How much did "Rhino" tanks improve the American advance in Normandy?
score:5
Sergeant American Culin invented the Rhinos: the use of the Rhino was as followed:
- The tank drives at 25 mph
- It goes through the hedgerow thanks to the prong
- Other tanks could use the breach to advance without exposing too much
1/ The bocage battle
During the bocage battle to Cherbourg, the Americans started to use the Rhino tanks: it did help them to advance fast, since they were opposing only low-quality Axis units that had not that much antitank weapons nor training: in this situation, the Rhinos allowed faster advance for the tanks on a difficult terrain, as well as regular presence of tanks close to infantry and thus better support provided to infantry.
During the later advance on Saint-Lô, Rhino tanks were not of a great help: the Americans most of the time used artillery and infantry to capture hills, and the help of tanks was often delayed. Still, German centers of resistance could be destroyed during this phase of battle with tanks/Rhinos assault: for example, the 8th corps suffered 5 000 casualties for 5 kilometers taken, while later the 5th corps had 6 000 casualties for 10 kilometers advance: the difference in casualties per kilometer is real, but its causes are multiple (better artillery and air support, Rhinos, tactical adaptation of American infantry...) and overall losses were still high.
Note that the Germans had no Rhinos but similar problems: the Lehr division lost half of its tanks in two days of failed counter-attacks and had to play defensive.
2/ Cobra operation
During the Cobra operation, that was basically a massive attack of tanks, opened by infantry assaults and a massive air attack, the Rhino tanks proved useful:
After the air bombing, and the first infantry advance, German resistance was still harsh. The Americans once thought they were stalled again, but Bradley decided to launch the armoured divisions into the breach to actually open the breach and enter the exploitation phase of the battle. This decision could have triggered a disaster (a kind of Seelowe), would American tanks be slowed down and vulnerable in their advance. But the Rhino tanks helped in opening the roads, thus avoiding jams, and they allowed tanks to fight head-on ennemy defenses instead on manoeuvering slowly on each hedgerow and being an easy target during the manoeuver.
Conclusion:
The Rhinos did give better results in terms of speed of the advance and tactical disponibilities of tanks/ But against classic German division (around Saint-Lo) and not weak ones (around Cherbourg), it did not reduce significantly the amount of casualties overall (less casualties in tanks, but still numerous ones in infantry).
More post
- 📝 Why was the 1944 surrender of 20,000 Germans on the Western Front remarkable?
- 📝 What group is identified by the term "Egyptians" in the Flushing Remonstrance?
- 📝 What is the meaning of the images on the medal granted with the Nobel prize?
- 📝 Did the Eastern Romans also use Roman concrete?
- 📝 Which uniform is this?
- 📝 Did the French Resistance kill civilians?
- 📝 Are there any images of old italic or runic inscriptions online?
- 📝 Why has the 18th and not the 19th century come to be called „the age of reason“?
- 📝 In Civil War Reenactments why do people walk across the battlefield
- 📝 Is/was it an Indonesian tradition or custom to drink your victims' blood?
- 📝 Did any French generals or politicians argue for pressing the Saar offensive?
- 📝 What is the altitude record for manned unpressurised balloon flight without oxygen?
- 📝 Connection between U.S. entry into WW1 and Germans sending Lenin back to Russia
- 📝 Help me understand a sentence about one particular episode of History quoted from a Conan Doyle Essay
- 📝 Were any Californios able to hold on to their ranchos?
- 📝 What's the correct term for a waitress in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 What were the Jurchen tribes/confederations in the 11th-12th centuries?
- 📝 What percentage of relocated Armenians died?
- 📝 Why did the Romans incorporate and rename the Greek pantheon?
- 📝 Why did the Allies lose the Battle of France (1940)?
- 📝 How did Ram and Krishna become the dominant Gods in Hinduism?
- 📝 Did Rome attempt to justify its conquests?
- 📝 Historical examples of replacing blood heir by impostor?
- 📝 Which bank was the oldest surviving bank in the world prior to MPS getting that status?
- 📝 How many vehicles were involved in Operation Gothic Serpent (Mogadishu, October 3-4, 1993)?
- 📝 Why was the Declaration of Independence handwritten, rather than printed with a printing press?
- 📝 Why did Meiji government consider switching from Japanese to English?
- 📝 Why did manuscript production increase rapidly?
- 📝 Does US law permit spending taxpayers' money to support foreign political parties?
- 📝 What is this household object from early 1900s rural Russia?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How much did "Rhino" tanks improve the American advance in Normandy?
- 📝 How much did helping the American Revolution cost France?
- 📝 How did the American Civil War help the U.S economy recover from the Panic of 1857 given that civil wars are extremely destructive?
- 📝 How much did it cost to attend events at the ancient Roman colosseum?
- 📝 How much did J. Robert Oppenheimer get paid while overseeing the Manhattan Project?
- 📝 How much of an impact did the Roman emperors' civil wars have on their decision to debase the coinage?
- 📝 How much did it cost to buy a ticket on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul in 1914?
- 📝 How much did Pan Am tickets to the moon cost?
- 📝 How much authority did a traveling lord have in England in the late 16th century?
- 📝 How much tax revenue did the British Empire receive from its colonies in a given year?
- 📝 How much contact did Sub-Saharan Africa actually have with the rest of the world since the beginning of civilization?
- 📝 How much did the culture of Anatolian Gallic settlers differ from their kin in Gaul?
- 📝 How did the Dutch East India Company (VOC) have so much revenue when they only control small part of Indonesia?
- 📝 How did the English Civil War affect the American Colonies policy-wise?
- 📝 How much time did people have to take shelter during the Blitz in 1940-41?
- 📝 How did American colonial rights and conditions compare to those within the British Isles?
- 📝 How did Soviet soldiers resist tanks during the battle of Shumshu?
- 📝 How much firepower did the British navy represent in 1940?
- 📝 Why did Stephen II of Blois (father of King Stephen of England) abandon the First Crusade in 1098 knowing how much he would lose by doing so?
- 📝 How much did a telephone call cost in the USA around 1920?
- 📝 How much debt did Italy remit Germany in the London Debt Agreement?
- 📝 How much of a role did Sakamoto Ryoma play in overthrowing the Shogunate?
- 📝 How did life change for the average American as a result of the end of World War 1?
- 📝 How much did the western world know about the Soviet Union pre-WWII?
- 📝 How did mid-19th century American legislation affect the corporate structure of railroad companies?
- 📝 How much resemblance did the industrialization of the Soviet Union bear to those of the rest of the world?
- 📝 How much did the Chinese Summer Palace cost to build?
- 📝 How did the use of tanks differ in the Pacific war from the European war?
- 📝 How much influence did the Zimmerman Telegram have?
- 📝 How did sailing technology improve during the Age of Sail?