Quote:
Originally Posted by the dark knight
Just a heads up guys, German tanks in WWII ran on high octane gasoline. The only country using Diesel's in tanks was Russia. The reason most people think German tanks were Diesel is because, unlike the Sherman, they did not burst into flames when a shell pierced the armor. The Germans, unlike the U.S.A., had the fuel tanks isolated in their own compartments, so spilt fuel, or a ruptured fuel tank was less likely to catch fire on hot exhaust pipes.
|
Fuel use is a somewhat complex issue, the japanese and the italian medium tanks (to the extent they could be called such) used diesel engines too and the large fleet of soviet light tanks and derivates ran on gasoline. That said Sherman brewing up is likely more a result of pretty much nearly every german tank/antitank gun they ran into being able to punch throught them in first place, while peppering Panthers with 75mm would not be equally productive. Ammunition storage, probably the most important fire hazard though gasoline certainly does not help, was eventually rearranged.
In regards to submarine engines overheating would also cause issues with the exhaust system, which is a bit more critical than on a land vehicle.