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By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 11th, 2010%
Photograph of a destroyed German SdKfz 251/9 halftrack in France in August 1944 showing the gun mount and vehicle interior. The SdKfz 251/9 mounted the short 7.5cm KwK37 (L/24) to provide a support weapon with antitank capability to panzergrenadier units. The nickname for the SdKfz 251/9 was “Stummel” (Stump).
 Destroyed German SdKfz 251/9 Halftrack (U.S. Air Force Photo) SdKfz 251/9 Characteristics:
| Weight |
8.5 tons |
| Height |
2.1m |
| Crew |
3 |
| Armament |
7.5cm KwK37 L/24 |
| Ammunition |
52 rounds |
| Traverse |
12° left/right |
| Elevation |
-10° to +12° |
| Secondary Armament |
2 7.92mm MG34 or MG42 |
| Designation |
SdKfz 251/9 mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen 7.5cm, Gerät 909 |
| Nickname |
Stummel (Stump) |
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 10th, 2010%
Dragon Models has announced a new 1/35 WWII figure set depicting Soviet and German troops in winter uniforms from 1942-1943: Ostfront Winter Combatants 1942-43. Two German and two Russian figures are included.
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 7th, 2010%
Below are a few photographs from Follow Thru, the unit history of the 60th Infantry Regiment which was published by the unit during occupation duty in Germany. The 60th Infantry “Go Devils” served as part of the 9th Infantry Division.
 Jeep with twin bazookas on an improvised mounting from the I&R platoon in Belgium in January 1945.  Soldiers of the 60th Infantry Regiment with a burned-out German antitank gun.  Jeep from the HQ of the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.  Soldiers of the 60th with a captured German 120-mm heavy mortar (12cm GrW 42).  Soldiers sew snow camouflage suits.
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 7th, 2010%
June 6th marks the 66th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied Invasion of Normandy in WWII. The Big Picture at boston.com remembers D-Day with a selection of high-resolution photographs from 1944 and 2010: Remembering D-Day, 66 Years Ago.
 D-Day Landings, Normandy, June 6, 1944. (Photo: U.S. National Archives)
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 6th, 2010%
The following tables show armor penetration characteristics for U.S. 37mm, 75mm, 76mm, and 90mm guns against homogeneous and face-hardened armor. The tables are taken from the July 1944 field manual FM 17-12 Tank Gunnery.
From top to bottom, the ammunition types shown are (i) 90mm, A.P.C., M82, 2650 f/s; (ii) 3″ (76mm) A.P.C., M62, 2600 f/s; (iii) 75mm, M3, A.P.C., M61, 2030 f/s; and (iv) 37mm, A.P.C., M51B1 & M51B2, 2900 f/s.
 Armor piercing characteristics against homogeneous armor plate.  Armor piercing characteristics against face hardened armor plate. FM 17-12 Tank Gunnery gives a brief useful summary of ammunition types for gunners:
(1) Armor piercing (AP). This ammunition is a solid projectile with a tracer element. 37-mm shot, AP M74, 75-mm shot, AP M72, and 76-mm shot, AP M79, are in this class. This is used for training.
(2) Armor piercing capped (APC). This ammunition is a solid projectile with an armor piercing cap, a windshield, and a tracer element. The windshield streamlines the projectile, thereby reducing wind resistance. The armor piercing cap is of alloy steel, hardened to insure a very hard face with a tough and relatively soft core in contact with the projectile. The cap serves as a guide or cushion for the projectile. In this class are 37-mm shot, APC M62, 75-mm projectile, APC M61, and 76-mm projectile, APC M62. The 75-mm and 76-mm projectiles have a small cavity for high explosive filler. This ammunition is painted black.
(3) Armor piercing, capped with high explosive filler. This ammunition is the same as armor piercing capped ammunition except that it contains an explosive filler and a base detonating fuze. This is the most effective high velocity armor piercing ammunition because the projectile bursts after penetration. 75-mm projectile, APC M61, with BD (base detonating) fuze, M66A1, and 76-mm projectile, APC M62, with BD fuze M66A1 are of this type. Armor piercing projectiles containing high explosive filler are painted olive drab color with yellow lettering.
(4) High explosive-antitank (HEAT). 150-mm shell, HEAT, M67, is a low velocity armor piercing shell of the hollow charge type. It employs the BD fuze, M62. This ammunition is painted olive drab with yellow letters. Inert HEAT shell is painted black and is used for training purposes. The M67 will penetrate 5.5 inches of armor at all angles between 0° and 60° and at all ranges the gun will fire.
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 6th, 2010%
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 6th, 2010%
U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph from the site collection showing German dummy tanks in France which have been constructed on farm wagons:
Original Caption:
ETO HQ 44 25496 13TH NOV
CREDIT… US ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
PHOTOG… PFC. J.W. LAPINE… 166
Dummy tanks used by Germans in attempt to mislead Allied air observation as to the number of tanks and guns deployed by them in the Luppy sector of France.
Passed for Publication as Censored, 14 NOV 1944, SHAEF Field Press Censor
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 3rd, 2010%
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 3rd, 2010%
The WWII U.S. Navy manual FM 30-50: Recognition Pictorial Manual of Naval Vessels contained the following U.S. ship silhouettes showing the relative size of the various classes of aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers.
From top to bottom, ships shown are
- Battleships-BB: Iowa; South Dakota Class; Nevada; North Carolina Class; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Colorado Class; New Mexico Class; New York Class; Arkansas
- Heavy Cruisers-CA: Northampton Class; New Orleans Class; Portland Class; Pensacola Class; Wichita; Baltimore Class
- Light Cruisers-CL: Atlanta Class; Omaha Class; St. Louis; Brooklyn Class; Cleveland Class
- Aircraft Carriers-CV-CVL-CVE: Saratoga-CA; Essex Class-CV; Enterprise-CV; Ranger-CV; Independence Class-CVL; Bogue, Sangamon, Prince William Classes-CVE; Long Island-CVE; Casablanca-CVE; Charger-CVE
- Destroyers-DD: Mahan-Dunlap Classes; Gridley-Bagley Classes; Benham-Sims Classes; Benson-Livermore Classes; Fletcher Class; Porter Class; Somers Class; Farragut Class; Fletcher (Catapult) Class; Flush Deck Type; DE-1; DE-51
Source: FM 30-50: Recognition Pictorial Manual of Naval Vessels, U.S. Navy Department, September 1943.
By Lone_Sentry_Admin, on June 2nd, 2010%
A U.S. Air Force photograph shows a destroyed late-model Panzer IV with steel mesh (Drahtgeflecht) Schürzen on the hull and standard steel plate Schürzen around the turret. The original caption describes the Panzer IV as a victim of the Ninth Air Force in the Luxembourg sector during the German retreat to the Siegfried Line.
 Destroyed Panzer IV Ausf. J. (U.S. Air Force Photo) Schürzen were originally designed as additional armor protection against Russian antitank rifles, but Schürzen also served as stand-off armor against the U.S. bazooka hollow-charge antitank rocket launcher. Schürzen were widely used on Panzer III, Panzer IV, and Sturmgeschütz. The Germans found mesh skirts were as effective as steel plates while using less raw material and saving weight.
The following intelligence report on German armor skirting appeared in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 40, December 16, 1943:
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.
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The Pacific (HBO Miniseries)
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