I was at a comic book store yesterday checking out some old Sgt. Rock comics, the ones with the purple Tiger tanks, etc. that could easily be blown up with one grenade.
Question to those with military service/knowledge: just what impact did a grenade have on German tanks? Could they really do any damage? Powerful enough to damage a tread? Able to blow off a turret (as Sgt. Rock did)
Craig
There is more than one type of hand-grenade. Anti-tank grenades, with shaped-charge heads, were fielded by both sides. They are very different to the usual "hand-grenade", which is an anti-personnel weapon, bursting to disperse lots of metal fragments.
Grenades thrown under the tank (as improvised mines) or onto the back of the tank (the lightly armoured engine cover) stand the best chance of success. This requires the soldier to get extremely close to the tank, and be very lucky to get away.
It is safe to say that it was never easy to damage a Tiger with a grenade of any kind, nevermind live to tell the tale. Blowing off a turret is most unlikely. A mobility kill, damaging the track system, is slightly more likely.
thx. I'm sure the guys in the comics were only tossing anti-personnel grenades, but who are we to question what Sgt. Rock does.....
Damned right you'd better not. Next you'll be sayin' that Sgt. Fury and his Howlin' Commandoes was just so much fantasy too.......
I put the damage a regular pineapple style hand grenade would do to a Tiger tank somewhere around the type of damage a large M80 firecracker would do to your car if thrown at it (with your windows up). Imagine throwing a steel object at another steel object. To be close enough to throw it (essentially tossing it) at the tank without it clanking off like a line drive off the Green Monster would put you well within range of the crew's eyesight and machine guns.
In other words, you have to be close enough to toss it onto the tank, but not so far that you have to throw it with any velocity. Throw it too hard and it bounces off harmlessly and explodes away from the tank.
Try to toss a baseball at a bulldozer and see how the impact of the ball effects where it lands.
As far as tossing it underneath as an impromptu mine, mines are designed to propel their blast upward, like an underground panzerfaust. A grenade is designed to explode in all directions. throwing it under a 30 ton tank, and the explosion will basically be deflected by the belly and absorbed by the ground and out the sides of the suspension. There will be a lot of scarring on the underside and inner surfaces of the road wheels, but that's about it.
RobG
Of course you could always wait until they had a maintenance breakdown and were shoved to the side of the road, quite common. Not the best option tactically.
What? follow the tank on foot until it happens to stop? It's travelling at 15-20mph, you're walking at foot speed. Good luck with that.
Between comic book soldiers and shows such as The Rat Patrol I bet many kids wondered why the US army needed tanks.The.50 cal mgs of the Rat Patrol jeeps were always blowing up the Tigers.
Cheers from Peter
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