Hi guys, I just wanted to know what the best tank was, that the Germans had during WW 2. Thanks. Oh, was the E100, Maus any good?
oh, this should be very interesting. I will weigh in with the Panther. Once they got the mechanical bugs worked out, it was a great blend of firepower, armor and mobility.
hey anthony,
in my opinion id have to say either panther G or king tiger but thats just my opinion
Panther
I agree with the panther
my vote’s for the panther. The tigers were too heavy and unreliable I think.
In my opinion…
The Panther by far, again once the mechanical problems were solved. The Jagdpanther, technically not a tank perse, was also an excellent piece of armor. One could argue that the Tiger, inrtroduced in 1942, was perhaps the best heavy tank in the world at the time, and was somewhat innovative mechanically.
I think a more difficult question would be deciding with was better, the Panther or the T-34/85.
For what it’s worth…
I had the opportunity to ask the same question of (the late, now) Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel, ex-commander of Grossdeutschland Div. and later 5th Panzer Army during the Bulge, while he was on a speaking tour in the US in (I think) the mid-70’s. Even decades after the fact he looked a little wistful as he said; “The Panther…but there were never enough of them.” He also mentioned how popular the old PzKpfw IV’s were with the troops.
Regards
Greg
Wow Greg, talk about a brush with fame. Yes, the Panzer IV was affectionately know as the workhorse of the Panzerwaffe. I concur with everyone that the Panther was the hands down best tank produced. Only 5, 000 produced as against 50,000 T-34’s. Ouch, It truely had the best balance of firepower, armor and mobility. Too bad for the Germans it was produced so late in a sense. They said you could produce 2 Panthers for every Tiger built. Another plus for the Panther.
The U.S. Sherman won because of mass production… and standardazation of parts… if the germans had stoped at the panther and standerdized it as much as they could it might have allowed germany to last longer and maybe get better terms.
In my opinion,
I would go with the Panther. It was also turned into a great Tank Hunter, the Jagerpanther. The only reason they did that was for its chassis. It was fast enough but the Germans wanted a bigger cannon. But yes the Panther is the best tank. Mostly it is due to the balance of speed, fire power, and armor.
Panther
Germany would have been better served to build more of them instead of wasting materiels on projects like King Tiger.
As for the E100. Did that thing even go beyond the drawing board??
I agree with you on the Sherman part and the same could be said of the T-34. The Germans simply couldn’t match the productivity of the Allies. This is a case of quantity being better than quality. I still don’t think it would have delayed the end of the war or gotten better terms for the Germans, they were flattened on all fronts from 43 onward. That was the year the Panther hit the battlefield. And there was a thing called Airpower. There Germans were overmatched '44 to the end.
For me it has to be the Tiger 1, yes it had problems but still if you saw one comming you were in a world of hurt, allied combat tactics required a minimum of 5 shermans to take on 1 Tiger, even when the british up gunned the Sherman and it became the Firefly this could hold it`s own against the Panther but roll up a Tiger one shot at up to 2000m end of story, so for overall effect for me it has to be the Tiger.
Dave
Yes that is true. One shot, one kill. Also remember that the germans had to destroy there own King Tigers so they didn’t fall into allied hands. This tank was also turened into a great Tank Hunter, the Jagertiger.
problem with the Kingtigers and Jagdtigers were their wieght. Those beasts were real heavy and lacked mobility
The Jagdtiger was an example of German engineering running amok. At that time of the war they should have concentrated on mass production, not armor behemoths. They were heavily armored and gunned yes, but not very well powered and were so heavy they could only travel on the best roads and bridges. Also at that time they would have made fat targets for fighter-bombers. I think they only could have echoed the Elefants history, that of an effective T.D. on the Russian Steppes where its gun could kill anything at a range itself was free from enemy fire, but would have succumbed to vastly superior enemy armor.
Good points all, regarding the Tiger 2 and JagdTiger. But in their defense, at the point of their introduction, sprinting armored thrusts by the Germans were no longer possible, but defensive slugging matches were the rule of the day, especially in the East. If a Jagdtiger or King Tiger was well sited in ambush position, it could make mincemeat of it’s targets before they could come into range. (As long as the fighter bombers stayed away) But if mobility was necessary, they weren’t such a great thing to be sitting in. Also, remember that Michael Wittman thoroghly trounced a British armored column with a single Tiger 1.
All considered, including production cost, the Panther was still probably the best tank in the world until the mid-50’s.
I have to go with the Panther too, although the Tiger had more of an impact on the battlefield I think because Tigers, although they had numerous faults, were kings on the western front. They could take out anything and had to be ganged up on to be taken out.
But the Panther was more reliable and cheaper to make, it was the balance between a medium tank like the Sherman and a heavy tank like the Tiger I think.
My two cents
The Tiger had great psychological impact in the West. After a while, any time a German tank showed up, American soldiers reported it as a Tiger no matter what it was. I once read, though, that the Panther’s 75mm gun was more effective than the Tiger’s 88 against armored targets. I also recall that the Jagdtiger’s 128 mm was only marginally better than the Tiger 2 and Jagdpather’s longer 88.