It could be more accurate to say that: Rudel claims 500 tanks “knocked out” , wich means that were actually put out of service in a battle, and might or might not be recovered after that.
and yes is dificult to confirm that claims, if you are not in posetion of the grounds after the battle. The guncams are not 100 % accurate.
KV-1 knocked out by Hs-129.
I re-read Stuka Pilot and can say for certain that every kill Rudel described was a total destruction of the vehicle. They didn’t just stop running they were wracked with explosions, massive fires turrets deteached etc. Those tanks were dead forever. Besides why the hell would the Sovs bother to attempt salvage a totally burned out tank when a zillion more were slogging their way toward the front? Talk to anyone who has seen the insides of a knocked out tank and you’ll quickly realize that the simply clean up of the crews’ spattered biological parts is an immense task alone. With the generally nomadic Russians there was no facility to pull engines, refit turrets and mount dozens of bogies and drive wheels, then test them if they’d had all the spares to refit. Rudel also destroyed some 5,000 trucks in his 2,530 sorties. Take away 1,000 and its still a stupendous amount. He was in the cockpit constantly often flying a dozen missions a day. Attempting to diss his score is simply sour grapes.
Nobody attemp to deny or minimizate his success, we are simply analizing some probabilities.
Just because he wrote it in a book doesn’t make it true.
I have a books by P-47 and Typhoon pilots who carried out many attacks on German armour after D-day. If that was the only info you had on the subject, you would believe that the fighter-bombers destroyed most of the German armour by themselves. In fact, independent sources show that they killed very few tanks.
Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
KV-1 knocked out by Hs-129.
This the article about this episode ( http://www.soldiering.ru/avia/airplane/ww2/battle-plane.php ).
This was 1 of the 2 tanks used to test the german 30mm airplane canons. Both tanks were actually destroyed by the German panzers previously.
The first tank was attacked by 4 airpalnes, but out of 102 shots none hit the target at the given angle of attack.
The second tank (on the picture) was attacked on shorter distance (300 - 500 meters) and received 12 hits out of 94 fired (3 pilots hit tank and the 4th missed). None of the 12 hits lead to the damage to the tank interior and could not deminish it’s fighting ability.
Here is the photos of the shots:
http://www.soldiering.ru/avia/airplane/ww2/img038.jpg
http://www.soldiering.ru/avia/airplane/ww2/img039.jpg
In the article it says that probability of a He-129 to destory a Т-34-76 (1942) in a single attack with 30mm canon MK101 was about 1% - 2% (side attack, angle 25’’-30’’, distance 200 - 300 meters).
Here is the photos of the shots:
http://www.soldiering.ru/avia/airplane/ww2/img038.jpg
[http://www.soldiering.ru/avia/airplane/ww2/img039.jpg](http://www.soldiering.ru/avia/airplane/ww2/img039.jpg)
Thanks Egorka for the links, I had extracted the pics form other site with wrong captions.
In the article it says that probability of a He-129 to destory a Т-34-76 (1942) in a single attack with 30mm canon MK101 was about 1% - 2% (side attack, angle 25’’-30’’, distance 200 - 300 meters).
Huummm… If the german pilot start to shoot from that distance he had only about 6-7 shots before pulling out because the 4,25 rounds per second of the Mk-101 cannon. However the Mk was capable to penetrate the side armor of the T-34.
Panzerknacker:
Exactly the point. The pilot had normally app. 1 - 2 seconds per attack during which the fire could have been effective. It was difficult to hit the tank with these 6-7 shots. But not every shot that hit the traget could knock it out of operabilty as the valnurable area was small (less than 2 square meters). That is why the chances in a single palne atack were so low.
Indeed ,the chance of completely destroy a tank with the 30 mm caliber was not very promising that why the germans moved to the 37, 50 and 75 mm guns in his aircrafts.
Hans Ulrich Rudel recived the hightest award possable for someone in germany on January 1 1945. The aword was the Knights Cross Golden Oakleaves with Swords and Diamonds. (Look at picture).
