Pershing vs Tiger 1945 

The design really came into it's own in Korea where it mopped the floor with the T-34s.

This is like History Channel about 15 years ago when it still displayed fascinating stuff I didn't know.

Tiger knocks out Pershing. Tiger gets stuck in debri. "Alright then, we'll call it a draw".

Connecting 4 shots on the move from 1,000 yards is quite an amazing display of gunnery skill for 1945.

You brought up an important difference between the US and German armies that I learned from reading Stephen Ambrose's book "Citizen Soldiers". About half of the US Army in Europe were in support roles like mechanics and truck drivers. The Germans had to use 90% of their soldiers on the front lines. When a German vehicle broke down or was damaged, even minor problems, it was abandoned because they had no one to repair them, while the US would tow tanks, trucks, and other vehicles to rear areas and repair them and put them back into action.

There was nothing wrong will the quality of the Sherman. It’s just that you can’t match a medium tank against a heavy tank. It’s a different category.

Whos genius Idea was it to call their tank "Fireball"? Thats great for crew morale id say...

As a military historian, I can really appreciate and understand the hours of research it takes for you to produce the handful of minutes you provide us. Well done, Mate.

What really improved by the time of the Pershing was the quality of the steel they used. You see that huge gauge in the armor, like left by an ice-cream scoop - that means the steel became soft under the pressure of the 88mm high velocity round, absorbed and dissipated the energy, instead of letting it through like iron. Took some time until the Americans discovered tempered steel - a hard layer outside, but soft inside to absorb the kinetic energy of the projectile.

My dad (fought in the Pacific, 90mm AA gun) always told a story about his next younger brother, my uncle, who was in Patton's army from Houffalize and on to the end of the war. He said that when they were fighting their way thru Germany in '45, they came across a town they were ordered to take that was down in a small valley. Only problem was there was a Tiger I down there next to a haystack, and all they had were Shermans. As they were up on a small ridge trying to figure how to go about it, a tanker Sgt. walked up and asked what the holdup was. When they pointed out the Tiger I, the tanker told them his tank could take care of it, and walked back where he came from. They heard a tank approching, and saw an American tank they had never seen before (Pershing). The Pershing positioned itself hull down, fired one round that missed the Tiger, adjusted slightly, fired another round and the turret of the Tiger blew off.Then my uncle's unit went in and took the town. I asked my uncle about it the last family reunion before he died, and he pretty much told it the same way, said it was definitely a Tiger I but added it probably wasn't crewed, though they didn't know that at the time. Kinda odd that when you hear about Pershings vs. Tigers I've never come across that event, other than the story from my uncle. Was my uncle lying? Was he mistaken as to what kind of tank? He was adamant that it was a Tiger I, even describing the characteristics of the different German tanks (Panzer IV, V, Tiger, etc) and said it was definitely a Tiger I. Maybe if that story IS true it wasn't reported as a tank battle, being the Tiger was abandoned (they didn't know it at the time though, just that it was in their way and a potential threat).

I think the most overlooked virtue of tanks like the Sherman was the American designers understanding that a tank like that, equipped with beefed up V8 motors , would easily be handled and repaired in the field by American farm boys use to tractors and combines, and all the young hotrodders... And so they were.

"Quantity has a quality all it's own." -Joseph Stalin

Germany: We have built the most technologically tank known to man we can make 5,000 U.S. : We made a tank it’s pretty good. Let’s make 50,000 and see where it takes us

I had an uncle who drove tanks in North Africa and Italy (for the New Zealand army) He never talked much about the war. However, as a kid I had a kitset model of a Lee tank and I recall him saying that the issue with the Lee was its main gun not being mounted in the turret. He also mentioned how one gunner in his unit got smacked in the head from the recoil of the gun - was never right in the head after that. Those occasional shared experiences make me wish that someone had been able to document his entire war experience before he passed....

Germans went for quality, but ended up with complexity, unreliability and lower production rates.

The Tiger was a hell of a tank when it ran. But in my opinion, the biggest limitation on American tanks from everything I have seen was the weight limit of the dock cranes. It would have been easy to build bigger better, it was shipping them across the Atlantic by the thousand that was the issue

4:34 God can you imagine power and energy it would take to just scoop up the metal in that hit looks like giant ice cream spoon made the indentation and being inside hoping to survive

Mark your channel is criminally undersubscribed and your videos deserve many more views. Im very glad I happened upon your videos, Thoroughly enjoying them

The Panther was a beautiful tank

again, as per usual, the very best of WWII videos. My ‘go to guy’ for the best narrated, informative, and concise vids on social media. I look forward to to your no nonsense approach.

