19 replies to this topic

[RupertBear]

Pershing V Panther


real footage of an epic ww2 tank battle

[slicker]

I whould not call that "epic" since the Panther never fired a single shot. Weird . Was the gun damaged ? Who knows ? What gun does the pershing use ? I heard its some kind of a 90 MM ?

[luwinkle]

Pershing uses a 90mm.

There's more 'raw' footage out there that has another cameraman following the Pershing around.  Never get to see the Panther, though.
But you do get to see an infantryman with a M1919 with a makeshift sling made out of a cloth ammo belt.

[slicker]

I just found another movie here with the same thing but with a more detailed explanation . It seems that 2 german tank crew lived and another ones fate is unknown. Burned for 3 days ? Oh man .

[killakanz]

Yeah, the footage of this engagement was studied in detail at another forum. The commentary on this video is wrong, the driver got out, as did the commander, loader and radio operator. All 4 of them are clearly seen dismounting and running away in the extended footage. The gunner never emerges.
The Panther doesn't fire because the Pershing fired first as they were still turning the turret. After the first hit the turret stops, the crew begin to bail. It's speculated the first hit killed the gunner.

[PanzerschreckLeopard]

Also, remember that Pershing was very new...and the fact the M26 didn't stop moving til AFTER the 1st shot hit.

[@grauwolf]

None of them survived, they died later, I saw a forum where the footage was studied, the Panther was alone in the center of Cologne and was aiming along other street, thats why he didn´t shoot, the wreck burned for a day or two if I remember well, later the muzzle brake was taken as a victory prize.
 Cologne Panther.jpg   919.91K   331 downloads
This is the classical picture of the tank after the muzzle brake was taken
 Panther tank in cologne. Appearntly destroyed by a M26 Pershing.jpg   104.01K   363 downloads
This is another taken the day after I believe, it was before the Muzzle brake was taken, you can see how the metal (or rubber?) melt with the heat

[luwinkle]

That looks like a different panther..since the one in the footage is facing the other direction.
Unless the camera mirrored the image.

[@grauwolf]

It´s the same Panther, look at the background,they later closed all hatches, and moved the turret slightly.

[theta0123]

slicker, on Aug 26 2010 - 22:11, said:

I whould not call that "epic" since the Panther never fired a single shot. Weird . Was the gun damaged ? Who knows ? What gun does the pershing use ? I heard its some kind of a 90 MM ?

It killed a sherman tank before, with dramatic footage of the tank commander dieing

Doesnt matter. The pershing shot first, it got the kill.
Why not call this epic? Because it is a german tank that got shot to pieces and not an allied one?
Dont bring the excuse why it lost. im tired of seeing such excuse posts

[WMD]

slicker, on Aug 26 2010 - 22:11, said:

I whould not call that "epic" since the Panther never fired a single shot. Weird . Was the gun damaged ? Who knows ? What gun does the pershing use ? I heard its some kind of a 90 MM ?

The Pershing was manned by Veteran sherman tank crews. The gunner knew that the Germans would NOT fire until the US tank did a firing stop and thus held there fire for the right moment. They did not know that the Pershing was the first tank in the world to have a gyrostablised gun.

The Pershing gunner fired while the tank was still moving. Thus getting the killing shot

[PzGrenKdr]

wrong, the Shermans and Stuarts had also a gyrostablised guns, also the gun was only stabilized in the vertical.

[BlackAngel]

good footage! the two tanks are very amazing!!!

[THX1138]

pretty graphic footage. Dieing in a tank is not the best way to go that's for sure.

[Arkhell]

pershing had epic gunner skillz, panther was unlucky like those things always go in combat 1 has to be a looser.

[dapprman]

WMD, on Aug 28 2010 - 14:13, said:

The Pershing was manned by Veteran sherman tank crews. The gunner knew that the Germans would NOT fire until the US tank did a firing stop and thus held there fire for the right moment. They did not know that the Pershing was the first tank in the world to have a gyrostablised gun.

The Pershing gunner fired while the tank was still moving. Thus getting the killing shot

Guys - please do a little research first on this very famous piece of film.  The Lone panther with no infantry support had taken out 2 shermans (in the long version of the film you see this as well), plus the pershing was guided along by infantry so as to get the jump on the panther.

[Feindfeuer]

War is a Teameffort, the lack of Infantry doomed the Panther from the beginning. He maybe had his reasons for not falling back, but his fate was sealed the moment he took a stand against a force consisting of mixed elements. Maybe it was blind fanatism, maybe he wanted to give the retreating elements more time but he sure remembered that this is how the french tankforce was decimated, even with superior armor (which is not realy the case in that battle anyway).

If you consider the early 'flawless' victories of the wehrmacht in france epic, than this is epic too, as the same tactics lead to a victory over an enemy in a similiar situation.

[Hirumaru]

YouTube said:

This video has been removed by the user.

Drats. =.=

[dapprman]

Try Here though I think it's only the final part, plus there's a frame by frame set here.

Actually thislooks like it might be the whole thing

[PanzerPabstat]

dapprman, on Dec 16 2010 - 00:32, said:

Try Here though I think it's only the final part, plus there's a frame by frame set here.

Actually thislooks like it might be the whole thing

If you can read german, this gives you the complete story and some awesome resarch regarding the last panther in cologne and his battle with the U.S. Forces, including a frame for frame analysis of the footage.

http://forum.panzer-...

And its not confirmed, that anyone of the 4 crew members who managed to bail out died on the spot or even later.