Table Of ContentThomas Anderson
PANTHER
PANTHER
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PANTHER
Thomas Anderson
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PANTHER
Thomas Anderson
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Osprey Publishing Thomas Anderson has asserted his right under the Copyright,
c/o Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author
PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK of this Work.
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c/o Bloomsbury Publishing Plc ISBN: HB: 9781472827036
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Translator: Geoffrey Brooks
This electronic edition published in 2017 by Bloomsbury
Editor: Jasper Spencer-Smith
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This book is dedicated to the late Thomas L. Jentz, guiding spirit in our research.
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CONTENTS
Foreword 6
Introduction 8
chapter 1 Tank Shock 18
chapter 2 Technical Challenge 30
chapter 3 VK.3002 – A New Tank Emerges 36
chapter 4 Production 70
chapter 5 Organization of Panther Units 98
chapter 6 The Panther in Combat 124
chapter 7 The Panther in Comparison 194
Index 218
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Foreword
This book details the Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw) V Panther medium tank,
from concept through design and development, to production while the
German armaments industry was under continuous attack by Allied bombers.
When the type entered service it was deployed against Allied forces in the
west; the last desperate offensives against the Red Army in the east and
the bitter fighting in defence of the Fatherland.
The PzKpfw V Panther represented a new pinnacle in tank design in World
War II, as the Soviet-built T-34 had done in 1941. From 1943, the Panther
pushed forward the limits of the three fundamental factors: firepower,
mobility and armour.
From the beginning, Generaloberst Heinz Guderian – the ‘Father’ of the
Panzerwaffe – proposed that the technical specification and tactical capability
of the Panther were to synchronize perfectly with his concept of a Panzer
division. The same divisions, which with simple pre-war equipment had
conquered large parts of Europe.
The designers were required to create a tank. After great initial difficulties
a vehicle resulted with extraordinary specifications and which, reduced to
its achievements both technical and tactical, was superior to all enemy tanks
A PzKpfw V Panther of
from then to the end of the war.
I./PzRgt 4 crossing a river
The combination of high mobility, an effective main gun and good armour
bed in Italy at slow speed.
pointed the way forward into the post-war period. The crew has fixed a box
This book may bring the essential character of the medium tank closer to across the rear, a valuable
the reader and answer questions. Can often superficial evaluations withstand place for stowing rations
and personal belongings.
critical examination?
The driver’s hatch is wide
open – apparently enemy
Thomas Anderson
contact was not expected.
Spring 2017 (History Facts)
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Description:The German Panther is one of the most famous, and greatest, tanks of World War II. Often considered the most elegant tank design of the war, it embodied a balance of firepower, armour protection, and mobility unmatched by any other tank of the period. This new study by German armour expert Thomas An
