Posted: Aug 23, 2012 8:52 am
Matt_B wrote:Sure, the Sherman was far from a super-tank, but it did pretty well for something that wasn't really designed to take on other tanks. I don't recall the US Army managing to lose a major tank battle after D-Day, for all the supposed might of the Panzers. They also conveniently forgot to mention the M18 in that clip which did prove highly effective against all the German armour.
Also, most allied tanks were not killed by the German super-tanks like the Panther and the Tiger - they were incredibly rare on the battlefield - but by far the biggest threat was the StuG III, an assault gun based on the antiquated Panzer III. On paper, it'd appear even less capable in every way than the Sherman, of course.
Well, that's because most of the Heer was in battle against the USSR. However, the kill ratio was heavily in the German's favour. For every one of their tanks knocked out they knocked out a few American tanks. Cold comfort to the American crews in those tanks that their lives could be spent more easily.
Stugs, like many German Tank Destroyers, had low profiles, which meant that they could hide quite easily. Shermans on the other hand were quite tall.