Description

Panther..is the common name of a..medium tank..deployed by..Nazi Germany..in..World War II..from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the Soviet..T-34, and as a replacement for the..Panzer III..and..Panzer IV. While never replacing the latter, it served alongside it and the heavier..Tiger tanks..until the end of the war. Historian Stephen A. Hart regards the Panther as one of the best tanks of World War II due to its excellent firepower and protection. Flaws included mediocre mobility, unreliability, high upkeep and time consuming manufacture.

Until 1944, it was designated as the..Panzerkampfwagen..V..Panther..and had the..ordnance inventory designation..of..Sd.Kfz. 171. On 27 February 1944,..Hitler..ordered that the Roman numeral V be deleted from the designation. It is sometimes referred to as the Mark V in contemporary English language reports.

The Panther tank was a compromise of various requirements. While having essentially the same engine as the..Tiger I..tank, it had better frontal hull armour (the sloping glacis was equivalent to 140..mm (5.5..in) of vertical steel plate), better gun penetration, was lighter and thus faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tigers. The tradeoff was weaker side armour, less than the..T-34. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long range engagements, but vulnerable to flanking fire. Also, the 75..mm (3.0..in) gun fired a smaller shell than the Tigers 88..mm (3.5..in) gun, providing less..high explosive..firepower against infantry, and penetration which was outstripped at extreme ranges due to greater penetration loss over distance (in excess of 2500m).