How does the German Panther tank work? Tank Panther Engine

When it comes to military operations, we imagine an army armed to the teeth, the presence of a large number of guns, as well as special vehicles capable of covering long distances. The 20th century is remembered by humanity for two bloody world wars, in which the participating countries tried to show their superiority in weapons.

Tanks and their modifications were of particular importance. Of course, armored vehicles were not so easy to destroy, but opponents tried to invent a convenient and easy-to-use assistant for tanks, so that all parties to the conflict would not be left without attention. The Germans came up with a wonderful machine that went down in history as the Jagdpanther.

History of creation

When the German army was faced with the problem of the lack of good and durable tanks (the opponents had much more advanced ones), a decision was made to create the latest weapons. This is what the Panther tank became.

Later, when production of the tank was put into production, factories (by order from above, naturally) began to create vehicles based on the . This is what the Jagdpanther tank became. So, let's figure out what it is.

This is a self-propelled artillery unit. Its main task on the battlefield was to destroy enemy tanks. The mass of the Jagdpanther was very large. Why was it created at all?

This is what it's all about. On the eve of the big war (that is, before 1941), the Germans were already faced with a problem - French tanks were absolutely resistant to the German Pak 35 cannon. Agree, when it comes to conquering territory, the presence of superior equipment determines the winner. Something urgently needed to be decided.

Engineers and designers created a more modern Pak 38 cannon, but it was not able to penetrate the armor of the French army tanks. The Germans were unable to use it entirely on French territory - several dozen guns were manufactured and delivered to the front after the surrender of France.

Therefore, the gun’s baptism of fire took place already on the Eastern Front. And here again bad luck. The Soviet T-34s turned out to be just as impenetrable - it was possible to punch a hole only at close range, but the soldiers were not very keen to let the enemy get closer.

The German military leadership convened a meeting and decided to create a more powerful machine. Gunsmiths presented a model of the Pak 40 cannon, but the fascist army had to wait for it for almost 2 years - only in 1942 did it appear on German tanks and was recognized as the most powerful anti-tank weapon of the war. Of course, the German command did not stop there, and the Pak 43 model was proposed, which has the ability to disable the tank at a distance of up to 3 kilometers.

Later, this gun was installed on, which successfully attacked the positions of Soviet troops at the Kursk Bulge and other battles. But it also had disadvantages: its excessive mass made it difficult to navigate bridges and other bottlenecks. The soldiers managed to easily throw an incendiary mixture at the tank, disabling the vehicle. Therefore, it was necessary to create the ideal vehicle - not too heavy and not too light, with maneuvering capabilities and the presence of thick armor. And such a tank appeared. It was the Jagdpanther.

It was originally planned that the Rak 43 cannon would be located directly on the battlefield. But it soon became clear that its large dimensions did not allow it to be moved. Therefore, the Wehrmacht began to look for various options for a mobile installation. On August 3, 1942, a solution was found: the designers proposed using the Panther chassis to move the Rak cannon. The Krupp company received the contract to create the installation, but its designers were late in providing the drawings, and soon another transport company, Daimler-Benz, dealt with this issue, although Krupp continued to be responsible for the production of the Pak 43 and the supply of the gun to the Jagdpanther.

The final design was handed over to Hitler on his birthday, he approved it and handed it over to a special commission for review. As soon as Daimler began building cars, it turned out that the plant did not have enough workspace, so production was soon transferred to the MIAG company, which was based in Braunschweig. In October 1942, the final version of the tank was handed over to Hitler, and in November mass production of the Jagdpanther began.

The first self-propelled guns were delivered to the front in December 1943. Production delays were due to continuous improvements to the model. Also, there were bombings of German cities, which also did not contribute to the rapid production of machines. There was a shortage of labor - men went to the front. However, even such modest results were impressive: the installation was equipped with the latest 88 mm cannon, with accuracy from a distance of about 3 km. Initially, the barrel was single-block, but this fact showed the rapid wear of the cannon tube, and it was decided to replace it with a double-block barrel. There were 4 periscopes on the tower. The Maybach engine consisted of 12 cylinders and ran on gasoline, which was much more profitable for the German army and the country in particular - there were interruptions in diesel fuel. The ammunition capacity contained 60 shells.

The crew consisted of 5 people: tank commander, gunner, driver, loader and radio operator-machine gunner. Two hatches at the top of the tank were intended for the commander and gunner, while a hatch at the rear served as an entrance for the crew and replenishment of ammunition. On earlier models, the driver used two periscopes to provide a better view ahead, and five pistol ports, which could also be used to view the surrounding battlefield. In later models the holes were removed and one of the periscopes was welded shut. The commander and gunner had four periscopes at their disposal to survey the surroundings - two fixed and two capable of turning.

Jagdpanther in battle

The first time the Jagdpanther tried its hand in combat was on July 30, 1943 in France. German and British tanks were involved in the battle. Reality has confirmed: the Jagdpanther is much stronger than the Churchills. Three German installations were able to destroy as many as 11 British tanks before help arrived in the form of new reinforcements.

The command planned to use the installations in the offensive in the Ardennes. Moreover, the Jagdpanther has already developed a reputation as a real beast that can “take down” a tank of any strength and thickness of armor. However, this was the Western Front, and not everything was so smooth on the Eastern Front. Many Jagdpanthers were destroyed by the hands of their crews. There was a shortage of fuel and spare parts. Deliveries of new tanks were slow; due to the rush, the vehicles were not tested, which subsequently gave rise to even greater problems with the mechanisms.

Gradually the number of Jagdpanthers decreased, which could not but affect the balance of power and the margin of victory. At the end of the war, there were only about 50 vehicles in the German army. They were dispersed throughout the entire theater of military operations, but they could not change anything - there were too few of them. The captured vehicles remained as a trophy for the allies.

Now Jagdpanthers can be found in museums in Germany, Great Britain, Russia, the USA, Switzerland and France.

Sd.Kfz. 171, Panzerkampfwagen V, Panther - all these are different names for one tank, more often called Pz.Kpfw V Panther. It’s difficult to say something about this car without repeating myself. The tank, inspired by an encounter with the Soviet T-34, was a collection of contradictions. It seems like a powerful 75-mm gun, but the side armor of early models was “accessible” even to anti-tank guns. It seems to have good dynamics for an almost 45-ton vehicle, but the cross-country ability leaves much to be desired. The design concept is definitely not bad. But low reliability and “childhood diseases” were cured only a year after the start of production.

Be that as it may, the Panther became the second most popular German tank of World War II after the Pz.Kpfw IV. This despite the fact that its cost was 176 thousand Reichsmarks (By the way, the “Tiger” cost the German treasury 250 thousand)!

Location of components and assemblies of the Panther

Recently, I created a post about the Tiger heavy tank. But today we will look at the interior of the German medium tank "Panther" through the eyes of its crew members.

The Panther was a relatively easy tank to control - this was facilitated by amplifier controls.

Driver mechanic

"View from the driver's seat. The transmission is located on the right, under the dashboard"

Behind the 85-mm armor plate on the left is the driver of the Panther. Under his leadership, the impressive machine was driven by a Maybach HL 210 P30 engine (later - HL 230 P45 - with increased torque). The tank was easy to control relative to enemy vehicles. The levers required little force due to hydraulic feedback, and the 7-speed gearbox was semi-automatic. The means of observation also changed: on early models, the front plate had an observation hatch for the driver (nicknamed the “mailbox”), which was later abolished, leaving a hatch in the roof of the hull with telescopic observation devices.

"View of the dashboard. In the lower right corner is the ignition switch"

Unlike the “Tiger”, here the turn was carried out using the usual levers for tracked vehicles, and not the steering wheel.

"The machine was turned by means of two levers"

“On early modification vehicles (as in the photo), the driver, in addition to the periscopes, had a viewing window in the frontal part of the hull, which weakened the armor of this area.”

"View of the driver's seat of the not fully assembled Panther. Here you can better see the size of the frontal armor zone weakened by the viewing device."

Gunner-radio operator

"To the left of the radio operator is the radio station Fu 5"

This crew member had at his disposal a Fu 5 radio station, the range of which in telegraph mode exceeded 9 kilometers. The shooter was armed with an MG-34 machine gun, which on the first Panther models was located in a yoke mount, but since 1943 it was replaced with a traditional ball mount - with a KZF sight. 2.

"MG-34 machine gun with KZF.2 sight sight"

Gunner

"View of the gunner's seat from the commander's hatch"

The operator of the 75 mm KwK 42 gun was located in the turret on the left. His main tool was the TZF-12 binocular sight, which was characterized by low reliability. Later it was replaced by the monocular TZF-12a.

"Under the rotating floor of the fighting compartment there is a power take-off shaft, which is responsible for turning the turret"

It is worth noting that the Panther’s gun had better armor-piercing properties than the Tiger’s 88-gun.

"The photo shows a late modification of the tank, equipped with a Tzf-12 monocular sight"

Charging

"The loader's position was located to the right of the breech of the gun"

To the right of the breech of the gun was the loader's place. He had access to 79 (later - 82) shells, the location of which varied from modification to modification. The Ausf.D had 18 shells under the turret on both sides. Later, their number was increased to 24. Three shells were stowed between the driver and the turret, and under the rotating floor of the fighting compartment.

"Stacking shells in the Panther's hull. Unfortunately, there are no more sane photographs of this part of the vehicle"

An interesting feature is that with the turret installed in the direction of travel, the loader only had access to the shells on the starboard side.

Tank commander

"View of a late model commander's cupola. The hatch opening to the side no longer contributed to the ricochets of shells into the fighting compartment"

Located at the rear of the turret, the commander had access to all crew members. Observation of the battlefield was carried out by the commander's periscope panorama. Like the Tiger, the Panther has undergone changes to the commander's cupola. Since 1943, it received a streamlined turret with a hatch that opened to the side.

"The commander observes the battlefield through a periscope panorama"

The tank had one transmitter and two receivers - this allowed it to communicate with other vehicles and with the crew without reconfiguration. In order not to disturb the radio operator, two sockets with terrible German technical abbreviations (Z.EMPF. FERNH. and Z. SENDER MIKR) were connected with a cable on the receiver.

