Were heavy tanks worth the cost in WWII?

[Monoriu]

I'm trying to bake a cake in the shape of a Tiger.

It's definitely not worth the hassle.

[celedhring]

The Japanese were famous for turning out their smaller ships overweight due to the Admiralty adding things to them late in the design process, to the point that they actually had a number of their ships capsize in a typhoon in the 30s.

Was it because of stuff like the pagoda masts? I always loved how mean Japanese ships looked because of them, but they must have made their ships incredibly top-heavy.

[11B4V]

I actually think the Shermans were some of the best tanks of the war. 

bah, T-34

[mongers]

I'm trying to bake a cake in the shape of a Tiger.

It's definitely not worth the hassle.

So tanks in WW2 should have been circular? 

[Razgovory]

I actually think the Shermans were some of the best tanks of the war. 

bah, T-34

A good tank shouldn't have such a high loss rate.  Also a radio.

[11B4V]

I actually think the Shermans were some of the best tanks of the war. 

bah, T-34

A good tank shouldn't have such a high loss rate.  Also a radio.

Still better than the Sherman.

[The Brain]

I actually think the Shermans were some of the best tanks of the war. 

bah, T-34

A good tank shouldn't have such a high loss rate.  Also a radio.

I don't think boredom was the main problem.

[11B4V]

I actually think the Shermans were some of the best tanks of the war. 

bah, T-34

A good tank shouldn't have such a high loss rate.  Also a radio.

I don't think boredom was the main problem.

Fucking American's and their Rock and Roll music.

[grumbler]

I realized almost immediately after posting that it was probably in reference to advances (in WW2 things like RADAR, sonar, whatnot).  It still seems like a unique and interesting challenge, though. 

Yeah, you want to have reserve buoyancy and a good righting arm when the ship is built, because experience is going to teach you that the ship will need new equipment, and particularly equipment that is high in the superstructure (radars, radio antennas, fire control directors, AA guns, and the like).  Ships that are designed to within an inch of their life from the start (like the Clevelands) have real problems in that area.  For instance, the Cleveland class 20mm and 40mm guns didn't have splinter shields, because they couldn't afford that much weight.  They lost their boat cranes and cruising turbines (cutting into endurance quite a bit) to provide weight for the addition of more 40mm guns.  They had to lose their armored pilot house to add radars to the AA directors.  All the time, they were having to lose something useful to gain something essential.  Most were decommissioned after only five or six years' worth of service.  The Baltimores had enough reserve to accommodate growth without having to compromise other highly desirable qualities.  Most of them saw 20 or more years of service.

I think a Baltimore class with 12 6-inch guns would have been the ideal cruiser for WW2.  The 8" gun was longer-ranged but slower-firing.   In the types of actions cruisers found themselves in (barring a few like Java Sea and the Komandorskis) long-range gunnery wasn't particularly useful, and rapid gunnery was.

[Siege]

What the hell was the porche Tiger 2?
It doesn't look like the real tiger 2 at all.

[Viking]

What the hell was the porche Tiger 2?
It doesn't look like the real tiger 2 at all.

looks more like a prototype for this



turret at back behind the engine, sloped armor etc.

[Neil]

The Japanese were famous for turning out their smaller ships overweight due to the Admiralty adding things to them late in the design process, to the point that they actually had a number of their ships capsize in a typhoon in the 30s.

Was it because of stuff like the pagoda masts? I always loved how mean Japanese ships looked because of them, but they must have made their ships incredibly top-heavy.

Overbuilt superstructures were part of the problem, but the IJN battleships were generally better off than the smaller ships.  The overbuilt superstructures on some of the smaller ships, when coupled with the IJN tendency to cram as many torpedoes as possible onto a hull, resulted in more serious issues.

[Siege]

[Ed Anger]

I liked that Nip light cruiser with a quadrillion Long Lance tubes. Made playing SSI's Warship a fun and rewarding experience.

[Siege]

Good try, Viking.