re: #312 Fairly Sure I’m Still Obdicut

You know what we haven’t discussed? The failure of the tank destroyer as a design. Tank destroyers were an unnecessary role that should have been occupied either by field artillery like the 88 or by tanks.

The idea was that tanks were best used to support infantry or exploit openings. Not fight other tanks. This grew out of the idiocy of the interwar era putting what little armor development that was allowed (not much) under Infantry Branch. Of course tanks were supposed to support the infantry!

Instead we wanted something else to fight against tanks and, as a result, we put all the good AT guns on lighter & faster vehicles. We learned that was a mistake fairly fast in North Africa and the T26/M26 Pershing did reflect those lessons. Unfortunately Patton’s ego got in the way and US troops were stuck with the M4 & M10 going into Normandy.

At least the M18 Hellcat was actually fast enough to pull off the “Shoot & Scoot” tactics. Had it been armed with the M36’s 90mm & if it had a roof on the turret it might well have been as useful as something like the Hetzer.