C est quand meme incroyable de ne pas trouver sur le net,le rapport "Le panther 1947", en FRANCAIS ...faut aller voir les ricains pour l avoir...en anglais,desole j ai pas le temps d en faire la traduction.
French experience with the Panther were put to paper in the report "Le Panther 1947", published by the Ministre de la Guerre, Section Technique de L'Armee, Groupement Auto-Char,
— The turret traverse drive is not strong enough to either turn the turret or hold it in place when the Panther is on an incline of more than 20 degrees. The Panther is therefore not capable of firing when driving cross-country.
— Elevating the gun is normally simple, but made difficult if the stabilizer — operated by compressed nitrogen — has lost pressure.
— The commander's cupola with its 7 periscopes provides a nearly perfect all-round visibility. Periscopes damaged by shells can be replaced very quickly.
— A scissors periscope with large magnification power was affixed to a bracket in the commander's cupola.
— Aside from his periscope gunsight (which is excellent), the gunner has no other type of observation device. He is therefore practically blind — one of the greatest shortcomings of the Panther.
— The gunsight with two magnification stages is remarkably clear and has its field of view clear in the center. The gunsightenablesobservation of a target and shells out to over 3000 meters.
— No type of hollow charge ammunition is planned for the Panther.
— The HE shell can be fired with a delay of 0.15 seconds.
— The PzGr 40 had better penetration out to 1500 meters than the PzGr 39, but then its trajectory drops off considerably.
— During rapid rate of fire it is not uncommon to be forced to break off firing when the recoil of the gun has reached its permissible limit (cease fire).
— A rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute is only permitted in exceptional cases when circumstances so dictate.
— When firing off a round the chassis demonstrates no unfavorable reaction, regardless of what position the turret is in.
— Once the commander has located a target, it takes between 20 and 30 seconds until the gunner can open fire. This data, which is significantly greater than that of the Sherman, stems from the absence of a periscope
for the gunner.
— The fatigue life of the mechanical parts was designed for 5000 km.
The wear on many parts is greater than expected. Track and running gear have a life of 2000 to 3000 km. Tracks break very rarely, even on rocky terrain. The bogie wheels, however, can become deformed when
driven hard.
— The parts of the power train (with the exception of the final drive) meet the planned fatigue life. The replacement of a transmission requires less than a day.
— On the other hand, the engine was not operable over 1500 km. The average engine life amounted to 1000 km. Engine replacement ac-complished in 8 hours by an Unteroffiaer (mechanic by occupation) and 8 men with the aid of a tripod beam crane or a Bergepanther. Main gun can be replaced using the same equipment within a few hours. The German maintenance units performed their work remarkably well
— As a result, the Panther is in no way a strategic tank. The Germansdid not hesitate to economically increase the engine life by loading the tank onto railcars — even for very short distances (25 km).
— The truly weak spot of the Panther is its final drive, which is of too weak a design and has an average fatigue life of only 150 km.
— Half of the abandoned Panthers found in Normandy in 1944 showed evidence of breaks in the final drive.
— In order to prevent these breaks it is recommended that the following points be closely observed: when driving downhill and in reverse as well as on uneven terrain to be particularly careful when shifting to a lower
gear. In addition, a Panther should never be towed without uncoupling the final drive previously. Finally, under no circumstances should both steering levers be operated simultaneously — regardless of the situation.
— A hollow charge round — regardless of what type — will penetrate armor plating equivalent to its own caliber. It is therefore necessary to use a 105 mm round or, at the very least, an 88 mm round to penetrate the
glacis plate of the Panther (Munsingen, 1946)
- A smoke grenade thrown onto the reardeckor the vent openings of the engine will start a fire.
- The running gear is sensitive to HE shells. Calibers 105 mm and greater can render the vehicle immobile (Rammersmatt, 8 December 1944).
- Fragmentation shells or 75 mm rounds which strike in the same spot on the front plate can penetrate it or cause the weld seams to break (Munsingen, 1946).
- No place of the Panther is so armored that it can withstand a "Panzerfaust" or "Panzerschreck."
- In all cases, the great range of the gun should be exploited to the fullest. Fire can commence at a range of 2000 meters with considerable accuracy. The majority of hits were accomplished at a range of 1400 to
2000 meters. The ammunition expenditure was relatively low; on the average the founh or fifth shot found its mark, even when using HE shells.
Without a doubt, the Panther was a fully combat-capable tank in 1943 which for its day exhibited remarkable performance in regard to its armament and armor.
Yet even German documents showed that it had considerable weak-nesses:
- Inadequate for strategic mobility due to the short fatigue life of its engine, which lay between six and seven times the vehicle's range. The Panther cannot cover large distances and must restrict itself to short
distances.
- Deficiency in mobility due to an inadequate steering mechanism, which had a very high breakdown rate.
- Operations required generally specialized personnel: in the Wehr-macht an officeror Oberfeldwebel as tank commander, Unteroffiziers as gunner and driver.
Once the Germans no longer had any experienced tank crews, it was apparent that the Panthers were no longer employed operationally or were abandoned because of mechanical breakdowns.
source
armchairgeneral.com
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Mer 11 Mai - 4:21
