Panzers

**Silberkreuz** · 03-22-2015, 10:25 AM

Hi, a few more to view.

8cm RAKETENWERFER auf SOMUA MCL S303(f) .

The Nebelwerfer Raken-Vielfachwerfer was Essentially a copy of the Russian “Katyusha” mounted on captured Somua French Army halftracks. The 8cm R Vielfachwerfer was basically a copy of the Soviets since stabilsed and 82mm rocket was fired from the same type of rail launcher. The 8 cm Raketen- Vielachwerfer Had launch 24 rockets with rails fitted to the top and bottom of each rail giving 48 rockets for safety. This rocket is actually 78 mm in diameter. Two features Distinguish it from other German rockets: the use of tail fins to secure stability in flight without rotation, and the employment of a novel fuze arming device.

Also found this site..Achtung Panzer

**Silberkreuz** · 03-22-2015, 05:28 PM

Officially designated Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, these new heavy tanks were informally referred to as Tiger II or Königstiger, which was German for Bengal Tiger. The German word Königstiger was also often translated into English as King Tiger or Royal Tiger.
So far as gun power and protection went the King Tiger tank was the unquestionably the best tank of the war, but it paid for this in its lack of speed (17 km/h cross-country) and poor mobility due to its 69.7 ton weight. The engine (which was the same 12-cylinder, 700 hp HL230 P30N engine as used in the 25-ton lighter Panther tank) was grossly underpowered due to a low power-to-weight ratio, and the transmission was also greatly overstressed. Its armour was the thickest yet known on a tank, 150mm at the front and sloped much like that of the Russian T34 medium tank. Suspension was similar to that employed on the Panther tank, but with some of the wheels doubled, while the intervening axles carried spaced ones overlapping the others. This made for good stability, though at the price of extra maintenance. The gearbox gave eight forward speeds with a pre-selector and the clutch was much the same as the Merritt-Brown system employed on British tanks. All this meant that the Tiger II tank was surprisingly easy to control, a pleasure to drive, and contained more good engineering than most people at the time suspected.
The main problem with the King Tiger tank, however, was its reliability. Many were simply abandoned by their crews when they broke down or ran out of fuel, for their sheer bulk made them difficult to move or conceal. Despite being underpowered and difficult to manoeuvre, particularly when crossing bridges, the Tiger II tank, when properly handled, could dominate the battlefield. The formidable 8.8cm KwK 43 gun (with a muzzle velocity of 1130 mps) coupled with the tank’s heavy armour made it practically impenetrable to most Allied weapons of the day. Indeed the Tiger II tank’s gun with its extra long barrel could knock out anything that the Allies could bring against it from a range of more than 2,000 yards. A Churchill or Sherman tank with a 75mm gun would be lucky to disable it even at a range of a couple of furlongs.
Rushed into service, the King Tiger tank first saw action on the Eastern Front in May 1944 and in the autumn of that year numbers were thrown into the battles in Normandy, France. The Tiger II tank wholly replaced the Tiger I tank in production in August 1944, although it took the production facilities needed for two Panther tanks, a tank the German soldier preferred, to manufacture one Tiger II tank.
Fortunately for the Allies, the Tiger II tank was manufactured under the most difficult circumstances: Allied bombing of factories and the sources of essential materials produced a series of delays which limited the total production of the Tiger II to just 485 machines completed before the war came to a close.

**harryamb2** · 03-22-2015, 08:08 PM

great pics thanks.

**CBH** · 03-22-2015, 09:24 PM

I like the shot of the PzKpfw I , or a SdKfz 265 (do to the high armour on the front) with the 2-cm Flak 38 conversion . I've never seen that set up before .