Hang on, doesn't Mk1 work there?
No. Didn't work there. But did some work there. As in, hung out, volunteered a bit, but no, was never on the roster.
Got any piccies of that Panther?
Well, since you asked so nicely …
Here are a couple pics of the Panther as it was being refurbished to complete and running order.
First, a look at the engine deck, with the turret off in the background. The hull was in pretty good condition (the hulk was recovered from a bog), but the turret was in shambles. As I recall the whole back plate and one of the sides had to be fabricated anew, as there was nothing left.
A nice pic of the side sponson ammo stowage. The turret is off, so the lighting is good. Note how large the 75mm rounds are, and their placement right above the upper run of the track below the turret ring on the side. The hull armor here was about 40mm. Sloped, so probably immune to 14.5mm ATR fire, but still easily penetrated by almost anything larger. Ammo fires were a common result from side hull shots. And they called the Sherman a Ronson ….
The mantlet was a very different matter, of course. But look at how thick it is. It is not nearly as thick as it appears when seen from the side mounted on the tank. This was the target for US tankers from a frontal aspect. The US 76mm or 3-inch gun had at least some chance of penetrating at close range. And if it didn't penetrate, there was a chance it would deflect downward into the very thin hull roof armor behind the driver / co-driver hatches.
Here is a view of the driver's seat. The turret is off, so the lighting is very good. Even so, and as big as the Panther was, it was a very crowded position. The transmission and final drive, the weakest point in the Panther's reliability, is to the driver's right and in front of him.
I think many WW2 tank enthusiasts lose sight of just how big the Panther was. It was a monster! Look at the size of the hull, even without the turret.
Oh, and breaking track on a Panther is a job you do NOT want to volunteer for!
And here is the finished product, seen from the TC's hatch of an M4A1 Sherman tank. Probably the last thing a Sherman TC ever wanted to see. Or the last thing he saw, whether he wanted to or not.
And here is said Sherman TC, Mk 1, at his last sighting of the venerable Panther.
-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)