Absolutely fascinating to see breakdowns of these small individual engagements. It gives a really nice adjunct to a bigger picture view of the battlefields of the time.

Nice, tightly produced story. I learned things from it. Thank you.

The battle taking place around the 4:00 mark illustrates really well that in tank on tank combat, 99% of the time the victor is the one who acquires and fires on the enemy first.

Thank you for this. Very well done. The actual photos were great.

One thing about the Tiger (and all modern German types of WWII) that most neglect to discuss is their outstanding accuracy. The German tanks had the best optics and extremely well trained gunners and their hit rate was outstanding.

VERY GOOD.!!! You have a new "customer"!!! Very well explained, with all the interesting pormenors. Kudos to you, and thanks for posting such an excellent video.

Pretty much the only RU-vid channel that makes me smile when a new video goes up.

So good Mark. I think this is my favorite RU-vid channel. Great work!

I assume this M26 Pershing was the one that killed the "Last Panther in Cologne"

I dont think the US encountered any more Tigers/ Panthers than did the Brits. It was the Brits who faced the first of the Panzer Divisions around Caen

Your videos are soo good. Thank you. I had always wondered what would happen. I love the style of your voice over the foootage. Keep up the good work mate.

Damn i just love these videos man. So many magnificent untold stories being unfolded.

Naming a tank 'Fireball' reminds of the Navy naming their Ammo supply ships after Volcanos Now that's a sense of ghoulish humor!!!

Actually, the Armored Force had said it was going to pass on the M26 Pershing. Not only was the engine weak, they found other faults as well. So many faults were found that when they were finally corrected, the result was a completely different Tank, the M46 Patton. It was these faults that had convinced Armored Force not send the M26 Pershing to Europe. They stated the vehicle still had the bugs being worked out of it. There was a lot of work to be done. The M26 as we know it, was actually a back up design since the originally planned vehicles that were to be produced, all suffered some major fault that delayed delivery by a full year. By the time the M26 Pershing was built, it was 1944 and the first vehicles were only just entering trials when Armored Force said No. The situation changed in Europe with the Battle of the Bulge, though. Despite that, the Armored Force had wanted to send M36 Jacksons instead. They also had a 90mm and were coming off the production lines faster and had their testing complete. Some M36 Jacksons were actually called a B-variant because they used the M4 Sherman's hull and components. These had arrived before the end of the Battle of the Bulge and had acquitted themselves. But they arrived before the end of the Battle of the Bulge and the German Panzer forces were spent and dying. Sherman was enough. The Armored Force was more eager to get rid of their M5 Stuart Light Tanks and get M24 Chaffee Light Tanks into service than get Pershing into Europe. Pershing was pretty much forced on the Army. The commanders who got the M26 weren't happy either. They loved the 90mm guns, but there was now an ammo issue. More importantly, the engines were weak, the transmissions burnt out quick, armor was still vulnerable, crews had to be retrained, allotments made, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Still, they got things going and managed, if barely.

Nicely done, Mark, you know your stuff, and you deliver it well.

Once again Mark. I get excited like a school kid when I see you posted new videos. Superb quality and content. Hit it out of the park!!!!!

I subscribed when you had like 80 subscribers, good show old chap !!

My Dad was a WWII tanker in the 10th Armored Division. Shermans. He was in it from beginning to the end. He trained for a year in the states, then went to France in mid 1944. The 10th Armored had 80% casualties. Dad would say ” that included the cooks”! He was one of the very few, of the originals, to make it home. He lost about half a dozen of the Shermans and they would quickly give him another one. When he was on the mass-run-to-Bastone a sniper shot him. He recovered and rejoined his unit.

One of my top three you tube channels. Love to see an upload! Fantastic as always.

Excellent video and most interesting stories! Mr Felton Sir, you have created one of the best WW2 history channels that I know of. Oh, and congratulations on the new 20K or so subscribers! :)

“The first time, the Sherman’s won. The second time the Pershing lost. And the third time they were being loaded only freight trains so it wasn’t really fair” Like if you get where this is from.

Having been to Köln, by train through Belgium, I can attest that the forest is still very dense.

Excellent. I love the detail, describing small unit tactics. Definitely on my list of go-to channels!

Always love these Nuggets of History - thank you again & again!

