TURRET ARMOR:
According to Firepower: A History of the American Heavy Tank, the T58 turret front armor should be equivalent to 5 in. (127mm) @ 60° or 10 in. (254mm) LOS thickness.
DEVELOPMENT OF 155-MM GUN TANK, T58 states the following: Armor - same as the 120-mm gun tank, T43E1.
We know that the T43E1 turret front armor should be equivalent to 5 in (127mm) @ 60° or 254mm LOS thickness, just like the upper front glacis.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND BRIEF OPERATING AND ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS 155-MM GUN TANK T58 page 4 provides a normal thickness (0° obliquity) value of 6 in. (152.4mm) for the turret armor, but does not specify the location.
Imo this could be the avg armor thickness of the upper left and right sides of the turret front, or the area around the Locking Nut, which is extremely weak in game, and offers way less armor protection when compared to the same area on the T54E1.
Areas of the turret underperforming:
- The upper left and right sides of the turret front should present at least 254mm LOS armor. In game line of sight armor is also known as “Armor dimensions at point”
- Currently the area around the locking nut is pretty weak compared to the same area on the T54E1. It should also present 254mm LOS armor when looking at it directly from the front. If we take the normal thickness (0° obliquity) value of 6 in. (152.4mm) from the mentioned official source for the turret armor, and apply to this area, the value gets pretty close to 254mm LOS armor thickness.
- The Locking Nut should be 5.75 in. (146.05mm) thick. Perhaps converting it to volumetric armor could fix this issue.
- The LOS armor thickness of the Locking Nut + armor behind it is 10 in. (254mm), so the area behind the Locking Nut should be 4.25. in (107.95mm) thick.
- The area under the gun should be at least 7.1 in. (180.34mm) @ 23° = 195.91mm LOS (currently it is 172mm LOS) and gets gradually thicker as it gets closer to the gun area. Overall this area is missing at least 10-25mm.
- Currently the turret roof is 1 in. (25.4mm) thick. According to Firepower: A History of the American Heavy Tank, the turret roof should be 38.1mm thick. Analyzing the TANK 155 MM - GUN T-58 SECTIONAL-ELEVATION using the road wheel diameter and other known elements of the T43E1 hull as reference, the turret roof comes out as 38.1mm thick, confirming the value given in Firepower.
- The turret roof area above the gun breach should be thicker, between 55.88mm to 47.6mm thick.
- The lower area of the turret rear should be thicker, between 50.8mm to 57.1mm thick.
I measured the TANK 155 MM - GUN T-58 SECTIONAL-ELEVATION using the road wheel diameter and other known elements of the T43E1 hull as reference, full measurements:
HULL ARMOR:
The T58 uses the T43E1 hull and the upper glacis armor should be equivalent to 5 in @ 60°, for a minimum effective thickness of 10 inches (254 mm) at any horizontal angle.
Currently in game the T58 upper glacis offers more or less the same amount of (LOS) armor as the M48 upper glacis (110mm @ 60°), making the upper glacis weaker than it should be.
The 127mm @ 55° armor section on the upper glacis results in a line of sight (LOS) thickness of 225-211mm, which is incorrect as the minimum armor presented on the front hull upper glacis of the T58 should be 254mm (LOS). The same thing happens with the 114.3mm @ 60° armor section on the upper glacis, it’s line of sight thickness is well bellow the expected 254mm (LOS) thickness minimum armor.
How to fix it:
The 127mm @ 55° armor section should be buffed to 5.75 in or 146mm, resulting in a line of sight (LOS) thickness of 254mm (equivalent to 5 in @ 60°).
The 114.3mm @ 60° armor section should be buffed to 5 in or 127mm, resulting in a line of sight (LOS) thickness of 254mm (equivalent to 5 in @ 60°).
Turret armor: Community Bug Reporting System
Upper glacis armor: Community Bug Reporting System