How Germany failed the Panther tank

The Panther tank was probably one of the best tanks used during WW2. Nevertheless, it showed up on the battlefield with a bunch of problems in the back. The Panther was one of the major weapon systems Germany was trying to develop, test, and field. The main issue they faced was the fact that they were fighting knee-deep in a war with half the world. This stressed the German high command, and led them to make very bad and hasted decisions with the Panther which made it fall into a lot of problems, even before it got to the front lines.
Today, we’re gonna talk about what mistakes the German high command made, which led to all the problems with the Panther tank, and eventually its very bad performance during the battle of Kursk. And don’t worry, I won’t talk about the basic things such as “the maintenance was hard” and so on.
So hello and welcome, and enjoy this video.

[@AlexRoivas]

Great video. Hope you make something like this for the Tiger 1 and Tiger 2.

[@bobiwt]

@@AlexRoivas Thanks! Surely can!

[@donovanchau3483]

On top of rushing production and thus also training, the German insistence of creating the Tiger I when they really wanted the Tiger II instead ate into Panther production in the late war. It was clear by war’s end that the Tiger I was becoming outdated with inferior frontal armor and firepower compared to the Panther. Tiger Is were also much more expensive and time consuming to create compared to Panthers which only cost slightly more than the Panzer IV and if I remember took half or a third of the time to produce.

[@bobiwt]

Thanks for adding this

[@Dreachon]

Tiger I was well into production before the Panther appeared, and the Tiger II only went into production in 1944. Read actual books.

[@donovanchau3483]

@@Dreachon Just because the M3 Lee went into production first does not justify that it should continue to be produced at full scale when its successors have entered production as well. Same thing applies to Tiger I, a stop gap that went on for too long. There was a full year of production overlap until the Germans ceased Tiger I production in 1944 with the introduction of Tiger II. What I'm arguing is that it would have been more resource efficient to have focused on created more Panthers in the 1943-44 period instead of both Tiger I and Panther due to Panther being half the cost in RM, a third of the production time, and over 10 tons less steel. I am under the belief that significant combat power would not have been changed despite all of the savings.

[@Dreachon]

@@donovanchau3483 Drop the dumb whataboutism.
Tiger I and Panther are also 2 different tanks for 2 different purposes. One fufilsl the role of a heavy tank and the other of a medium tank.
The Germans couldn't have created more Panthers, did you ever even bother to look up the atrocious production that the Germans had in place.
Tiger I wasn't a stopgap, I don't know where you get that nonsense from.
Again you should read an actual book, Jentz and Doyle is a good place to start.

[@donovanchau3483]

@@Dreachon They were built for two purposes but the Tiger's purpose was no longer necessary. Panther was a well rounded medium tank versus the Tiger's heavy breakthrough design which was becoming outdated by the time Panther was entering service. Even in April 1942, before either Tiger or Panther was put into full production, there was a inquiry made to see if the 75mm L/70 could be fitted into the Tiger I due to its gun being insufficient (along with inquiries into the long 88mm). Tiger I was produced for so long because of bureaucratic and industrial constraints that kept delaying the Tiger II. According to Jentz and Doyle, the Panzerkommission wanted Tiger II production as soon as September 1943 with these production plans having been reviewed in October 1942. It was deemed unacceptable that 424 Tiger Is were to be produced as that seemed like too high an order for an interim design. Even within months of the tank entering production the Germans wanted to replace it as soon as possible. What more proof do you need that this was a stop gap design? In the end, more than 3 times the original production limit of Tiger I was produced, this eating massively into other tank production that could have occurred instead which the Germans clearly wanted, but could not have due to their situation. By war's end, Panther was the most produced tank in Germany after the Tiger I and Panzer IV production was stopped or being phased out so it's clear which tank the Germans preferred. Tiger II (technically 3) was the desired end product and Tiger I and VK45.02 were steps to reach it, but neither of those interim tanks were intended to be produced in large numbers (.02 was never produced). The source you told me to look at literally supports my argument. No more of this wehraboo Tiger supremacy nonsense.

[@xxkairzzxx1994]

If germany produced a panthrillion panthers they would have won the war

[@VunderGuy]

LOL. If they produced a million Panthers they'd win the war without it because of the immense logistical and industrial capacity that would imply. Keep in mind that the Soviets and Americans, who each had far more vast capacity in both areas could only produce tens of thousands of T-34's and Shermans a year and both tanks were a lot less resource intensive and made for mass production. Not to mention they had plentiful access to the natural resources needed to built a and maintain those vehicles and more in the field while Germany was basically the Tin-Man from Wizard of Oz going 'Oil can! Oil can!'

[@Crispy_Crisp]

very underrated channel and video

[@bobiwt]

Thank you! I appreciate it :)

[@rs5974]

Great vid!

[@bobiwt]

Thanks!

[@wawaweewa9159]

It didnt need to be that big, weight saving from smaller size wud have helped soo much

[@democracy_enjoyer]

in my honest opinion... if the panther was less tall, was actually a medium tank and not a heavy pretending to be one, had an actual transmission with decent reverse speed and a turret motor it might've actually have been a great tank. but thanks to bad tactics, and the moustache man's & the whole high command's usual stupidity we ended up with an overhyped disappointment

[@bobiwt]

@@democracy_enjoyer Yeah well, what can we do. They just rushed a lot with the tank. But there‘s one good thing about it: It‘s great in War Thunder

[@Kazako83]

A heavy tank is not based off of weight or armor but role and design. The Panther is a medium tank. It was designed and deployed as such.
The T-72 and T-64 are famously light for MBTs and both are heavier than the panther still.

[@PedroCosta-po5nu]

Ah yes, secret documents of an 1940's tank

[@bobiwt]

@@PedroCosta-po5nu What do you mean?

[@PedroCosta-po5nu]

@@bobiwt the thing you talked about in the start of the vid

[@bobiwt]

@@PedroCosta-po5nu Respectfully, I never said I will share secret documents. Neither did I say the information for this video comes from secret documents.
I said I will share interesting documents and other stuff (like blogs, articles, books, etc) to the ones who become members.

[@Rubensky44]

​@PedroCosta-po5nu he meant modern day ones you dimwit

[@waltermodel9730]

your clan name is STASI hummmmmmm sounds east German

[@bobiwt]

@@waltermodel9730 I know it sounds kinda sus, noticed this too recently. But tbh I just joined that squadron to get the squadron vehicles

[@raigarmullerson4838]

The Panther was a mistake to make. Total waste of resources the angry painter from Austria didnt have to spend.

[@glyantz]

It was only around 10% more expensive than a panzer 4.