"View of the commander's seat."

One of the most famous tanks of the Second World War, comparable only to the legendary T-34 and Tiger, the Pz.V Panther was designed not just as a “Teutonic answer” to our “thirty-four”, but as a Wunderwaffe capable of turning the tide of the war. However, the miracle did not happen again. Despite the powerful frontal armor, rational angles of inclination of the armor plates (low bow to the T-34!) and an excellent cannon capable of hitting any enemy tanks at a distance of up to one and a half kilometers, the first experience of the combat use of the Panthers turned out to be lumpy - they suffered heavy losses on the Kursk Bulge , finding themselves vulnerable in the lateral projection not only to 76-mm anti-tank guns, but even to “magpies”. The situation only worsened in 1944, when new T-34-85 and even more powerful anti-tank systems began to enter service with the Red Army, and the quality of German armor fell sharply due to a shortage of alloying additives. If we take into account the exceptional technical complexity and high cost of the Panther, all its advantages seem completely dubious. Nevertheless, many Western historians continue to call the Pz.V “the best tank of World War II.” What is this myth based on? Why, unlike the Allies, who considered the “Panther” a terrible enemy, did our tankers not only not notice it at all, but put it much lower than the formidable “Tiger”? Was it a “miracle weapon” - or an unsuccessful, unbalanced and simply superfluous machine that undermined the combat power of the Panzerwaffe? In the unique encyclopedia of the leading historian of armored vehicles, illustrated with hundreds of exclusive drawings and photographs, you will find answers to all these questions.

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On August 3, 1942, the Army Weapons Department decided to design and manufacture a new self-propelled gun armed with an 88-mm PaK 43 L/71 anti-tank gun mounted on the Panther base. The development of the new vehicle was entrusted to the Krupp company in Essen, which at that time was designing a self-propelled gun with similar weapons, but on the chassis of the Pz.IV tank. According to the original plan, the project of a new combat vehicle based on the Panther was supposed to be ready by January 1943 in order to begin mass production in July. The first sketches of the vehicle were considered on October 15, 1942 at a joint meeting of the Reich Ministry of War Industry and the Army Armament Directorate. The Krupp company presented a project for a self-propelled gun weighing about 35 tons with an 88-mm L/71 gun, 2400 mm high and 9000 mm long (along the barrel). In addition to the cannon, the crew had at their disposal two MP-40 submachine guns, which could be fired through special “revolver” holes. The horizontal firing angle of the 88 mm gun was 28 degrees and from -8 to +14 degrees vertically. The cabin armor was offered in two versions: an 80 mm vertical frontal plate or a 50 mm one, but installed at an angle of 60 degrees. The sides were provided with a thickness of 40 mm and were installed at an angle of 30 degrees to the vertical.

At the same meeting, representatives of the Reich Ministry of War Industry and the Armaments Office decided to transfer further development of the machine, which was then called the “8.8-cm Sturmgesch?tz”, to Daimler-Benz. The reasons for this were both the workload of Krupp factories with other orders, and the fact that Daimler-Benz was preparing for mass production of Panther tanks, the chassis of which was supposed to be used as a base for new self-propelled guns.

Nevertheless, on November 16, 1942, Krupp engineers presented a life-size wooden model of a self-propelled gun for consideration by the Armaments Directorate. In this version, the self-propelled gun cabin was made with a vertical frontal plate. Subsequently, Krupp designers assisted Daimler-Benz engineers in developing the gun mount for the new self-propelled gun.

On January 5, 1943, a meeting was held at the Daimler-Benz representative office in Berlin, at which the further development of the project for an 88-mm assault gun on the Panther chassis was determined. At the insistence of the Armament Directorate, the frontal plates of the hull and wheelhouse were installed at an angle of 55 degrees to the vertical, with the upper one supposed to be made of 100 mm and the lower one of 60 mm armor. The thickness of the roof and bottom sheets was set to 30 mm. The gun mantlet was supposed to be made cast and installed with bolts - after removing it through the embrasure, it was possible to install and dismantle the gun mount itself.

It was planned for the driver to use two periscopes in the upper frontal plate; in addition, if necessary, he could conduct observation through a revolver hole in the left side of the hull. At the same meeting, the deadlines for the production of the new self-propelled gun were established - the armored hull was supposed to be submitted in August-September, and prototypes of the new vehicle were to be assembled in December 1943.

At a meeting at the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces on March 6, 1943, among others, the issue of a new self-propelled unit on the Panther tank chassis was discussed. For example, it was proposed to make the armor protection of the gun mantlet not on the model of the StuG 42 assault gun, but, if possible, in the same way as “in the Porsche assault gun or 15-cm assault gun” (we are talking about the self-propelled guns “Ferdinand” and “Brummbar” accordingly. - Author's note). By the way, already in April 1943, a self-propelled gun on the Panther chassis began to be called in documents a “tank destroyer” and not an “assault gun.”

In the demanding leaflet of the Army Armaments Directorate for the “8.8 cm tank destroyer 43/3 L/71 on the chassis of the Panther tank” dated May 1, 1943, it was stated that the new vehicle should have 100 mm frontal armor (at an angle 55 degrees), 60-mm side (at an angle of 35 degrees) and 40-mm rear - the same armor was supposed to be received by the Panther II tank, work on which was carried out at that time. It was assumed that the Panther II would replace the Panther I in the series, and it is quite natural that the chassis of the new tank was planned to be used in the development of a new self-propelled gun. However, already on May 4, 1943, the Armament Directorate decided to continue production of the Panther I and postpone the introduction of the Panther II project into mass production. Nevertheless, some of the design, production and technological changes that were planned to be introduced on the Panther II were ordered to be implemented on the Panther I.

This decision required some reworking of the tank destroyer design, since it was necessary to abandon the use of the Panther II hull, as originally planned, and focus on the Panther I hull. Daimler-Benz received the task from the Armament Directorate to redo the project as quickly as possible in order to begin production of armored tank destroyer hulls on the Panther chassis as early as September 1943.

However, problems arose with organizing the release of the new combat vehicle. It turned out that at plant No. 40 of the Daimler-Benz company, which assembled the Panther tanks, there was no free production space for the production of a new self-propelled gun. And the company itself could not cope with the given volume of tank production, but here was a new combat vehicle. Therefore, serial production of the new tank destroyer was transferred to the Brunswick company M?hlenbau und Industrie AG (MIAG), with which on May 24, 1943, the Army Armament Directorate entered into a corresponding agreement. However, during the initial production phase, MIAG had to receive the necessary assistance from Daimler-Benz. So, in June 1943, the latter made a wooden model of a new tank destroyer (life-size), which, together with the drawing and technological documentation, was transferred to MIAG. This model, along with similar models of the King Tiger heavy tank and the Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer, was shown to A. Hitler on October 20, 1943.

To lighten the weight of the self-propelled gun, they decided to reduce the thickness of the armor of the bottom, hull roof and engine compartment to 16 mm. In addition, for more convenient placement of the driver, the installation of the gun was moved to the right (according to the original design, the gun was placed along the axis of the vehicle), as a result of which the horizontal firing angle decreased from 28 to 24 degrees. For protection against infantry in close combat, the self-propelled gun had an MG 34 machine gun mounted in the front plate to the right of the gun. In addition, the crew had at their disposal two MP 40 submachine guns, stowed in the fighting compartment. Fire from them could be fired through “revolving” holes in the sides, closed with armor plugs.

The ammunition consisted of 50 shells for the 88-mm gun and 600 rounds for the MG 34 machine gun. The crew initially included six people - the commander, driver, gunner, radio operator and two loaders. The 88-mm gun was equipped with an SFl ZF5 periscope sight, the viewing head of which protruded above the roof of the cabin and moved with the gun. The vehicle commander could conduct observation through the SF 14-Z (Sfl) stereo tube, which could be mounted in a special hatch, as well as three periscopes (one of them with all-round visibility), the driver had two viewing devices, and the loaders had two periscopes (one of them with all-round visibility). In addition, “revolver” holes could be used for viewing - two in the starboard side, one in the left and two in the stern. Three hatches were used for boarding the crew: two round ones in the roof - front right and rear left - as well as a large rectangular one in the rear deckhouse.

All self-propelled guns were planned to be equipped with Fu 16 and Fu 15 radios (they were usually used in artillery), and the vehicles of battery and division commanders were to additionally receive Fu 8 radios.

When preparing the machine for mass production, some changes were made to its design. Thus, the number of periscopes in the roof of the hull was reduced from five to four (two of them with all-round visibility), the crew was reduced to five people (the second loader was excluded), and the ammunition load was increased to 60 shells.

The first prototype of the new self-propelled gun, which received the official designation “Panzerj?ger fur 8.8-cm StuK 43 auf Fgst Panther I (Sd.Kfz.173)” - “a tank destroyer with an 8.8-cm StuK 43 gun on the Panther I chassis “,” - MIAG manufactured in October 1943. On November 13, 1943, at a meeting of commanders, photos from tests of this vehicle were shown to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. The second prototype of the car was ready in November, and on December 16, 1943 it was shown to A. Hitler.

Despite the fact that the production plan provided for the start of mass production of the new self-propelled gun, which became known as the Jagdpanther, in November 1943, MIAG was unable to do this. The first five serial self-propelled guns were accepted by representatives of the Armaments Directorate in January 1944. Over the following months, it was not possible to reach the planned production: in February, seven Jagdpanthers were collected, eight in March, ten each in April and May. In June, MIAG was able to deliver only six self-propelled guns - the company's factories during this period were subjected to heavy bombing by Allied aircraft. Thus, in the first six months of mass production, 46 Jagdpanther self-propelled guns were produced against a plan of 160 vehicles. It was planned that this quantity would be enough to arm three divisions of heavy tank destroyers, as well as use some of the vehicles for training purposes and testing. Production increased to 15 self-propelled guns in July and 14 in August, despite Allied bombing of factories.

