Destroyed Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. A the German Panther tank in the Belarusian field during the Battle of Belorussia. The Eastern Front, Second Wold War.
On board this medium tank has a poster with an inscription in German: “Attention! The load is too large”. Next, read poorly, probably, “Loading gauge both sides of about 5.0, 6.0”.
Place: Belarus, USSR
Time taken: July 1944
Author: Mikhail Savin
The Panther tank (German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, abbreviated PzKpfw V Panther) is a German medium tank of the Second World War period.
The Panther tank was developed by MAN in 1941-1942 as a response to the appearance of the Soviet T-34 tank on the fronts. The Panther was armed with a smaller caliber gun than the Tiger, and was considered a medium tank according to the German classification. In Soviet documents, the Panther, according to its combat and technical data, was classified as a heavy tank. The Panther’s 75 mm cannon was superior in armor-piercing action to the main armament of the Tiger tank, the 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 cannon. In the departmental end-to-end system of designations for military equipment of Nazi Germany, the Panther had the Sd.Kfz index. 171. Since February 27, 1944, known under the designation Panzerkampfwagen V Panther.
The combat debut of the Panther tank was the Battle of Kursk. Subsequently, tanks of this type were actively used by the Wehrmacht and the SS troops in all European theaters of war. The tank had a number of shortcomings, was difficult to manufacture and operate. On the basis of the Panther, the Jagdpanther anti-tank self-propelled artillery mounts, the Bergepanther engineering tank and a number of specialized vehicles for engineering and artillery units of the German armed forces were produced.