| Panthers were first used in action during operation "Zitadelle" in
the Kursk region on July 5, 1943. Panther Abteilung 51 and 52 (with
a total of 192 factory fresh and untested Panthers Ausf. D) were subordinated
to Army Group South, but by the evening of the first day of operations
only 40 Panthers were still combat ready. The haste with which the design
had been evolved, and the speed with which it had been put into production,
had led to many "teething" troubles. In particular the complicated track
and suspension gave trouble, with frequent breakage's, while the engine
presented cooling problems. In the early months of service more Panthers
were put out of service by mechanical faults than by Soviet anti-tank guns.
The troops were however enthusiastic about the new gun, the majority of
enemy tanks were taken out at a distance of 1500 to 2000 meters.
The Panther became one of the finest medium tanks of WW2, with a growing increase in the number of operational Panthers and a drop in the number of Panthers lost. Overheating was overcome by fitting a second cooling pump and modifying the cooling distribution. Later Panthers proved very much more reliable than the vehicles involved in the Kursk debacle. Many of Germany's top panzer aces achieved their finest victories with this vehicle. Soldiers like SS-Oberscharfuhrer Ernst Barkmann, who in an exposed spot with his sole Panther knocked out nine American M4 Shermans before withdrawing, were quick to prove the outstanding qualities of this tank. According to statistics of the American army, destroying a Panther costed five Shermans or about nine T-34's. It was undoubtedly Germany's best tank design, giving the almost ideal balance between armor, speed, weight and firepower. An important derivative of the Panther was the Jagdpanther, a self-propelled anti-tank gun or tank-destroyer. Other conversions were the Befehlspanzer Panther, which was fitted with extra radio equipment and associated aerials, and the Bergepanther, a recovery vehicle specially for work with tanks in the 45-ton class.. |
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| A clandestine use of the Panther took place during the last desperate German offensive in the West, in the Ardennes. At least ten Panthers were effectively disguised and marked to resemble US Army M-10 tank destroyers. The cupola was removed, together with external stowage boxes on the hull. The turret and nose were disguised with thin sheet metal to resemble the shape of the M-10, including the distinctive rear overhang of the vehicle's turret counterweight. Despite being finished in very convincing US markings, the effect of the phoney M-10s was nullified by the general confusion already present at the beginning of the 'Battle of the Bulge'. |
| The ever-increasing air superiority of the western Allies made daytime travel almost impossible for tank unit, and great emphasis was placed on the development of an infra-red device to be used by the Panzertruppe for traveling and firing at night. Guderian demanded that an IR gun sight created for the 75mm Pak had to be developed for the Panther as well. The disadvantage of having the commander's head exposed outside the vehicle when using the equipment was negligible considering that the device was only to be used at night. The headlamp gave the commander the ability to see ahead of the vehicle roughly 100 meters. The inadequate range of the Panther's IR viewing system led to the development of an IR observation vehicle (Sd.Kfz.251/20 "Uhu") with a 60cm searchlight, and during tactical operations one observation vehicle would be assigned to a Panther unit comprising five tanks. The visibility range of the infra-red viewer mounted on the Panther was increased to 700 meters through the capability of the Uhu's searchlight. During the Ardennes offensive several Shermans were knocked out in the middle of the night by Panthers using IR night-scopes. After locating US tanks with the IR scope, the Germans fired flares at the Shermans to light the target completely, and knocked them out. |
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| In February 1943 MAN and Henschel were asked to produce improved designs for the Panther and Tiger respectively, to ensure maximum interchangeability of parts. Henschel produced the Tiger II which went into production at the end of 1943. The improved Panther, the Panther II or Panther Ausf. F, was to have a hull similar to the existing Panther but with the same form of interleaved all-steel resilient wheels as the Tiger II. The armor on the hull top was to be doubled to 25mm. The major change was a new designed turret, known as the Panzerturm Schmal (small turret). The object was to reduce weight, simplify production, reduce frontal area and enable a larger gun to be fitted. It was to have a built-in stereoscopic rangefinder and a gyrostabiliser for both the sight and the gun. |
| The new small turret proved a most successful design, with 30% more armor with the same weight, and could accommodate the L/70 gun, a lengthened L/100 version or the 88mm Tiger II gun. The wide mantlet was replaced by a small Saukopf (pig's head) mantlet of conical shapes. The rapid deteriorating conditions of the war with facilities curtailed and the need for continued supply of types already proven in service meant that the Panther II never went into production. Had the war dragged on, the Panther and Panther II would have become the backbone of the German panzer divisions. |
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