Medium Tank: Russian T-34
Heavy Tan: German Tiger
Strategic Bomber: American B-29 Superfortress
Tactical Bomber: British Mesquito
Piston Fighter: American P-51
Jet Fighter: German Me262
Semi-Auto Rifle: American M1 Garand
Bolt-Action Rifle: British Lee-Enfield No.2
Light Machinegun: British Bren
Sub Machinegun: American Thompson
Pistol: German P38

I'd argue with the B-29s. Weren't B-17s more widely used and favored?

I'd argue with the B-29s. Weren't B-17s more widely used and favored?

The B-29 was far superior to the B-17. The B-17 was used more than the B-29 because it entered the war very late. But was still used extensively against Japan. The B-29 was presurized. Huge advantage over the B-17s because the crew were relatively comfortable and didn't freeze to death. The B-29s could carry a far heavier bomb load and had more accurate radar guided machine guns which gave it excellent defense.

I knew all of that. ;) Weren't they just used mostly in in the latter half of the Pacific War, though? I've never read of any widespread use in the European theater.

I knew all of that. ;) Weren't they just used mostly in in the latter half of the Pacific War, though? I've never read of any widespread use in the European theater.

Doesn't matter. The B-29 was years ahead of the B-17. Making it the best bomber. If the question was "what was the most effective bomber?" you might have a point. But the question is "What was the best." The B-29.

Ask your self this. If I had to fight a war with B-17s or B-29s which would I choose?

Yoto: :goodjob: I agree with your whole list.

B-29s, of course. ;) That's what the Enola Gay was, a refitted B-29.

None of the above.

The best weapons were those technologies that allowed pilots to hunt at night. Most import was radar, and of the varients, portable shortwave radar was most important because it allowed individual night-fighters to pinpoint enemy aircraft.

It was the technology Hitler refused to believe the allies could possess, being that it was concidered by his engineers to be too advanced for the times.

The best weapons were those technologies that allowed pilots to hunt at night. Most import was radar, and of the varients, portable shortwave radar was most important because it allowed individual night-fighters to pinpoint enemy aircraft.

All right. That will go down as best radar system. Even though radar is not a 'weapon' in the same sense that a tank or rifle is which is what the thread is about.

And so you don't have any opinions on any of the above?

I agree with your whole list.
Are you serious?

Are you serious?

I'm always serious.

But anyway, yeah? Why not?

Why not?
I was just wondering. Nice choice! :goodjob:

Very funny :lol:

Anyone who disagrees with Yoto's list is probably a dirty Canadian.

Enough, enough! I kid the Canadians!

Btw Yoto forgot somethings

Amphibious Transport: Higgins Boat
Carrier Born Fighter: F-4U Corsair
Sword: Japanese Samurai Katana
Submarines: German type XXI.

Btw Yoto forgot somethings

Amphibious Transport: Higgins Boat
Carrier Born Fighter: F-4U Corsair
Sword: Japanese Samurai Katana
Submarines: German type XXI.

What about the Zero?

Piston Fighter: American P-51
Light Machinegun: British Bren
Pistol: German P38

What about the FW-190, or the later modeled Spits?
And the MG-42?
Always thought the Colt .45 was better then that german pistol

Nice list. What about the MG42 though? The Bren was more accurate, but accuracy is not nessesarily an advantage in a machine gun.

I'm not sure about calling the Tiger the best heavy, the IS-2 and Pershing tanks were a match for Tigers, although they arrived very late.

Also, what about the Panther? Best medium tank?

A few additions required-

German 88 field guns/AA guns as the best and most versatile artillery.

Automatic weapons? The Thompson was reliable but not very accurate. It's up against very still competition from the German MP40 and MP44 (Assault rifle). Personally, I have a weakness for the British Sten which was a brilliant weapon for paratroopers being so light, but it was a moody bugger and prone to jams.

Support guns- the Bren was great, but on the strength of nothing more technical than playing "Call of Duty" I think the German FG42 kicked arse.

