Biggest Tank Battle In History
The Battle Of Kursk
What Happened
In July 1943 German forces attacked Kursk where Soviet troops were gathered at a key point on the eastern frontline. It was the biggest tank battle in history. For every German tank destroyed the Soviets lost 5! But the Soviet tanks kept coming forcing the Germans to retreat. The battle of Kursk was a turning point in the war on the eastern front.
Soviet T-34
From 1941 German armies fighting in Russia came to respect with the Russian T-34 tanks with battled them in large numbers. The first version of this tank was the T-34/76. This was followed in 1943 by the more powerful T-34/85 witch had a bigger gun with better fire power.
German Panther
Germany's panther tank was true best all-round tank of world war two. The German army took up all the latest ideas about tanks and used them in a new effective way. New tanks like the Panther soon ruled battlefield while the Allies rushed to get tanks of there own into the battle. German Panthers had thick armor and a gun that could take down all Allied tanks. Soviet shell would literally bounce off the panther! But the Germans didnt have enough panthers to match the huge numbers of T-34s.
Elephant Tank
The elephant tank was tank destroyer of the German army during world war 2. Very little were built in 1943 by a company called Ferdinand Porsche using parts of a German Tiger tank in 1944 the made the first elephant tank. At the time there was only 91 built by 1943. It could travel at 19 miles per hour and weighed 144,000 pounds witch is about 30 soviet T-34s!
Russian T-34 Firing Tankfest NW
What Was The Battle Of The Kursk
What Was The Battle Of Kursk
The battle of Kursk was a World War Two engagement between German and Soviet forces on the eastern front near Kursk in the Soviet Union during July and August 1943. The battle lasted 50 days and ended August 23 with a victory for the Soviet Army witch some people think should of ended differenty because the Germans had better bigger tanks but the Soviets had a lot more. It is estimated that at the end of the battle around 350 German tanks were destroyed and 600-800 Soviet tanks were destroyed (but the Soviets still won) The battle of Kursk was the first time in World War Two that German offense was halted before it could break though enemy defenses and attack the Soviets. The German forces called the battle of Kursk Operation Citadel witch was the last German operation along the eastern front.
Fast Facts
*The forces of the two sides together at Kursk total led to more than 2 Million men, 6,000 tanks and 5,000 aircraft.
*The Russians fired so many Katyusha rockets at Kursk that the fields of weat were on fire.
*In places along the likely route of the German advance the Soviets places 100 guns every 0.6 mile.
Planes In The War
In the air the Germans committed over 2,000 planes and lost about 681. The Soviets had between 2,500 and 3,500 and lost between 1,626 and 1,961 Witch was like the tank battles he w to he Soviets had more. A German flying ace named Erich Hartmann shot down 352 allied planes! 345 were Soviet planes and the remaining 7 were Americans. The battle might have ended different had not been for the action in the air. At Kursk both sides belived that the ground forces alone couldn't not win the war.
Junckers Ju 87
Each Junker 87 had a huge 37mm cannon under each wing. The plane was made for 2 people a pilot and a rear gunners. During the battle of Kursk about 6,500 were made. It was mostly used by the Luftwaffe.
Lavochkin La-5
The Lavochkin was a soviet fighter and dive bomber mostly used in Kursk its estimated 9,920 were made. It was flown and gunned by one pilot. It's first flight was in May 1942. It was manufactured by Semyon lavochkin.
Focke wulf 190
FHC Luftwaffe Day - Focke Wulf 190 A-5 and Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3 Emil
U.S. WWII 37mm M3 ANTI - TANK GUN -- LIVE FIRE
37mm Cannon⬆️
Ending of the battle
On August 23 1943 The German army lost to the Soviets. Even though the Germans had better bigger tanks the Soviets had a lot more. Some people say that the battle would have ended differently if it wasn't for the battles in the air.