Patton Museum - Panzer Mk V Panther Tank
Bill Maloney
11/29/2010

page 1 of 2 Next

01PanzerMkVPantherTank 02PanzerMkVPantherTank 03PanzerMkVPantherGunMantlet 04PanzerMkVPantherGunMantlet
01 Panzer Mk V Panther Tank 02 Panzer Mk V Panther Tank 03 Panzer Mk V Panther Gun Mantlet 04 Panzer Mk V Panther Gun Mantlet
05PanzerMkVPantherTankTurret 06PanzerMkVPantherCommander 07MkVPantherTankLoadersHatch 08MkVPantherTankLoadersHatch
05 Panzer Mk V Panther Tank Turret 06 Panzer Mk V Panther Commander 07 Mk V Panther Tank Loaders Hatch 08 Mk V Panther Tank Loaders Hatch
09PantherTankTurretRear 10PantherTankGunSight 11PantherTankCoaxialMachineGunPort 12PantherTankBowMachineGunPort
09 Panther Tank Turret Rear 10 Panther Tank Gun Sight 11 Panther Tank Coaxial Machine Gun Port 12 Panther Tank Bow Machine Gun Port
13PantherTankDrivingLamp 14PanzerMkVGunTravelLock 15PanzerMkVDriversPosition 16PanzerMkVPantherTankTransportTracks
13 Panther Tank Driving Lamp 14 Panzer Mk V Gun Travel Lock 15 Panzer Mk V Driver's Position 16 Panzer Mk V Panther Tank Transport Tracks

Panther II Prototype PzKpfw Mk V Tank Specifications:

German Panther Tank
One of two German WWII Mk V Panther Tanks at the US Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Aberdeen, MD

Length: 29 feet, 5 inches
Width:
12 feet, 4 inches
Height:
9 feet, 0 inches
Crew:
5
Weight:
55 Tons
Max Speed: 23 mph
Range: 100 miles
Armor: 3.9" Frontal
Powerplant: Maybach HL 230 P30 12cyl Water Cooled Gasoline engine 690hp, displacement 23.1 Liters, 1,409 Cubic Inches
Fuel Capacity: 190 gallons
Armament:
  7.5 cm Kw K 42 L/70 Gun, Muzzle Velocity 3,030fps
  MG34 7.62mm Coax Machine Gun
  MG34 7.62mm Bow Machine Gun
Entered Service: 1945
Unit Cost: $

This particular Panther is actually a Panther II prototype chassis with a Panther Mk V Tank Turret.. It was captured at the MAN factory in Germany at the end of WWII by US forces and shipped back to the US. Dimensionally it is slightly longer and wider and shorter than the production Panther Mk V and about 5 tons heavier. This Panzer Mk V is equipped with the narrower transport tracks that were installed to allow the tank to be carried by rail and through rail tunnels. Once unloaded from the rail car in a combat zone the tracks were changed to wider combat tracks for lower ground pressure and better cross country performance.

Dierk from Cologne, Germany has an excellent page on the 1945 WWII Duel between a Panther Panzer Mk V tank and one of the first US Pershing Tanks to enter combat service in Cologne. The film footage has been widely circulated, but Dierk has broken parts of it frame by frame. One frame shows a high velocity 90mm shell from the US Pershing tank about to hit the Panther, then another frame showing a shell impacting the Panther through what looks like the gun mantlet. Then as the tank burns you can clearly see the 3 shell holes from the US Pershing Tank from the light of the fire burning within the Panzer Mk V. One is through the main gun manlet, the second through the upper hull side, and the third through the lower hull side just above the tracks of the second bogie wheel. Nice job Dierk!

A video of a WWII German Panther Tank in France.

Another segment of the Panther Tank Video. Great sounds from that Maybach V12!

One more Panther Tank Video of the same vehicle. Closer and with even better sound.

Patton Museum Main Page

Military & Aviation Museums Main Page