Little tease of the Cologne Panther vs M26 at the end there, can’t wait for the video!

There is an interesting revisionism about the Sherman. Perhaps its wasn't quite so inferior as has been the narrative for the last fifty years. Mechanical reliability, the availability of spares, excellent crew survivabilty (as proven by Army casualty records) etc have qualities in themselves that perhaps have been overshadowed by the mystique of the Tiger.

This channel is a rising star! Great stuff.

Good video Mr. Felton. I enjoy little known facts about the combat life of weapons.

They say "quality over quantity" but the u.s. tanks were way more reliable than the German tanks I think it should be more complexity over quantity

Great video mark yet again. I was reading also that they modified one with parts of panther armour as they still found the armour lacking against the German tanks and anti tank guns. This of course then resulted in the tank being heavier and then caused issues with over heating etc. it would be great to know more on that tank if you could ever find out the info in your never ending resources. Did it survive the war? I love how you manage to where possible include crew names etc. really great stuff and factual without bias which is very rare for history channels on ww2. Thanks

Great video Mark, I am enjoying your channel very much. Well done Lad!

I finally found where all the history from History Channel went to! Love the channel.

@ 1:04: This Sherman is not an Easy Eight (E8). E8 is the wide track version wit HVSS suspension bogies. It does not tell something about the gun. But this one has the more powerful long barrel 76mm gun in the later T23 turret. 76mm Shermans used both the early narrow track (VVSS) and later wide track (HVSS).

could you possibly make something about kv-2 or katyushas effectiveness or maybe something about the KV-8 or ISU tanks, that would be pretty interesting i think....keep up the good work mark! Really entertaining stuff

Thank you, Mark Felton! Great knowledge, Great videos!

This is one of the best WW2 channels on youtube.

The M26 pershing and Tiger 1 are my favourite tanks btw great video I love learning about Famous WW2 battles

Tiger was a beast, and interestingly deployed. But... the mechnical troubles were unpardonable.

An excellent presentation, sir. Thank you.

Amazing channel, keep it up Mark

The Sherman was a really good medium work horse, it performed its job very well.

One old man being interviewed reflected on his time as the Commander of a Tiger. “ We cut through the enemy’s armor like a hot knife through butter! But we still lost because we were so outnumbered that in the end, we drowned in melted butter!”

Love your work!!! Thank you!

As usual another fine production Mr. Felton. I enjoy your work very much! One minor detail to note, at 2:45, that should be the 3. Panzergrenadier Division not "2nd".

The only and huge problem with German tanks were their absolute flawless ability to break down almost immedeatly.

I watched a thing on Tanks in the Korean War. And they brought Pershing’s across from Japan and destroyed a entire wave of T-34’s with them that were headed south before the Inchon landing. The guy they interviewed who took part then went on the offensive with the unit and was all the way to the Yalu river when the Chinese attacked. They drove all the way back down to the 38th parallel

Very interesting content and well made presentation. Thank you.

Dude , thanks for these , we history buffs and tank buffs alike say thank you !!!

Professor Felton there is a story here I suspect that needs your scholarship. You made reference to the "poor' performance of the Ford V8 tank engine. That engine has a lot of mystery around it. First of all why wasn't it a V-12. Why wasn't it in the P-51 Mustang? At some point the US Government chose to ignore the Ford V-12 that Henry Ford had created to demonstrate that he could build a better engine than the Rolls Royce Merlin. He never got the chance. They chose the mature Merlin over the promising Ford. So P-51s flew with Packard Merlin engines even though on paper the new Ford was in all ways superior. The engine that we got from Rolls-Royce had to be extensively re-engineered. One wonders if we had simply put the Ford in the Mustang instead of the Allison would it have been ready sooner that the lengthy period it took to modify the Merlin? The main advantages that that the Mustang had over the German planes were Texas 150 octane gasoline and the Merlin supercharger. Why didn't we just insist that the Brits give us the Merlin supercharger technology? We seemed to have struck a weak deal with our ally. The Ford V-12 was chopped down from a twelve to an eight and put into Sherman tanks where it served very successfully. The first question was why not use the Ford V-12 in aircraft. The Navy wanted to use rotraries but the Air Force (as it was known later) preferred straight 12s. One suspects that there was a political dimension. The British at the time were not contributing as much as we had hoped. Later and after the the end of the war the British made some great tanks but early in the conflict their tanks were pretty bad. We gave them Shermans. We gave everyone Shermans. The Brits stuck a detuned Merlin in a whole series of their tanks starting with (I think) the Meteor. They kept it as a natural V-12 but removed the supercharger. Worked great. Very fast and powerful for its day. We could have similarly dropped our V-12 Ford which was an inherently more reliable and advanced engine into our Shermans and Pershings. Why didn't we? Eventually of course we got a proper purpose built V-12 air cooled diesels for our tanks. But that was later. In 1945 and in Korea the Pershings should have had Ford V-12 power plants. Everyone is arguing about why America was fighting with a medium tanks against German heavy tanks. The greater mystery was why with didn't we use our superlative Ford engines. Was it for Anglo-American politics? I'm just an amature tank enthusiast. We need a real historian.

