I thought I'd heard these were the best tanks of WWII. T 34's were to Panzers what Panzers were to Shermans. Can someone more knowledgeable confirm or deny?
The Panthers were the best tank of WWII. T-34's were good (better than Shermans) but could not match 1 on 1 with a Panther (or Tiger) in any way (armor, firepower, etc). However - the Russians produced them in such numbers and deployed them in mass wave attacks that even losing the first couple (or more) to a Panther - they would get close enough and eventually destroy the German tanks...
T-34's were plentiful. When upgunned to the 85mm gun, they were very good but the Panthers had the edge.
major treadhead ping....way cool!
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/t-34.htm
In my opinion, the Tiger was the best tank of WWII. The T-34 was a nasty suprise to the Germans when they first encountered it. The early version Panzer tanks had a hard time knocking it out, due to its thick, sloped armor. The T-34 had a great suspension designed by American Walter Christie and a powerful gun. The Tiger came along too late and in too few numbers to turn the tide. Its turret, manufactured by Krupps, was complex and needed a lot of scarce copper. Legend has it, a captured T-34 was taken to Germany for evaluation where it was deemed it would not pass German quality control standards.
The Germans were especially impressed with the 34s sloped armor and used it on the Tiger II.
The Russians eventually improved their tactics, and also began turning out T-34s in large numbers from their factory in the Urals. At Kursk, German tanks and T-34s (a `light' tank) were fighting very close to one another: a Tiger with its 88 cannon could destroy just about any enemy at range (Wittman in France, June-July, `44) while the T-34s had to get closer. IMHO the T34 was probably the best all-around tank of the war.
The T-34/76 was superior to the German tanks that participated in Operation Barbarossa such as the Mark III, IV, and T-35 38 Czech tanks. It came as such a shocking suprise to the Germans with its technologically superior virtues of armor protection, mobility, and firepower that they immediately began work on their next generation of tanks to counter it.
The Germans responded with the Mark V Panther with the 76 MM high velocity gun, modeled directly from the T-34 and the Mark VI Tiger with the dreaded 88MM gun. Both these tanks were superior to the T34 in firepower and armor protection, but the Reds had the advantage of superior numbers.