Naturally, such a pace of production of the Jagdpanther did not suit the military. However, in response to the claims made, MIAG constantly complained about the lack of labor. To speed up the production of Jagdpanthers, an additional 300 workers were sent to the MIAG factories, and the Army Armament Directorate allocated 300 soldiers, who began work on August 4, 1944. A little later, another 160 soldiers arrived - ten people were allocated from each of the 16 tank destroyer divisions. Thus, within a short time, the MIAG factories received an additional 760 people who were used in the production of Jagdpanthers. Thanks to this, in September 1944, 21 self-propelled guns were delivered to the customer, but in October, due to an air raid, only 8 vehicles were assembled.

Naturally, neither the high command of the ground forces nor the Armament Directorate were happy with such a small scale of production of the Jagdpanther. To get out of this situation, enterprises of other companies were involved in the production of these combat vehicles.

One of them was the Maschinenbau und Bahnbedart (MBA) in Potsdam-Drewitz. True, this company was not engaged in the production of armored vehicles, but it had large production areas and the equipment necessary for the production of self-propelled guns. The production plan for Jagdpanthers at MBA took into account the time required for the company to develop new products: in November 1944 it was planned to produce only 5 self-propelled guns and 10 more in December. For 1945, production was expected to be larger: 20 units in January, 30 in February, 45 in March, 60 in April, 80 in May, 90 in June and 100 cars per month from July.

During the development of the production of self-propelled guns at MBA and the latter reaching the planned level, the MNH plant in Hannover was involved in the production of Jagdpanthers. This enterprise already had significant experience in producing armored vehicles - since the summer of 1943 it had been producing Panther tanks. According to the approved schedule, MNH was supposed to produce 20 Jagdpanthers in November, 44 in December 1944 and 30 in January 1945.

To ensure the fulfillment of this task, 80 self-propelled gun hulls were shipped from the MIAG plant to MNH. It was assumed that after the production of 94 “Jagdpanthers” MNH would stop their production - according to the plan of the Armament Directorate, the MBA plant was supposed to reach the specified capacity by February 1945.

After the MNH and MBA enterprises were involved in the production of Jagdpanthers, the total production of these vehicles amounted to 55 units in November and 67 in December 1944. The German industry was able to achieve its highest figure - 72 self-propelled guns - in January 1945.

Since, despite the measures taken, neither MIAG nor MBA were able to reach the planned production schedule for the Jagdpanthers, MNH at the beginning of 1945 received the task to continue the production of these self-propelled guns until June. In addition, based on the current situation, Inspector General of Tank Forces G. Guderian was forced at the beginning of February 1945 to approve the so-called “rescue program” for tank production, which provided for the use of all forces and means available at that time. According to this program, the release of Jagdpanthers over the next six months should have looked as follows (see Table 15).

However, the program looked too optimistic for the dying industry of the Reich.

Due to Allied air raids, power outages, difficulties with the supply of various materials and their transportation by rail, MIAG, MNH and MBA were able to produce only 42 Jagdpanthers in February, 52 in March and 21 in April 1945 . Thus, during the entire period of serial production, only 415 Jagdpanther tank destroyers were produced, including two prototypes. Data on the monthly production of self-propelled guns are shown in Table 16. It should be borne in mind that it is compiled on the basis of monthly reports from MIAG and MNH, as well as the Armament Directorate, which have been preserved. As for the MBA, there are no documents. Therefore, the production of Jagdpanthers by this company was obtained by subtracting the production of MIAG and MNH from the total number of vehicles produced for each month.

** Prototypes.

*** There is information indicating that several more Jagdpanthers could have been manufactured before April 22, 1945.

CHANGES DURING SERIES PRODUCTION

A large number of changes were made to the design of the Jagdpanther, which were supposed to simplify production and improve the combat qualities of the vehicle. Let's look at some of them.

January 1944. Five “revolver” holes in the sides of the wheelhouse were present only on the first two prototypes No. V 101 and V 102. With the start of mass production (starting with chassis No. 300001), they were abandoned. The military believed that these holes weakened the side and rear plates, and in addition, for self-defense in close combat, the Jagdpanthers began to be equipped with the N?hverteidigungswaffe device for firing 90-mm “jumping” mines. The installation for firing them was located in the roof of the cabin on the left. However, due to delays in organizing the production of such installations, their installation in Jagdpanthers began only in June 1944. On vehicles manufactured before this time, the hole for mounting the N?hverteidigungswaffe in the cabin roof was closed with a round armored plug secured with four bolts.

February 1944. During production, the driver's left viewing device was abandoned, and the hole for its installation was welded with a rectangular armor plate. A towing device was welded on the hatch, secured to the rear hull plate with eight bolts and intended for access to the engine. The latter made it possible to use a so-called “rigid” coupling when evacuating failed Jagdpanthers, which significantly improved towing conditions (before this it was supposed to use cables). The hitch made it possible to transport the damaged Jagdpanther with the same vehicle, although they were installed stern to stern, and a kind of “push-pull” was obtained. The jack, previously placed horizontally at the stern in place of the towing device, was now installed vertically, between the exhaust pipes.

The first production Jagdpanthers received the armored roof of the engine compartment from the Ausf.A Panther tank. True, at the same time, the air exhaust grilles located immediately behind the aft sheet of the cabin became approximately twice as narrow. In addition, on the first production Jagdpanthers, the hole for installing the antenna on the roof of the engine compartment on the left (this is where the antenna was mounted on the Panther tanks) was welded with a round plug. This was due to the fact that on self-propelled guns the holes for the antenna input were located in the rear hull plate.

The hole for installing the air supply pipe (it had to be mounted on the vehicle when overcoming deep fords) in the roof of the engine compartment between the necks for filling water and refueling was also welded. The use of such a pipe was abandoned even before mass production of the Jagdpanthers began, but some armored parts with holes already existed. After April 1944, holes for the antenna and air supply pipe were not cut in the roof of the Jagdpanther engine compartment.

May 1944. Two additional pipes appeared to the left and right of the left exhaust pipe, which served for additional cooling (as on the Ausf.A Panther tanks).

The monoblock barrel of the 88-mm PaK 43/3 gun was replaced with a composite one (however, the gun designation remained the same). This measure greatly facilitated production, since it became much easier to process short segments of a composite structure. Before this, the barrel had to be made from a blank, the length of which was more than six meters. However, some Jagdpanthers manufactured in the fall of 1944 had a gun with a monoblock barrel. This was due to the fact that before being sent for assembly, the 88-mm guns underwent acceptance and shooting at the weapons department. If any problems or shortcomings were identified, they were sent back to the factory, so for some guns the period from production to final acceptance could be quite long. In addition, when the guns were produced in the fall of 1944, the possibility of using blanks delivered several months earlier cannot be ruled out.

June 1944. Three supports were installed on the roof of the cabin for mounting a 2-ton winch crane. It could be used to repair self-propelled guns, for example, to remove the engine or gun. In addition, in the upper part of the movable mask, mounted directly on the gun barrel, a threaded hole appeared for screwing in a special eye. The latter was intended for hooking the crane hook during repair work.

September 1944. Like all other German armored vehicles, the Jagdpanthers abandoned the use of Zimmerit coating.

The fixed gun mantlet, fixed in the embrasure of the frontal plate, became slightly different in shape and received an additional fastening of eight bolts with bullet-resistant heads. Bolts were installed in the lower and upper parts (four pieces each), while the lower part became more massive. Some Jagdpanther tank destroyers sent to the front in November 1944 still had the old mantlet design.

On some of the vehicles, on the aft deck of the deckhouse on the left, a box was installed for storing the crew’s personal belongings.

October 1944. The design of the fixed gun mantlet has been changed - it has become more massive, especially at the bottom, and a more protruding “collar” has appeared around the perimeter to protect the moving part from jamming during shelling. Additional fastening in the form of eight bolts remains.

Protective screens made of steel sheets were installed over the exhaust pipes. This was done so that in the dark the enemy would not see the exhaust pipes, which often became hot during intensive engine operation.

November 1944. On a small number of Jagdpanthers (no more than ten are known) produced in November - December, the fighting compartment fan, which on most self-propelled guns was located on the right side of the wheelhouse roof behind the vehicle commander's hatch, was installed in the front part of the roof above the gun mount. Two “Jagdpanthers” with such a fan installation have survived to this day - in the USA, in the Aberdeen Proving Ground Museum, and in Russia, in the Military Historical Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka.

December 1944. The Jagdpanthers began to be equipped with the roof of the engine compartment from the Ausf.G Panther tank, which required internal changes in the engine cooling system. An additional fan hole appeared in the middle of the engine compartment roof, covered from the outside with a casing with a mesh. The air access grilles located at the rear hull sheet became narrower. Special flame arresters were mounted on the exhaust pipes (as on the Ausf.G “panthers”), which were supposed to not only hide the hot pipes from the enemy, but also prevent the appearance of “fiery” exhausts - emissions of burning fuel residues, which unmasked self-propelled guns at night at long distances.

Nevertheless, it is reliably known that back in March 1945, the MNH company (and possibly others) manufactured “Jagdpanthers” with the old exhaust pipe design.

A new vehicle heating system was introduced, similar to that installed on the Ausf.G “Panthers” - a special box was mounted above the left fan on the roof of the engine compartment, diverting the flow of warm air from the engine to the fighting compartment.

However, even in 1945, “Jagdpanthers” with a roof of the engine compartment similar to the “Panther” Ausf.A tank were produced, apparently from the available reserves.

In order to more conveniently place the radio equipment, the shell placement located in front on the right was changed. Now the Jagdpanther's ammunition load was 58 shells instead of 60.

COMBAT USE

The first unit to receive Jagdpanthers was the 654th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion (schwere Panzerj?gerabteilung), which had previously been equipped with Ferdinands. Back in August 1943, after the battles on the Kursk Bulge, this unit transferred the remaining Ferdinands in service to the 653rd battalion of the same type in organization and left for Germany. But due to delays in the release of the Jagdpanthers, training of crews for the new self-propelled guns began only at the beginning of 1944. Moreover, the 654th battalion initially used eight Bergepanther evacuation tanks, received in February 1944, as training vehicles.

