Originally Posted by Huntsman

Pete

"I wonder if some of the improvised armour had this effect ie acting as spaced armour like modern day bar armour or RPG netting?"

It needs a fair distance too work prolly at least a foot or two off the armor then the blast focus would be lessened l think.


Looking at modern bar armour, I think you're probably correct that a foot or two gives the best results, but post war, tanks went through a phase when even their integral armour incorporated a space..

The Israeli Merkava springs to mind as that was reputed to store diesel in the space between the armour..

Getting back to using concrete, until I did some reading as a result of this thread, I didn't realize how extensively it was used on armoured vehicles in WW2. I am not talking about just unofficial crew modifications either..


Its seems the American 12th Division added reinforced concrete to Shermans as part of an "in field" upgrade..A picture search on google shows just how much it was used..

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It seem the Russians, Brits and to a lessor extent the Germans, also experimented with it ...Below is supposedly a T34 with extensive concrete armour:

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Most modern accounts seem to write it off as being totally ineffective, but it must have had some positive effect, or why would the 12th have used it so extensively?? Especially considering the extra weight it would have incurred..

Last edited by Pete E; 11/03/14.

Men of Harlech[Linked Image]