The Panther tank was a German armored vehicle used in World War II. The Panther entered service with the German Army from the mid-1943. It was intended to counter the Soviet tank T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and IV. The Panther had excellent combination of firepower, mobility, and protection as it is frequently regarded, along the Tiger tank, as the best tank design of World War II. It was officially designated Panzerkampfwagen V, and the ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. It was in service until 1945.
The Panther was designed in 1942 by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG (MAN), based on a captured Soviet T-34. This new German tank was armed with a powerful, high-velocity 75mm gun, and a 7.92mm MG34 machine gun. This new high-velocity gun was capable of piercing both the Soviet and Allied tank armors at a distance of 1,000 meters (1,150 yards). The Panther Sd.Kfz weighed 44.8 tonnes and was powered by a V-12 petrol Maybach engine with 690 hp. It could reach a speed of 55 km/h and had a maximum range of 250 km. It was protected by a 100mm-thick steel armor on the front of the turret, which was made in the shape of a transverse half-cylinder; the frontal hull was made of an 80mm-thick steel glacis plate which sloped back at 55 degrees. The side armor was 50mm-thick. The Panther was 6.87-meter long, 3.42-meter wide, and 2.99-meter tall.
The Panther tank saw action for the first time at Kursk on July 5, 1943. At the beginning they were had some mechanical problems as the track and suspension often broke. Heinz Guderian stated, however, that the firepower and frontal armor were good. Although many of the Panthers used at Kursk were damaged or suffered from mechanical difficulties, this tank achieved success, with 263 Soviet tanks claimed destroyed. The Panthers which suffered from damage or mechanical breakdowns were repaired and the design problems of the early Ausf. D models were fixed, making the Panther a formidable tank.
Very nice and detailed Blog, bookmarked it.