I don't think that the first encounter was a draw. The Tiger clearly mauled the M-26 out of action. Getting stuck in debris was an error on the Tiger's crew's part that was a separate happenstance.

dont take down videos for minor mistakes, i was going to watch it 5 mins later and it was gone, you can leave them up there while you are perfecting it. Love your channel keep up the good work

I do enjoy the stories that end "That's a story for another time". Thank you for the research.

The first Pershing destroyed was situational and said little or nothing about the capabilities of the two tanks.

Great video, it's refreshing to see objective information on the US vs German tank situation as it actually happened. Already we can see the improved crew survival rate of the M26 compared with the M4, it's just a pity that what should have been unnecessary delays in the US cost lives.

Thanks Sir, great content 👍

Finally got to hear about the M26 ! Thank you

"Germans went for quality over quantity" *shows panther* That's cute, Mark.

Good video, but I would encourage you to watch some of the Chieftain’s videos about WWII U.S. armored vehicles, the M-4 Sherman in particular, which has gotten a bum rap. It was a superbly designed tank that did what it was designed to do literally all around the world. U.S. armor crewmen had the highest survival rates of any army in WWII, much better than that of the infantry. It was very reliable, easy to maintain and repair. And the best tank in the world is useless if you cannot maintain it or supply it with enough fuel and ammunition to keep fighting (i.e. German tanks).

Dude keep these up there amazing and I one of my teachers to watch a few as well

This is the voice of the man that comes out in a lot of WW2 short documentaries!!!

US ports were limited by the max weight capacity of the cranes. Since all vehicles had to be lifted onto ships this part of the infrastructure had to be upgraded.

The gun upgrade for us for the sherman is call easy6. Easy8 is the horizontal suspension.

Very informative. Well done.

April 23, 2019----Thanks for the background info as this was something new to me as I'd read in some magazine years ago they did get to Europe, but not how things turned out. Also like the military videos because every time I see one, I only think of one thing: 1/35th scale diorama. And it would be interesting to know who got these new tanks...figure experienced veterans.

Please do an episode on the U.S. Army M36 tank destroyers. IIRC they had the same 90mm gun that the M26 Pershing used. The M36 were in Northern Europe in 1944. But not much is ever said about the 90 mm tank destroyer combat record

Interesting video Mark! Cheers again! Maybe you could do a video on the duel between a T26E1 "Super Pershing" and a Tiger 2 ausf B in Dessau on the 21st of April 1945 which ends in a Super Pershing victory, I reckon it would make a good video as there's lots of material surrendering the duel from what I've seen online.

Really good tank combat history! I enjoyed it! Thanks

thank you. that's the best video ive seen. absolutely great vid ill donate very soon

Good presentation with facts I had not previously known. What it proves however, just like aircraft comparisons is that human skill, combat tactics and a little luck have as much to do with the outcomes of individual fire fights as the equipment itself. Maybe even more so.

One of the things about American tanks as opposed to the German tanks which was shown here was how easy they were to repair. The Pershing was damaged but repaired and returned to service. When a German tank was damaged the repairs that were required would practically keep it out of service.

Mark - that was well covered and explained, thank you.👍

Excellent as usuall,mark. The battle for Köln that you reference is of the course the famous film of a Pershing vs a panther.

We all know from History that it was the T-34 that won the war , and the first tank to roll through BERLIN .

I love these videos I was a tanker in the army 😎

Thanks Mark. Interesting as always!

Thank you, love this film!!!

"Quality" meanwhile their transmissions keep breaking

Can't wait for the Cologne cathedral battle!!! My grandfather was there as part of the 78th US infantry division.

I've been searching for a long time for something that told the story of the Pershing in WWII. I have finally found it. I want to hear the stories in more detail.

Excellent work, your videos are the best! 🍺