Sunday 14 December 2014

Super-heavy Tanks in Combat

Things like "heavy" are quite relative when talking about tanks. For instance, the Germans considered their 20-ton PzIV a heavy tank because of its gun caliber, and this classification of enemy tanks migrated into Soviet reports. Of course, when the Tiger hit the battlefield, there was some nomenclature confusion.


"The 2nd tank battalion and their motorized infantry dealt the following damage to the enemy while in his rear: destroyed two tanks (1 super heavy and one medium), 1 SPG, 4 AT guns, 8 dugouts and pillboxes, up to a battalion of soldiers and officers, and captured two."

Yuri Pasholok attributes this report to the 122nd Tank Brigade, dated March 30th, 1943. This places them at the Mga river, where s.Pz.Abt 502 was fighting at the time. As it was still partially equipped with PzIIIs, it's quite likely that the battalion could encounter a "super heavy and medium tank" together.

1 comment:

  1. It´s not a german classification. It´s what the soviets believed they had engaged, and does not necessarely mean anything of relevance. It´s a soviet perpective, not a german one.

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