Throughout the history of mobile warfare, weapons designers have always been confronted with an ongoing dilemma. And that is: how to create tremendous killing power and armor protection, without sacrificing speed, maneuverability, and fuel efficiency at the same time.

Very few times in history has such a challenge been overcome. Yet, the Germans, during the latter half of the Second World War, managed to do just that. They designed and built one of the most advanced and most dangerous weapons ever to appear on any battlefield, anywhere, anytime. They called it, the Mark V Panzer, or Panther, and it represented the best of both worlds.

Contrary to popular myth, German tanks during the early years of the Second World War were not immense in size and stature. Nor, did they possess awesome firepower, either. Rather, they were quite small and compact, speedy and maneuverable, light weight with narrow tracks, and highly fuel efficient. They were designed to strike quickly, pierce an enemy defense line at a single point [Sometimes no more than the width of a two-lane road], drive far to the rear, wreaking endless havoc as they raced along, then surround large enemy formations with gigantic pincer movements, forcing their eventual capitulation.

This style of warfare, termed, “Blitzkrieg” by Western journalists, was perfectly suited for the early German tanks. They were in no way, shape, manner, or form designed to engage enemy tanks in all-out slugging matches. In Poland, Belgium, Holland, North Africa, ad France, this strategy proved virtually flawless, and the German Army won tremendous victories as a result. However, when the Germans attacked the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941, “Blitzkrieg” in general, and German tanks in particular began encountering serious trouble. That’s because the Russians, unbeknownst to German Military Intelligence, had produced a medium battle tank during the late 1930’s called the T 34/76.

Actually based upon a design by the American engineer Walter Christie, that was rejected by the U.S. Army, the T 34/76 was an outstanding weapon in practically every way, shape, manner, and form. It contained sloping frontal armor, extra-wide tracks, and a medium velocity, five-foot long, 76 mm main gun. The sloping frontal armor was augmented by 45 mm o steel which could easily deflect the 50 mm shells of the Mark III Panzer, Germany’s main battle tank at the time. In addition, the extra-wide tracks allowed the T 34 to negotiate mud, slush, and marshy ground far better, far quicker, and much more easily than the German tanks could. In addition, the medium velocity gun could destroy any German tank or armored vehicle at almost a 1/2 mile range.

The Germans needed to counter the threat posed by the T 34, and fast. Their ever growing fear and loathing of that tank led directly to the development of the Tiger I. The Tiger I was one of the most powerful and heavily armored fighting vehicles ever conceived of. It could out gun anything and everything on the battlefield with incredible ease. However, there were two specific drawbacks to the TigerI. First, as a result of its tremendous weight, it was slow across country. Secondly, also as a result of its tremendous weight, the Tiger I was not very fuel efficient. The panther was created to counter balance these deficiencies, while being a powerful companion on the field of battle at the same time. Originally, the German Panther Tank was designed and built by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Number AG Corporation of Germany. They had won the design contest with Daimler-Benz.

The Panther tank’s specifications were extremely impressive. For example, its main hull was 22 feet, 7 inches long, while the tank itself was 32 feet, 7 inches long with its main gun forward. In addition, it was 11 feet, 2 inches wide, and 9 feet, 6 inches tall. Right off the assembly line, the Panther weighed 44.8 tons. When fully loaded with logistics and its five man crew, it weighed over 48 tons. How big is this, you might ask? Well, let’s make a comparison, shall we. One of the main battle tanks of the former USSR, and the Russian Republic of today as well is the T-72. It has been in service since 1973. The T-72 is 31 feet, 3 inches in length with its main gun forward, 11 feet, 9 inches wide, and 7 feet, 4 inches tall. And, it weighs 41.5 tons. So, this means that the German Panther Tank [circa 1943, 1944, and 1945] was longer, taller, and heavier than the main Soviet/Russian battle tank, the T-72. [circa 1973 to the present day].

 Just like the Tiger, the Panther Tank was also extremely well protected. Its frontal armor contained 4.3 inches of solid steel, while the turret was protected by almost 5 inches of steel. This is just scratching the surface of the Panther’s armor protection, however.

There were two distinct features it possessed that made its armor even that much more effective. The first was sloped frontal armor. Like the T 34/76, the Panther’s frontal armor was sloped to an angle of about 55 degrees. This increased its protective capabilities almost 1  1/2 times. Moreover, angled armor makes most shells deflect off of it without even detonating. That’s because the fuse on the shell simply won’t ever be triggered without a head on impact. Secondly, the Panther’s steel hull was completely interlocked at every angle, not just welded together. This aspect gave the tank incredible strength and stoutness in a shootout with any Allied tank. Just imagine placing both of your hands together tightly, that would describe the way in which most tank armor of the Second World War was constructed. Now, imagine placing both of your hands together, then interlocking your fingers very tightly. That would describe the way in which the Panther’s armor was constructed.

The Panther’s main armament was a high velocity, smooth bore 75 mm cannon. It was one of the most effective and superb guns in the history of warfare. Specifically, this gun was more than 17  1/2 feet in length, making it an astounding 71 calibers larger and longer than an M4 Sherman or Soviet T 34/76. This gave the Panther an incredible advantage in a shoot out against any Allied tank or tank destroyer of the Second World War. Also, German engineers supplemented the torque within the firing mechanism, and put a larger fuse on the Panther’s shells. So, technically, the Panther’s main gun was even more powerful and destructive than that of the Tiger I, and had a superior muzzle velocity as well. All of this innovative thinking, allowed the Panther to destroy enemy tanks, and/or completely penetrate more than 4 inches of solid steel at the phenomenal range of more than 1.3 miles!

In addition, a little known fact about the German Panther was that it actually carried three different types of ammunition for its main gun. The longest type was primarily used for dealing with enemy tanks at long range, while the second and third types were designed to deal with enemy tanks during short range fire fights and enemy fortifications respectively. All told, the Panther roared into battle with at least 81 rounds of ammunition for its main gun; and sometimes as much as 100 rounds. Most importantly, despite all of these technological innovations, the Panther actually cost less to manufacture than the Tiger I did.

The Panther also had several other characteristics that made it a first class fighting machine. They were: excellent fuel efficiency [Twice that of a Tiger I], excellent maneuverability [It could spin around in a complete circle while firing its main gun], a double torsion bar suspension system, two MG 34 medium machine guns for secondary killing power [One was mounted on the left side of the hull {if facing the tank}, while the other was mounted on the left side {Once again if facing the tank} of the main gun mantel; with 5100 rounds for each gun].

The Panther also displayed an impressive top speed of 34.2 miles per hour over a good road, and could clear obstacles almost 20 degrees steeper than an American Sherman could. In addition to this, the latest model Panthers [The G and H versions] were equipped with night vision infrared optics for the driver, commander, and main gunner. This was truly a tchnological achievement of monumental proportions. It actually allowed the Panther’s crew to see about 200 feet ahead of them in total darkness, as if it were daylight. Post World War Two tanks did not even possess this feature until the mid to late 1950’s.! All told, the Germans would manufacture 6009 Panthers right up until the end of the war in Europe.

Without a doubt, the German Panther Tank was a very worthy companion to the Tiger I. Its classic blend of speed, maneuverability, fuel efficiency, firepower, and armor protection were a quantum leap over any other tanks previously, as well as many more afterward.