THE
BEST TANK OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
A comparison between the T-34 and
the Panther.
Internally Assessed Work
Emil Heinäaho
Candidate number 0688-009
Vasa Övningsskola 0688
Session May 2001
Words 2983
INDEX
- Introduction 3
- Technical data 4
- Combat history 7
- Production 10
- Conclusion 11
- Bibliography 12
- Appendix 13
INTRODUCTION
Tanks appeared for the first time in the end of the First World War.
However, they didn’t have any bigger effect on the result of the war. In the
Second World War the tanks played a very essential role. Together with the
infantry they formed the backbone of the armies. Among the various models and
types of tanks there were two above others. Namely, the Soviet made T-34 and
the German Panther. The names, T-34 and Panther represent all the different
modifications. Of the T-34, more precisely T-34/76, there were at least the
following types: 1940, 1941, 1941/1942, 1942, 1943 and T-34/85[1].
The Panther had three used types: Ausf. D, Ausf. A and Ausf. G[2].
These tanks were the most famous and, according to many specialists, also the
best tank designs of the whole war.[3]
Thus, my research question is: “What was the best tank of the Second World War
– the T-34 or the Panther?”. Answering this debated question might be very hard
because it must be studied from many viewpoints. It isn’t enough to compare the
tanks’ performance on the battle field but also their production and technical
details are important. I have tried to use a great variety of source so that I
have been able to check the presented facts from different sources. Besides the
literal sources and the Internet, I have built a scale model of the both tanks.
I have used Tamiya’s kits for the both tanks in the scale 1/35, as Tamiya is
regarded as the best manufacturer in its price class. Building of the tanks
took over two months. There are pictures of them in the Appendix
section. The scale models were built to be able to picture the tanks as well as
possible. For example, photographs do not show the clear difference in the
sizes of these tanks. Of course this can be seen from the technical data, but
the models show the difference much better. Also crew members were built for
the tanks to show the magnificent size of the tanks by comparing them to a
human. Both tanks are painted according to a model that was in use on the
Eastern front. In this essay I will in every part first put the focus on the
T-34 as it was designed earlier. Then I’ll continue with the Panther and make comparisons
between the tanks.
TECHNICAL DATA
The first series production T-34/76 tank came out from
Kharkov’s motor plant in September 1940.
The design belonged in the T-series tank family. The T-34 was a revolutionary tank. The
Spanish civil war and the battles with the Japanese showed the need for a
better protected tank than the existing T-26 or BT-5 tanks. By doing
experiments on the old BT tanks Russians found that by angling the armour
plates the protection was increased. This invention had many advantages:
1)
By angling the armour the linear thickness of
the armour plate was increased and thus it gave more protection.
2)
The enemy fire bounced easily of the angled
plates.
3)
The armour plates didn’t have to be so thick.
By having thinner armour plates
the weight of the tank, often a problem, could be kept smaller. Due to a
lighter weight the mobility of the T-34 was very good. The relatively light
weight proved to be very useful also due to the hard Russian climate. Russians
had also found out that the petrol engines of the tanks caught easily fire from
enemy’s firing. Thus a 500 hp diesel engine was designed for T-34. A powerful
engine together with a light weight, 28 to 30,9 tons, resulted in having a
power-to-weight ratio of 17,5 to 19 hp/ton. In the German PzKpw IV, the main
opponent of the T-34, the ratio was 13,6 hp/ton and in the American M3A3 only
7,6 hp/ton[4].
The T-34 was also the first tank having large road wheels. They enabled a
steady ride and thus higher speeds could be achieved on rough terrains. The
T-34 was first equipped with the L-11 gun and in a very early stage it was
replaced with the powerful 76,2 mm F-34 gun which had a good anti-armour
performance. During the war the T-34 was developed according to experiences at
the front line. The armour protection, the turret, the engine were modified.
The T-34 became eventually also a very reliable tank. In 1943 the T-34/76 was
turned into T-34/85 to increase fire power. Some of the T-34 tanks were
equipped with flame throwers. The design was also used in the SU-series’ tanks
and widely after the war[5].
