PantherD vs T34: medium or heavy ?

ww2 tank Panther : medium or heavy ?

anyone knows?

 

Well, I cannot lift either. Conclusion: they are both heavy.

 

t34 is medium without any doubt. Even t34-85.
Latest Panthers reached weigth that much closer to hvy tank's mass.

 

I know this. Answer the question please.

 

Panther (Pzkpfw V - known as the best tank of WWII) was definitly a medium tank. There were minimal "weight" differences in "A" or "D" versions. Heavy german tanks were Tigers (Pzkpfw VI) and King Tiger (Tiger II).

Russian heavy tanks were (early in the war) Kv-1 and Kv-2. Late in the war there were Is-1, Is-2 and Is-3.

 

PantherD vs T34 is medium.

The question is stupid.

 

Panther and T34 have always been considered as medium tanks.

 

It's not the stupid question graatz.

Russians claim it was heavy tank in fact, and in this case, T-34 was the best medium tank in WW2.
I always thought it was medium, but now I wish to be careful.
This tank was really big one for sure.
Sure it was beast which outmatches T-34 in every case.
I remember most popular german tank was PzIV, medium for sure.
Panther is 2x more heavier.
Are you guys still sure Panther was medium?
Any proofs?

 

Panther was medium due to german clasification. They divided tanks according to gun caliber: less than 75mm - medium, more - heavy.
T34 was medium because Rusian divided tanks according to thier weight.
That is why they both r medium.
Its not an unambiguous that Panther was the best. It was expensive, overheavy, gun's HE wasn't good against Infantry & fortification.
For example, Guderian said, that Panther was mistake, because instead every 1 Panther Vermaht could have 2-3 Pz.IV & StuGIII.

 

Comparing weapons that have been produced by countries at war which certainly did not share standards of measuring "weight" of tanks is bit useless i think. And changing the 60-year-old naming conventions for long unused types of tanks is even more useless.

@Pietas: the question is stupid. "Something vs. something else" cannot be considered "a medium tank", this sentence doesn't make sense. I know what you meant but the question IS stupid.

 

I'll call a Merkava light tank. Does that make him light?

 

All is inside your mind, my little grasshopper.

 

Panther was a fuckin light tank.

 

IMO if you go by weight it was clearly a heavy tank. Even by German standards it wasn't really 'medium' by any stretch of imagination. The last medium tanks the Germans built were the various Panzer IV versions.

 

Heavy or medium tank is defined not due its weight but tactical use. No need to take things literally. PzKpfw V was designed as a replacement for PzKpfw IVs units. It never equipped any heavy tank battalions, but was solely replacing older medium tanks in service.

Tactical use is decided by mobility, firepower and armor. Panther was fast and very mobile offroad. Strongly armored only frontally and with very good anti-tank firepower.

Heavy tanks tended to be armored all around, speed wasn't essential and anti personnel firepower had to be good. Original idea was to use them to break enemy defences then letting the medium tanks exploit these cracks and drive to enemy rear. In practice it didn't always work like this though. IE. Tigers were mostly used to fight armor at long ranges, because it was considered too risky ro use them like above (in first combats many Tigers were lost as they were used to spearhead attacks).

 

It's a tactical definition. Nothing to do with weight.


It was certainly a medium tank, by german and most other standards too. Maybe PzKpfw IV was last "not so weighty tank".

Weight has no practical meaning. (unless crossing bridges) Ground pressure of PzKpfw V was lower (wider tracks made it actually weight less by sqr/cm) than that of PzKpfw IV or Sherman. It was also faster than either of these.

 

This all sounds plausible in theory but the truth is that the Germans couldn't afford to be so picky about which tanks to use for what roles. Usually they used whatever they had available, heavy or not.

 

I know it is, I just think it's a very pointless distinction.

 

There you go with those negative vibes again

 

LOL