Panzerkampfwagen V »Panther« Ausf. G

Deutscher Pz.Kpfw. V »Panther« Ausf. G in Houffalize. Der Panther der 116. Panzerdivision wurde 1948 aus der Ourthe geborgen, wo er seit der Ardennenoffensive im Dezember 1944 im Wasser gelegen hatte. Das Fahrzeug trug ursprünglich die Turnummer 111.

Matchbox 1:76 scale Panzerkampfwagen Panther Ausf. G airbrushed in a three-colour camouflage pattern. The German Panther tank was a medium tank developed in response to the Soviet T-34 medium tanks which had caused the Wehrmacht so much grief in 1941. The first two design proposals for the Panther medium tank were submitted by Mercedes and MAN in April 1942 for evaluation. The MAN proposal was accepted in Mai 1942, and a prototype was tested at the Heereswaffenamt facilities Kummersdorf in September. Because of the high demand for the new medium tank, the Panther was rushed into production and the first vehicles took the field in December of 1942. Not surprisingly, the early production models suffered from a number of serious mechanical problems which caused many breakdowns and vehicle losses.

Of the 250 Panther tanks rushed to the front in time for the Battle of Kursk (Operation Citadel), 4 - 20 July 1943, more than 80 percent were defective by the end of the first day of battle, because engines had overheated and caught fire, or transmissions failed. These problems were eventually solved, and the Panther tank became the best medium tank design of World-War Two. Captured and requisitioned Panther tanks continued to serve in the French army until the 1950s, and the French AMX-13 light tank, designed in 1952, was equipped with a licensed version of the German 75 mm Panther tank gun manufactured by DEFA. It is interesting to note that the long 75 mm Panther tank gun offered much better armour penetration than then short 88 mm Tiger I tank gun.

Captured Panther tanks were very popular with Soviet tank crews, who received them as rewards for extraordinary achievements in combat and attempted to keep them operational as long as possible. Even the Pantherfibel manual was translated into Russian. In response to the Panther, the Soviet army quickly deployed upgunned T-34/85 medium tanks, as well as SU-85 and SU-100 tank destroyers.

Bekannte Modelle

Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:72 Hasegawa MT9
Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G with steel wheels (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:72 Hasegawa MT37
Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:72 ESCI 8363
Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:72 Revell 03109
Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:76 Airfix 01302
Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:76 Matchbox 40073
Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), 1:76 Nitto
- Ausf. D, Conversion Kit, 1:76 Vac-U-Cast C-106
- Pz.Beob.Wg., Conversion Kit, 1:76 Vac-U-Cast C-109
- 3.7 cm Pz.FlaK, Conversion Kit, 1:76 Vac-U-Cast C-120
- Ausf. G (Sperber) Conversion, with Zielgerät ZG 1221 IR Spotlight

Technische Daten

Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf. G, Sonderkraftfahrzeug 171
Typ: Mittlerer Panzer
Motor: Maybach HL 230 P 45, 12-zylinder, 23 l, mit 700 PS
Geschwindigkeit: 46 km/h auf Straßen, 24 km/h im Gelände
Tankinhalt: 720 Liter
Fahrbereich: 177 km auf Straßen, 89 km im Gelände
Länge: 8860 mm
Breite: 3430 mm
Höhe: 3100 mm
Gewicht: 45500 kg
Bewaffnung: 75 mm L.70 KwK 42, sowie 7.92 mm Wannen-, Turm- und Fla-MG
Panzerdurchschlagsleistung bei 0 - 100 m
- 170 mm mit A.P. (Pz.Gr. 39)
- 210 mm mit A.P. (Pz.Gr. 42)
- 239 mm mit A.P.C.R. (Pz.Gr. 40)
- 298 mm mit A.P.D.S. (Pz.Gr. 44)
Besatzung: Kommandant, Fahrer, Richtschütze, Ladeschütze, Funker
Produktion: März 1944 - April 1945 (2,953 Stück)

Historische Verwendung

Deutsche Wehrmacht, März 1944 - April 1945
Sowjetische Armee, 1944–1945
Französische Armee, 1945–1950

The Panther tank was needed to replace the obsolete Panzer III medium tank, which had already been relegated to the support role. When the Panther appeared in sufficient numbers, it was used to equip one of the two tank battalions of the German armoured divisions, while the second tank battalion operated the still useful Panzer IV medium tanks. By June 1944, approximately half of the German army tank strength consisted of Panther medium tanks.

Fragen und Antworten

Bitte nehmen Sie bei facebook oder im Miniatures Forum Kontakt mit der Redaktion der Military Miniatures Zeitschrift auf, wenn Sie weiterführende Information zum Thema wünschen.

Figuren und Fahrzeuge der Deutschen Wehrmacht