The 76mm gun was a better tank killer, but the standard 75mm was all around more useful due to its more effective HE shell.ĭuring this same time period the Germans had learned hard lessons at the 1940 Battle of Arras during the invasion of France. A M4A3 Sherman tank armed with a 76mm high velocity gun during the winter of 1944. While the M3 had many good features, the hull mounted 75mm gun would prove to be a major shortcoming. The new design would mount the 75mm main gun in a fully traversable turret, rather than in the hull like the M3.

A suitable replacement medium tank was urgently needed. Army then realized while their new Medium Tank M3 was still on the drawing board that it was already an outdated design. The origins of both designs are found in the latter half of 1940, but for very different reasons. So, let’s compare the Panther to what many consider to actually be the best tank of the war, the American M4 Sherman. This is merely an attempt to give it a pertinent evaluation. Now, this story will likely not end the debate. Others though have seen it as yet another waste of valuable resources by the German Army, and an example of why they lost. Many have called it the progenitor of the modern tank, or even the best tank of World War II.

In the 75 years since its gun fell silent, ordnance inventory designation number Sonderkraftfahrzeug (Sd.Kfz.) 171 the Panzerkampfwagen Mark V, commonly called the Panther tank, has been heavily debated in regards to its level of success.

Tiger tank vs modern tank