I can't speak to the effectiveness of the added track on the sides of the
tank, but from a metallurgical standpoint it shouldn't have too much of an
effect. Don't forget that most of the Shermans (although not this one) were
of welded construction. Also, when welding, the temper of the metal is only
affected in a limited area, the "heat affected zone." I would doubt that the
welding fully penetrated the armor, even on the sides. More than likely, the
tracks were just "tack welded" on to hold them in place. It would take quite
a torch to weld them securely in place due to the thickness of the armor
(the mass of the heat sink).
Regardless of its effectiveness....it sure looks cool!
Have you calculated how much extra weight the added track would be?
Brandon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Geoff Winnington-Ball" <gwball@sympatico.ca>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 7:50 PM
Subject: [MV] Extra Armour On WW2 Shermans
... maybe you guys and your veterans' connections can answer this.
In the pic below, you can plainly see literally tons of Churchill and
unidentified German track welded to the all sides of
this Sherman IC Hybrid Firefly (Holland, April 1945).
Just how effective was this? Or was it more for piece of mind? If good, good
only against Panzerfausts, or also good
for solid shot?
I've heard that the extra weight would put severe strain on on the tank's
drivetrain. How negative? There's also a
rumour of a negative effect on the temper of the armour through the welding
process - true, or not?
Any insights you can offer are greatly appreciated. Please quote sources as
available!
Thanks,
Geoff
www.mapleleafup.org/vehicles/cac/images/firefly02.jpg
-- Regards,Geoff Winnington-Ball MAPLE LEAF UP! ==> Zephyr, Ontario, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maple Leaf Up - The Canadian Army Overseas in WW2 http://www.mapleleafup.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment http://www.1cacr.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list=== To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: <mil-veh-off@mil-veh.org> To switch to the DIGEST mode, send e-mail to <mil-veh-digest@mil-veh.org> To reach a human, contact <ack@mil-veh.org>
_____NetZero Free Internet Access and Email______ http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Oct 24 2000 - 20:55:34 PDT