The Panther was a direct response to the Soviet T-34. First encountered on 23 June 1941, the T-34 decisively outclassed the existing Panzer IV and Panzer III. At the insistence of General Heinz Guderian a team was dispatched to Russia to assess the T-34. Among the features of the Russian tank considered most significant were the sloping armour, which gave much improved shot deflection and also increased the apparent armour thickness against penetration, the wide track and large road wheels which improved stability, and the long, over-hanging gun. Daimler-Benz (DB) and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG (MAN) were tasked with designing a new 30-35 ton tank, designated VK3002, by April 1942 (apparently in time to be shown to Hitler for his birthday).  The two proposals were delivered in April 1942. The Daimler-Benz (DB) design was a direct 'homage' to the T-34, side-stepping the German propensity for over-engineering, and hence complexity, to produce a clean, simple design resembling the T-34 in hull and turret form, engine, drive system, leaf spring suspension, track layout, and other features. The MAN design was more conventional to German thinking; it was higher and wider with a substantial turret placed far back on the hull, a petrol engine, torsion bar suspension and a characteristically German internal crew layout. The MAN design was accepted in May 1942, in spite of Hitler's preference for the DB design. A mild steel prototype was produced by September 1942 and after testing at Kummersdorf was officially accepted. It was put into immediate production with the very highest priority. Finished tanks were produced in December and suffered from reliability problems as a result of this haste. The demand for this tank was so high the manufacturing was soon expanded out of MAN to include Daimler-Benz and in 1943 the firms of MAN and Henschel.  The initial production target was 250 a month at MAN; this was increased to 600 a month in January 1943. Despite determined efforts, this figure was never reached due to disruption by Allied bombing, manufacturing bottlenecks and other difficulties. Production in 1943 averaged 148 per month. In 1944, it averaged 315 a month (3777 having been built that year), peaking with 380 in July and ending around the end of March 1945 with at least 6000 built in total. Strength peaked on 1 September 1944 at 2304, but that same month a record number of 692 tanks were reported lost  If the over-hanging gun and sloping armour are ignored, the Panther was a conventional German design. The tank's weight had increased to 43 tons from the planned 35. It was powered by a 700 horsepower (520 kW), 23 litre Maybach HL 230 V-12 petrol engine. The engine drove eight double-interleaved steel and rubber bogie wheels on each side suspended on staggered torsion bar suspension. Tank control was accomplished through a Maybach-Olvar seven-speed synchromesh epicyclic box and hydraulic disc brakes. The crew was made up of five members: driver, radio operator, gunner, loader, and commander. The armour consisted of a homogenous steel glacis plate, welded but also interlocked for strength. Original models only had a maximum of 60 mm of armour. This was soon increased to 80mm. On the production of the Ausf. D and later models, the armor had a maximum thickness of 120 mm. A 5mm armored Skirt and Zimmerit coating also became standard.  The main gun was a 75 mm Rheinmetall KwK 42 L/70 with 79 rounds supported by two MG 34 machine guns. 75 mm was not a particularly large calibre for the time. Nonetheless, the Panther's gun was one of the most powerful tank guns of WWII, due to the large propellant charge and the long barrel, which gave it a very high muzzle velocity. The flat trajectory also made hitting targets much easier, since aiming was less sensitive to range. The 75 mm gun actually had more penetrating power than the 88 mm gun of the Tiger I, although not of the Tiger II. The Panther was the first Axis tank design where modern features were more prominent than early WWII-era ones. The rule-of-thumb among Allied tank crews of Sherman-to-Panther ratio necessary for destruction of a single Panther was 5:1, or the same as with the Tiger. Once the problems caused by the vulnerability of the engine and the transmission were solved, it proved to be a most effective fighting vehicle, being as effective as the Tiger, but less demanding to produce and logistically far less troublesome. Captured Panthers proved to be extremely popular vehicles among Soviet troops, who received them as rewards for extraordinary achievements in combat, and who sought (contrary to regulations that captured Tigers and Panthers should not be repaired but abandoned and destroyed after mechanical failure) to keep them in service as long as possible. Even the Pantherfibel service manual was translated into Russian and provided to crews of captured Panzers! Altogether, it was the best Axis tank in WWII, mainly due to the fact that the Tiger's limitations were overcome by the introduction of sloped armor and the outstanding performance of its main gun.  The Panther first saw mass action around the Kursk on 5 July 1943. Early tanks were plagued with mechanical problems: the track and suspension often broke and the engine was dangerously prone to over-heating and bursting into flames. Initially, more Panthers were disabled by their own failings than by enemy action. Heinz Guderian, who had not wanted Hitler to order them into combat so soon, later remarked about the Panther's performance in the battle, "they burnt too easily, the fuel and oil systems were insufficiently protected, and the crews were lost due to lack of training." However, Guderian also stated that the firepower and frontal armour were good. While many of the Panthers used at Kursk were damaged or suffered from mechanical difficulties, only small number was lost for good and the tanks also achieved succes, destroying several Soviet tanks.  The Panther remained a major German tank until the end of the war. Later versions of the Panzer IV with long 75 mm guns were cheaper to produce and more reliable and so remained in production alongside the Panther. Panthers saw the most service on the Eastern Front, though by the D-Day landings of June 1944, Panzer units stationed in France were also receiving Panther tanks, which were used to good effect on that front. Around the time of the Battle of the Bulge a number of Panther tanks were configured to look roughly like a M10 Wolverine, as part of a larger operation that involved para-dropping soldiers disguised as Americans, and other activities.  Throughout the period they were in operation there were a number of Panthers that were captured, some of which were in good enough shape to be used. The Panther had a humorous instruction manual for the crew, called the Pantherfibel (Panther Primer); just as the Tiger tank before had the Tigerfibel. |
