Tommy Cookers wrote: ↑29 Jan 2022, 22:26
the father of a friend drove a Sherman
one day in 1944 they found a Tiger (powered-down) 200 yds away - and commenced firing at it
the Tiger started to traverse its turret (by hand-cranking it)
the Tiger was hit five times before (said father etc then leaving) it demolished the Sherman
the father (Afro-Caribbean) of another friend was trained as a truck driver etc in WW1
very late in his life he suddenly recalled getting a job in the hard times of Mr Prohibition - via this engine knowledge
a job seemingly not unconnected to rum-running
it's said that the war-surplus Liberty was preferred for this
Funnily enough T-C, 'Tommy Cooker' was a sneering nickname the Sherman tank gained from its
propensity to readily 'cook-off' its ammunition when shot through by Nazi weapons.
I recall asking a relative who served in Italy with NZ forces - they had (GM Detroit Diesel powered)
Sherman tanks - if the fuel type had anything to do with it, & he reckoned that diesel was safer,
unless the fuel tank was actually hit, & by something hard enough to make it explode, otherwise
it would give you more time to bail out, (plus the GM D-D power-unit when properly maintained
was more reliable/had longer endurance).
As for Liberty engines, British tanks built by Nuffield used them in WWII, but sadly, the 1/2-arsed
accessory units & drives* applied tended to let the plot down, esp' in heat/dust/grit desert usage.
*Something repeated ~25 years later when the Chieftain tank was similarly let down by the same
issues as they appended to the basically sound Leyland opposed-piston 2-stroke diesel powerplant.