Talk:Lucy Sue/@comment-132.3.45.83-20160310203707

Lucy Sue's 75mm gun had better HE capability than Fury's 76mm. Problems with supplying ordnance for two different tank main guns aside, this gave the American platoons a good mix of anti-armor and anti-infantry and/or anti-bunker capability. It should be kept in mind that most American INFANTRY divisions had as many tanks as the vaunted German "Panzer" divisions, which were typically well understrength at this point of the war. It should also be remembered that though the Sherman would not usually prevail in a one-on-one slugfest with a Tiger or Panther (assuming the German crew was well-trained, which at places like Arracourt, France in Sep 1944 wasn't a given), not only did the Americans produce slightly more than all the German AFV wartime production, most of the German armor was in terms of protection and firepower on nearly equal footing with the Sherman. Finally, their moniker as the "Ronson" or "Tommy Cooker" was probably unfair, as they "brewed up" no worse than comparable German or Soviet tanks, and once the improvisation of 'wet stowage' for the ordnance was made, losses due to fires went way down.