being the T-34/85s. The Soviets, and most modern publications, claim the T-34/85 was much superior to any model Pz IV or StuG assault gun and similar in combat power to the Panther. On top of this the Soviets had large numbers of the new IS-2 heavy tanks, one of the most powerful tanks in WWII, as well as the almost equally powerful ISU-122 and ISU-152 assault guns.(19)
In 1944 the Soviets still managed to lose 23 700 fully tracked AFVs of which only 2 200 were light tanks: the highest number of AFV losses in a single year by any country in history.(20) Of these losses 58% were T-34s, the large majority being T-34/85s. Despite all possible factors being in their favour and despite massive German operational losses during 1944, the Soviets still managed to loose around three AFVs for every German AFV destroyed, or around four tanks (mostly T-34/85s) for every German tank destroyed."
The Allies had already launched their massive bombing campaigns by then, and the U.S., now fighting on multiple fronts, was supplying all our allies as well, and we were landing in North Africa in Nov. 1942 and in Italy a month or so after the Kursk offensive started. the U.S. now fighting on three fronts, and with Normandy, 4, all the while supplying our allies as well as ourselves.
Only complete idiots still claim 'Russians won the war n stuff'. They were just the hired help, and were only in the war because we paid and fed them. This isn't even debatable.
And, the T-34 was not 'the best tank of the war', it was a pieces of shit and don't do much until the 1944 models rolled off the lines with British engineers overseeing the lines an American improvements made in the design. Even then it fared badly against German armor. The Sherman did pretty well against them in Korea.
From this topic at the Quora; more stats there as well.
How many tanks were destroyed or taken out of action by communist forces in the Korean war?
Answer: Data on the Korean War is somewhat confusing as far as my research shows. There is reasonable coverage up to the start of 1951 Losses shown from Ref 1 up to 21 Jan 1951 The US logged 119 tank v tank actions during the entire conflict; about half of thee engagement involved M4 Shermans....
Also see
"The T-34’s Performance in 1944
Even the Soviets realised that the 1943 loss/kill ratio was unsustainable. In order to restore the technological balance they attenuated T-34/76 production and moved quickly to up gun the T-34 with a new turret and the 85mm M-1944 ZIS-S53 L/51.5 gun, designated the T-34/85.
By 1944 the Soviets had the absolute strategic initiative, with massive numerical superiority, and in terms of supply distribution and support, operational superiority. They had the luxury of being able to concentrate large armoured forces at any points on the front they desired while still being able to strongly defend everywhere. In terms of tactical combat proficiency, the Soviets could claim to have tank crews as well trained and experienced as the Germans. In addition the RAF and USAF had given the Soviets critical air superiority for the first time. For most of 1944 the Soviets had technical parity in terms of AFVs, with the large majority of T-34s now being the T-34/85s. The Soviets, and most modern publications, claim the T-34/85 was much superior to any model Pz IV or StuG assault gun and similar in combat power to the Panther. On top of this the Soviets had large numbers of the new IS-2 heavy tanks, one of the most powerful tanks in WWII, as well as the almost equally powerful ISU-122 and ISU-152 assault guns.(19)
In 1944 the Soviets still managed to lose 23 700 fully tracked AFVs of which only 2 200 were light tanks: the highest number of AFV losses in a single year by any country in history.(20) Of these losses 58% were T-34s, the large majority being T-34/85s. Despite all possible factors being in their favour and despite massive German operational losses during 1944, the Soviets still managed to loose around three AFVs for every German AFV destroyed, or around four tanks (mostly T-34/85s) for every German tank destroyed."
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