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Originally Posted by Imp
The only other thing I will add is while it may have been origionaly designed to stop ATR the Germans would have realised just as the allies did the benefits against HEAT
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So far, no evidence have surfaced suggesting that the Germans ever considered Schürzen as anti-HEAT shields.
However, I think you are right that the Germans knew that they would some effect. About a year before they employed Schürzen, they tried firing HEAT at the spaced armour on the front of the Panzer IV. Basically 20mm thick plates spaced a short distance from the front turret and superstructure similar to what you see on many Panzer IIIs. They were originally designed to damage enemy AP rounds before they hit the main armour, particularily be de-capping capped rounds.
Anyway, the result was that the spaced plate would indeed stop a gun-fired HEAT round from damaging the main armour, but it would destroy or remove the spaced plates in the process. So just like the British found with thin skirting plates, it was a one-shot protection.
I would venture a guess, that the Germans probably knew that Schürzen would have some effect on HEAT weapons, but that they probably drew the conclusion that
- Against gun-fired HEAT, it was a one-shot protection
- Against un-spun HEAT rounds, they were only effective up to a point. British tests showed that Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust were both capable of penetrating the skirting plate, breach any meaningfull air-gap and still penetrate 70-100mm on the other side. As we have already seen, the German Schürzen setup barely protected against the PIAT and could probably be defeated by anything bigger.
Had the US fielded the 3,5" bazooka in WWII, no one would probably bothered considering the Schürzen as anti-HEAT shields anyway
cbo