Pzkpfw V Panther its variants.

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ok CB just so we are clear together, there were no W-SS Panthers at Kursk.

2nd SS Panzer had the Panther defending on the Mius during August of 43 and made quite a name for itself
 
Thank you for the correction Erich.

Great pics, CB, I've never seen these before; quite the inauspicious beginning for the Panther, eh?

It's quite sad to see all of those destroyed/disabled Ausf D's "littering" the Kursk battlefield.
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Thanks you and yes, you bet, I want one for my backyard.

By the way yes it was the SU-152 152 mm self propelled gun, however there were few of this vehicles in the russian side. the most prominent were the T-34 based Su-122 and the open topped Su-76 not a match for any german panzer.


Ausf A:

Front and rear view of the ausf A model, the most distintive characteristics was the integral ball mounting in glacis, and the newly designed hemispherical cast cupola. The tools layout and exhaust gas conduct were different than the ausf D.



In the last series the side turret pistol port were deleted




Close up of the cupola equipped with 8 periscopes, The circular shaped bar welded over was used to support the AAA MG-34 and/or the scissor telescope

 
Early series ausf A, knocked out and captured by british soldier 2 june 1944. Note the pistol port also opened in this tank. The tank was battling outside Rome with the 4th panzer Regiment. It have a penetration (6 pounders ?) below the tactical number.

 
Brilliant. Wonder if the pistol port is out due to cupola pressure upon penetration. Might be the reason for many of your posts comments, CB. And thos are huge entry points. Look bigger than 76mm for sure. Even closer to 105mm.
 
Thanks.
105 mm sound like too much, the britons had in that time 6 pounders ( 57 mm) 17 pounders (76mm) and 25 pounders ( 88mm) guns as AT defense, also the 57 and 75 mm tank guns of Churchills and Shermans, is most likely thet the Panther was hit by some of that.

ausf D, note the straw cover trying to cammo the long gun
 

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I will concede to the experts that 105mm rounds did not exist. But 88mm AP hits that I have seen before had smaller entrance wounds that better coincided with the round diameter. Those holes are much bigger than 88mm. Just a novice wondering, CB.
 
CharlesBronson said:
Close up of the cupola equipped with 8 periscopes, The circular shaped bar welded over was used to support the AAA MG-34 and/or the scissor telescope

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Just a small note of (possible) correction; wouldn't the AA gun have been an MG 42, not a 34? IIRC, the 34's were all used for the ball-mount and co-ax, and the 42's, which had entered production a year or two earlier, were used for AA protection.
 
I will concede to the experts that 105mm rounds did not exist. But 88mm AP hits that I have seen before had smaller entrance wounds that better coincided with the round diameter. Those holes are much bigger than 88mm. Just a novice wondering, CB.
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Just a matter of opinion

Just a small note of (possible) correction; wouldn't the AA gun have been an MG 42, not a 34?
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Is possible that some Panther used a MG 42 ( wich would be better against aircraft because its higher rate of fire) but actually all the pictures I ve seen is with a MG 34. I would love to a MG 131, that is a gun with real chances to bring down an aircraft.

Fliegerbeschusgerät ( device for shooting aircraft)




3 view of a France based Panther with the device installed. The mG 34 fired at 800 rpm but the chances to destroy an allied attack aircraft were few.






Drawing from "Panther variants in Colour" Josef Kolacha.
 

Sweet! You come up with some good stuff, CB; I actually prefer the 34 anyway, it was a better piece of equipment than the 42 (though it was also more expensive time-consuming to manufacture).
 
Standard issue was 2 MG's per tank. To mount one on the coupla either the bow or co-ax (bow was easiest) gun was dismounted. Late war the new MG was fitted on Tiger II's at least. The photos of '008' in the Bulge has one fitted (from memory so may be wrong)
 
Sweet! You come up with some good stuff, CB; I actually prefer the 34 anyway, it was a better piece of equipment than the 42 (though it was also more expensive time-consuming to manufacture).
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Thanks
As you may note the model made by Les also have a MG 34. The only german armored vehicles I ve seen with MG 42 are the Sd.Kfz 250 y 251 half tracks used by the panzergrenadiers.

Stupid Fritz:

A pair of pics that clearly demonstrates why you should not try to cross a log brigde with a 43,5 tons tank.





The Panther ausf D had a full fording equipment wich was capable to be installed in 30 min and gave the capabilities go trough calm waters up to 4 meters deep, this commoditie was delEted in the ausf A variant because slowed manufacturing and decreased the airflow to engine radiators.

That panther ausf A is quoted as part of SS Viking division.
 
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