Small Scale Military Headquarters

Alright, seeing as all is quiet on the 32nd front, I think it's time to have a little discussion. So for this thread you name and give reasons for:

a)The best aircraft of the Second World War
b) The best all round tank of WWII
c) The best small arms weapon of WWII


Looking forward to see what yall think!

Ok ill bite.

a) Spitfire Served in pretty much all theatres from the start to the end with distinction and to this day is one of the prettiest aircraft to ever fly.

b) T34 the Tank that won the war it was this tank that saw the brunt of the fighting and it was decent in all areas and again served almost the entire war.

c) MG42 The very fact that this almost unchanged is still in service in Germany a country reknowned for engineering excellance gives an indication of just how good a gun this is.

a) The p-38. It was so good that after the war the USAF destroyed them rather than have them show up in some enemy's inventory.

b) The Panther. Once the reliability problems were solved it was simply the best around. Could kill whatever it could catch, which was every other tank on the field. Relatively fast and well armored it ruled whatever battlefield it found itself on. It was overwhelmed by the M-4 and the T-34 in the end but numbers don't make for being "the best." (My favorite tank though, is the PzIII.)

c) The .45 ACP pistol. The best small arm in history! Unrivaled reliability and longevity- it has been with us since the beginning of the last century and still is as good a carry piece as anyone can ask for. Great knockdown power. Easy reload, take down and cleaning. Close second- the M-1 Garand rifle. Highly accurate and easy to operate.

schizuki wrote:

Col.Pickle wrote: The best aircraft of the Second World War

The best small arms weapon of WWII

Honorable mention: Stg44.

Conventional choices, but there's a reason they're conventional.

Just a question; why did you choose stg44 as your runner-up? I was under the impression that the stg44, although innovative, was very epxensive and complicated to make as well as it had jamming problems. Correct me if I'm wrong!

1) P-51 Cadillac of the skies. 'Nough said.
2) Panther. Ditto comments above.
3) Garand. Best rifle on the battlefield.

1. Bf 109, since it served in thru the duration of the war, and in capable hands was still deadly in 1945, plus it served in all axis airforces(Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Italian), Spanish, Finn, Yugo, Post-War Czech, Israeli, Swiss airforces...the Jumo powered 109s of the IDF were still shooting down Eqyptian Spitfires in the early Israel/Arab wars.

2. StuG III assault gun, as it was the birth of the turretless AFV, and although the design dies out post WWII, durning the war, all combatants designed or fielded a assualt gun.

3. PanzerFaust series of single use, shaped charge AT Weapons.

A) Fw-190 - It's an all-purpose plane that packs a punch.
B) T-34
C) M1 Garand

Me-262 it was the first combat jet Ever!!!!!!!
t-34
M-1 Garand

P-51
T-34
MG34

1. P-51, though not as it debuted, but the -D as the Merlin and bubble canopy really let it be all it could be.

2. Pershing I suppose.

3. M2 Browning .50 machine gun

-H

What do you mean "suppose"?

Take a stand!!

Pershing? great tank but to late to really make a differance for allied forces. T-34 broke the back of the Panzer divisions.

MG34 / MG4 still one of the fastest firing MG's in the world still being produceed in 12 nations today.

It wasn't the T-34. It was the numbers of the T-34.

And I would throw the C-47 in as a "best" plane, too. It transported men, equipment and supplies all over the world, (like the Sherman) served in every Allied army and it is the one plane that if it didn't exist it would have had to be invented.

ltcbj wrote:It wasn't the T-34. It was the numbers of the T-34.

agreed! but the tank was better suited for Russian terrain than the German Panzers. but point taken

I guess it all depends on how you define best. Is it the best stat wise or did the most good? You could argue that the aircraft carrier was the best ship/boat...but so was the Higgins boat

I still like the 50. cal, it never wounds, it either kills or misses.

-H

It is not even just a question of performance or stats but of timeframe.

For example compairing a Pershing tank vs a T34 is hardly fair as one hit the battlefield at least 5 years before the other and in war time that is like decades.
Equally to compare a ME262 to a Spitfire is not exactley fair either.

compare a T-34 to its German rivals of the time (1940 so the best german tank is a Panzer 1V and not the versions with nice long 75mm guns) and it looks an exceptional tank. It was faster more manouvrable had a better gun better armour and crucially it was very cheap to make and very easy to maintain and also to upgrade.

Even in 1945 a T34-85 was still a very decent tank , 1 for 1 maybe not a match for a Panther but costing half as much to make and almost certainly easier to maintain and keep in action.

This of course means that for every German tank put on the battlefield the russians were putting out 5 T-34s history shows which was the better strategem.

AMERICAN_GRENADIER wrote:

ltcbj wrote:It wasn't the T-34. It was the numbers of the T-34.

agreed! but the tank was better suited for Russian terrain than the German Panzers. but point taken

The early German tanks, through the PzIV, had narrow tracks which really only worked where the ground tended to stay relatively hard. The Tiger had nice wide tracks but too much tank (weight). The Panther's combination of weight and track width gave it pretty near the same performance as the T-34 and it was superior to the Sherman.

C-47s can transport a Sherman?

No, they can't. But they can transport the crew and all the supplies one would need to go into action. They might even have been able to transport a Sherman in pieces, to be reassembled at the destination.

I do not think that there was an air transport built at that time capable of transporting a Sherman, nor do I think there was a WW2 tank special built for air transport.

There were two in fact.

The M22 Locust was built by the US for the British, but I'm not sure if it saw combat.

The other was the Light Tank Mk VII or "Tetrarch". and could fit in a modified glider to support the airborne troops.

As you can imagine neither should show up on this list.

Now that I think of it, There were a couple Italian tanks that I bet could be flown. Though I know not why you'd want to.

-H

Hanomag wrote:I guess it all depends on how you define best. Is it the best stat wise or did the most good? You could argue that the aircraft carrier was the best ship/boat...but so was the Higgins boat

I still like the 50. cal, it never wounds, it either kills or misses.

-H

good point almost any german tank could take on the sherman easily in a one on one. but the higgins was a war winner