I'm not too swift with computers, but I know tanks. I did WWII with the 3rd Armored Division and made it from St. Lo, France to Dessau, Germany. Although I'm only expressing only an opinions here, you can take to the bank.
The German Panther, around 44 tons, armed with a murderously high velocity 75 mm canon was the best tank in Europe — I'd trust my grandmother in it. Can you imagine facing it in a puny 33 ton Sherman which mounted a short barreled mickey mouse 75 mm canon? American tank crews deserved a medal just for getting in a Sherman tank. I actually saw a Panther fire a round through the front of a Sherman, which exited from the rear and destroyed the half-track behind it. Those pictures of knocked out Panthers and Tigers in old WWII pictures were an impressive sight — but those knocked out tanks were knocked out by 500 lb. bombs dropped by P38s and other fighter planes.
The Sherman wasn't without some virtue however, it seemed like we had a million of them, and you never saw one broken down at the side of the road, it was uncommonly reliable and required very little maintenance. Once, we raced a Sherman in a Jeep on a dirt road and clocked it at near 30 mph (the Tiger was reputed to fly up to 12 mph downhill). When we knocked out a Panther, it was Good Night Irene. When a Panther knocked out a Sherman, we had a replacement or two right behind it with brand new crews. American factories cranked out tanks like rabbits on viagra. The most under appreciated soldier in Europe was the American tanker in my opinion (I was armored infantry). It always amazed me how they got anyone to get into a Sherman tank. The five man crews were mostly farm kids who knew tractors.
In the last days of the war, we finally got a match for the Panther, it was the M26 Pershing tank. It went a little better than 40 tons and mounted a wicked 90 mm canon. Google "Tank duel in Cologne" and see the duel on tape — it's breath taking. Our tank won a spectacular victory. Oddly, while that battle was blazing, my platoon was down the street from the cathedral — I didn't know of the duel until after the war.
The German Tiger Royal was a behemoth, a total monster that went 70 tons and mounted the superb and justly famous 88 mm canon which was the gold standard for all canons. With a tank like the Tiger, girl scouts could have won the war and sold all their cookies at the same time except for one thing, it would break down at the drop of a hat and required an army of mechanics to keep it going. During "the Battle if the Bulge" you could see Tiger tanks strewn all over the Ardennes landscape with many never having fired a shot. However, when a Tiger gunner got one off on a Sherman, the 88 mm made a tangled, fiery mess that would make grown man cry.
I've read those stories about Shermans penetrating the side armor of Panthers and winning duels too. I'm not saying they didn't happen. All I'm saying is that if your grandfather fought the war in a Sherman tank, you need to get down on your knees and kiss his feet.
