Quote Originally Posted by Tribesman View Post
Bollox .
Germany had many models of 75mm only two are similar in penetration performance to the 17 pdr(though with lower velocity) and neither can get anywhere near the performance of the 17pdr when it used the d/s rounds
Reading the reports, it would seem that the 17lb AT weapon out-performed all but the German 75mmL70 in penatrating armor. The L70 was very slightly (<4%) better at ranges of 1km or less, though it performed substantially better (10+%) at ranges beyond that. This assumes AP ammo for both.

With APDS ammo -- a novel concept indeed at the time -- the 76.2 British weapon easily outperformed the Panther's main gun in pentration. Despite the limited destructive power of the smaller sabot rounds, penetration was vital in securing kills. The biggest drawbacks to the APDS rounds were their rarity (<6% of all 17lb AT ammo made) and the comparative instability of the sabot rounds which lead to a notable decrease in accuracy.


RE: Shermans and burnability. The use of very high octane Avgas by the Sherman's engines did make them much more fire-prone than an equivalent deisel design. OTOH, despite this tendency to burn, unless the ammo cooked off and blew the tank apart, it was still possible for recovery teams to repair these "lighters" and put them back into action -- not that this would be much of a consolation to the previous crew.