©2005 |
Photos,
Articles, & Research on the European Theater in World War II
"Armor Skirting on German Tanks" from Tactical and Technical Trends
A U.S. report on the German practice of mounting armor skirts (Schürzen)
on panzers in WWII, from
Tactical and Technical Trends,
No. 40, December 16, 1943.
[DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department
publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime
intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No
attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or
opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]
| |
ARMOR
SKIRTING ON GERMAN TANKS
From both Allied and German sources, reports have come in of additional
armored skirting applied to the sides of German tanks and self-moving guns to
protect the tracks, bogies and turret. Photographs show such plating on
the PzKw 3 and 4, where the plates are hung from a bar resembling a hand-rail running
above the upper track guard and from rather light brackets extending outward about
18 inches from the turret. What appeared to be a 75-mm self-moving gun was
partially protected by similar side plates over the bogies. This armor is reported
to be light -- 4 to 6 millimeters (.16 to .24 in) -- and is said to give protection
against hollow-charge shells, 7.92-mm tungsten carbide core AT ammunition, and
20-mm tungsten carbide core ammunition. This armor might cause a high-velocity
AP shot or shell to deflect and strike the main armor sideways or at an angle, but
covering the bogies or Christie wheels would make the identification of a tank more
difficult, except at short ranges.
| |
|