Only on March 23, 1944, the Army Weapons Directorate gave permission for the operation of two Jagdpanthers, which entered the tank destroyer school in Mielau. These machines were later used as training machines.

On April 28, 1944, the Army Supply Directorate sent the first eight Jagdpanther tank destroyers to the 654th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion. By state K.St.N. 1149 s and K.St.N. 1154 and it was supposed to consist of three companies, each of which included three platoons (four Jagdpanthers each) and a headquarters (two self-propelled guns), a total of 14 vehicles in the company. In addition, three command “Jagdpanthers” were included in the battalion headquarters, and the total number of self-propelled guns in the latter was supposed to be 45 vehicles. But due to very small production volumes, the 654th battalion could not be completely re-equipped with Jagdpanther tank destroyers by the summer of 1944.

After the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the 654th Battalion was quickly prepared to be sent to the Western Front. On June 11, a report to Hitler on the state of the unit said that the headquarters with the 1st and 2nd companies of the 654th battalion stood near Rethel in combat readiness, but it included only 8 Jagdpanthers and five Bergepanther repair and recovery tanks ”, which were used for training driver mechanics.

Only on June 14, 1944, the Armament Directorate sent 17 new self-propelled guns by rail to the 654th battalion. However, without waiting to receive this replenishment, at 0.10 on June 15, the second company of the 654th battalion loaded the 8 Jagdpanthers it had onto railway platforms and set off for the Western Front. After several night marches, the company reached its destination, where it became part of the Tank Training Division. From June 27 until the beginning of July, the Jagdpanthers were at the disposal of the 47th Tank Corps and fought with British tank units.

In its report dated July 1, 1944, the headquarters of the 654th battalion reported that it had 25 Jagdpanthers. All this time, parts of the 2nd and 3rd companies remaining at the site of their previous deployment used the 17 self-propelled guns that had arrived to train the crews. And the 1st company was transferred to the Malou-le-Camp training ground without materiel. She stayed here for four weeks, but never received the self-propelled gun.

On July 16, 1944, the Army Weapons Directorate shipped one Jagdpanther and three Panther command tanks to the 654th battalion (instead of command Jagdpanthers). The next day, the headquarters and the remnants of the 2nd and 3rd companies were sent to the front, where they became part of the 47th Tank Corps. On July 28, 1944, the latter reported that the 654th battalion had 21 combat-ready Jagdpanthers, and four more vehicles were being repaired.

On July 30, 1944, the battalion transferred to the 74th Army Corps, reporting in the battle report about ten destroyed British tanks. On the same day, three Jagdpanthers collided with a squadron of Churchill tanks from the 6th British Tank Brigade. Within a few minutes, German self-propelled guns knocked out and destroyed 11 British tanks. However, as a result of return fire from the approaching main forces of the 6th brigade, the Jagdpanthers retreated, losing two vehicles whose chassis was destroyed.

On August 1, 1944, the 654th battalion had eight serviceable self-propelled guns and two Panther command tanks, and another 16 Jagdpanthers were under repair. To make up for losses, eight more self-propelled guns arrived in the battalion on August 16.

In mid-August 1944, the British decided to send the captured Jagdpanther of the 3rd company (tail number 314) for testing. The vehicle was hit by fire from a 6-pounder anti-tank gun and a cumulative PIAT grenade, but did not receive serious damage.

The first attempts to evacuate the self-propelled gun for testing in England were unsuccessful. So, when they tried to load it onto the trailer of the Diamond-T tractor using a winch, the Jagdpanther hit the trench with the front part of the hull, tossed the trailer and at the same time broke the winch. After this, British military engineers bet 1000 pounds that the self-propelled gun weighs more than 46 tons.

During heavy battles against the Anglo-American troops, the 654th battalion irretrievably lost 17 Jagdpanthers in August 1944 (most during the exit from the pocket near Falaise and southwest of the Seine). Most of the remaining 23 vehicles also required urgent repairs. On September 9, the battalion headquarters received an order to return to Germany to replenish and put itself in order, and on the same day it left for the Grafenwoehr training ground in Bavaria.

In order to restore the cars, repairmen requested 7 Maybach HL 230 engines, 5 AK 7-200 gearboxes, 23 sets of tracks and 46 road wheels. One of the reports sent by the 654th battalion to the Weapons Directorate reported that the Jagdpanther's gearboxes quickly failed due to the large mass of the vehicle and the overload of its front part. The data provided indicated that the box in combat conditions could reliably operate for no more than 300–350 kilometers. Only at the end of October 1944 was it possible to more or less solve this problem by strengthening a number of gearbox units. As a result, accident-free mileage increased, but did not exceed 500 kilometers.

In the fall of 1944, the 654th heavy tank destroyer battalion was hastily equipped with materiel and again prepared to be sent to the Western Front. So, on October 14, this unit received nine, on October 23 - seven, and on November 15, six more "Jagdpanthers", thus reaching the standard strength of 45 vehicles. In addition, the battalion additionally included an anti-aircraft platoon - four Pz.IV "Wirbelwind" tanks and one Pz.IV "Mobelwagen", and the repair platoon received four "Bergepanthers".

On November 18, 1944, the 654th battalion, loaded into echelons, left Grafenwoehr for the Western Front. At the same time, during the transfer to the combat area, two heavy-duty railway platforms “Ssyms” broke down (these specially built platforms were used to transport heavy armored vehicles - “tigers”, self-propelled guns “Ferdinand” and “Jagdtiger”. - Author’s note). As a result, the two Jagdpanthers on the platform joined their unit only in early December 1944.

The 654th heavy tank destroyer battalion that arrived at the front was included in the 63rd Army Corps of the 19th Army (Army Group G). From November 20 to November 30, 1944, the Jagdpanthers almost continuously participated in battles with Anglo-American troops. During this period, according to the report of the battalion headquarters, self-propelled guns destroyed 52 enemy tanks and 10 anti-tank guns. Their losses during the same period amounted to 18 Jagdpanthers and three anti-aircraft Wirbelwinds.

By December 1, 1944, the 1st company of the 654th battalion had 10, the 2nd - 7 and the 3rd - 8 serviceable self-propelled guns.

Due to difficulties with the production of these self-propelled guns, the 654th battalion became the only unit in the Wehrmacht equipped with a full complement of Jagdpanthers - 45 vehicles. In order to somehow get out of this situation, in the summer of 1944, on Guderian’s instructions, battalions of heavy tank destroyers began to be formed with a mixed composition. Now they were supposed to include one Jagdpanther company and two companies of Jagdpanzer IV, Pz.IV/70 or StuG 42 self-propelled guns. Such an organization, as the main one for battalions of heavy tank destroyers, was finally approved by Hitler on September 11, 1944.

The first unit reorganized according to the new staff was the 559th tank destroyer battalion. After he lost his last seven 75mm Marder self-propelled guns on the Eastern Front in February 1944, he was sent to reorganize in Mielau. In March, the 559th battalion began retraining for Jagdpanthers, using two vehicles of this type available at the training ground.

The first five self-propelled guns arrived to equip the battalion on May 18 from the Ground Forces Supply Directorate. After this there was a pause, and only on August 21–25 28 StuG 42 assault guns and 11 Jagdpanthers arrived. Another 17 Jagdpanthers were delivered on September 3, 1944, after which the 559th battalion (renamed the heavy tank destroyer battalion) left for the Western Front.

Naturally, the fact that the unit, armed with new vehicles, immediately went to the front could not but affect the preparations. The crews did not have enough time to master the Jagdpanthers, not to mention the combat formation of platoons, companies and the entire unit as a whole.

Unloaded near Utrecht on September 1, 1944, the 559th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion entered combat five days later. On September 29, the battalion, which remained with nine Jagdpanthers (six of them under repair) and eight assault guns (all faulty), became part of the 68th Army Corps of Army Group B.

On October 4, 1944, the 559th battalion reported that it had three serviceable Jagdpanthers and five assault guns. Soon he was additionally given 12 StuG 42s, and on November 1, only six “Jagdpanthers” remained in the battalion (only one was operational) and 15 StuG 42s, of which three vehicles were combat-ready.

The third unit to receive Jagdpanthers was the 519th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion. Almost completely destroyed during the fighting in Belarus in June - July 1944 and having lost all of its 88-mm Nashorn self-propelled guns, in August it was sent to the Mielau training ground for rest and reorganization.

On August 22, the new organization of the 519th battalion was approved - now it was supposed to include 17 Jagdpanthers (14 in the 1st company and three at headquarters) and 28 assault guns (14 vehicles each in the 2nd and 3rd companies). Equipment arrived only in September (28 StuG 42s on the 6th, and 17 Jagdpanthers from the 14th to the 27th).

On the morning of October 8, 1944, in six echelons, the 519th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion departed for the Western Front, where three days later it was placed at the disposal of the 81st Army Corps of Army Group G. The change in the number and condition of the Jagdpanther self-propelled guns of the battalion can be traced in Table 17, compiled on the basis of combat reports.

The average combat strength of nine combat-ready Jagdpanthers in October dropped to seven in November and to three in the first half of December 1944. Thus, over two months of fighting, the number of self-propelled guns decreased by almost half, and the number of combat-ready vehicles decreased by four.

For the planned offensive on the Western Front in December 1944, the Wehrmacht High Command decided to reinforce its units of Army Groups G and B with five battalions of heavy tank destroyers armed with Jagdpanthers. Three of them had already taken part in battles by this time (654th, 559th and 519th), and two (560th and 655th) had just completed their formation at the Mielau tank training ground.

The 560th battalion arrived from the front back in April 1944, but only on October 25 received the first four Jagdpanthers. Four more arrived on November 22, one on November 30, and four on December 6. In addition, 31 Pz.IV/70 (V) tank destroyers entered service with the battalion.

On December 3, 1944, the unit was sent to the Western Front, and five days later it unloaded in the Rommerskirchen-Niederhausen area.

Another unit rearmed with Jagdpanthers was the 655th battalion, which arrived in Mielau in August 1944. He received five of these vehicles only on November 24, and between November 25 and December 7 - 31 Pz.IV/70 (V) tank destroyers. On December 24, nine more Jagdpanthers were sent to staff this unit, but they arrived only in January 1945.

