Comments on: Panther Ostwallturm

By: UselessBanana

UselessBanana — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 19:46:36 +0000

wow thats some pretty interesting stuff there! thx mate :)

By: Brenthos

Brenthos — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 19:13:48 +0000

This I saw, off course. I meant the Panther one.
Thx anyway.

By: LaterTimeLord

LaterTimeLord — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:59:43 +0000

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt310/vanhall-panzers/Tigers/231.jpg

You mean these? These weren’t real bunker turrets, they were for training new Tiger tank gunners. :=)

By: Airborne_Engineer

Airborne_Engineer — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:56:56 +0000

These turrets were used extensively by the germans in WWII to act as a defensive line, they were fully self supporting and electrically powered in order to both light the interior and drive the turret in rotation. they were used to great effect on Canadian armour in Italy.

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/articles/world_war_2/German_use_of_tank_turrents/

They were also used in the defence at D-Day in Normandy:
Renault Turrets:
http://www.d-daytoursnormandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Renault-Tank-Turret-on-Omaha-Beach-Emplacement.jpg
http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/tobruk-fortification.html

Early German Turret:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach#mediaviewer/File:German_turret_at_Omaha_Beach.jpg

Ultimately they were used in desperation to try to stem the tide of the Allies advance.

By: Cpt_Jarem

Cpt_Jarem — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 17:41:22 +0000

There is a reconstructed one (using original turret) in Świnoujście, Poland.
http://odkrywca.pl/forum_pics/picsforum26/w5.jpg

By: ComradeHX

ComradeHX — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 17:11:44 +0000

He only mentioned the “roof.”
Didn’t mention rest of the turret.

By: Maluska EU

Maluska EU — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 16:52:38 +0000

Hey, check this out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_56_TK
It’s basicly T-54/55 turret without stabilizers, put on top of a concrete bunker, meant to stand against naval offensive. These things aren’t in active service anymore though…

By: lilgoth89

lilgoth89 — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 16:20:10 +0000

Not only were the Panther Turrets used as fixed gun positions
the Aft turret from the German battleship Gneisenau, was placed as a fixed gun position in the Austrått Fort in Norway where it remains to this day ( visible if you simply google map search the fort )
http://www.forsvarsbygg.no/Global/NFV/Austr%C3%A5tt/Austr%C3%A5tt1.jpg

http://files.reiseguiden.no/files/m620/austratt-fort-orlandet-sor-trondelag-norge-842684.jpg

By: harrydix

harrydix — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 16:06:30 +0000

My grandfather talked about running into these in southern italy in mid 1943, and how the easiest thing to do was call in 25pdr or 105s on them to take them out.

By: Tiger313

Tiger313 — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 16:02:48 +0000

Funny, in the 50′s we had a similar defense line along the river IJssel. Loads of Allied tanks were dumped here, and we used turrets of those.
http://goo.gl/maps/emWEa
Sherman Firefly turret there.