The Panther wasn’t an as
revolutionary appearance in the history of tank design as the T-34. The design
work for the Panther didn’t start until 1941 after the German forces met the
T-34 during the operation “Barbarossa”. The T-34 was inferior against the
German armoured forces so a new medium tank was needed in the German forces. By
examining the captured T-34s the Germans found that their tanks lacked the
following:[6]
1)
Angled armour plates.
2)
Large road wheels
3)
An overhanging and effective gun.
The design work proceeded fast and in 1942 the first Panther was ready.
It differed in many ways from the T-34. This happened due to ideological and
practical reasons. The weight of the Panther was 43 tons even if it was planned
to be only 35 tons. During the development work the weight went up to 45,5
tons. Why was it so much heavier, over 13 tons, then the T-34 even if it was
supposed to be more or less a copy of it? The Germans used a much thicker armour.
The thickest plates could be 100 mm where as in the T-34 the Russians relied on
45 mm. Also the crew size differed. The T-34 had room for 4 crew members where
as the Panther had, due to a German tradition in tank design, a 5 men crew. The
Germans favoured 5 men crews because then the leader of the tank could solely
concentrate on commanding where as in the T-34 the commander had to also work
with the gun. This resulted in the Panther being of bigger size. This affected
the mobility of the tank. The large road wheels and a good suspension system
enabled a smooth ride on rough terrains but together with the big size the high
weight resulted in problems. Through its whole history the Panther suffered of
engine fires, as the high weight put a heavy load on the 700 hp Maybach engine
and the Zahnfabrik AK-7-200 transmission. Various exhaust and cooling systems
were designed to help with the heat problem. The Panther was of so big size and
mass that even if it had 660 mm wide tracks, it sunk 20 cm into the ground! The
expansion in size had also made the turret bigger and thus easier to hit. There
were also some problems with the mantlet design, as it direct the enemy’s
projectiles down wards straight through the thin armour to the radio
compartment. The Panther was equipped with a 75 mm Kw.K 42 L/70 high-velocity
gun. The high-velocity meant that the projectile could be fired with a flat
trajectory and thus hitting, for example, the enemy’s tanks was easier. The gun
was designed extremely effective to encounter the numerical superiority of the
enemy.
Figure 1 shows the technical data of the T-34 and the
Panther[7].
I have used late versions of the tanks because their designs has been affected
by the combat experiences and thus the values found in Figure 1 are the optimum
figures for the tanks.
Figure 1: The
technical details of the T-34/76 and Panther Ausf. G
COMBAT HISTORY
The combat history of the T-34 starts from the
beginning of the German operation “Barbarossa”, on 22 June 1941. At that time
1225 tanks were ready and 967 of them had been delivered to the units[8].
The Germans began encountering T-34 tanks from the first day of the campaign.
The tanks came as a great shock to them. A German anti-tank crew reported:
“Half a dozen anti-tank guns fire at the T-34, which sounds like a drum-roll.
But he drives staunchly through our lines like an impregnable prehistoric
monster.”[9]
The projectiles of the German 37 mm anti-tank guns simply bounced off T-34’s
thick and sloped armour. Anti-tank forces reported that they had hit a T-34
from 20 meters without any noticeable effect. The T-34 tanks could only stopped
by Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombers or by the legendary 88 mm anti-aircraft gun.
However, the backbone of the German anti-tank forces was the 37 mm anti-tank
and it was useless at distances over 200 meters. The “tank-terror” spread also
to the German armoured forces. A PzKpfw III crew reported that they had been
constantly firing the T-34 but “the projectiles did not penetrate but sprayed
off the side”. A German tank officer from Pz.Abt.4 wrote: “Time and time again
our tanks have been split right open by frontal hits. The commander’s cupolas
on the PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV have been completely blown off… It is also
proof of the great accuracy and penetration of the Russian T-34’s 76,2 mm gun…”9
Even if the T-34’s appearance
was decisive in the beginning of the campaign, it was in the hard, cold fall
and winter that the T-34 made its impression. Even the worst conditions didn’t
stop the T-34. The German tank crews looked on in astonishment when the T-34
manoeuvred through snow and ice – the Germans could hardly start their engines.
