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GERMANYS PANTHER TANK

Dn 21 February 1943 a    Jak* steer.ng gears) (CHY)

:,on Au of tnese Panthers had Kupplungslenkgetneoe iciuicn

Fg$t Ni 210001

210006

210008

210009

210010 210012

210013

210015

210016 211001

211004

211005 213001

problems wiih the transmission. finał drives breakmg. dnve sprockets madequateiy secured. oil viscosity gauge. operat-mg the ventilation flaps from the driver s position. and sev-erai other pomts such as cable Imked Controls, gas pedał Imk-age special tools. etc In closmg he complamed about the defective Panthers delivered by Daimler-Benz

I took a concise position on the important pomts and ex-plamed that we were dealmg with a vehicle that came directly off the drawmg board mto senes production We were very happy that we didn t have additional teethmg problems to overcome Speer stated that this was also his perception Speer further stated that start-up of the Pz Kpfwlll had re-quired about two and onehalf years while not quite a fuli year had elapsed for the Panther Also. morę deficiencies were found m the Tiger. than in the Panther design Speer held the opinion that somethmg extraordmary had been achieved An officer from the Panther-Lehrganges ques-tioned by Speer on what the troops thought about this ve-hicie, answered that it was an extraordmary vehicle

Later I asked Gauleiter Holz if he was satisfied with today s events He replied that the entire sequence was a vmdication and tnumph for M A N "

On 24 February 1943. Panzer-Abtellung 51 reported their progress m outfittmg with Panthers Durmg the visit by Reichsmimster Speer on 21 February 1943. the followmg 13 Panthers had taken part m the demonstration

Problems

Replacement of the fuel tanks was compietea on 20 February

Replacement of the fuel tanks was compietea

on 20 February This Panther fell out durmg th_e

demonstration due to loss of oil

The fuel pump was repaired on 20 February

The broken fmal drive was repaired on 20

February

The clutch was damaged durmg the demonstra-non

This Panther caught on fire durmg the demon-stration

The fuel pump failed durmg the demonstration

This Panther fell out durmg the demonstration due to damage to the fmal drive and brakes

The fuel pump was repaired on 20 February The left fmal drive was damaged durmg the demon-stration

Contrary to the report from M A N , 13. not 12. Panthers had taken part m the demonstration Of these 13 Panthers six (4 assembied by M A N . 1 by D B and 1 by MNH) broke down durmg the demonstration Five of the thirteen Panthers

CHARTER 2: PANTHER AUSF.D

ha d just been 'epa.red in lim© to tak© p_{drt m} ,_he

„OD An additional three Panthers (Fgst Nr 210002

and 210007) Anie dva.idOI© with Panzer-Abteiluna su .

already nad broken down and could not tak© part .r, tr J neuv©rs Thre© Panthers (Fgst Nr 210011 ^P2llOo? Til 211006/ dKfnl arnve until 22 February the dav    ^an°

neower^ Panthers with Fgst Nr 210004 210005 and 211003 had been deiivered tor testmg to Wa Pruef 6 2 3 5 FIXED RADIUS STĘERING GE AR

ln a meetmg on 13 July 1942 D.rektor W.eb.cke of M A N stated that the Emradienlenkgetnebe (f.xeo rad.us steennn gean snouid and musi be the steer.ng gear f₀r the produc⁹ non senes Panthers However Since ne.ther the desian nor

the basie pr.nc.ple of this Emradienlenkgetnebe had been tested m no case could they be dependeo upon He sun gested mat at f.rst 60 Kupplungslenkgetriebe (clutch-brake steenng gear) shouid be produced Then ,f problems w.th the new steer.ng gear occurred an option would be immed.

ateiy avaii<abie fer cornpletirig vehicles in dnwng condition Durmg the Panzer Kommission rneetmgon 14 Juty 1942 the deasion was mace to rnstaii 100 Kupplungslenkgetriebe m Panthers with the stipulation that ali Panthers corripleted by the end of Apnl 1943 most possess an Emradien-lenkgetriebe

On 9 Decernber 1942 it was oecided that M AN was to del.ver Kupplungslenkgetriebe for the first 30 Panthers foliowed by the Emradienlenkgetnebe produced by Henschel On 5 February 1943 Wa Pruef 6 mformed MAN that siarting with the I7th Panther the Kupplungslenkgetriebe was to be repiaceo with an Emradienlenk-getriebe

At least 23 Panthers (16 from MAN 6 from Da.mler-Benz and 1 from MNH) were produced with the Kupplungslenkgetriebe beforethe Emradienlenkgetnebe was instalted m Panthers startmg m early March 1943 On 10 May 1943 MAN was ordered to rebuiid their 16 Panthers that had been mitially outfitted with the Kupplungslenkgetriebe by the end of May

i I »•fci.z*m
^r -r	w? .	$ S \ ,

The dr.ver s and rad.o operator s pos.t.ons .ns.de Panther Ausf D (Fgst Nr 210042 compietea at M A N .n early May 1943) m.nus the fittmgs »or me fightmg compartment and the rad.o racks The radio operator was expected to f.re his M G 34 through the open M G port in the giacis piąte (WJS)

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