The total number of Jagdpanthers located on the Western Front by December 16, 1944 (the beginning of Operation Watch on the Rhine, the German offensive in the Ardennes) was as follows (see table 18).

However, out of the 56 Jagdpanthers available, by the beginning of the offensive in the Ardennes, only 27 vehicles were actually combat-ready. When the offensive began on December 16, 1944, no less than 17, but no more than 20 Jagdpanthers took part in it, the rest remained in place due to minor breakdowns. The three battalions used in Operation Watch on the Rhine reported the loss of five Jagdpanthers in the first days, some permanently, some damaged by enemy artillery fire or due to technical faults.

By December 30, 1944, the 559th heavy tank destroyer battalion had two combat-ready Jagdpanthers, two were being repaired at the factory and one was irretrievably lost. On the same date, the 519th battalion reported four combat-ready Jagdpanthers, another five were under repair. The 560th battalion did not submit a report at the end of the year. This unit was attached to the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend", with which it participated in heavy battles. From the reports of this division it can be assumed that the 560th battalion lost four Jagdpanthers. The 654th Battalion on December 30, 1944 reported 28 combat-ready vehicles, with another seven requiring repairs. All units required new Jagdpanthers to replace those lost on the Western Front: the 560th received 12 self-propelled guns in January 1945, the 654th and 655th received 10 vehicles each, the 559th and 519th received 6 vehicles each. From the report on the state of affairs on the Western Front dated February 5, 1945, it is clear that the Jagdpanthers were used quite actively in January (see table 19).

During 1944, all Jagdpanthers fought only in the west; not a single vehicle of this type entered the Soviet-German front. Only on January 13, 1945, 10 such self-propelled guns were sent to the east - five of them went to the 563rd and five to the 616th heavy tank destroyer battalions. Due to the fact that these vehicles changed their destination along the way (several times it was supposed to redirect them to other units), they arrived in the combat area very late. On January 15–16, 1945, nine more Jagdpanthers left for the Eastern Front. The actions of these vehicles can be learned from the report of the commander of the 653rd battalion, in which he reported on the battles from December 1, 1944 to January 31, 1945: “The battalion arrived in Mielau from Courland on December 3, 1944, consisting of: headquarters and three companies . By order of the Inspector General of Tank Forces, the unit was to be reorganized into a heavy battalion of tank destroyers and have the following composition:

Headquarters Company;

1st company, armed with Jagdpanthers;

2nd and 3rd companies, armed with Pz.IV/70 tank destroyers;

Support Company;

Maintenance company.

On January 16, 1945, the formation of three companies was completed (there was no combat equipment). On January 17, the full battalion was brought into battle in the Grudusk area. During this operation, 55 specialists (vehicle commanders, drivers, gunners) were lost. Before the start of the fighting, 150 people left the unit.

Condition of the equipment: 35 auxiliary and special vehicles were under repair in the companies and 10 vehicles were in the maintenance company. 23 vehicles were sent to the military commandant in Mielau.

By order of the high command, the battalion was supposed to receive its weapons in Soldau, but as a result of a breakthrough by Russian tanks, it lost 16 special vehicles there. The weapons assigned to the battalion (24 Pz.IV/70 self-propelled guns and 18 Jagdpanthers) were sent to Allenstein, where two companies of 12 Pz.IV/70s each, a Jagdpanther company (9 vehicles), as well as the attached 3rd a company of the 616th heavy tank destroyer battalion with nine Jagdpanthers. The shortage of crews was covered by the transfer of specialists from other units.

Reformation in Allenstein began on January 20 at 10 o'clock and ended on January 21 at 7 o'clock. Due to lack of time, the arriving self-propelled guns were inspected and checked only superficially, no firing was carried out, and the driver mechanics were partly seconded from parts of East Prussia. People are completely exhausted from previous battles.

On January 21, 1945, the 563rd heavy tank destroyer battalion departed in two groups for the battlefield. Since that time, he has participated in battles north of Allenstein, south and west of Guttstadt, occupied Liebstadt and is currently fighting in the Wormditt area.

Over the course of 10 days, the battalion knocked out and destroyed 58 enemy tanks. The losses are as follows:

Four Pz.IV/70 and one Jagdpanther were irretrievably lost from enemy fire.

Eight Jagdpanthers and four Pz.IV/70s were blown up due to lack of fuel.

One Jagdpanther and eight Pz.IV/70s that were stuck and could not be evacuated were blown up.

Three Jagdpanthers and three Pz.IV/70s, which required lengthy repairs, were blown up.

Taking into account the available personnel, the battalion can currently man and operate 15 Jagdpanther or Pz.IV/70 self-propelled guns.

Battalion commander, major (signature).”

Thus, in ten days of fighting, the 563rd battalion lost most of its combat vehicles and on February 1, 1945, it consisted of only five serviceable Jagdpanthers and three Pz.IV/70 tank destroyers. As a result, on February 18, the unit was sent for reorganization, and the first company with the remaining equipment was assigned to the 131st Infantry Division.

Since January 1945, the well-functioning supply system for the Wehrmacht tank forces began to fail more and more. The frequently changing situation at the fronts, naturally not in Germany's favor, forced adjustments to plans for supplying units with armored vehicles, including Jagdpanthers. More and more often, these vehicles were sent not to battalions of heavy tank destroyers, but to tank divisions, regiments and battalions. Often these units and subunits immediately entered into battle upon receipt of materiel. Information about which units, starting from the second half of January 1945, the Jagdpanthers were sent to can be found in Table 20.

There is information about the number of combat-ready Jagdpanthers as of March 15 and April 10, 1945 (see tables 21 and 22). They clearly show how deplorable the situation was in the German Panzerwaffe in the last month of the war. For example, on April 10, there were only 16 combat-ready Jagdpanthers, despite the fact that various units received 71 new self-propelled guns of this type in April 1945. Although it must be said that not all units were able to provide information by April 10.

The situation in the Panzerwaffe in the last month of the war is well illustrated by the report of Oberleutnant Bock on the combat operations of the 560th battalion of heavy tank destroyers:

I had the task of obtaining reports on the condition of the tank divisions of the 6th SS Panzer Army and the 8th Army and finding out why, when leaving the battle in Hungary, the 560th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion blew up a very large number of self-propelled guns.

Negotiations with the command of the 560th battalion, subordinate to the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend", revealed the destruction of an unusually large number of military vehicles in the area of ​​the German-Hungarian border.

The battalion was subordinate to the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth" and was used in battle as the 3rd battalion of the tank regiment. The battalion's support company was combined with the regiment's support unit into the so-called support group. In the same way, evacuation units were consolidated so that repairs and evacuation could be centrally managed. As a result of this, the battalion commander could not normally manage either the provision or repair of military equipment. In addition, the battalion was supposed to send an orderly to the regiment, but there was no person in the battalion who could be entrusted with these duties.

When leaving the battle in the area from Bakonyevsky Forest to Oldenburg, the battalion did not receive any fuel at all. In order to remove the nine Pz.IV/70 and three Jagdpanthers available, it was necessary to use fuel from captured enemy vehicles.

The largest number of self-propelled gun explosions occurred due to insufficient organization of the evacuation, which should have been carried out by the tank regiment of the Hitler Youth division. However, the regimental equipment was evacuated first, while the self-propelled guns of the 560th battalion were the last to be evacuated. However, in most cases it was no longer possible to do this, since due to the weak resistance of their own infantry, the Russians bypassed the positions of self-propelled guns stuck in the mud or broken down.

For example, the evacuation of a tank destroyer that got stuck on March 8, 1945, was carried out only on March 21.

Repeated persistent requests from the battalion commander, sent to the headquarters of the regiment and division to provide him with additional evacuation means, came back with resolutions that the means for evacuation were not available and, if necessary, the vehicles must be blown up. Meanwhile, the tank regiment actively used self-propelled guns of the 560th battalion, providing them to other units and without informing the battalion command about it. As a result, very often the battalion commander did not know how many combat-ready vehicles he had and where they were located.

Another reason for the large losses was tactically incorrect combat use. Tank destroyers, in almost all cases without exception, were used in battle as assault guns, along with infantry as a rear guard. As a result, damaged or disabled self-propelled guns in most cases remained in the enemy's position.

For a vehicle that can only fire forward in the direction of travel, such use is completely unacceptable, since it must maneuver before each change of position.

In some cases, orders were given to bury damaged tank destroyers in the ground and use them as firing points. This use of tank destroyers was also incorrect, since it resulted in the tanks having to be blown up to avoid capture by the enemy who was outflanking them.

Based on the fact that the tank regiment of the Hitlerjugend division was in full charge of the supply, repair, evacuation and combat use of the units, there can be no question of the responsibility of the commander of the 560th heavy tank destroyer battalion. The battalion commander was, to a certain extent, only one of several company commanders within the regiment.”

During the last month of the war, despite a large number of problems, such as difficulties with transport, lack of electricity, Allied air raids, the loss of many factories and a shortage of various materials, the companies MIAG, MNH and MBA managed to produce a number of Jagdpanthers. Information about where they arrived and how they were used was preserved in the reports of the Inspector General of Tank Forces, the last of which is dated April 28, 1945:

Of the vehicles produced in March, 7 Jagdpanthers arrived in Wünfsdorf and 8 in Braunschweig.

The 519th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion needs to move to the Weissenfeld area, where it will additionally receive self-propelled guns from the Braunschweig military reception.

The 655th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion is subordinate to the 1st Tank Army. It was withdrawn for repairs to the Sulingen area consisting of:

1st company - 7 Pz.IV/70 tank destroyers;

2nd company - 8 Jagdpanther tank destroyers;

3rd company - 5 tank destroyers Pz.IV/70;

Anti-aircraft platoon - 3 20-mm anti-aircraft tanks “Vierling” and 3 37-mm anti-aircraft tanks;

Repair platoon - 1 "Bergepanther".

Located in the Braunschweig area, 35 combat-ready Jagdpanthers with their crews moved forward to replenish the 2nd Panzer Division in the Schweinfurt area.

