Stephen Harnais' U.S. History Blog: March 2011

THE MACHINES THAT CHANGED THE WAR:

Russians had the t-34 tank which gave them the advantage over the Germans, even up against the Tiger and Panther tanks.

The t-34 was mass produced in larger numbers than any other tank in the war.
They sometimes rolled right off the production line into the heat of battle, which was much faster than the German tanks which would take a while to get to the Russian front.
The t-34 was the first ever tank to employ the sloped-armor design which essentially doubled the armor's thickness and gave it the ability to deflect projectiles. This armor allowed the tank to be able to take a lot of direct hits from the German tanks, and continue fighting.
As for the cannon, when the Germans outfitted their tanks with armor that could handle the original projectile of the t-34, the Russians responded by upgrading their tanks with high-velocity 85mm guns (http://web.ebscohost.com/hrc/detail?vid=3&hid=19&sid=af4c1125-b35b-41f4-aee5-01187714e94f%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9aHJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=khh&AN=28832246 -> T-34/76 by Jon Guttman)

(END OF DAY 1 HERE------->)

Japanese had the Zero's which gave them the advantage of aerial superiority at the beginning of the war in the Pacific.

The Japanese Zero had a maximum speed of 331 mph and had a range (with the aid of an extra fuel tank) of up to 1,930 miles)
The zero could also be launched from a carrier, giving it increased range and allowing it to be used in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
When the Japanese ordered a better version from western designers, they received a plane that could achieve 276 mph at an altitude of 10,500 feet, which surpassed the expectations of the Japanese.

7.7mm Round

The zero came with two 7.7mm machine guns for dog-fighting and strafing.
The zeros ruled the skies at the beginning of the war in the pacific because of their agility and speed (though the US went on to crush this aerial superiority with such planes as the P-38 Lightning).

(END OF DAY 2 HERE------->)

Germans had a submarine which they brought back from WWI where it showed its power and influence on the battlefield, the U-Boat.

The older and less advanced version used in WWI sank almost 11 million gross tons of Allied shipping.
In 1944, the snorkel was invented which allowed submarines to charge their batteries and run on diesel power while submerged.

U-Boat deck gun

The U-Boats featured deck guns varying from 86mm to 105mm used when the U-Boat surfaced.

German U-Boats would surface during the night to fire at enemy ships with their deck guns because they could not be seen and British radars (on their ships) could not accurately detect a submarine on the surface.

Adapted U-Boats also had the ability to lay mines near the shore. These mines sank nearly 3 million tons of shipping.
(http://web.ebscohost.com/hrc/detail?hid=104&sid=01324ac7-b837-4db9-b4a8-e90d0a5c5c2a%40sessionmgr112&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9aHJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=khh&AN=52367830 -> Killer U-Boats by Stephan Wilkinson)

(END DAY 3 HERE------->)

Stephen Harnais' U.S. History Blog