Achtung - Panzer!

Panzerkampfwagen V
Panther

On the 22nd of June, 1941, three German Army Groups invaded the Soviet Union.

On the 23rd of June, the Germans encountered the Soviet T-34.

T34-76

The T-34 had superior armament, superior sloped armor and superior mobility to everything currently in use by the Panzerwaffe. 

To say that this armored fighting vehicle sent shockwaves through the German military is something of an overstatement. Were the Germans surprised that the Soviets could produce such an excellent tank? Yes. Were the Germans overly concerned? No, not really. At least not at first. After all, many of the tanks fielded by the French in 1940 were superior to what the Germans had. But the big difference was that the Germans knew how to use their tanks, whereas (with some exceptions) the French did not.

So far, the invasion of Russia had been wildly successful. The Red Air Force had been destroyed on the ground and already large numbers of Soviet prisoners were being rounded up. It seemed as if the Red Army would crumble, as so many others had, before the might of the Wehrmacht.

But there were some who recognized that the T-34 did pose a significant threat.

At the insistence of General Heinz Guderian*, a special Panzerkommission was dispatched to the Eastern Front to assess the T-34. Among the features of the Soviet tank considered most significant were the sloping armor, which gave much improved shot deflection and also increased the effective armor thickness against penetration, the wide track, which improved mobility over soft ground, and the 76.2 mm gun, which had good armor penetration and fired an effective high explosive round. Daimler-Benz (DB) and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG (MAN) were given the task of designing a new 30- to 35-ton tank, designated VK30.02, by April 1942 (apparently in time to be shown to Hitler for his birthday).

Panther Cutaway View

The Panther had many teething pains and was prematurely introduced at the battle of Kursk in 1943. Hitler had actually delayed the start of this offensive (Operation Citadel) until sufficient Panthers had been produced to bulk up the Panzer divisions. The Panthers suffered many mechanical failures and the delay in the start of the offensive gave the Red Army ample time to prepare. It was the last major German on the Eastern Front. From then on it was a steady Soviet advance to Berlin, and the end of the war.

Nevertheless, the Panther was feared. It was extremely mobile and it's 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 main armament was essentially just as effective as the more famous 8.8 cm cannon which equipped the Tiger tanks. (Which I covered here. Which I just noticed is missing the accompanying video. I'll have to fix that! Update: The video has been restored. Whew!)

In the West, many an Allied tanker claimed to have been attacked by Tiger tanks. In many cases the heat of battle may have caused them to see Tigers, when it may have been the lesser PzKw IV (which later versions also had a very effective 7.5 cm gun). But in many cases, that may have been a Panther out there. Lurking in the shadows...

I have seen these next two Panthers, both during my trip to the Ardennes on 17 December 1998. That trip deserves its own blog post. (I have to start writing this stuff down!)

2nd SS Panther disabled and abandoned during the Battle of the Bulge
Grandmenil, Belgium

Panther disabled and abandoned during the Battle of the Bulge
Houffalize, Belgium

Panther on the Eastern Front
(Note the zimmerit coating, this was a non-magnetic coating used as a defense against magnetic anti-tank mines.)

Zimmerit as applied to a Jagdtiger

Panther on an Italian road

12th SS Panther in Normandy

While the Panther was formidable, it was not indestructible!

Knocked out Panther, Normandy

Knocked out Panther, Eastern Front
(Just the way Juvat likes his enemy tanks!)

Knocked out Panther, Köln

The Panther. Arguably the best tank of WWII.

* Whose 1937 book has the same title as this post. Simply translated it means "Attention - Tank". Guderian's book was on the application of motorized warfare. It argued for the use of tanks and motorized support vehicles in mobile warfare, later known as Blitzkrieg tactics. The ideas presented in the book heavily influenced the military actions of Germany during the Second World War.