Reason for the aword below.
Rank: Oberst (Colonel)
Unit: III./St. Geschw. 2 " Immelmann "
Received on: 1 January 1945
Details: Strike the balance after 2530 raids:
He was also aworded the German Cross (Deutsches Kreuz), it is the highest German Order awarded by Hitler during World War 2. There are three classes: Gold with Brilliants, Gold and Silver. The Golden Cross was awarded for ‘bravey in the face of the enemy’; the Sliver for ‘leadership of men, not in the face of the enemy’. The badge is a large eight-pointed star with a black swastika in its centre surmounted by rays. There is no ribbon.
He was aworded the gold.
Impressive awards, I read somewhere that the Rudel s family put all that in auction, not very happy move, I think in a museum should be better suited.
I post a link to download this video earlier, in here you can see it in direct mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSo6cGgl3PQ
Man in Uniform:" Oberst, can you tell me what happend?"
Rudel:"It`d hit me hard this time.We saw the first Tanks, rolling over the Oder. Of course we wanted to destroy them.Enemy AA defense where very strong and on my last attack turn, a 4cm AA did hit me and the plane started burning. I did get hit in the leg, but flew another few rounds and managed it to land in friendly lines.
The only thing that bothers me is, that my comrades and squadron have to fight on their own in this critical situation.We all have to bite our teeth together and make the sacrifices we had not forgotten.Our people, who have fought so brave will be victorious in the end"
Hello forum members, I am the new guy
Just a question; are those tank kills actually proofen ? after all not to mention the battleships and trucks and… ,the second runner up is almost 400 Tanks behind the Nr.1
Dora 12
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The second best is a guy named Anton Hush, i did not remeber what was his score but let me check.
Welcome by the way.
The short answer is “no”. The only real validation of the number of tanks destroyed by air attack would have come from admitted Soviet losses, or examination of the remains on the ground. As far as I know, neither is available in the case of the Eastern Front. And even if they were, that wouldn’t tell us which pilot did the damage.
Having said that, I don’t think that anyone denies that Rudel was outstandingly effective.
Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
Well according to these figures Rudel would indeed be outstanding. I just find it noticable that in this category the Nr. 1 is about 5 times better then the Nr.2. Which for fighter pilots, or tank crews, or submarine commanders is by far not the case.
So since the count cant be reconstructed over enemy held territory, the only wittnesses to most of those kills would acctually only be him and his rear gunner. Hmmmmm… :roll:
Dora 12
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And the guncamera, I think some of the tank claimed as destroyed by Rudel ( and I keep telling this for those who didnt want to browse the early pages) were actually “knocked out” wich means that if the battefield is in posession of the russians in the end of the day they could salvage it, repair and put back that tank on service, nevertheless a tank knocked out is stiil a tank out of combat so is valid as claim.
I
have a books by P-47 and Typhoon pilots who carried out many attacks on German armour after D-day. If that was the only info you had on the subject, you would believe that the fighter-bombers destroyed most of the German armour by themselves. In fact, independent sources show that they killed very few tanks
Ammunition carried by the P-47 thunderbolt:
12,7x99mm.
ammunition carried by the Typhoon, 20x110mm:
Ammunition carried by the Ju-87 Gustav 37x263mm belted, tugsten core with tracer.
Unlikely comparative …isnt ? 
Actually, the Typhoon’s main anti-tank armament was rocket projectiles, which were vastly more destructive than the BK 3,7 carried by the Ju 87G. The problem was that the pilots had little chance of hitting tank-sized targets.
Incidentally, the 20mm round in your picture is for the Oerlikon AA gun, not the Hispano.
Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
But how effective wast a Rocket ? how accurate ?
It carry some kind of HEAT charge?
Incidentally, the 20mm round in your picture is for the Oerlikon AA gun, not the Hispano
that rebated rim. :rolleyes: It is for naval AAA made by FM in Argentina.
