From:   "Richard Loweth", [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Sloped armour on AFVs is more about the co-sine and
sine laws than ricochets. The glacis armour thickness
on a British Cromwell and a German Panther was actually
about the same at 80mm. However the Cromwell glacis
plate was vertical, that on the Panther 45 degrees.
Applying the co-sine and sine laws meant that the
"real" thickness of the Panther glacis armour was
actually 120mm.

Ricochets on AFVs are however likely when the target
tank is parked at an angle to the line of fire. However
knowledge of when a fired shot is likely to ricochet can
be a advantage to the tank attacking you.

The early Panther "B" had a rounded turret mantlet. Allied
crews learnt that a shot deliberately fired to strike the
bottom of it would ricochet down through the top armour of
the hull, thus getting around the fact that the "real"
120mm glacis armour could not be penetrated by a Sherman
tank. The later Panther "G" had a flat base to the turret
mantlet to stop the Allies destroying Panther s in this way.

The "glacis" is the front plate or plates of the hull, in
other words the ones that face you as the tank drives
towards you.


Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org

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