The T-34 was equipped with wide tracks and together with its light weight
moving in snow became easier. For extreme conditions the tanks were equipped
with track attachments that worked like spike tyres of a car on a frozen
ground. If the tank was stalled in slough, the crews tied logs to the tracks so
that the tank could get away. In the driver’s hatchet there were bottles of
compressed air that were used to start the diesel engine in the cold weather.
A question rises: How is it possible that even if the Red Army had a
tank like the T-34 the German invasion couldn’t be stopped? It is important to
look at the overall war situation as well and not just the manoeuvres of single
tanks groups. Stalin’s purges in the thirties had eliminated all the leaders of
the army. Thus the leaders and commanders were at the beginning of the war
young and inexperienced. Because of this huge amounts of tanks were lost and
destroyed because of the poor strategies. Also the crews were badly trained –
some didn’t have any training at all. Nobody had been training with the T-34
before the war and so all the training was given in the beginning at the front.
Men went to battle with 3 to 5 hours experiences! Tanks were lost also due to
technical problems and the frequent German air attacks, as the Russians didn’t
have any air support. Also the co-operation with the artillery was in the
beginning in bad state.
For the first time the Panther
took a part in action during the operation “Zitadelle” in Kursk region on July
5th 1943.[10]
Even if the Panther was suffering of many technical problems, the soldiers were
enthusiastic about the Panther’s gun. The majority of the enemy tanks were
taken at a distance of 1500 to 2000 meters. A Soviet radio message from 8th
July 1943: “Enemy introduced a new tank! Shape roughly to 'Tridsatchedverka'
(T-34). Tank is heavily armoured, weight is est. 40-50 tons. Armament is
probably 88mm AA gun. We had losses at combat ranges beyond 2,000m. ..."[11]
Like the Germans had planned, the Panther was equipped with a very effective
gun. Also the armour of the Panther outmatched its enemies. Figure 2
presents the ranges from where the Panther could penetrate the armour of its
main opponents, the T-34/85 and Sherman A4 and Figure 3 the ranges where
Panther’s armour could be penetrated.[12]
Figure 2: Panther’s penetration
ranges Figure
3: T-34/85’s and Sherman A4’s penetration
ranges
As it can be seen, the Panther was equipped with more powerful and thus more effective gun than its main enemies. This is also well described by the thumb rule that was used at the fronts: Destroying one Panther cost five Sherman tanks or 9 T-34 tanks.10 During the war the Panther was found to be a very reliable tank. When the tanks broke down there were recovery vehicles and spare parts available so the remaining technical problems were dealt with a well working repairing and supply system. The most famous panzer aces made their best records with the Panther. One of them, SS-Oberscharführer Ernst Barkmann, with his sole Panther knocked out nine American M4 Shermans before withdrawing.[13] These actions quickly proved the success of the Panther design. Even if there were more powerful and better protected tanks at the fronts, Tiger for example, the Panther kept its place. Namely, it was almost an ideal balance between armour, speed, weight and firepower. Many modifications were done on the Panther during the war. Some special features were the extra equipment designed for the tank. Some of the tanks had a Zimmerit coating on themselves. The coating designed to prevent the use of magnetic mines. On the Western front some tanks used an infrared scope. With this equipment attacks during the night could be done.
Not was the Panther tank of the best quality but also its crew – at
least when compared to their Russian colleagues. The first Panther came out in
early 1943 but the tank didn’t take a part in action until July 1943. During
this 6 months period the crew was given training with the tank. Besides the
Panther training the crews had already fought in Poland and France and thus
were used to tank combat. The commanders of the German tank armies were also
very experienced. This was proven in the beginning of the operation
“Barbarossa”. Even if the Germans were outmatched by the level Russian
equipment, by using clever strategies and tactics the Russians could often be beaten.
The well trained crew and commanders brought the efficiency of the Panther up
to maximum where as the T-34’s combat history was made pathetic due to
inexperienced crews.
