Quote:
Originally Posted by ChalkLine
I can't find my source but I think this exact thing happened over and over.
Originally tanks were either little and well protected (FT-17) or big and less protected (British Mk IV). The little ones couldn't survive the .50 AP round but the big ones created a problem; they were so big inside that 37mm AT shells, the standard of the time, could sail right through one and out the back without hitting anything and this got worse as the vehicle got more refined and the crews were reduced in size. However the M2 (not the HB variant I have noted above) could riddle the bastard and kill everyone inside. The US developed this doctrine fighting UK-supplied or captured armour in The Russian Civil War.
|
Are you sure of this? As near as I can find the M2 (and the .50 BMG round) were not fully developed tell after the death of Browning (in 1926), there were some test bed units as early as 1921 (such as the M1921 MG), but all the issues were not worked out yet. Also it was made due to a need of an anti-aircraft gun, but I have never seen it listed as an AT weapon. As near as I can tell depending on the round (only looking at AP) the .50 BMG can penetrate between 19mm (3/4 of an inch) to 34mm (1 1/3 inch) so not really what I would think of as an anti-tank round (yes it can take out WWI and some of the early WWII tanks). So not saying it was not, but I have never seen it listed as such and the dates that I have seen for it have production starting well after WWI and the Russian Civil war.