Okla-homey
7/13/2010, 06:55 AM
July 13, 1943: 6000 tanks slug it out on Russian steppes
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1082/kurskr513tg.gif (http://imageshack.us)
67 years ago, the Battle of Kursk, involving some 6,000 tanks, two million men, and 5,000 aircraft, ends with the German offensive repulsed by the Soviets at heavy cost. It remains the largest armored engagement of all time, and included the most costly single day of aerial warfare in history. This was huge folks and it was a massive blow to Hitler's plans for world domination.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4417/kursk12it.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Ju-87 "Stuka's" overfly attacking Tigers. The gull-winged Stuka dive bomber was next to worthless in air-to-air combat but armed with underwing anti-tank cannon pods seen here were quite effective at tank-plinking. The Russians developed their own version of this type aircraft (Il-2) which was equally effective.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/456/il25gh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Red Air Force Il-2 Sturmovik's (the Soviet equivalent of the Stuka) in action plinking tanks.
In early July, Germany and the USSR concentrated their forces near the city of Kursk in western Russia, site of a 150-mile-wide Soviet pocket that jutted 100 miles into the German lines. The German attack began on July 5, began moving from the south and the north.
The German force included a total of 50 divisions, including 17 panzer and panzergrenadier divisions. These included the elite Wehrmacht division Großdeutschland (Greater Germany) and the Waffen-SS tank divisions Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (Life Guard Adolf Hitler), Totenkopf (Death's Head), and Das Reich (The Reich).
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1940/kursktotenkopfkursk012ul.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Panzergrenadiers (mechanized infantry) and Tigers of the Totenkopf SS tank divison at Kursk
The High Command concentrated all their new armor, the Tiger and Panther tanks, and the mighty new Elefant tank destroyers, which had front armor thicker than a battleship's armor.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7568/elefant066hw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The Elefant. A 70 ton Nazi monster which often died because it had a top speed of 22 miles mph and its high profile made a great target. That said, they killed a lot of Russian armor from hull defilade positions.
They also concentrated all available air units and artillery, and despite the problems of the German plan it was a formidable concentrated mobile armor force with great offensive potential.
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/9083/kurskesku39036zp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A T-34 at speed. These things were lighter and more nimble than the big Nazi Tigers. T-34's utilized a suspension and track system designed by an American (James Christy) noted for big bogey wheels and wide tracks that made them better able to manuever on soft ground than their German opponents.
The Soviets by this time were substantially outproducing the German Army in tanks and other armour. Moreover, the incredible defenses being built in the Kursk area made a classic panzer attack impossible. In bitter fighting Soviet antitank artillery destroyed as much as 40percent of the German armor, which included their new Mark VI Tiger tanks.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3782/kurskt344gz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Soviet T-34's and Red Guards troops man an anti-tank gun at Kursk. The Russians killed as many tanks with their anti-tank guns (basically a T-34 main gun without a tank around it and crewed by three d00ds) as they did with their tanks and Sturmoviks
After six days of warfare concentrated near Prokhorovka, south of Kursk, the German Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge called off the offensive, and by July 23 the Soviets had forced the Germans back to their original positions.
In the beginning of August, the Soviets began a major offensive around the Kursk salient, and within a few weeks the Germans were in retreat all along the eastern front.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/4661/kursk20ef.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Kraut tanks burn
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3590/insane7zo9bg.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1082/kurskr513tg.gif (http://imageshack.us)
67 years ago, the Battle of Kursk, involving some 6,000 tanks, two million men, and 5,000 aircraft, ends with the German offensive repulsed by the Soviets at heavy cost. It remains the largest armored engagement of all time, and included the most costly single day of aerial warfare in history. This was huge folks and it was a massive blow to Hitler's plans for world domination.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4417/kursk12it.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Ju-87 "Stuka's" overfly attacking Tigers. The gull-winged Stuka dive bomber was next to worthless in air-to-air combat but armed with underwing anti-tank cannon pods seen here were quite effective at tank-plinking. The Russians developed their own version of this type aircraft (Il-2) which was equally effective.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/456/il25gh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Red Air Force Il-2 Sturmovik's (the Soviet equivalent of the Stuka) in action plinking tanks.
In early July, Germany and the USSR concentrated their forces near the city of Kursk in western Russia, site of a 150-mile-wide Soviet pocket that jutted 100 miles into the German lines. The German attack began on July 5, began moving from the south and the north.
The German force included a total of 50 divisions, including 17 panzer and panzergrenadier divisions. These included the elite Wehrmacht division Großdeutschland (Greater Germany) and the Waffen-SS tank divisions Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (Life Guard Adolf Hitler), Totenkopf (Death's Head), and Das Reich (The Reich).
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1940/kursktotenkopfkursk012ul.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Panzergrenadiers (mechanized infantry) and Tigers of the Totenkopf SS tank divison at Kursk
The High Command concentrated all their new armor, the Tiger and Panther tanks, and the mighty new Elefant tank destroyers, which had front armor thicker than a battleship's armor.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7568/elefant066hw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The Elefant. A 70 ton Nazi monster which often died because it had a top speed of 22 miles mph and its high profile made a great target. That said, they killed a lot of Russian armor from hull defilade positions.
They also concentrated all available air units and artillery, and despite the problems of the German plan it was a formidable concentrated mobile armor force with great offensive potential.
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/9083/kurskesku39036zp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A T-34 at speed. These things were lighter and more nimble than the big Nazi Tigers. T-34's utilized a suspension and track system designed by an American (James Christy) noted for big bogey wheels and wide tracks that made them better able to manuever on soft ground than their German opponents.
The Soviets by this time were substantially outproducing the German Army in tanks and other armour. Moreover, the incredible defenses being built in the Kursk area made a classic panzer attack impossible. In bitter fighting Soviet antitank artillery destroyed as much as 40percent of the German armor, which included their new Mark VI Tiger tanks.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3782/kurskt344gz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Soviet T-34's and Red Guards troops man an anti-tank gun at Kursk. The Russians killed as many tanks with their anti-tank guns (basically a T-34 main gun without a tank around it and crewed by three d00ds) as they did with their tanks and Sturmoviks
After six days of warfare concentrated near Prokhorovka, south of Kursk, the German Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge called off the offensive, and by July 23 the Soviets had forced the Germans back to their original positions.
In the beginning of August, the Soviets began a major offensive around the Kursk salient, and within a few weeks the Germans were in retreat all along the eastern front.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/4661/kursk20ef.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Kraut tanks burn
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3590/insane7zo9bg.jpg