If you spend anytime watching WW2 combat footage you’ve likely seen
just about every variant of the Panther that Germany produced.
However, there’s one type of Panther that you won’t see in any footage. In today's episode we
take a look at a tank you’ve probably only ever seen in video games, the Panther F.
Although many would place the Panther as one of the best tanks of the second world war it
was not without its flaws. Aside from the well known issues relating to its transmission it
was quickly found that the curved mantlet the tank used was prone to acting like a shot trap.
A shot trap occurs most commonly by angled or curved plates which although being strong enough
to ricochet shells can redirect the impact into a weaker portion of the vehicle. With the Panther
this occurred when shells struck the lower turret and due to the curved nature of the plate would
be sent straight into the significantly weaker hull roof. Obviously this was a major problem,
especially for the people who would have suddenly found themselves in possession of
an enemy projectile. The solution to this problem which would actually see combat was the Panther G
also known to some as the chinstrap panther. This tank featured a slightly redesigned mantlet with
a wedge of armor added to the bottom which prevented a shot trap from occurring. These
tanks would begin production in March of 1944 being the last type to see action during the war,
but we aren't here to talk about the G we want to discuss its younger brother the F.
The main difference that would separate the G from the F was the completely redesigned turret. Prior
to this new turret the Panther variants had all used pretty much the same turret with only minor
upgrades being made. This was not the case for the F. Attempts to create a new turret with a narrow
gun mantlet would begin in 1943. Not only would this turret present a smaller target for enemy
gunners to hit but it would also feature a slight slope thus preventing the dreaded shot trap.
Design work would continue on this turret with a drawing from Rheinmetall dated the
first of March 1944 which showed the conceptual design for the turret.
This early design was known as the ‘Turm-Panther (schmale Blende). Along with the new shape of the
turret another requirement was the installation of a rangefinder into the turret. This would
eventually lead to a bulge on either side of the turret being added to encase the rangefinder.
Along with the rangefinder the standard telescopic sight was replaced with a periscope, although in
some of the early photos a hole is still visible for a normal sight. This new turret would also
receive a further increase in protection with thicker armor being used in its production.
The front was increased to 120mm with the sides and rear being increased to 60mm. Despite these
changes however the internal components of the turret would remain largely the same as that
of the G. This resulted in a 30 to 40 percent reduction in man hours to produce the turret.
In spring of 1944 for reasons unknown work on the turret design was transferred to Daimler-Benz.
Along with the previously mentioned aspects of the design a set of requirements was
issued to the company. These included the replacement of the MG34 coax with the MG42
due to the armored MG34 no longer being in production. A reduction to the cost of
production was also required as well as a desire for the tanks to easily be converted by personnel
into a command vehicle or into a night fighting vehicle with the use of the FG 1250 system. In
fact all Panther Fs were intended to be equipped with this system. If you want to know more about
this early night vision you can check out the video I did on that topic after this video.
The armament of this new turret would be a modified version of the 7.5cm KwK.42 called the
7.5cm KwK 44/1 with a new conical mantlet similar to the one on the Tiger 2. This turret would
become known as the Schmalturm or narrow turret. With the new turret completed it was decided to
mount it onto a slightly modified Panther G hull and the tank would be given the name Panther F.
The main change to the hull would be an increased amount of deck armor being raised from 16 to 25
on the main plate. The hatches for the driver and radio operator were redesigned as well.
One of the strangest changes to the design was the use of an STG44 in place of the MG34 for
a hull MG. This was again likely due to the discontinuation of the armored MG34.
As for the turrets several prototypes were manufactured in 1944 being called
versuchs-schmalturm or experimental narrow turret. One or possibly two Panther G hulls were equipped
with this turret for testing. Note that one has a muzzle break although the final armament would
not have needed this thanks to the improvements the new 75mm received. It’s possible this image
shows a second turret mounted onto another G hull but this could also be the same hull used for the
previous turret. Due to the crop of the photo not showing the barrel end it's impossible to
tell if this tank also mounted a muzzle brake. A production schedule from the 20th of October
1944 shows that it was planned to have all Panthers by June of 1945 be fitted with the
Schmalturm turret. Unfortunately for this tank delays would cause it to never see completion.
Representatives from M.A.N during interrogation claimed that Daimler Benz delivered one Panther F
chassis with a Panther G turret. This along with the fact that several incomplete F hulls were
found alongside G hulls in the factory show that despite the grim situation the Germans
were in by that point of the war this tank very nearly saw completion. The previously mentioned
hybrid Panther F hull with G turret was indeed photographed both where it was knocked out and
later in a tank dump. The allies would end up capturing several examples of the Schmalturm
turret from Berlin sending them back to their respective countries for testing.
With the state of the German records by this point it's not entirely impossible that these
could have been from actual tanks sent out in a last ditch effort to defend Berlin. If this were
the case the tanks would have seen service with the 2nd battalion of the 2nd Panzer Regiment.
However no evidence exists to support this and it's merely speculation from what we know.
Without any actual combat reports we have very little to go off when
discussing this tank's potential viability. With that being said we can infer based on
what we know a rough estimate of how it may have performed. Please bear in mind this is
mainly my speculation and could be entirely incorrect but I’m working with what I have.
With the new design of the turret eliminating the shot trap and increasing protection
this would have eliminated one of the main frontal weak points of the Panther.
This would have definitely increased its ability to take hits without any severe damage. However
even though by this stage of the war many of the teething issues with the Panther had been ironed
out it was still a very costly beast and prone to breakdowns. Had the war continued for long enough
for the tank to enter mass production it certainly could have helped increase the number of Panthers
leaving the factory thanks to the decrease in time needed to manufacture the turrets. This
really would not have made much of a difference though. No tank or weapon could save Germany at
this point with enemies on all sides and allied bombers pounding the factories constantly.
Today one badly damaged Schmalturm turret remains on display at the Bovington tank museum.
Thankfully though with the help of modern video games this tank has been at least
somewhat preserved for future generations with both War Thunder and World of Tanks
allowing you to use this forgotten cat. What do you think about this tank and did
you learn anything new about it from my video today? I’d love to hear from you so leave a
comment down below. Feel free to also recommend future topics you might want me to cover.
A huge thanks to each and every one of you who has already subscribed. As I’m writing this we
just passed 100k subscribers on the channel which is absolutely incredible. If you haven’t already
subbed now would be the perfect time to do so and keep that insane growth going I really appreciate
every single one of you that chooses to do so. If you haven’t already please consider joining
my Discord or following me on other social media using the links in the description.
As I mentioned earlier in the video I recommend you follow this video up by checking out my
previous video on the night vision used on the Panther tanks during the second world war.
I’ll put a link to it on your screen but if that doesn't interest you feel free to check out the
full playlist for this series. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you wherever the links take you.