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now let's get into the video even as the first production panthers were just rolling off the
assembly line a program was already underway to create an improved version of the machine
many misconceptions and false information about this tank have been spread around due in part to
the tank's portrayal in games like war thunder and world of tanks which don't accurately represent
the historical version of this machine in today's video we'll be clearing the confusion surrounding
the panther ii throughout history there have been countless tanks all designed to kill but not all
have been a success what happened to the ones that never made it and why did they fail
my name is ConeOfArc join me as we journey through time uncovering failed projects and forgotten
creations in cursed by design January 1943 the first variants of the panther complete production
and enter testing barely days would pass before WaPruf 6 would start a program to increase part
interchangeability between the panther and tiger tanks this would in theory help production of
tanks and spare parts by allowing more factories to produce them without needing to retool the
machinery these tanks would be designated panther 2 and tiger 2. technical requirements
were given for the new panther at a meeting held at Daimler-Benz on the 27th of February
the tank would share the same tracks as the tiger along with the single torsion bar system it used
and all steel road wheels the tiger's regenerative steering and final drive mechanisms were also
planned to be utilized as for the technical requirements it was determined the tank should
mount the 88 millimeter kwk-43 from the tiger ii the turret would feature a flat front and later
be known as the schmalturm or narrow turret a rangefinder would also be fitted also planned with
storage for ammo in the turret and potentially a stabilized gun sight another later planned
addition was the night vision systems used on some later versions of the panther which I've covered
in a previous video in this series unrelated to the panther but still part of this initial meeting
Krupp was given a contract to test the possibility of using a gun stabilizer on the tiger 2 although
this and many other initial design criteria would later be dropped as the project lost steam
other changes from the original panther included improvements to the hull armor the front was
increased from 80 millimeters to 100 millimeters and the sides to 60 millimeters with only the
rear armor keeping the same 40 millimeters as the current tanks this brought the total weight of the
completed tank to 50 tons this increased armor would be one of the driving factors later in
the project's life which very nearly saw it enter production expectations must have been high since
it was envisioned that the panther 2 would begin production in September of 1943 just nine months
after the panther itself had begun production the push for the panther 2 was later strengthened as
losses due to soviet anti-tank rifles began to be reported due to the panthers weak side armor of
only 40 to 50 millimeters depending on the variant they became easy targets for these attacks the
panther ii however as i mentioned earlier was planned to have 60 millimeters which would have
greatly reduced the risk posed by the rifles in a way though this would also be a nail in the coffin
of the project although work continued on the project with two prototypes being ordered in 1944
focus was slowly fading from the panther ii in part this was due to new side skirts added to
the sides of the production panthers which mostly solved the previous weaknesses to anti-tank rifles
as well as improvements to the tank overall mainly though this was yet another program being squeezed
tighter and tighter by increased allied bombing campaigns these strained the already struggling
German production lines due to this work on the panther 2 was all but stopped to put more emphasis
on the already in production panthers work had also begun on the e-series vehicles which were
planned to eventually replace both the panther and the tiger and I'll cover the e-series in a future
video for those of you who want to know more about it but as for the panther 2 by the end of the
war a single prototype was delivered by man and later would be fitted with the panther g turret
but would never see combat as it was captured by the Americans this tank still exists today being
shipped to Aberdeen after the war and now residing at the general George Patton museum in Kentucky
the planned schmalturm turrets were also only produced in very limited numbers by the end
of the war with only one being mounted on a panther hall as a prototype for the panther f
several examples of this turret were captured by the allies at the end of the war and the
remaining one remains on display at the Bovington tank museum although it is in very poor condition
having been used as a ranged target after the war in the end the panther ii was a design doomed to
failure the short window of design time given to the project would likely have resulted in numerous
design flaws if it ever entered production the increasing weight of tanks was already causing
headaches for the German supply lines and with a weight in excess of 50 tons and with many unproven
design elements this was only asking for trouble although this is not to say the project was
without merit as some of the improvements from the panther ii design would see use on the panther g
and the shift towards interchangeable parts had the potential to ease some of the strain on the
factories producing them as with many late war projects though it would prove too little too late
contrary to what you see in games this tank never was equipped with the 88 millimeter gun it was
originally planned to use and as far as i can tell the gun was never placed in the small term turret
and had the tank seen combat it would have more than likely been essentially just a panther g with
better hull armor thanks to all my YouTube members for voting on this topic in the monthly poll
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for that 10 off if I missed anything in this video please let me know in the comments with the
sources if you have them as this was a relatively tricky video to create with so little information
available that specifically talks about the panther ii don't forget to like the video if
you did and subscribe for more videos like it in the future now go check out the rest of the
curse by design episodes while you wait for the release of the next one and i hope to see you then