In the same action two Panzer IVs were destroyed at 1,200 yards. The day after, on the 26th, the T26 evened the odds destroying a Tiger with a frontal hit at 900 yards. One tank from the 3rd Armored Division was knocked out (but later recovered and repaired) in a night ambush by a Tiger 1. The T26 debuted on 25 February and the day after that they had their first tank engagement. The two divisions trained crews for new tanks until the end of February. They were issued to the 3rd and 9th Armored Divisions, then recovering from considerable vehicles losses suffered in the Battle of the Bulge. In January 1945 the first 20 tanks arrived at Antwerp in a special deployment codenamed Zebra Mission. Robert Early's Pershing from E Company, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, on its way to dispose of a troublesome Panther in downtown Cologne. Barnes, offered to send 20 of the new tanks directly to Europe while the other 20 would go to Fort Knox for additional testing. In response to widespread criticism, especially from journalists, in late December 1944 the head of Ordnance, Major General Gladeon M. While the Battle of the Bulge, as the offensive was also known, was a decisive Allied victory it also started a public controversy over the capabilities of the American tanks, particularly the Sherman. It was by far the largest employment of Panther tanks in the west. In December 1944 the German army launched its last big offensive in Western Europe, in the Ardennes region. Having the tanks in the United States and having them in battle were two different things.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |