Industry and tank production in Germany

on another tread ,there was a link on the tiger 1, and some brilliant stuff
about armor penetration , if germany could have bumped up it's
production six month earlier , the war in ukraine could have been (possibly) different and how come than there is prototype in the summer of 42 , used in battle around leningrad during the winter , with mass
production happening around the summer of 43 ,
what was wrong with those guy , it's three time more than the JS2
who is to blame ,the dreaded german perfectionism , army administration
technical problems , shortage of supplies or ignorance that there was a
war on

 

The Panther and Tiger were both fuel-guzzling monsters, which Germany could not maintain for very long. Their industries simply did not have the resources to churn out more tanks like these, and there were no crews to man them. Add to this the fact that simply having heavier tanks isn't going to win you the war, and the fact that the Allies had plenty of weapons capable of dealing with both Panthers and Tigers, and this "solution" of yours really leads nowhere.

 

Hitler encouraged competition and infighting among his subordinates as a means to prevent anyone else becoming too powerful. This caused a lack of coordination in the war effort and a loss of efficiency. The Luftwaffe spent effort on projects like the Me210 which were disasters.

As far as tanks go, IMO the Panther was all the Germans needed. The Panther II would have been effective against Allied heavy tanks coming into service in 1944-45 and it didn't have the weight and reliability problems the Pz. VIs did. The Jagdpanther was an effective tank killer also.

 

Considering that the Panther II had been abandonned in mid-1943, I doubt it would have been effective against Allied heavy tanks. Besides, the heavier armour of the Panther II project would likewise have increased the total weight of the Panther with about seven tons. The steel wheels with internal rubber cushins were implemented in the Panther program. Aside from that, there wasn't any difference in design.

 

Was it abandoned because it was a failure, or in favour of other heavy tank production?

At seven additional tons it still would have been lighter than the Tiger I, and it would have had the more powerful 88L71.

 

It was abandonned in favour of the Panther I.

And no, it wouldn't have had the 8,8 cm Kw K 43. It was never considered for the Panther II, only the Panther I.

 

I must be thinking of a completely different tank. Maybe the Panther F?

 

there is a lot of talk about the jagpanther being a great tank killer , the
infantry certainly seems to have loved it , what was the pro and con of
ditching the honorable PZKW4 and pushing the production of the
jagpanther ,in 44

 

Pros:

a bigger gun in a better armoured and (I think) more mobile package.
Plus standardising the main TD with the main medium tank (Panther was planned to replace PzIV as the standard Medium)


Cons:

bigger & heavier. Takes a wee bit more resources to produce each unit.

 

I think you mean Jagdpanzer IV? The Jagdpanther wasn't produced at the cost of ditching the Pz IV. The Panzer IV was produced right up until near the war's end. It's production was 'cut' though in order to build the Jagdpanzer IV.

The Jagdpanzer IV (especially the L/70 version) was an excellent tank killer. It might not have been a bad idea to have ditched PZ IV production altogether in mid 1944 and concentrated on Jadgpanzer IV production. It was cheaper, quicker to build and better armed and armoured.

 

Lyndon , my apologies , I wus wrong all those years,
confused the jagdpanzer IV with the jagdpanther ,
it's your reference to the 75/70 wich got me to check
the jagdpanther was equiped with a 88
it's all clearer now !

 

No worries.

No problem. I think the Jagdpanzer IV was an excellent 'beast' itself. Looks damn cool too. There were circa 769 Jagdpanzer IV (L/48) and 930 Jagdpanzer IV (L/70) produced in the final year of the war.

 

That would be Panzer IV/70