JagdPanther First Issue April 1973

The ''Jagdpanther'' (German: "hunting Panther"), Sd.Kfz. 173, was a tank destroyer (''Jagdpanzer'', a self-propelled anti-tank gun) built by Germany during World War II.
The ''Jagdpanther'' combined the 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, similar to the main gun of the Tiger II, and the armor and suspension of the Panther chassis.

It entered service in 1944 and served on the Eastern and Western Fronts. During the last stages of the war, limited German production resulted in small production numbers, shortage of spare parts, and shortened crew training periods of younger operators.

Development

The Jagdpanther was preceded by two attempts at mounting an 8.8 cm gun as a self-propelled anti-tank weapon; ''Ferdinand'' - also known as ''Panzerjäger Tiger'' (P) - using the ninety-one leftover Porsche-built VK 45.01 (P) chassis from the Tiger tank competition it lost to Henschel in 1942, and the ''Nashorn'' on the Geschützwagen III/IV (which used a combination of the Panzer III and Panzer IV components) chassis. ''Ferdinand'' proved to be too heavy, and ''Nashorn'' lightly armored and under-powered.

A heavy tank destroyer design based on the 8.8 cm Pak 43 gun and the Panther tank chassis was ordered in late 1942. The full-size model by Daimler-Benz was demonstrated in October 1943 before Hitler. MIAG-built prototypes followed in October/November 1943.

Production started in January 1944; in February, Hitler specified the simpler ''Jagdpanther'' name instead of its original "''8.8 cm Pak 43/3 auf Fahrgestell Panther''".

To accommodate the heavier-calibre gun, as on previous ''Jagdpanzer''-style unturreted tank destroyers, the glacis plate and sloped hull sides of the ''Jagdpanther'' were extended up into an integral fixed casemate as part of the main hull to provide a roomy interior. The ''Jagdpanther'' had side plates armour thickness increased (to 50 mm) to offset the slightly reduced angle of the side plate to provide enough interior space. Lower frontal hull plate was reduced to while upper hull frontal plate was kept at . The chassis armour changes were also introduced on the main Panther tank assembly lines with the Panther Ausf. G in spring 1944.

It was armed with the long-barreled 8.8 cm Pak 43/3 L/71 gun, similar to the main gun of the Tiger II ("King Tiger"). The gun was mounted in a central mantlet, giving it a limited traverse of twelve degrees to each side. A single 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun was in a ball mount on the right side of the front glacis plate. The machine gunner was also the radio operator. The driver sat on the left. The gunner had a rangefinder and a periscope telescopic sight. The periscope – linked to the gun mount – was under an armoured housing on the roof.

The ''Jagdpanther'' had a good power-to-weight ratio and a powerful main gun, enabling crews to destroy any type of Allied tank. Based on the established Panther ''Ausf'' G chassis, the vehicle encountered few mechanical problems. It was crewed by five: driver, radio operator/machine gunner, commander, gunner, and a loader.AFV Profile No 10 p. 19.

Variants

There were two main variants. The earlier G1 1944 model has a small welded main gun mantlet, one-piece Pak 43/3 gun, a modified Panther A engine deck, and had two vision openings for the driver. The G2 Jagdpanther used a Panther Ausf. G engine deck, a larger gun mantlet bolted externally, and a two-piece KwK 43/4 L/71 gun. Some later G1 models had 'hybrid' G2 features such as the larger G2 mantlet as changes to the design were implemented. Zimmerit was applied to G1s up to September 1944, then was withdrawn to decrease production time. Early ''Jagdpanthers'' had two vision openings for the driver, whereas late versions had only one. The main gun originally had a monobloc gun barrel, but, May 1944-on, it was gradually replaced by an economical two-part barrel after crews determined barrel wear was uneven.

Reliability

Notes for the meeting with the Führer on 10.28.1944:

Production and service

A total of 413 ''Jagdpanthers'' were produced from January 1944 by three manufacturers: MIAG in Braunschweig produced 268 from January 1944 until the end of the war, Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover (MNH) produced 112 from November 1944, Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf (MBA) in Potsdam produced 33 vehicles from December 1944. Planned production was between 100 and 200 a month, but the disruption to German manufacturing made this goal unachievable.

The last 'production' Jagdpanthers were produced at the factory by German staff just after the end of World War II under the supervision of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) during the American and British occupation of Germany. Nine Panthers and a dozen Jagdpanthers were produced, then shipped to England for evaluation. A complete Panther and a complete Jagdpanther produced this way are displayed at the Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, with brass plates on them explaining their history.

''Jagdpanther'' equipped heavy antitank battalions (''schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilungen'') and served mainly on the Eastern Front. In the West, they were encountered in very small numbers late in the Battle of Normandy; the German ''654 schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung'' ("654th Heavy Antitank Battalion") deployed about twelve ''Jagdpanthers'' against the British armed forces. Seven ''Jagdpanthers'' of the 1. Schwere Panzerjäger Bataillon 559 were involved in the Battle of Geel in September 1944. Later, significant numbers were concentrated in the West for the Ardennes Offensive.

Survivors

Three surviving ''Jagdpanthers'' are restored to running condition one each at the ''Deutsches Panzermuseum'' at Munster and the ''Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung'' (WTS) at Koblenz. Th
Weald Foundation
in the UK restored one ''Jagdpanther'' to running condition and has a second undergoing restoration.

;Seven surviving Jagdpanthers are displayed at:
* Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, UK. One of those assembled by the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for trials, late production model.
* Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK. An early production variant, with three shell holes on the right side of the engine compartment with the left side, sectioned and opened to public view. Provenance is uncertain but claimed to be one knocked out during the battle of Hechtel, Belgium by Hugh Griffiths, previously displayed at Imperial War Museum London.
* Kubinka Tank Museum, Moscow, Russia
* Musée des Blindés in Saumur, France
* Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, Sinsheim, Germany
* ''Panzermuseum Thun'', Thun, Switzerland
* Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, Alabama, USA - In storage at Center for Military History Museum Support Center - Anniston
* '' The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum '', Cairns QLD, Completed the restoration of a Jagdpanther from battlefield relics
* The Wheatcroft Collection, Leicestershire, England owns sufficient parts to restore another but financial pressures have limited their capacity to pay for the restorationhttp://www.wheatcroftcollection.com/home.html.

See also

* SU-100
* Elefant, another enclosed German tank destroyer mounting the PaK 43.
* List of WWII Maybach engines

Notes

References

*Spielberger, Walter, ''Panther & Its Variants'', 1993.
*Chris Ellis & Peter Chamberlain, ''AFV Profile No. 10 - Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' Profile Publications.

External links

*

Jagdpanther
by Christian Ankerstjerne at Panzerworld



Surviving Panther Tanks
PDF listing of the Panther tanks (Panther, ''Jagdpanther'', ''Bergepanther'') still surviving

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World War II tank destroyers of Germany
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944