Best Submachinegun: Thompson or Mp-40.
Best pistol/handgun: Luger/Colt M1911
Best assault rifle: STG44/FG42
Best light/all purpose machinegun: Bren
Best medium/suppressive machinegun:MG42
Best fighter: ME-262
Best bomber: B-17G
Best rifle: M1 Garand
Best amphibious transport: Buffalo.
Best landing craft: Higgins boat.
Best light tank: Matilda.
Best light/medium tank: Panzer IV.
Best medium/heavy tank: Panther.
Best superheavy tank: IS-3.
Best tank-hunter: JagdPanther IV.
Best self propelled artillery: "Stalin's organ"/ Opel Maultier (halftrack with nebelwerfer)
Best hand Antitank weapon: Panzerfaust/ Panzerschreck.
Best submarine: last U-boat created (maybe XXI like Bugfatty said)
Best amphibious aircraft: Short sunderland/Consolidated Catiliana.
Best light transport: Jeep, KettenKraftRad, Bren Gun Carrier.
Best heavy transport vehicle: Sdkf 251 Hanomag/White halftrack
Best transport aircraft: C-47 Skytrain
Best (bloody most armed) ship: Yamomoto

All right. That will go down as best radar system. Even though radar is not a 'weapon' in the same sense that a tank or rifle is which is what the thread is about.

And so you don't have any opinions on any of the above?RAF Mosquito night fighters used the portable shortwave radar, I don't know if any of the others did - so I would have to say it's the best of those listed.

Mosquito were manufactured for a huge number of differing tasks.

Ju-88 nightfighters used a primitive type of radar.

I knew all of that. ;) Weren't they just used mostly in in the latter half of the Pacific War, though? I've never read of any widespread use in the European theater.

AFAIK, only 3 B-29s were sent to the European Theatre. They were sent to England for trials and as a deception tactic (which, from memory, was unsucessful - the Germans never noticed they were there). Had Germany still been fighting in August 1945, it's safe to say that the 309th Composite Group would have taken its' B-29s to England.

Medium Tank: Panther, after all you said the best, not most effective
Heavy Tank: JSII, beats the Tiger hands down with only 1 main problem (lack of ammunition carried in early marks)
Strategic Bomber: B29, though I have a fondness for the good old Lancaster given it's high payload and versatility
Tactical Bomber: No contest, Mosquito wins hands down.
Jet Fighter: Me262, though personally I don't rate the plane that much anyway
Semi-Automatic rifle: Well given the categories you posted I'd put theFJ42 (the paratroop rifle for the Germans) in, nothing can compare to that.
Bolt Action: Lee Enfield, most accurate rifle around
Light Machine Gun: Bren, MG42 I consider more of a medium MG. The Bren could be fired from the hip with some accuracy, the MG42 could not realistically say the same.
SMG: MP40 or MP44 if no assault rifle category
Pistol: Walther
Medium MG: MG42
Amphib: Buffalo, but the DUKW deserves a mention too here
Best Light Tank: Stuart
Best Tankhunter: Jagpanther, anything that marries the killing power of a Tiger II with the speed of a Panther has to be good :D
Best SPA: Katushya
Hand-Held: Panzershrek
Sub: Type 21
Amphib. Aircraft: Sunderland
Light Transport: Jeep
Heavy Transport: SDKFZ 251 due to it's various different types
Transport Plane: C47
Best Ship: The most used form of US carrier :D

I disagree with bugfatty300 on the carrier plane as the seafire (IIRC) has a better record than any of the allied planes, and since the criteria is not whom did more, but what was better...

And nonconformist... since when has a matilda been a light tank? :eek:

The radar of the German Ju 88 was at times better than the British. However I think the honour for the best night fighter should get the He 219 Uhu (Owl). He wasn´t built in big numbers but it was better than the Mosquito. And faster. The IS 3 had a gun which was powerful but not very accurate. Also it is questionable if he was used in ww2. The M 26 and IS 2 however which were used had not the potential to be considered as best heavy tank.

Adler

:hmm: The IS2 was at least the equal of the King Tiger. Besides the mosquito does it for me as it was more versatile than the 219.

The He 219 was also developed as bomber, torpedo bomber night fighter, heavy fihter, reconaissance plane. It was as versatile as the Mosquito but faster, more robust and better armed.

Adler

How about the nuclear bomb?

I wouldn't want to fire one from the hip.

And nonconformist... since when has a matilda been a light tank? :eek:

I don't know. I supose I mixed the terms Light tank and Infantry tank up. But I suppose my hoice fo light tank would go to Pzkfw 38-t.

Wasn't the Matilda was a heavy tank? The only thing the Germans had that could damage the things were 88's.

i doubt it was heavy, considering Heavy includes Tigers, King Tigers, IS etc. It might be medium, but the original classification was an infantry tank.

In the time frame of 1940-41 it was a heavy tank. I think that in Africa they were used in a similar way to Tigers in Russia.

