Talk:PIAT

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will find the wo number of the report later. but the rounds that found the piat penetrating 102mm of armour only fired 75% of the time. The fuses used in combat fired about 90% of the time. as the figures were by the 50% penetration army limit, the 102mm probably does the piat a little discredit. - rich tea man.

THe units (lbs & kgs & etc) should be more unified. Try to stick to one system. The article jumps between metric and imperial a lot. ~ a reader

Contents 1 Dubious Statements 2 Penetration and distance 3 Recocking 4 One shot per confrontation? 5 Pte. Thomas Watkin Gets Millitary Medal (1946, The Brandon Sun )= 6 Combat Use 7 pre war history

[edit] Dubious Statements

"At the start of World War II, all major armies were investing in research into HEAT projectiles..." This is very likely incorrect. The Soviet Union apparently was not working on a HEAT round at the start of the war. The Soviets did not bring any into service throughout the war (they did reuse captured German HEAT rounds such as the Panzerfaust).

"The Germans concentrated on recoilless weapons and the US on rockets, but in 1941 when the PIAT was being developed, rocket powered weapons were nowhere near ready for use." This very misleading. The PIAT was not ready for field service in 1941, either. Instead, it first saw service in 1943. However, the rocket powered US bazooka first entered service in 1942! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.162.65.52 (talk) 23:51, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Penetration and distance

Is it just me or does the last part in the text "In general use the PIAT had a rated range of about 100 m, but that was considered the extreme and it was typically fired at much shorter ranges. The three pound (1.4 kg) HEAT warhead was able to penetrate about 55 mm of armor at 100 m." imply that range got anything to do with how much armor it could penetrate? Since the PIAT was a shaped charge weapon it didn't matter if it hit the target at 10 or 1000meters (assuming it could). It was still be able to penetrate just as much.

I believe the range is considered extreme because of the odds of hitting anything at 100m rather than armor penetration. The PIAT sights were primitive, the weapon kicked very hard when fired, the round was very slow "and then you fired it and looked up and saw the bomb lolloping along dead slow and you thought, 'My God the tank'll be gone before the bomb gets there'", and it had to be lobbed to reach that sort of range. --Schwern 05:18, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recocking

It states that the launcher is a 'one shot per confrontation weapon' due to the heavy force needed to compress the spring. Is it my imagination, but I was under the belief that when it was fired, it recocked itself, and you simply placed a projectile in the bay, and pulled the trigger again? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Marlon203.11.81.235 (talk) 18:44, 7 May 2007 (UTC).

Yes, that does seem odd and probably incorrect. --Schwern 05:06, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] One shot per confrontation?

I removed a comment that the PIAT was considered a "one shot per confrontation" weapon due to the difficulties in cocking. Since the weapon recocked itself after firing this should not have been a problem. The recocking scheme had its flaws, but I've not heard the PIAT ever referred to as a one-shot weapon. Can anyone provide references? --Schwern 05:20, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pte. Thomas Watkin Gets Millitary Medal (1946, The Brandon Sun )=

Among the awards for gallantry of the Canadian Army Relaesed today (?)by the Department of National Defense is Pte. Thomas Watkin who recieved the Millitary Medal. Pte. Watkin, Canadian Infatry Corps, was born on November 18, 1913, at Brandon , and was still a resident in this cityat the time of his enlistment in the Canadian Army on January 15, 1940 . He went overseas on June 25,1941. Prior to enlistment he was employed as a hospital attendant. His wife, Mrs. Florence Watkin , and three children , Murray, David and Marilyn, live at 862 First street. His Citation reads: "On April 27, 1945, 'C' Company of the Westminster Regiment (motor) was advancing in the vicinity of Woldendorp, Holland. No. 10 platoon of this company was caught in a heavy concentration of artillery and motar fire and unable to move because of crossfire from two cleverly concealed machine guns. Pte. Watkin volunteered to silence one of the machine gun posts. Disregarding the heavy shell and motar fire he worked his way forward over one hundred and fifty yards of completely exposed ground to within sixty yards of the enemy machine gun to a position from which he was able to use his PIAT . Quickly rushing the post after the crew had been stunned by the explosion of the PIAT bomb , Pte. Watkin killed the crew of three with his pistol. Using the enemy post to excellent advantage Pte. Watkin followed up his success by pinning down the crew of the other machine gun and enabled the remaider of his platoon to re-organize themselves and advance to the objective. "By his exemplary courage, coolness and resoucefulness, by his single-handed heroic action, Pte. Watkin undoubtedly saved his platoon from heavy casualties in a difficult situation , thus permitting it to quickly achieve its objective."

[edit] Combat Use

Is the majority of that section necessary? There is no similar section in any of the other entries about similar weapons (such as the Panzershreck, Panzerfaust or Bazooka) and it is quite redundant in an article about the weapon itself.--81.235.193.23 11:45, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

It does make for interesting reading. --Schwern 12:15, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] pre war history

I think I read somewhere that thePIAT or its predecessor had been suggested to the war office in 1935 - 37? and turned down.

If this is true, and it had been developed, presumably if troops had been armed with a reasonable anti tank weapon the course of the debacle in France in 1940 might have been avoided?...Engineman (talk) 15:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

French troops in some sectors were running from the sound of their OWN tanks, so no, it wouldn't have helped the situation. Binksternet (talk) 04:23, 2 June 2008 (UTC)