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Forums - Research / WW2 |
This WW2 forum is intended for asking and discussing reference or historical related issues pertaining to WW2 (1939-1945) subjects. |
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| Subject: | Re: German 128mm over 88mm |  |
| Date: | May 11, 2006 |
| From: | Paul Dimopoulos | |
There is one other reason that I forgot to mention in my previous post. Biger calibers seem to put the fear of God into the hearts of the enemy tankers. Germans were mortified by the 122mm gun of the JS2 when they first met those monsters in the battlefield. Over time it was proven that the 122mm gun penetration capabilities were inferior to the german 88mm gun. That is normal if you consider that the 122mm gun was actually developed from a field gun. What actually did damage was the shell's greater weight and not the velocity.
But the 128mm gun had an even heavier shell AND greater velocity, as it was developed from a Flak gun, just like the 88.
All these points I made are actually moot as the 88mm gun was more than capable of dealing with whatever the soviets had to field (the Allied tanks could be destroyed even by the StuG's 75mm L/43 gun). But Hitler, I suppose, just couldn't stand the idea of the "untermensch" fielding a bigger caliber and more "intimidating" weapon than the mighty German Army. Also, at least in theory, having a bigger gun should have filled the german crews with more confidence when facing the tidal wave of the soviet armor. It actually didn't as Carius points out, finding the Jagdtiger to be too "nose heavy".
Roy, I'm glad too the germans developed the 128mm gun as well. I just love its look, without a muzzle break, so much I converted a Tiger II into an imaginary Ausf C, strapping Eduard's 128mm barrel into a new mantlet and adding telescopic rangefinders, without any other conversions. I know something like that wasn't actually feasible but I just love the look of it. |
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