Nonconformist: Well considering the Matilda was remarkably slow (15km/hour off road!) and weighed 26500kg and the 38t weighed in at 9400kg it's a little strange to place the two in the same category. Plus the matilda was, whilst heavily armoured not exactly equiped to damage it's main foe, namely the 88 AA gun since the 2 pndr gun it carried didn't fire HE ammunition :lol: The problem here is compared to the Panther/Tiger it was lighter, but for the period it served it was heavy. It can't be directly compared to a tank 4 years older than it when it did not suit or take part in conventional light tank roles of reconassaince and so on.

As for the Mosquito/Uhu debate, that really depends on which variant of each is discussed, generally though I'd go for the mosquito, easier to build, earlier and in many guises proven time and again as a truly brilliant design.

The me-262 it tore through american bombers.If it was brought into the war earlier it would of shift the tides of war. :ar15: :ar15:

matillda was heavily armoured but not heavily armed

best light mg: not the bren gun..when i think about it, i know no other light mgs from ww2 :D
BAR and FG 42 dont count no?

best MG though: MG-42 by far!

Lets not forget the Me-163 and personal anti tank weapons like the Panzerfaust and Bazooka.

Medium Tank: Pz. V "Panther"
Heavy Tank: Pz. VIB "King Tiger"
Strategic Bomber: B-17
Fighter: P-51
Jet Fighter: Me-262
Semi-Auto Rifle: M1 Garand
Bolt-Action Rifle: Mauser K98
Light Machinegun: B.A.R
Sub Machinegun: M1A1 Thompson
Pistol: Colt 1911
Artillery Piece: 88MM Flak Gun
Rocket Artillery: Katyusha
AT Weapon: Panzerfaust
Machine Gun: MG-42

I'd choose to carry the MP44 Assault Rifle on the basis of having used it in 'Hidden & Dangerous' :D

Medium Tank: Pz. V "Panther"
Heavy Tank: Pz. VIB "King Tiger"
Strategic Bomber: B-17
Fighter: P-51
Jet Fighter: Me-262
Semi-Auto Rifle: M1 Garand
Bolt-Action Rifle: Mauser K98
Light Machinegun: B.A.R
Sub Machinegun: M1A1 Thompson
Pistol: Colt 1911
Artillery Piece: 88MM Flak Gun
Rocket Artillery: Katyusha
AT Weapon: Panzerfaust
Machine Gun: MG-42

Good ones :goodjob: . Was the BAR a 'light' machinegun? :scan:

:ar15: :sniper:

What about the Zero?

The F4U Corsair outranks the Zero in virtually every catergory in existence.


Best (bloody most armed) ship: Yamomoto

That would be "Yamato", of which there were two ships, the Musashi having been the second of the class. They were the largest battleships in history, exceeding 65,000 tons, and they were the only of which mounted 18.1-inch naval artillery. However, for my money, I would go with the Iowa Class, any day. The fault with the Yamato was the anti-aircraft defenses. They just were not up to par with its American counterparts. If you speak of purely the battleship, it would have to be the Yamato, but if you are speaking of the battelship and its relation to the war, then three things are exceedingly important. Speed, Gunnery Range + Targeting ability, and Anti-Aircraft capability, all of which the Yamato lacked. The ship had to be refitted with new anti-aircraft weaponary twice. After the refitting, it was the best battleship, anywhere. Based upon original design, no way.

i disagree with the tommy gun = the best smg of ww2

pphs41 (russian) would get my vote

I am going to have to support the Thompson, on this one.

Trained Soldier. Could use modern weapons to deadly results. :rolleyes:

Handgun: Colt 1911
Rifle: Mosin Nagant
SMG: MP40
MG: Vickers-Berthier
AT: Bazooka

Handgun: Colt 1911
Rifle: Mosin Nagant
SMG: MP40
MG: Vickers-Berthier
AT: Bazooka

Vickers ahead of the MG42? :eek:

What's your reasoning on that one?

AT: Bazooka
I'd chose the Panzerschreck.

Best Light Tank: Stuart

What about the M24 Chaffee?

Came to late in WWII for my liking :)

How the hell did people shot with the bren ?
That huge magazine blocking your vision.

On the plus side it was lighter and could be operated by a single person.

According to ... Call of Duty , all the weapons are good except Sten and Carbine ... :lol: :lol: :lol:

actually i think the M24 is still in use with some countries, maybe also the marines, not sure,i say it was the best light tank too!

best rifle: lee springfield .303
i would love to own one! im pretty sure it was the most accurate rifle of its time!

although mosin nagant also dose kick teh ass!

