Panther Tank

The Panther tank is one of the shortest lived members of the German tank artillery, but also one of the most influential. Designed in 1943 as a replacement for the Panzer models, this tank truly deserves its title as best tank design of World War II.

With the Soviet introduction of the Soviet T-34, Germany was in need of a tank that could rival the Soviets potential firepower and strength. In fact much of the design of the Panther was based off of the T-34 including its sloping armor to help deflect artillery hits, thicker armor, and larger wheels. The Panther not only matched the advantages of the T-34 but strove to overcome them.

The Panther also featured the ability to operate with significantly less crew members. The tank easily ran with five men consisting of the commander, driver, radio operator, gunner, and loader.

As for armament, the Panther was not lacking. The Panther featured an upgraded 7.5 meter semi-automatic machine gun, and a 75 mm gun that had the capacity and ability to pierce rival tank armor. The tank also, in most cases, included 2 MG34 machine guns, one being operated by the radio operator. The Panther also featured upgraded armor 80mm thick slanted armor to help protect against and deflect direct hits by enemy weaponry.

The Panther was used all the way up until 1945 when it was replaced by newer more technologically advanced models, but continued to see limited use by enemy forces, especially the Red Army, who captured the tanks and turned them against the German forces.

The Panther tank was an important step towards the tanks that are now used in modern day Germany. 28 of these tanks survived all the way to modern times and can be seen in museums around the world including the most recent addition of a Panther model tank to the Canadian War Museum in 2008.