The 519th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion should reinforce the 2nd Tank Division. The division and battalion receive 35 Jagdpanthers from Braunschweig in the Schweinfurt-Bamberg area.

Call to General Ziegler from Braunschweig at 17:30:

35 Jagdpanthers for the 2nd Panzer Division are fully ready. There are 35 Ssymswagen heavy-duty platforms for transporting self-propelled guns, as well as 16 other cars, missing.

The military reception center in Braunschweig has two ready-made Jagdpanthers at its disposal, and six more will be delivered before April 8th. Distribution?

The MNH company in Hannover-Laatzen has 9 Jagdpanthers in combat readiness. They must be transported under their own power, since there is no other way to transport them. No fuel! Distribution?

Colonel Rudolf called at 2 hours 45 minutes from Brunswick: April 9 at 7 hours 30 minutes ten "Jagdpanthers" and one "Bergepanther", fueled and with full ammunition, under the leadership of one officer, were sent by rail to Soldau for the 655th battalion heavy tank destroyers.

The 559th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion received 11 Jagdpanthers from the MBA company in Potsdam-Drewitz.

Replenishment of the 7th Tank Division - the 559th battalion of heavy tank destroyers (20 Jagdpanthers).

The 2nd company of the 559th heavy tank destroyer battalion received two Jagdpanthers by the evening of April 19, and seven more vehicles will arrive in 2–4 days.

The state of assembly of the Jagdpanthers of the 559th heavy tank destroyer battalion at the MBA company in Potsdam-Drewitz:

Seven Jagdpanthers will be ready presumably within three days. 14 self-propelled guns currently lack guns (will be delivered by truck).

The MBA company in Potsdam-Drewitz produced four “Jagdpanthers”; 5 more Jagdpanthers will be delivered on April 22, and a total of 9 self-propelled guns.

The 559th heavy tank destroyer battalion with a headquarters company, one self-propelled gun company and a repair platoon is subordinate to the 7th Tank Division. The battalion is ready to arrive at the division; in total it has 19 Jagdpanthers.

The 559th heavy tank destroyer battalion became part of the 7th Panzer Division with 16 Jagdpanthers (12 of them combat-ready).

The Clausewitz tank division is subordinate to the 106th tank battalion, consisting of three Panther tanks and four Jagdpanther tank destroyers.

In general, the Jagdpanther tank destroyer can be considered one of the most successful anti-tank self-propelled guns of the Second World War. The powerful 88-mm cannon could hit any American, British or Soviet tank at distances of 1500–2500 meters. And the rather thick armor of the frontal projection of the vehicle, which was also installed at large angles of inclination to the vertical, provided reliable protection during shelling. This is confirmed by the fact that only one photo of the Jagdpanther with a hole in the front plate is known.

Nevertheless, this self-propelled gun was not invulnerable - it was hit on the sides and stern by fire from most enemy tanks and anti-tank guns, and from long distances. In addition, the Jagdpanther had a large number of design and manufacturing defects inherent in the base chassis, as a result of which many of these self-propelled guns failed for technical reasons. And the installation of a powerful gun and an increase in the size of the frontal hull plate led to overload of the front road wheels.

Despite its high combat performance, this vehicle did not leave a noticeable mark on the campaigns on the Eastern and Western fronts. This was due to the fact that most of the Jagdpanthers were produced in the last months of the war.

The Jagdpanther was by far the best conversion option for the Pz.Kpfw V Panther medium tank. According to experts, it became one of the best anti-tank self-propelled guns of the Second World War. In many respects it was superior to all allied self-propelled guns. Despite this, the excellent German tank destroyer did not leave a significant mark on the military campaigns of the last war. This is partly explained by the small production (about 390 units), as well as overcoming all production defects only towards the end of production on 30-40% of the last cars.

Having in their arsenal an excellent 88-mm long-barreled gun, developed on the basis of a proven anti-aircraft gun, German engineers made more than one attempt to install it on a tank chassis. This is how the self-propelled guns Ferdinand and Nashorn were born. The first of them was very heavy and difficult to manufacture, and the second could not boast of serious armor. The chassis of the PzKpfw V "Panther" medium tank seemed to be the most suitable option for installing the new gun. The decision to create a new self-propelled gun on its basis was made on August 3, 1942, while work was underway on the creation of the base tank. Initially, the implementation of the project was going to be entrusted to the Krup company, which at that time was already working on installing a new 88-mm gun on the chassis of the PzKpfw IV tank, but in mid-October 1942, further development of the self-propelled guns was transferred to Daimler-Benz.

On January 5, 1943, at a meeting of the technical commission of the Daimler-Benz concern, a number of requirements for the future self-propelled guns were determined. Initially, the tank destroyer was supposed to be unified with the Panther II tank being developed, but after the Ministry of Armaments made a decision on May 4, 1943 to temporarily freeze the Panther II project, the self-propelled gun developers, in order to unify it with the Panther medium tank, had to introduce a number of serious changes into the existing design changes.

As a result of all this, as well as the transfer of production to the MIAG factories, the first example of this very necessary vehicle for the front, which received the designation Jagdpanther, was demonstrated to Hitler only on October 20, 1943 and immediately received his approval. A well-protected armored tank with a perfect ballistic profile was installed on the remaining almost unchanged chassis of the Panther tank. A significant drawback could have been the limited aiming angle in the horizontal plane if the tank destroyer had not had an excellent control system, which made it easy to deploy the self-propelled guns and ensured high accuracy in pointing the gun at the target. In terms of its characteristics, the gun that was installed on the Jagdpanther was superior to all Allied tank guns. A similar gun was installed only on the PzKpfw VI Tiger II heavy tank. The armor-piercing shells of this gun penetrated armor 193 mm thick at a distance of 1 kilometer.

The first self-propelled guns began to arrive in Wehrmacht units in February 1944. Initially, it was believed that these vehicles would be produced in the amount of 150 self-propelled guns per month, but due to the constant bombing of the Allied aircraft and the fact that the self-propelled gun was created on the basis of the main and, perhaps, the best tank of the Wehrmacht, the production of which was given the highest priority, the German By April 1945, the factories managed to produce only 392 Jagdpanther self-propelled guns. We can say that the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition were lucky, since the Jagdpanther was one of the best tank destroyers of World War II, extremely effectively fighting against Allied tanks.

Design Features

The Jagdpanther was the most effective German tank destroyer. This tank destroyer successfully combined good armor protection, firepower, and excellent mobility.

The body of the self-propelled gun was welded from rolled heterogeneous steel plates; its weight was about 17 tons. The walls of the hull and wheelhouse were located at different angles, which contributed to the dissipation of the kinetic energy of the projectiles. In order to increase strength, the welds were additionally reinforced with grooves and tongues. The forehead of the hull had 80 mm armor and was located at an angle of 55 degrees. The sides of the cabin had 50 mm armor. and were located at an angle of 30 degrees.

To manufacture the Jagdpanther self-propelled gun, the standard Panther tank hull was used. In the front part of the hull there was a gearbox, to the left and right of it were the driver and gunner-radio operator. Opposite the place of the latter, an MG-34 machine gun of 7.92 mm caliber was mounted in a ball mount. The driver controlled the self-propelled gun using levers that turned the final drives on or off. The view from the driver's seat was carried out through a single or double periscope located on the frontal part of the hull. The radio station was located on the right wall of the car body. The radio operator could observe the terrain only with the help of the optical sight of his course machine gun. The machine gun's ammunition capacity was 600 rounds, which were contained in 8 bags in belts of 75 rounds each to the right and left of the gunner-radio operator's position.

The central part of the vehicle's body is occupied by the fighting compartment, which houses the breech of the 88-mm StuK 43/3 gun and racks with 88-mm rounds. The workplaces of the remaining crew members are also located here: the gunner, loader and commander. The fighting compartment is closed on all sides by a fixed wheelhouse; on its roof there are 2 round hatches for the crew. In the rear wall of the cabin there is a rectangular hatch, which is used for loading ammunition, ejecting spent cartridges, dismantling the gun and evacuating the crew.

At the rear of the hull there was an engine compartment, separated from the fighting compartment by a fire bulkhead. The engine compartment and the entire rear part of the hull 1 in 1 repeated the serial “Panther”.

The Jagdpanther self-propelled guns were equipped with a fairly powerful Maybach HL230P30 engine. This 12-cylinder V-shaped (cylinder camber 60 degrees) liquid-cooled carburetor engine at 3000 rpm developed a power of 700 hp, allowing the 46-ton self-propelled gun to accelerate to 46 km/h. The engine had four carburetors, which were supplied with fuel using Solex fuel pumps. Additionally, the car had a manual emergency fuel pump. The fuel was placed in 6 tanks with a total capacity of 700 liters. The range on the highway reached 210 km.

The engine worked in conjunction with a mechanical, semi-automatic gearbox with preselection. The gearbox had 7 forward and reverse speeds. The gearbox was controlled hydraulically using a lever located to the right of the driver’s seat.

From its “progenitor” – the PzKpfw V “Panther” medium tank – the Jagdpanther self-propelled gun inherited exceptional smoothness. The chassis of the tank has a “checkerboard” arrangement of road wheels (Kniepkamp design), which ensures a more uniform distribution of pressure on the ground and good smoothness. Along with this, such a design is very difficult to manufacture and especially to repair, and also has a very large mass. To replace just one roller from the inner row, it was necessary to dismantle from 1/3 to half of all outer rollers. Each side of the self-propelled gun had 8 large-diameter road wheels. Double torsion bars were used as elastic suspension elements; the front and rear pair of rollers had hydraulic shock absorbers. The driving rollers are front.

