| PzKpfw V Panther |
 |
|
 |
 |
| FACT BOX: Country: Germany Crew: 5 Weight: 98766 lb Class: Battle Tank Dimensions: width, 10'10" length, 22'6" height, 9'8" Armament: 75mm main gun with two 7.92 mm machine guns Armour: 20mm-120mm Engine: Maybach HL 230 P 30 V-12 petrol engine developing 700 hp Performance: Top Speed: 29 mph Range: 110 miles Vert. Obs.: 3' Gradient: 35% |
|
| If you look at the German PzKpfw V Panther it is easy to see where the influence to build the tank came from. The Nazis closely followed the design of the T-34 for this tank. When they invaded Russia in 1942 they expected to use the PzKpfw IVs to overrun Russia like they had the rest of Europe. But the heavily armed and armoured PzKpfw IVs were nowhere close to a match for the Russian T-34s, and after the first encounter the Germans knew they had to go back to the drawing board. At first, the Germans considered just copying the T-34, but their pride stepped in and so they designed a tank extremely similar to the Russian tank. The German tank used a similar road wheel suspension, 75 mm main gun and took the same basic shape. It was however bigger and did not use an efficient diesel engine. Instead, the Panther shared its 700 hp petrol engine with the PzKpfw VI Tiger. Hitler pushed the project hard and fast. On the Panther's first outing at Kurusk in 1943 most broke down and were destroyed or captured because Hitler had ordered it into battle before the kinks had been worked out. However, once these problems were fixed, the Panther became an excellent tank and is considered one of the best of WWII. |
 |