A shot trap is a deficiency in an armoured vehicle's design. It is a location where a

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

that has struck but fails to penetrate may

ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

in such a manner as to hit another area of the vehicle where it is more likely to cause damage. For example, the initial turret design of the

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...

Tiger II The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,'' Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: "armoured fighting vehicle"), ''Ausf.' ...

M26 Pershing The M26 Pershing was a heavy tank/ medium tank of the United States Army. It was used in the last months of World War II during the Invasion of Germany and extensively during the Korean War. The tank was named after General of the Armies John J ...

and

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...

tanks had shot traps. The lower edge of the curved mantlet acted as a shot trap by deflecting incoming shots downwards towards the hull roof or into the turret ring where the shell could potentially jam the traverse mechanism. In an attempt to minimize the shot trap potential, some late production Panther G and the

T26E5 prototype modified the lower edge of the mantlet. The final Tiger II production turret did not feature the curved front of the early turret, instead using a flat plate sloped back 10 degrees.Jentz and Doyle 1993, pp. 13–16. File:Munster Koenigstiger Porscheturm Modell detail.jpg, alt=A tank turret with a front face which curves up and down. The sides are slanted vertically and curved laterally, A model depicting the curved front of the early Tiger II turret File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-680-8282A-09, Budapest, Panzersoldaten in Panzer VI (Tiger II).jpg, alt=A tank turret with an almost square, flat, vertical face, the sides are almost vertical, and curve laterally only slightly, The flat front of the later Tiger II production turret File:Panzerkampfwagen V A 2.jpg, Panther with regular rounded mantlet File:Panzerkampfwagen V G 1.jpg, Panther with flattened lower 'chin' mantlet

Notes

References

* * * Vehicle armour {{mil-vehicle-stub