The main armament of the Jagdpanther tank destroyer was an 88-mm StuK 43/3 cannon with a barrel length of 71 caliber (6,300 mm). The total length of the gun was 6595 mm. Vertical aiming angles ranged from -8 to +14 degrees. The horizontal aiming angles were 11 degrees in both directions. The mass of the gun was 2265 kg. The gun was equipped with a hydraulic recoil mechanism. The normal recoil of the gun was 380 mm, the maximum 580 mm. If the recoil exceeded 580 mm, it was necessary to take a break from shooting. The gun was equipped with an electric trigger; the release button was located near the gunner's position. The gun's ammunition load was 57 shells. Armor-piercing, sub-caliber and high-explosive fragmentation shells were used for firing. The shots were located along the sides and on the floor of the fighting compartment. In the stowed position, the gun barrel was given an elevation of 7 degrees.

The Jagdpanther tank destroyer was initially equipped with SflZF5 sights; later vehicles were equipped with WZF1/4 sights. The SflZF5 sight is a telescopic sight with one lens. It provided the gunner with 3x magnification and had a field of view of 8 degrees. The sight was calibrated to 3,000 meters when firing PzGr39/1 armor-piercing shells and up to 5,300 meters when firing PzGr 40/43 sub-caliber shells. The maximum firing range was 15,300 meters. The WZF1/4 scope was also telescopic, but provided 10x magnification and had a field of view of 7 degrees. The sight was calibrated to 4,000 meters for PzGr39/1 shells, 2,400 meters for PzGr40/43 and 3,400 meters for high-explosive shells.

The self-propelled gun's additional armament is a 7.92 mm MG-34 machine gun with 600 rounds of ammunition. The machine gun is located in a ball mount to the right of the gun. The machine gun's optical sight provides 1.8x magnification. The machine gun has declination/elevation angles of -10 +15 degrees and a firing sector of 10 degrees (5 to the left and to the right). Spent cartridges and empty machine gun belts are collected in a special bag secured under the machine gun. In addition, the Jagdpanther was additionally armed with the Nahverteidungswafte melee mortar, which could fire fragmentation, smoke, illumination or signal grenades. The grenade launcher had a circular firing sector and had a fixed elevation angle (50 degrees). The firing range of fragmentation grenades was 100 meters.

Features of use

Initially, the Jagdpanther self-propelled guns were supposed to go into service with separate heavy anti-tank battalions, consisting of three companies of 14 self-propelled guns each; another 3 tank destroyers belonged to the battalion headquarters. The Wehrmacht leadership ordered the use of self-propelled guns only to counter enemy tank attacks. Self-propelled guns as part of the division were supposed to ensure quick success in decisive areas. The use of tank destroyers in parts was not allowed. The use of Jagdpanther platoons was allowed only in certain cases, for example, when storming fortified enemy positions. Unless absolutely necessary, they were not allowed to be used as fixed firing points. After completing the combat mission, the self-propelled guns were ordered to be immediately withdrawn to the rear for inspection and repair.

These recommendations, especially in the last months of the war, were hardly feasible. Therefore, self-propelled guns were most often used in squadrons, forming one of the three companies of the anti-tank fighter division. Jagdpanthers were most widely used during the Arden Operation. At least 56 vehicles took part in it as part of 6 tank destroyer battalions, as well as about 12 vehicles as part of various SS units. On the Eastern Front, vehicles were most widely used during the battles near Lake Balaton and during the defense of Vienna. At that time, most self-propelled guns were part of hastily put together SS formations; tank destroyers were used along with tanks, and often simply replaced them in newly created formations. Despite high losses during the Arden operation and low production rates, on March 1, 1945, the Wehrmacht had 202 Jagdpanther tank destroyers.

Performance characteristics: Jagdpanther
Weight: 45.5 t.
Dimensions:
Length 9.86 m, width 3.42 m, height 2.72 m.
Crew: 5 people
Reservation: from 20 to 80 mm.
Armament: 88 mm StuK43/3 L/71 cannon, 7.92 mm MG-34 machine gun
Ammunition: 57 rounds, 600 rounds.
Engine: 12-cylinder liquid-cooled Maybach HL HL230Р30 petrol engine, 700 hp.
Maximum speed: on the highway – 46 km/h, over rough terrain – 25 km/h
Cruising range: on the highway – 210 km, over rough terrain – 140 km.

German medium tank from the Second World War. This combat vehicle was created by MAN in 1941-1942 as the main tank of the Wehrmacht. The “Panther” was equipped with a gun of a smaller caliber than the Tiger and, according to the German classification, was considered a tank with medium weapons (or, simply put, a medium tank). In the Soviet tank classification, the Panther was considered a heavy tank and was designated as T-6 or T-VI. It was also considered a heavy tank by the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition. In the departmental end-to-end designation system for military equipment of Nazi Germany, the “Panther” had the index Sd.Kfz. 171. Starting from the end of winter (February 27), 1944, the Fuhrer ordered that only the name “Panther” be used to name the tank.

The Panther was first used during the Battle of Kursk, then tanks of this type were actively used by the Wehrmacht and SS troops in all European theaters of war. According to a number of experts, the Panther was the best German tank of World War II and one of the best in the world. At the same time, the tank had a number of disadvantages; it was complex and expensive to build and operate. On the basis of the Panther, the Jagdpanther anti-tank self-propelled artillery mounts and a number of special vehicles for engineering and artillery units of the Wehrmacht were produced.

History of creation

Development work on the design of a new medium tank, intended to replace the PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV, started in 1938. The project of such a combat vehicle weighing 20 tons, on which Daimler-Benz, Krupp and MAN worked, received the designation VK 20.01. The creation of a new vehicle progressed rather slowly, because reliable and battle-tested medium tanks fully met the requirements of the German military. But by the fall of 1941, the chassis design was mostly worked out. However, by this time the situation had changed.

After the start of the war with the Soviet Union, German troops encountered new Soviet tanks - the T-34 and KV. Initially, Soviet technology was not of interest to the German military, but by the fall of 1941, the pace of the German offensive began to fall, and information began to come from the front about the significant superiority of the new Soviet tanks - especially the T-34 - over Wehrmacht vehicles. In order to study Soviet tanks, German military and technicians created a special commission. It included leading German designers of armored vehicles (in particular F. Porsche and G. Kniepkamp). German engineers studied in detail all the advantages and disadvantages of the T-34 and other Soviet tanks, after which they decided on the need to adopt such innovations in German tank building as inclined armor placement, a chassis with large rollers and wide tracks. Work on the 20-ton tank was curtailed; instead, on November 25, 1941, Daimler-Benz and MAN were given an order to create a prototype of a 35-ton tank using all these design solutions. The promising tank received the code name “Panther”. To determine the most suitable prototype for the Wehrmacht, a “Panzer Commission” was also created from a number of prominent military figures of the Third Reich.

In the spring of 1942, both contractors showed their prototypes. The prototype of the Daimler-Benz company looked very much like the T-34. In their desire to achieve similarities with the “thirty-four”, they even proposed equipping the tank with a diesel engine, although the large shortage of diesel fuel in Germany (the vast majority of it was used for the needs of the submarine fleet) made this option absolutely futile. Adolf Hitler showed great interest and was inclined towards this option; Daimler-Benz even received an order for 200 cars. But in the end, the order was canceled, and preference was given to a competing project from MAN. The commission noted a number of advantages of the MAN project, for example, a better suspension, a gasoline engine, better maneuverability, and a shorter gun barrel overhang. There were also opinions that the similarity of the new tank with the T-34 would lead to confusion of combat vehicles on the battlefield, and consequently to losses from their own fire.

The MAN prototype was made entirely in the spirit of the German tank-building school: front placement of the transmission compartment and rear location of the engine compartment, individual torsion bar “checkerboard” suspension designed by engineer G. Kniepkamp. As the main armament, the tank was equipped with a 75-mm long-barreled gun from Rheinmetall, specified by the Fuhrer. The choice in favor of a small caliber was determined by the desire to obtain a high rate of fire and large transportable ammunition inside the tank. It is interesting that in the projects of both companies, German engineers immediately abandoned the Christie-type suspension used in the T-34, considering its design unsuitable and outdated. A large group of MAN employees worked on the creation of the Panther under the leadership of the chief engineer of the company’s tank department, P. Wiebicke. Also, a huge contribution to the design and creation of the tank was made by engineer G. Kniepkamp (chassis) and designers from the Rheinmetall company (gun).

After selecting a prototype, preparations began for the rapid launch of the tank into mass production, which began in the first half of 1943.

Production

Serial production of the PzKpfw V "Panther" lasted from January 1943 to April 1945 inclusive. In addition to the development company MAN, the Panther was produced by such well-known German concerns and enterprises as Daimler-Benz, Henschel, Demag, etc. In total, 136 related companies took part in the creation of the Panther, the distribution of suppliers by components and assemblies of the tank was like this:

Armored hulls - 6;
- engines - 2;
- gearboxes - 3;
- caterpillars - 4;
-towers - 5;
- weapons - 1;
- optics - 1;
-steel casting - 14;
- forgings - 15;
- fasteners, other components and assemblies - other enterprises.
Cooperation in the creation of the Panther was very complex and quite developed. The supplies of the most important components and assemblies of the tank were duplicated; this was done in order to avoid supply interruptions in various emergency situations. This turned out to be very useful, since the location of the enterprises involved in the production of the Panther was known to the command of the Allied air forces, and almost all of them experienced fairly successful enemy bombing attacks. As a result, the leadership of the Ministry of Arms and Ammunition of the Third Reich was forced to remove some of the production equipment to small settlements that were less attractive to massive Allied bombing attacks. Also, the production of “Panther” components and assemblies was organized in various kinds of underground shelters, a number of orders were given to small enterprises. Therefore, the initial plan to produce 600 Panthers per month was never achieved; the maximum mass production occurred in July 1944 - then 400 vehicles were delivered to the customer. A total of 5,976 Panthers were produced, of which 1,768 were produced in 1943, 3,749 in 1944, and 459 in 1945. Thus, the PzKpfw V became the second largest tank of the Third Reich, second only to the PzKpfw IV in terms of production volume.

