Test drive tank "Panther"
“Hush, hush, come on!” - the museum staff is commanding, although we are crawling like a turtle. The tank is not designed to ride on asphalt - on the ground is much more comfortable.
In 1942-1945, the Germans manufactured almost 6000 tanks PzKpfw V, better known as the Panther. But only twenty-nine vehicles have survived to this day, and according to official data, only one such tank is stored on the territory of Russia. The editors of Popular Mechanics had a chance to ride on it.
On the one hand, it is strange: the Soviet Union got several hundred captured “Panthers” - both directly during the war and after it ended. The first PzKpfw V was used by the Red Army in the fall of the year 1943 at the Kursk Bulge (in the 59-th separate tank regiment). But in the operation of the captured car were both pros and cons. The advantages of the tank consisted in magnificent armament: the German 75-mm cannon KwK 42 made it possible to hit targets at much greater distances than any Soviet weapon of the same class could. In this regard, the German beast was planned to be used as a tank destroyer.
An official document was even issued - “A Quick Guide to Using a TV Captured Tank (“ Panther ”)". ”But life made its own corrections. The Panther was too difficult to operate and inconvenient to repair - there was a catastrophic lack of spare parts was at all), moreover, the tank demanded much higher quality fuel than Soviet cars. Therefore, the captured Panthers did not receive widespread use and were used only sporadically (unlike its predecessors Pz. III and Pz. IV). In principle, similar remnants "Panther" and noted German tankers: tank was damp, nedovedennym to the ideal, and the percentage of technical failures among Pz.V was higher than that of other German cars.
Camouflage "Panther" gives it one of the tanks 5-th Panzer Division SS "Viking",
but this is a fantasy of restorers: in Soviet times, all captured tanks were repainted in green.
And after the war, the “Panthers” were completely unnecessary in the Union. They were used in different ways. Basically - to shoot targets during exercises and tests at the sites. Others just went to the smelter. As a result, only one such tank remained, which immediately after the war was deliberately transferred to the Museum of military vehicles (now the Central Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka). There, in peace and well-being, PzKpfw V Ausf. G and got to our days - oddly enough, this is what made the car really unique.
All native
As already mentioned, the Panther 29 has been preserved in the world, of which 12 is a modification of G. It is such a machine that is kept in Kubinka. Most of all tanks in France - as many as seven pieces, six each survived in the United States and Great Britain.
Zimmeritaya coating of the sides - the original, from military times. Zimmerite was designed to protect against magnetic mines.
In the autumn of 1944, they refused from such a coating, which also helps in the dating of "Panther". When the tank is in the stowed position, a special clamp holds the gun in a horizontal position. The chassis of the “Panther” designed by Heinrich Ernst Knipkamp, thanks to the chess order of the rollers, allowed the tank to move very smoothly and evenly distribute the load on the ground. On the other hand, the complexity of the design caused many problems in the repair.
The problem is that story this particular "Panther" is unknown, and it is almost impossible to track it. Specialists from Kubinka are investigating, but so far only the obvious facts are clear: this is one of the 300 trophy machines inherited by the USSR, and it was made no earlier than March of the 1944 of the year (that month, the G version went into series) and not in 1945 ( because on the later machines G the shape of the mask of the instrument was changed).
In principle, it would be possible to determine the ownership of a car by its camouflage: the Germans had a great variety of camouflage, to the extent that the question of painting was decided by the unit commander, there was no single standard for this. But all captured cars ruthlessly repainted in green - so the original camouflage was not preserved. Today the Panther is painted in the colors of the Viking SS 5 Panzer Division (more precisely, in one of the types of camouflage of this division), but this is more of a fantasy of restorers than a historically accurate reconstruction.
This is where the uniqueness lies. Actually, except for coloring, everything in the tank is native. In general, everything is on 99% (except perhaps the worn piston rings and some other “consumable” parts). Native gearbox, Maybach HL 230P45 engine, controls, magneto, instruments - even the original ignition key, even the leather on the seats and the native tsimmeritovoy coating (armor plaster). Most of the foreign copies have been restored more modernly - the power units, tracks, elements of the internal space have been replaced. “Panther” from Kubinka allows you to accurately imagine what the tank looked like then.
Generally, if not for the demilitarization required for the museum exhibit, the tank could have fought even tomorrow. He is not just on the go - he is ready for action. The engine and the cooling system work, nothing leaks. Of course, there is a certain metal fatigue - after all, the Panther has been almost 70 years old. But good storage conditions and very high-quality restoration did their job - as if the tank had just come off the assembly line.
Works and concerns
The restoration of "Panther" had two main stages. The first is in 1990-x, when for half a century the car was “laid up”, it was snapped up and put on the move. The archive of the museum contains pictures of the restoration - a tank, disassembled as a children's designer. Even then, the experts reacted to the technique with due respect: nothing was thrown away, every detail was carefully brought into perfect condition and returned to its rightful place.