If we are going to talk about 'light' machine guns the German MG34 was superior to the british Bren gun, even the british vets will admit as much as is shown at pegasus bridge where the men swapped their Brens for the MG34.

i think saying the P-51 was the best is a bit narrowsghted. It was fast manouverable and could go long range. the P-51D was armed with 6 machineguns whether later models were upgraded i dont know but this is inadequate firepower, the spitfires MKIX and above easily outdid the German fighters but whether the spitfires were better than the P-51 is dependent on which factors you consider most important especially in the spitfire XIII. As all spitifres of mk2 and above were armed with cannon.

Close air support fighter bombers is another american vs british affair as the JU87 was surpassed after the early 1940s. The British Tempest and teh American P-47 were both hardy fast and agile craft with good payloads. the Tempest holds the edge again due to cannon over mg in terms of firepower as im unsure of the actual load factors each could manage.

SMG - MP40 reliable light accurate (to an extent) and witha good rof.
Strategic bomber - in Europe the Lancaster, in the pacific the B-29
tactical bomber - mosquito
rifle i dont know about and using COD isnt a good idea in my eyes.
AT- panzershreck
Heavy tank - King Tiger
tank killer - jagdtiger
medium tank - Panther

BTW:best rifle: lee springfield .303, the springfiled whilst being highly accurate was a pre WW1 rifle i think built in 1909 it had poor reload times, ammo sizes (the ammo was also all single bullets) and was hindered by a hefty bolt action reload and thus as a rifle in the way rifles were used it is not of requisite standard.

SMG: M31 Suomi Konepistooli. Considered the time it came in service, there was no equal smg in the world. Only the late m1a1 models of tommy came close to its performance. It was the most successful defensive weapon of WWII too.
STG44 can be considered to be an assaut rifle. A weapon no other nation possessed at the time.

Wasn't the Nuclear Bomb the "best" weapon of WW2 ?

After all, once used, the war was over...

Wasn't the Nuclear Bomb the "best" weapon of WW2 ?

After all, once used, the war was over...

Had to be used 'twice' though :mischief: and still some (Japanese Leaders)
wanted to continue :rolleyes: :nuke: :eek: .

Steph, Panzerschreck was a better weapon indeed. But to be honest it was "only" the enhenced German version of the Bazooka...
For the fighters (piston engined) I disagree with the Spitfire Mk IX and the P 51 D. The Spitfire Mk IX was not able to cope with the FW 190 A and the P 51 D was IMO worse than the FW 190 D. The designer of the FW 190, Kurt Tank, was once attacked on a experimental flight by a P 51. IIRC he had no difficulties in shooting the P 51 down. But when he saw a couple of US fighters try to take revenge he just made so much speed he could escape. The P 51 was thought to be one of the fastest fighters, but IMO the FW 190 D was the better plane.
As MG the MG 42 is the best weapon. The soldiers called it "Hitlersäge" (Hitler´s saw). As I mentioned before this MG became the "mother" of a whole family of MGs which are even today in action, like the German MG 3.
For the Nuke I think as a WMD with an at least questionable use I would exclude. Nevertheless we already had a discussion on that topic...

Adler

The P51D had much greater range and the ability to carry extra tanks, a thing that the early BF 109's and nearly all German planes missed. Range was not needed later, as the bombers came to the fighters, ok. :)

But it was still more maneuverable as the FW190D-9, who was built specifically to fight at HIGH ALTITUDE, against enemy bomber streams. Earlier FW 190 models, like the "A" model e.g., were much better at low altitudes and had trouble in higher altitudes.

The motor of the FW190D allowed high altitude operation, but it was STILL not really superior to the P51D Mustang.

One can now argue, which one was a little bit better, but the Mustang was more common than the FW-190D-9, who had production problems because the engine required (Jumo xxx whatever, a former BOMBER engine) was rather limited, so that still BF 109K had to be built.

The Me-262 was vulnerable while landing and the cannons often jammed. One can say it was the best fighter because of awesome speed, but it was only able to intercept bombers, and for this it was really good, but not for dogfighting at all.

Many planes had different strengths and weaknesses, but I would say the P51-D Mustang was the best all-around fighter of WW2.

if youby "best" you mean the best design, then of coufse the best stuff is usually the ones that came late,as we all know designs kepp getting improved over time

the best fighter has to be the ME-262

as long as rifles go, i know lee springfield was from ww1,1st made in 1909 huh?
well the german kar-98 was from,you guessed it 1898!

and the mosing nagant from 1878 IIRC!

so all rifles were old, unless were talking about the garand!

if youby "best" you mean the best design, then of coufse the best stuff is usually the ones that came late,as we all know designs kepp getting improved over time

the best fighter has to be the ME-262

as long as rifles go, i know lee springfield was from ww1,1st made in 1909 huh?
well the german kar-98 was from,you guessed it 1898!

and the mosing nagant from 1878 IIRC!

so all rifles were old, unless were talking about the garand!