Description of design

Armored hull and turret

The tank's hull was made of rolled, surface-hardened armor plates of medium and low hardness, connected "into a tenon" and welded with a double seam. The upper frontal part (ULD) with a thickness of 80 mm had a rational angle of inclination of 57 degrees. relative to the normal to the horizontal plane. The lower frontal part (LLD) with a thickness of 60 mm was mounted at an angle of 53 degrees. to normal. The data obtained when measuring the captured Panther at the Kubinka training ground differed somewhat from the above: the 85 mm thick VLD had a slope of 55 degrees. to the normal, NLD - 65 mm and 55 degrees. respectively. The upper side sheets of the hull, 40 mm thick (on later modifications - 50 mm), are inclined to the normal at an angle of 42 degrees, the lower ones were mounted vertically and had a thickness of 40 mm. The rear sheet, 40 mm thick, is inclined to the normal at an angle of 30 degrees. In the roof of the hull above the control compartment there were manholes for the driver and gunner-radio operator. The hatch covers were raised up and moved to the side, just like on modern tanks. The rear part of the tank hull was divided by armored partitions into 3 compartments; when overcoming water obstacles, the compartments closest to the sides of the tank could be filled with water, but water did not get into the middle compartment where the engine was located. At the bottom of the hull, technological hatches were equipped for access to the suspension torsion bars, drain valves of the power supply, cooling and lubrication systems, the pump and the drain plug of the gearbox housing.

The Panther turret was a welded structure made of rolled armor plates connected into a tenon. The thickness of the side and rear plates of the turret is 45 mm, the inclination to the normal is 25 degrees. A cannon was equipped in the front part of the turret in a cast mantlet. The thickness of the gun mantlet is 100 mm. The turret rotated using a hydraulic mechanism that took power from the tank engine; the turret rotation speed depended on the engine speed; at 2500 rpm, the turret rotation time was 17 seconds to the right and 18 seconds to the left. In addition, a manual drive for rotation of the turret was provided; 1000 revolutions of the flywheel corresponded to a rotation of the turret by 360 degrees. The tank's turret was unbalanced, which is why it was rotated manually when the roll was more than 5 degrees. was basically impossible. The thickness of the turret roof is 17 mm, on the Ausf modification. G it was increased to 30 mm. A commander's cupola was equipped on the roof of the tower, with 6 (later 7) observation devices.

Engine and transmission

The first 250 tanks were equipped with a Maybach HL 210 P30 12-cylinder V-shaped carburetor engine with a volume of 21 liters. From the end of spring 1943 it was replaced by the Maybach HL 230 P45. The piston diameters of the new engine were increased, and the engine displacement increased to 23 liters. Compared to the HL 210 P30 model, on which the cylinder block was made of aluminum, this part of the HL 230 P45 was made of cast iron, which is why the engine weight increased by 350 kg. The HL 230 P30 developed a power of 700 hp. With. at 3000 rpm. The maximum speed of the car with the new engine did not increase, but the traction reserve increased, which made it possible to overcome off-road conditions more confidently. An interesting feature: the main bearings of the engine crankshaft were not sliding, as is customary everywhere in modern engine construction, but roller bearings. In this way, the creators of the engine saved (at the cost of increasing the labor intensity of the product) the country's non-renewable resource - non-ferrous metals.

The transmission consisted of a main clutch, a cardan drive, a Zahnradfabrik AK 7-200 gearbox, a turning mechanism, final drives and disc brakes. The gearbox is three-shaft, with a longitudinal arrangement of shafts, seven-speed, five-way, with constant meshing of gears and simple (inertia-free) cone synchronizers for engaging gears from 2nd to 7th. The gearbox housing was dry, the oil was cleaned and supplied under pressure directly to the gear mesh points. It was very easy to control the tank: the gearshift lever set to the desired position caused the main clutch to be automatically released and the desired pair to be switched.

The gearbox and turning mechanism were made as a single unit, this reduced the amount of alignment work when assembling the tank, but dismantling the overall unit in the field was a rather labor-intensive operation.

The tank control drives are combined, with a hydraulic servo drive with mechanical feedback.

Chassis

The chassis of the tank with a “checkerboard” arrangement of road wheels designed by G. Kniepkamp ensured good smoothness and a more uniform distribution of pressure on the ground along the supporting surface in comparison with other technical solutions. On the other hand, this chassis design was difficult to manufacture and repair, and also had a large mass. In order to replace one roller from the inner row, it was necessary to first dismantle from a third to half of the outer rollers. Each side of the tank had 8 large diameter road wheels. Double torsion bars were used as elastic suspension elements; the front and rear pair of rollers were equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers. The driving rollers are front ones, with removable rims, the tracks have lantern engagement. The caterpillars are fine-linked steel, each of 86 steel tracks. The tracks are cast, track pitch 153 mm, width 660 mm.

Armament

The main armament of the tank was a 75-mm KwK 42 tank gun manufactured by Rheinmetall-Borzig. The length of the gun barrel is 70 calibers / 5250 mm excluding the muzzle brake and 5535 mm with it. The main design features of the gun include:

Semi-automatic vertical wedge shutter of copy type;
- recoil devices:
-hydraulic rollback brake;
-hydropneumatic knurler;
- sector-type lifting mechanism.
Firing from the gun was possible only with shells with an electric ignition sleeve; the electric trigger button was located on the flywheel of the lifting mechanism. In critical situations, the crew turned on an inductor directly into the gun bolt circuit, the “button” of which, triggered by the gunner’s foot, ensured a shot in any situation - the solenoid coil swinging in the field of a permanent magnet provided the necessary EMF to the projectile’s electric ignition. The inductor was connected to the gate circuit using a plug, like a table lamp. The turret was equipped with a device for purging the gun channel after firing; it consisted of a compressor and a system of hoses and valves. The air for purging was sucked from the sleeve catcher box.

The gun's ammunition consisted of 79 rounds for modifications A and D and 82 rounds for modification G. The ammunition included Pzgr. 39/42, Pzgr. sub-caliber shells. 40/42 and high-explosive fragmentation Sprgr. 42.

The shots were placed in the niches of the turret box, in the fighting compartment and the control compartment. The KwK 42 gun had powerful ballistics and at the time of its creation was capable of hitting almost all tanks and self-propelled guns of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Only the Soviet IS-2 tank, which appeared in mid-1944 with a straightened VLD, had frontal hull armor that reliably protected it from Panther cannon shells at main battle distances. American M26 Pershing tanks and low-volume M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo tanks also had armor that was capable of protecting them in the frontal projection from KwK 42 shells.

Armor penetration tables for the 75 mm KwK 42 tank gun

The data shown refers to the German method for measuring penetration power. Armor penetration indicators can differ quite noticeably when using different batches of shells and different armor manufacturing technologies.

A 7.92-mm MG-34 machine gun was paired with the cannon, the second (course-oriented) machine gun was located in the front hull plate in a yoke mount (a vertical slot for the machine gun was equipped in the hull front plate, closed by an armored flap) on modification D and in a ball mount on modifications A and G. The commander's turrets of tanks of modifications A and G were adapted to be equipped with an MG-34 or MG-42 anti-aircraft machine gun. The total ammunition load for machine guns was 4,800 rounds for Ausf tanks. G and 5100 for Panther Ausf. A and D.

As a means of defense against infantry, tanks of models A and G were equipped with a “close combat device” (Nahkampfgerat), a 56 mm caliber mortar. The mortar was located in the right rear part of the tower roof; the ammunition included smoke, fragmentation and incendiary grenades.

“Panthers” of modification D were equipped with a binocular telescopic breakable sight TZF-12; tanks of modifications A and G were equipped with a simpler monocular sight TZF-12A, which was the right tube of the TZF-12 sight. The binocular sight had a magnification of 2.5x and a field of view of 30 degrees, while the monocular had a variable magnification of 2.5x or 5x and a field of view of 30 degrees. or 15 degrees. respectively. When the elevation angle of the gun changed, only the objective part of the sight deviated, the ocular part continued to remain motionless; Thanks to this, ease of operation with the sight was achieved at all angles of gun elevation.

Also, the latest equipment began to be installed on the commander’s “Panthers” - night vision devices: infrared spotlights with a power of 200 W were mounted on the commander’s cupolas, plus observation devices that made it possible to inspect and observe the terrain from a distance of 200 meters (the driver did not have such a device and drove the vehicle, following the instructions of the commander).

To fire at night, a more powerful illuminator was needed. For this purpose, the SdKfz 250/20 half-track armored personnel carrier was equipped with a 6 kW Uhu infrared searchlight, which ensured operation of a night vision device at a distance of 700 meters. Its tests were successful, and Leitz-Wetzlar produced 800 sets of optics for night devices. In November 1944, the Panzerwaffe received 63 Panthers equipped with the world's first serial active night vision devices.

TTX

Combat weight, t: 44.8
-Layout diagram: control compartment at the front, engine compartment at the rear
-Crew, people: 5

Dimensions:

Case length, mm: 6870
-Length with gun forward, mm: 8660
-Case width, mm: 3270
-Height, mm: 2995
-Clearance, mm: 560

Reservations:

Type of armor: rolled low and medium hardness surface hardened
-Body forehead (top), mm/deg.: 80/55 deg.
-Body forehead (bottom), mm/deg.: 60/55 deg.
- Hull side (top), mm/deg.: 50/30 deg.
-Hull side (bottom), mm/deg.: 40/0 deg.
-Hull stern (top), mm/deg.: 40/30 deg.
-Hull stern (bottom), mm/deg.: 40/30 deg.
-Bottom, mm: 17-30
- Housing roof, mm: 17
-Tower forehead, mm/deg.: 110/10 deg.
-Gun mask, mm/deg.: 110 (cast)
-Tower side, mm/deg.: 45/25 deg.
- Tower feed, mm/deg.: 45/25 deg.

Weapons:

Gun caliber and brand: 7.5 cm KwK 42
-Barrel length, calibers: 70
-Cannon ammunition: 81
-Machine guns: 2 x 7.92 MG-42

Mobility:

Engine type: V-shaped 12-cylinder carburetor
-Engine power, l. pp.: 700
-Highway speed, km/h: 46
-Speed ​​over rough terrain, km/h: 25-30
-Highway range, km: 250
-Specific power, l. s./t: 15.6
-Suspension type: torsion bar
-Specific pressure on the ground, kg/sq.cm: 0.88