But as time went on, several years ago, during the transformation of the museum, it was decided to bring the tank, which seemed to be officially on the move, to mind. Immediately discovered the pitfalls. “Panther” started up, but water began to get into the lubrication system, that is, there were cracks in the oil line or gaskets dispersed, but in any case it became clear that the engine needs major repairs.
In the museum itself, there was no equipment — after all, we need machine tools and high-precision tools, plus at least a test stand, and Maybach went to the ZIL, where he was taken apart - just like a tank a decade ago. Worn out parts that are not subject to restoration were replaced, all cleaned up, put in excellent condition and drove off on a test bench - the Germans in 1944 would not have done better. In parallel with the repair of the engine in Kubinka, the restoration of the tank was going on - the mistakes made by the masters in 1990-x were corrected, some elements were added, the broken tracks were replaced with the original ones found by search engines at the battlefields and preserved in almost perfect condition.
In May 2013, the car was finished. I must say that initially the idea was to make a perfect, “picture” museum piece, as for a textbook on the operation of the tank. That is, to hang the entire entrenching tool (there are enough original German shovels and picks in the vaults), spare tracks for special hooks, make and place inside a large-scale copy of the projectile and arrange the tank in the colors and signs of the SS Leibstandard SS Adolf Hitler.
But this idea had to be abandoned for an amazing reason - the tank turned out to be so in demand that it was simply impossible to pull on with the end of the restoration. He was required at the “Battlefield” festival, and at other military shows - of course, the only Panther in the country, and even on the move. And they didn’t hang up the entrenching tools, because in that case the tank would have to be placed behind the fence at a considerable distance from museum visitors. You never know who needs a sapper blade - you will not follow. But even without an additional link, the Panther inspires respect.
Personal experience
When “crawling” on the tank, you climb inside, touch the controls, the sensations are completely different than when you simply look at old photos. Inside it is very simple - despite the common legends about air conditioning and the incredible comfort offered to German tank crews. Austere, very tightly arranged, quite uncomfortable inside the fighting machine. The only concession is horse seats and soft leather seats trimmed with natural leather (by the way, the Thirty-Fours sometimes left the factories without seats, the tankers put rolled-up padded jackets under them).
But otherwise - a car for a fight, not for rest. It affects the build quality. It is German - exactly in the sense that we put in this word today, that is, the ideal: the chamfers are smoothed, the corners are flat, the mounting accuracy is amazing. At the same time, the heating of the thermosyphon heater to start the engine in winter was carried out with the help of a blowtorch, which looks pretty wild in terms of the overall design and technological effectiveness. However, the more advanced "Tigers" were the same.
Preserved Panthers: AUSF. D (number - 2)
Netherlands: tank monument in Breda Switzerland: Panzermuseum Thun in Thun
Outside the tank is interesting with a huge number of some fasteners, parts, the purpose of most of which at first glance is completely unclear. Well, here a shovel was clearly attached, here was a spare track for the caterpillar, and what is this? The thing is that when the tank was at the disposal of the crew, tankers almost always upgraded it at their own discretion. Fasteners were welded outside, for example, for helmets, various tools that are not included in the original ammunition, sometimes even boxes for overcoats or personal belongings, “trunk”. Therefore, if you put five “Panthers” next to each other, there are hardly any two alike.
When you get into a tank for the first time, you are afraid to step on an element for the first five minutes, you are afraid to touch something inside: it’s a museum piece, it’s 70 years old, you need to be very careful with it ... Only then comes the realization: it’s a tank. He also withstands a projectile hit. What harm can your sneakers do to him? Then, when you realize that this is a powerful combat vehicle, and not an exhibit behind glass, you begin to treat the machine quite differently. As a tanker.
Preserved Panthers: AUSF. G (number - 12)
UK: one each at the Bovington Tank Museum (Bovington) and the Defense College of Management and Technology (Shrivenham). USA: two copies each at the US Army's National Armor & Cavalry Museum (Fort Benning) and the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor (Fort Knox). Netherlands: Oorlogsmuseum Overloon in Overlon. Russia: Central Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka. France: Musée des blindés de Saumur (Saumur). Belgium: Tanks-monuments in Uffalize, Selle and Granmenile.
Preserved Panthers: AUSF. A (number - 15)
France: two at the Musée des blindés de Saumur (Saumur), one at the Overlord Museum (Colville-sur-Mer), two memorial tanks in Paris and one at the landfill in Mourmelon-le-Grand. Germany: one car each at Deutsche Panzer- museum Munster (Munster) and Auto- und Technik- museum Sinsheim (Sinsheim). USA: One each at the US Army's National Armor & Cavalry Museum (Fort Benning) and the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (Portola Valley). Great Britain: three cars in the private collection of The Wheatcroft Collection and one in the private collection of the Rex & Rod Cadman Collection. Canada: Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
In Kubinka there are still quite unique tanks that I really want to put on the course, turn from stationary exhibits into live cars. Technique must work - in this case, of course, in a peaceful field. "Panther" - one of the many tanks in the restoration series, and therefore the keepers of the museum - good luck!
We thank the Central Museum of Armored Armament and Equipment of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and our consultant Andrey Chernyaev for help in preparing the material.
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