That would be a "Maus Trap"The only US assault gun I want to see is a 5"/25 gun mounted in a Sherman chassis.
A 203mm howitzer on a Sherman chassis would have been very useful on Iwo Jima or Okinawa.
That would be a "Maus Trap"The only US assault gun I want to see is a 5"/25 gun mounted in a Sherman chassis.
A Churchill chassis would be overkill.
That would be a "Maus Trap"
A 203mm howitzer on a Sherman chassis would have been very useful on Iwo Jima or Okinawa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T92_Howitzer_Motor_CarriageThat would be a "Maus Trap"
A 203mm howitzer on a Sherman chassis would have been very useful on Iwo Jima or Okinawa.
The structure, but the shockwave of the big blast would cause some problems for the guys inside. Enough of that, whether 1 or 100, would concuss or kill.Now we're at this subject I have a general question.
We usually refer to assault guns and infantry support tanks as "bunker busters" and in early WWII that usually meant at least a 75 mm gun or howitzer and later 105-152mm. Against buildings or a field fortification of soil and timber I can clearly imagine how a direct fire HE shell will work, but how was the intended tactic against concrete pill boxes like seen in many defensive lines in WWII? Even 152mm or 203 mm HE shells will do very little damage on a concrete structure. I have actually as part of my training (many years ago) been placed inside a concrete bunker on top of which was detonated a large number of 155 mm shells. It was quite noisy and dusty and a bit shaky, but the concrete was hardly scratched.
So I suppose they didn't intend to just fire HE shells at the concrete and AP shells from a howitzer or even from an AT gun wouldn't make that much of an impression on 1+ meter of reinforced concrete. But what then? Was the intention to fire at the "slots" in the bunker to suppress fire from the bunker and then bring up demolition teams or flame throwers?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ordnance_L9HESH was developed by Charles Dennistoun Burney in the 1940s for the British war effort, originally as an anti-fortification "wallbuster" munition for use against concrete. He also led British developments in recoilless rifles as a means to deliver the shell. An early application of the HESH principle was the Royal Engineers AVRE's 165mm demolition gun.
HESH rounds are thin metal shells filled with plastic explosive and a delayed-action base fuze. The plastic explosive is "squashed" against the surface of the target on impact and spreads out to form a disc or "pat" of explosive. The base fuze detonates the explosive milliseconds later, creating a shock wave that, owing to its large surface area and direct contact with the target, is transmitted through the material. In the case of the metal armour of a tank, the compression shock wave is conducted through the armour to the point where it reaches the metal/air interface (the hollow crew compartment), where some of the energy is reflected as a tension wave. At the point where the compression and tension waves intersect, a high-stress zone is created in the metal, causing pieces of steel to be projected off the interior wall at high velocity. This fragmentation by blast wave is known as spalling, with the fragments themselves known as spall. The spall travels through the interior of the vehicle at high velocity, killing or injuring the crew, damaging equipment, and/or igniting ammunition and fuel. Unlike high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds, which are shaped charge ammunition, HESH shells are not specifically designed to perforate the armour of main battle tanks. HESH shells rely instead on the transmission of the shock wave through the solid steel armour.
HESH ammunition has good general purpose use, being effective against most targets, though the round is generally used at relatively low velocities because high velocity excessively disperses the pat of explosive. While only effective against tanks without spaced armour or spall liners, the round is still highly favoured for combat demolition purposes. The flattened high-velocity explosive pat is capable of destroying concrete constructions much faster than a HEAT round (which is designed for armour penetration), and without the dangerous fragmentation of a traditional high-explosive (HE) fragmentation round.
Steel reinforced fortification concrete?I've shattered 8" of concrete with a 10lb hammer.
I've seen reference to "Pick and Shovel" firing, where the tank gunner alternates AP and HE rounds without changing the aiming point, until the desired result...used in Korea against caves and pillboxes.The US 90mm firing AP was good enough to penetrate concrete bunkers, 4-6 rounds in the same location could break through 6' of concrete, followed by some HE to finish the job.
I wonder what the heaviest gun that could have been squeezed into a Lee/Grant sponson .
17 pounder is out of question I'm assuming
IIRC, one of the two, 3.7 or 95, fits in the same gun slide as the 6 pdr and the NA75, so, guaranteed fit and fewer probs for your ordnance guys.How the 95mm howitzer that was used on the Churchill for the main turret.