Jagdpanther

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The Jagdpanther was a Tank Destroyer, based on the Panther chassis and armed with the 88mm L/71 gun. 

The vehicles was proposed in October 1942 and Hitler inspected a prototype some fourteen months later. A total of 392 were produced by two manufacturers up to March 1945.

The turreted Panther tank mounted a 75mm gun but, by eliminating the turret and adding a fixed superstructure it proved possible to mount a larger gun, the Tiger’s formidable 88mm. The Jagdpanther was also renowned for the exceptional use of sloped armour and it remains a modern, sleek looking design. Even so there were problems. Since the gun had limited traverse the driver often had to swing the entire vehicle to bring the gun to bear and after a while this resulted a period of final drive gear failures. Once this was remedied it turned out to be a fearsome weapon; in a well selected ambush location, for which the camouflage shown on our exhibit was typical, the Jagdpanther could destroy a number of opponents before being discovered and attacked. Although issued to anti-tank battalions to start with these vehicles later found their way into tank units who generally would have preferred turreted vehicles.

The Tank Museum’s Jagdpanther

This Jagdpanther was one of a batch found partly completed on the production lines at MNH (Hannover) after the German surrender and completed under supervision by REME.

 

Tank facts

Country of use
Germany
Full Name
Sd. Kfz. 173. Jagdpanther
Armour
80 mm
Speed
46 kph
Weight
45.5 tonnes
Crew
5
Secondary Weapon
1 x 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun
Main Weapon
1 x 8.8 cm PaK 43 L/71
Number produced
415
Produced by
Germany
Location
WW2: War Stories
Era
WW2

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