- World War 2 - Equipment -

Various World War 2 Equipment

-- Planes --

F4U Corsair
One of the most famous and distinctive planes from World War II is the F4U Corsair. The first Corsair prototype was flown on May 29, 1940. The Corsair was the first single engine fighter plane ever to achieve speed in access of four hundred miles per hour. The Corsair pulled more that its own weight during World War II since it had an eleven to one ratio against the Japanese. The Japanese became very aware of this plane during the war because of its effectiveness and the noise it made from the leading edge oil coolers. They even gave the plane the nickname "Whistling Death". The Corsair turned out to be a very versatile plane since it excelled in ground attacks and dogfights and in the attack role. The Corsair against the Zero now days would be like a 5000 pound Daytona car that could go 200 miles per hour against a 1500 Nissan that could only go about 130 miles per hour. The Corsair had a two thousand eight hundred cubic inch engine with eighteen cylinders and twenty-one hundred-horse powers. The armament of the plane was six .50 caliber machine guns. The wingspan was 41 feet and the length was 33 feet, 8 inches and the height was 14 feet, 9 inches. The propeller of the Corsair had a diameter of about 13 feet, 6 inches. The maximum take off weight of this plane was 16,160 pounds. The top speed of the corsair was around 466 miles per hour. The Corsair had a range of 1,005 miles (with external tanks) and an operating ceiling of 41,500 feet. This plane was very distinctive during World War II because of the bent wings that it had to increase the storage space on aircraft carriers and for bases on land. Even the famous ace Gregory Boeington flew a Corsair during World War II. He achieved the rank of ace his first time out in a dogfight during the war.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero
During World War II, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was the most famous of all the Japanese aircrafts. During the first six months of the war, the Zero controlled the aerial was in the Pacific. The Zero's allied code name was "Zeke". It is considered remarkable to some people who say it was the first carrier fighter to outperform its land-based equivalents. During 1937 the Zero was going to need to meet several specifications, which included a speed of 500 km/h and an armament of two cannon and machine guns. The result of this was a very light and extremely nimble plane. The Zero had an unprecedented range for a small aircraft and during the first months of the war its superior armor and maneuverability crushed all opponents until the Zero started to encounter the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair. The weaknesses of the Zero begin to show at this moment. The Zero's lack of self-fueling fuel tanks and armor, and the extreme lightness of its construction made it vulnerable to combat damage. After noticing how outclassed they were the Japanese desperately tried to design more effective version, which resulted in boosted a Zero. 1,560 horsepower gave considerable trouble to the F4F and FM wildcats but still was no match for the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair. The Zero was a single-seat ship borne fighter and fighter-bomber. The dimensions of the plane was about 39'4 wingspan, length 29'9, and the height was between 9'8 and 9'9. The weight of this plane empty was around 4000 pounds and loaded it was around 6000 pounds. It had either an A6M3 or A6M5 engine, which had around 1030 hp. The Zero was armed with 2 x 20 mm type 99 cannon in outer wings, 2 x 7.7 mm or 13.2 mm machine-guns above forward fuselage or in wings, and wing racks for 2 x 66 pound (or some aircraft 132 pound) bombs. The maximum speed of the aircraft was around 350 miles per hour in level flight. The first prototype of the Zero was launched in April of 1939. The Japanese never added more armament because they didn't want the plane to be any heavier, although they did make improvements on the cannon from shooting 490 rpm to 750 rounds per minute. The total production of the A6M was 10,449 (3,879 by Mitsubishi and 6,570 by Nakajima).

-- Tanks --

General
During World War II Germany had some of the most heavily armored tanks. After the first World War Germany's armor production was restricted due to them losing in World War I. The Germans developed a strategy called Vernichtungsgedanke, which in English means annihilation concept. This concept of theirs was to fall on the flanks of an enemy, surround, and then destroy it. The main person who led to the development of the panzer tanks was Heinz Guderian. Captain Heinz Guderian was a communications specialist during World War II until he was promoted to serving in the Transport Troops Inspectorate. He read articles on armored warfare and after reading many of these articles he began to form his own opinions and started to write articles like the one he had read himself. This caused him to rise up in the promotion ladder. Many people wondered if the tanks of the present could live up to what Guderian was talking about. In 1931 Heinz Guderian was appointed Chief of Staff to the Inspectorate of Motorized Troops. Many Germans did not agree with Guderian's ideas but Hitler did so it did not much matter what other people thought. Latter on Guderian was appointed Chief of Mobile Troops in 1938, November 20th. His background in communications gave him ideas about putting radios in the armored vehicles so that they could communicate with ground troops and planes in the air. Guderian laid down the foundation for panzer tactics. The United States light tanks during World War II had to be less than 5 tons and the medium tanks had to be less than 15 tons so that they would be able to transport the equipment on trucks or by rail. On July 10, 1940 the war department decided to form the armored forces this was due in large part because of the fact that they were impressed by the quick German victories in Poland and France.

One of the most famous of the German tanks during World War II was the tiger. The tiger produced an aura of invulnerability, which gave it a psychological advantage during the war. Certain events lead to its rumors of invincibility such as the event where one German tiger tank destroyed 25 half tracks and tanks, effectively blocking the road and stopping the advance of a complete armored division. Not many people at all would claim this tank to be the best tank of all time but it did show the way the Panther and the Tiger II went a long way towards making up in firepower and in effectiveness for the numerical deficiency in armor. One of the first tank prototypes for the United States was the T6, which appeared September of 1941. Production for this model started at 1000 per month and then escalated to 2000 built per month at 11 different plants. The gun on the tank had a velocity of 2030ft/sec, and it could penetrate 3.1 inches of steel at 1000 yards. The turret of the tank rotated on a ball bearing race that was recessed and thus protected from enemy fire. The tank had two hatches in the bow one in the turret and one escape hatch in the floor. The main gun on the tank had elevation controls so that it could be used as an artillery weapon. FM communication radio systems were installed and could be tied into any local field artillery fire control. These tanks were pretty dependable since they could often go 2500 miles before they needed major maintenance.