WWII. Deep dive into the The Tiger 1.

[Holladay]

Watched an interview of a tank gunner who went up against a Tiger. He said something along the lines of.... His crew of 14 Sherman tanks came upon 1 Tiger tank. They fired on the Tiger and the shells were just bouncing off. That Tiger was firing and taking out 1 Sherman at a time from left to right. By the time the Tiger destroyed 4-5 tanks the others were exiting their Sherman tank having realized they were no match for the Tiger.

I believe this is true. Keep in mind, our tanks, the Sherman, ran off gasoline vs diesel.

The model proved itself somewhat effective against German Mk II and Mk IV Panzers, but it was thoroughly outclassed by the Tiger, Panther, and King Tiger tanks. Notorious for their flammability, Shermans were nicknamed “Ronsons” after a lighter with the slogan “lights every time.”

Another key point is visibility or lack there of. Tanks are notoriously "blind" when buttoned up. In built up/wooded areas requires infantry for their "eyes". The 2 main tank persons that have the best visibility are the driver and the tank commander when the hatches are open. It was demonstrated by how the Tiger could be driven with the hatch open position but not optimal. Also, it seemed the tank commander cupula had its issues too. The Sherman didn't have those drawbacks.

There roles were not the same. Whereas the Tiger was designed as a sniper asset (tank killer), they were forced into the assist role that the Sherman was designed for.

The Sherman tank’s primary role was infantry support, spearheading attacks as well as bolstering defensive positions. Though frequently outgunned by their German counterparts, Shermans proved easier to maintain—often fixed on the battlefield. This particular tank, a rare M4A3E9 model (only a few hundred were built), carries appliqué armor for additional protection.

We had the advantage of numbers (sucks if you are a tanker) and nimbleness. Tiger attrition by breakdowns and the evolution of our tank tactics combined with air superiority helped sway the battle. Keep in mind, they mentioned a number of times about how slow the Tiger turret traversed. Thus our numbers and tactics benefitted from this. It didn't help that at the tail end of the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans were abandoning their tanks on the roads due to lack of fuel.

Though, according to Patton what won the war was the Jeep and the M1 Garand. I tried to verify this, but couldn't. Makes sense.