PRODUCTION
Even if it is often neglected the production of the tanks
is an important element in tank warfare. Namely, the more sophisticated and
complex is the design of the tank the more time and resources it takes to build
one. The Russians were in terrible difficulties with their production due to
German invasion. Thus they were forced to make the design simpler. This
resulted in halving the constructing time and the cost shrank from 269 500
roubles/tank to 193 000 roubles.[14]
Also due to big material resources the T-34 tank could be produced in huge
numbers. During the war 55 000 of
them were made and thus T-34 was the most produced tank in
the whole war[15]. The
Panther was far more sophisticated and thus more time taking and expensive. Its
production was also limited by the material resources and in the end of the war
by Allied bombings. 4 814 Panthers were built to fight on two fronts - the
whole German armoured forces equalled 27 872 tanks. The limitations in
production was also one reason for Germans not copying the T-34, for example,
producing the aluminium diesel engines couldn’t be done due to material
shortages.
A
vital part of the production are spare parts and recovery vehicles. This was
totally neglected by the Russians in the early stage of the war. The Germans,
due to a smaller number of tanks, could supply their forces much better. Thus
the lifetime of the Panther was made far more longer than T-34’s. Actually,
over 50% of the T-34 tanks were abandoned due to technical problems and lack of
spare parts.[16] The lack of
recovery vehicles effected heavily the Russian army during the German invasion.
Even if the armour division had had the needed parts, they couldn’t transport
their broken tanks from the fronts and thus they had to be left to the Germans.
However, after the Russians got their production to fully work even losses of
1000 tanks didn’t anymore stop the Red Army. The quantity replaced the quality.
CONCLUSION
My research question was: “What was the best
tank of the Second World War – the T-34 or the Panther?” As I predicted, the
answering of this question is very hard. Namely, the tanks weren’t the products
of the same time. The Panther was actually made after the T-34. If the question
is answered by solely looking at the effectiveness of the tanks the answer is
definitely the Panther. It was far more advanced and had more firepower than
the T-34. However, T-34 based Red Army defeated the German army due to a high
number of T-34 tanks. It can be said that from the production’s view point the
T-34 was better than Panther due to its simpler and cheaper design. If the
design works of the two tanks are compared it can be seen that the Panther was
developed much faster. However, the Russian engineers resulted in designing a
tank that turned a new page in the history of tank design. The designs can also
be compared by looking how they could be used in further development. The
Panther was used in constructing the Jagd Panther and the King Tiger. Only
sketches for Panther II were made. Then again, the T-34 design lives still
today. Many nations base their armies on the Russian T-72 medium tank that
origins in T-34. Also in the self-propelling guns, SU-series, was the design of
the T-34 used. As a conclusion it can be said that the T-34 was the best tank
of the whole war. During its own time it was superior against its enemies and
even if the design got old the lack in quality could be replaced by the huge
quantity and the new tanks models that had been inspired by the T-34
design.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LITERAL SOURCES
Bruce Culver:
”Panther in Action”. Squadron / Signal Publications, 1975.
Hilary Doyle, Tom
Jentz: “Panther Variants 1942-1945”. Osprey Publishing, 1997.
John Keegan: “World
War II Visual Encyclopedia”. Parkgate Books Ltd, 1999.
Steven Zaloga, James
Grandsen: “T-34 in Action”. Squadron / Signal Publications, 1983.
Steve Zaloga, Peter
Sarson: “T/34-76 Medium Tank 1941-1945”. Osprey Publishing, 1994.
MAGAZINES
“Pienoismalli” magazine, issue 2/98. Hobby-Kustannus
Oy, 1998.
“Pienoismalli” magazine, issue 3/98. Hobby-Kustannus
Oy, 1998.
INTERNET SOURCES
http://www.oocities.org/Pentagon/Quarters/8662/panther.htm
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz4.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~dietmagic/panther.html
http://history.vif2.ru/index.html
http://members.tripod.com/~dietmagic/panther.html
http://rkka.domainvalet.com/h-ind.htm
SCALE MODELS
Tamiya 1/35 Military
Miniature Series: T-34/76 Russian Tank, 1943 Production Model. Item 35059.
Tamiya 1/35 Military
Miniature Series: Panzer Kampwagen V (sd.kfz171) Ausführun 9A. Item 35065.
APPENDIX