Actually, the forerunners of the Lee-Enfield rifle date back to the 1890s as they were used in the Boer war and some other conflicts such as the battle of Ommdurman. It wasn't exactly the same rifle, but if we go by that rule, the Winchester wasn't invented in the ACW either ;)

allright

all i know is its a good gun

Best Light Tank. M24 Chaffe
Best Medium Tank. Panther
Best Heavy Tank. King Tiger
Best Piston Engine Fighter. Ta 152
Best Jet Fighter. Me 262
Best Bomber B17/B29
Best Machine Gun. MG42
Best Tank Destroyer. Hetzer/Jagdpanther

Medium Tank: Russian T-34

German Panther was designed to beat T-34, so no.


Heavy Tan: German Tiger

Depends on how you define heavy... by Western standards it was in a class of its own. But yes, probably.

Strategic Bomber: American B-29 Superfortress

Excellent range, but could not carry really large bombs, unlike the Brit Lancaster.

Tactical Bomber: British Mesquito

Mosquito couldn't dive bomb, so not as precise as others like JU-88.

Piston Fighter: American P-51

At high altitude, yes. At low altitude, get me a Spitfire.

Jet Fighter: German Me262

Lousy throttle control... but I don't know much more about jets, so I'll pass.

Semi-Auto Rifle: American M1 Garand

No, gimme an MP44. Better yet, an FG-42.

Bolt-Action Rifle: British Lee-Enfield No.2

Bit long... Kar98L slightly more accurate but smaller magazine.

Light Machinegun: British Bren

Not effective above 1,000 yards range... how about an MG42 instead?

Sub Machinegun: American Thompson

Australian Owen would get my vote... more reliable, much easier to handle in jungle.

Pistol: German P38

Browning Hi-Power for me... more shots.

Excellent range, but could not carry really large bombs, unlike the Brit Lancaster.

The B-29 could carry 20,000 ib of bombs. The Lancaster could carry 14,000 ib of bombs or one 22,000 grandslam bomb.

Even though it was outdated in only a few years the B-29 had many other modern advantages

Bit long... Kar98L slightly more accurate but smaller magazine.

Depends on which Enfield your talking about. I would take the No.4 Enfield over the K98 anyday. 10 shots and faster action with box-mags instead of thumb-clips for K98

No, gimme an MP44. Better yet, an FG-42.

None of those are semi-automatic. (M1, M1 Carbine, Tokarevs, G43s ect.) They are what is known as selective-fire rifles. (BAR, FG-42, MP-44 ect.) Those belong in seperate category. But yes I would take a MP-44 over any of them.

The B-29 could carry 20,000 ib of bombs. The Lancaster could carry 14,000 ib of bombs or one 22,000 grandslam bomb.

Even though it was outdated in only a few years the B-29 had many other modern advantages

My point exactly. B-29s could not carry the ordnance to take out seriously hardened targets like U-boat pens or the Tirpiz.

Not that I'd say the Lanc was a better bomb - performance/survivability of the B-29 was better. But it couldn't do every job...



Depends on which Enfield your talking about. I would take the No.4 Enfield over the K98 anyday. 10 shots and faster action with box-mags instead of thumb-clips for K98

Er, what I meant was, in a duel situation, the K98 had a slight advantage - for close in, the thumb-on-bolt of the Enfield was a definite advantage.



None of those are semi-automatic. (M1, M1 Carbine, Tokarevs, G43s ect.) They are what is known as selective-fire rifles. (BAR, FG-42, MP-44 ect.) Those belong in seperate category. But yes I would take a MP-44 over any of them.

What are you talking about? Of course they are automatic rifles - they are gas powered and their barrels are rifled (as opposed to being smoothbores). You might as well as say "the M1 Garand was the best rifle in a class consisting of, eh, the M1 Garand".

Both MP-44 and FG-42 were designed as personal, rather than support weapons, with semi-auto capability. Indeed, FG-42 was designed especially to out-shoot Lee-Enfields - twice mag capacity with integral scope, using full size rifle ammo.

MP44 fired the Kurz round which did not have long range performance and designed to wound, rather than kill.

I'm sure you know all that - but some posters don't. ;)