page_title: German tanks in World War II
section_title: Panther
hierarchical_section_title: German tanks in World War II / Overview per tank / Panther
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Zentralbild, II. Weltkrieg 19139-45 Der von der faschistischen deutschen Wehrmacht während des Krieges entwickelte neue Panzerkampfwagen Typ "Panther". UBz: die Verladung neuer "Panther"-Panzerkampfwagen zum Transport an die Front (1943).
context_page_description: Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks.
context_section_description: Number built—6,000
  The Panther was a medium tank (45 tonnes) with a crew of five, which was designed to counter the Soviet T-34 tank. In weight it was comparable to Soviet heavy tanks. This tank was introduced in the Battle of Kursk, one of the largest tank battles in history. It had sloped armor which increased the effective thickness of the armor from 80 mm (3.1 in) to roughly 140 mm (5.5 in), effectively making the front of the tank virtually impervious to enemy fire. However the sides of this tank were very vulnerable, ranging from only 40 mm (1.6 in) to 50 mm (2.0 in) of either barely sloped or completely flat armor plating. The tank carried a high-velocity 75 mm gun, which possessed more penetration than the Tiger's 88 mm gun at short range. Series production began in 1943. The tank was plagued with mechanical problems throughout its service life, several of which were never quite fixed, even after the war. Despite this, the tank is considered by some to have been the best tank in the war, and to have greatly influenced post-war tank designs, setting a role model for the balance of firepower, mobility, and armor protection.
caption: A Panther Ausf. D, 1943
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Zentralbild, II. Weltkrieg 19139-45\nDer von der faschistischen deutschen Wehrmacht w\u00e4hrend des Krieges entwickelte neue Panzerkampfwagen Typ \"Panther\".\nUBz: die Verladung neuer \"Panther\"-Panzerkampfwagen zum Transport an die Front (1943).", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "50", "Image YResolution": "50", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:12 01:54:33", "Image Artist": "o.Ang.", "Image ExifOffset": "436", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "574", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7137", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "799", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "539"}