The German Panzer Corps in World War II left a deep impression on the world, and at the beginning of the war, the German army was able to quickly sweep across the European continent, relying on armored forces. The tank is the core component of the German army's armored forces, and today I will talk to you about the most suitable tanks for the German army during World War II. First of all, it is important to understand that the most suitable tank is not necessarily the most combat-ready tank, nor is it necessarily the tank with the best armor protection. The measurement should consider not only combat performance, but also many factors such as output, cost, logistical support, and technological advancement. Also, the tank models that stay on the design drawings, or only test vehicles, are not in the scope of discussion, because they have not been put into production and have no meaning!
"Panther" medium tank in the museum
Tank production is an important measurement factor, no matter how good the performance of the tank is, it cannot play a strategic role without a certain quantity. In World War II, Germany put into mass production a total of seven models, namely I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VI B, of which only III (5,774), IV (8,553), and V (5,984) were produced in more than 5,000 units. Tanks I and II were discontinued shortly after the outbreak of World War II due to their weak firepower and poor protection. Only 1,347 units of the well-known Tiger VI heavy tank were produced, and even fewer of the improved King Tiger II II heavy tanks were produced, only 492 units.
There may be many military fans who admire the "Tiger" heavy tank and think that the "Tiger" heavy tank is the best tank in Germany in World War II, but it is not. Germany stopped producing the "Tiger" heavy tank after August 1944, so why did it stop production? The production of the "Tiger" heavy tank was too complicated, the cycle was too long, and the cost was very high, and the cost of a "Tiger" heavy tank was as high as 250,000 German marks. Moreover, it was easy to break down on the battlefield, and many of the "Tiger" heavy tanks lost by the Germans had to be abandoned after the breakdown, more than they were destroyed by the Allies. In addition, the "Tiger" heavy tank is not technically advanced, and the core indicator armor protection is still the traditional vertical armor, which leads to the overweight of the tank and further weakens the mobility.
The famous "Tiger" heavy tank
Although more than 5,000 tanks were produced in the III and IV tanks, the combat effectiveness of these two types of tanks was insufficient to compete with the Soviet T-34 medium tanks. After the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, although the German army took the Soviet army by surprise through blitzkrieg at the beginning of the war, it was soon met with stubborn resistance from the Soviet army's new tank (T-34 medium tank), and the T-34 medium tank could easily destroy the German tanks III and IV. Therefore, the Germans urgently needed a tank that could defeat the T-34 tank, as well as a tank that could replace the tanks III and IV.
The Germans analyzed the captured T-34 medium tank, absorbed its advantages, and developed a new tank, which was the V "Panther" medium tank. The Panther, which appeared in the Battle of Kursk in 1943, played a major role in the first battle, destroying a considerable number of Soviet T-34 medium tanks. After the war, the German army was satisfied with the performance of the "Panther" medium tank, so it began mass production and equipping the troops, and by the end of World War II a total of nearly 6,000 units were produced.
German "Panther" medium tank on the march
As an important measure of a tank's performance - firepower, the "Panther" medium tank is equipped with a 75 mm tank gun, although the caliber is not large, but it is one of the most powerful tank guns of World War II. Its extra-long barrel of 70 times the diameter of the gun made the gun more penetrating than the 88 mm tank gun of the "Tiger" heavy tank (56 times the diameter), and could penetrate most Allied tanks (including the Soviet T-34 medium tank) at long distances. And the rate of fire can reach 6 rounds / min, and the elevation angle range of fire is -8 ° ~ +20 °.
In terms of armor protection, the "Panther" medium tank adopts the same inclined armor design as the Soviet T-34 medium tank, with a thickness of 80 mm of inclined armor in the upper front part of the hull and an angle of 55 degrees. The inclined frontal 80 mm armor plate provided better protection than the 100 mm vertical armor plate of the Tiger heavy tank, and if the Allied armor-piercing projectile wanted to penetrate the front of the "Panther" medium tank, the warhead had to penetrate 139 mm of armor due to the angle of inclination of the armor. The beveled armor design made the actual armor protection of the "Panther" medium tank very strong.
The failure rate of the tank is also an important factor, and the "Panther" medium tank has a Maybach HL230 P30 V-12 gasoline engine, which can withstand a load of 2000 kilometers of continuous travel. At the same time, in order to minimize engine failure, the designers deliberately installed a governor to reduce the engine speed to 2500 rpm.
More than 50,000 T-34 medium tanks were produced in World War II
In addition, there is another important factor - cost, the production cost of a "Panther" medium tank is 117,000 DM, and the cost of a "Tiger" heavy tank is as high as 250,000 DM, which means that the cost of building a "Tiger" heavy tank can build two "Panther" medium tanks!
The combination of many advantages made the "Panther" medium tank the most suitable tank for the German army, but it was a pity that Germany developed and produced the "Panther" medium tank too late. In addition, in World War II, Germany tinkered with too many flashy weapons and equipment, wasting its economic strength and industrial base, which was not rich, resulting in a low production of "Black Panther" medium tanks. Although the production of the "Panther" medium tank is nearly 6,000 units, it is a fraction of the production of Allied tanks.