Best Tank of WW2

[carman1877]

Which do you think was the best tank: King Tiger, Panther, Sherman, or T-34
(I belive the King Tiger, also all versions of the tanks count such as firefly.)

 

[eckherl]

I would give that title to the Russian T-34 series, speed, protection, fire power and simplified mass production. Russian T-34 design was always capable of keeping pace with German medium size tank models and maintained the capability of defeating them on the battlefield.

 

[Firn]

While they aren't strictly spoken tanks, the assault guns, especially the later Mark III seemed to have been greatly feared by any soviet tanker. At least the ones which gave their view on their war on a website which I consulted for another topic. Perhaps the most cost-effective AFV of the war, with a supreme track record.

 

[at0]

The best tank to serve in would have to be the Panther, it just had that little bit extra than what the T-34 had. The T-34 though was the best tank for an army in the war because it did not have the over engineering that the Panther supposedly had.

 

[Palnatoke]

When deployed by well trained crew and adequate logistics and surport The Panther was superior on the battlefield to the T-34, also when counting in the ressources needed to build and maintain them.

If the two tanks weren't deployed with well trained crew and adequate surport and logistics the Panther looses much of it's edge to the T-34, which begins to win in the ressource game.

 

[Gremlin29]

T-34 was a spectacular tank but I don't believe numbers built or simplicity make something better. Panther was the best production tank in my opinion, great mobility, great armor protection and the main gun and optics totally outclassed the T-34-85 which was the "best" of the T-34 series used during the war. One must remember that the purpose of a tank is not to fight other tanks, but fighting other tanks is an obvious critical capability. For purely tank vs tank duels, I believe the Jagdpanther was the best of them all.

 

[eckherl]

T-34 was a spectacular tank but I don't believe numbers built or simplicity make something better. Panther was the best production tank in my opinion, great mobility, great armor protection and the main gun and optics totally outclassed the T-34-85 which was the "best" of the T-34 series used during the war. One must remember that the purpose of a tank is not to fight other tanks, but fighting other tanks is an obvious critical capability. For purely tank vs tank duels, I believe the Jagdpanther was the best of them all.

The Panther was a good tank design but reliability issues was a concern until they rolled out the G model in 1944, then it is my opinion that it was king daddy in the medium class fighting weight. T-34 caused major head aches for the Germans through out the entire war. Could one also argue that a Russian JS 2 was a medium class tank, it did compare to a Panther in weight class.

As far as the Jagdpanther, even the Russians held it in high regards, it is a pity that they only fielded a few hundred of them.

 

[Gremlin29]

I agree. The T-34 reigned supreme until the Panther came along, which is significant since T-34 was in use in 1941 and Panther D didn't make it's debut until Kursk almost 3 years later. Until the then, German tankers didn't have a suitable tank to fight T-34's until Panzer IV F/G came out.

 

[Palnatoke]

I think one should make a distinction between the in technical /cabability terms "best" and then the most "important" tank.

In the technical/cabability discussion Pz V and VI must be ranked very high. Panzer V somehow represent the sum of german tank design resulting in a very good all rounder which stroke a good compromise between armour, armament and mobility, while Panzer VI, when it entered service in mid 42 did not have it's equal on the battlefield, assuming it was up and running...

In the "most important" discussion T34 can be rated as number one, sherman is allso quite high on my list, while I would pick Panzer IV and STUGIIIs as the most important german tanks.

 

[Gremlin29]

Well said Palnatoke, I agree completely.

 

[Rish]

The Panther was a good tank design but reliability issues was a concern until they rolled out the G model in 1944, then it is my opinion that it was king daddy in the medium class fighting weight. T-34 caused major head aches for the Germans through out the entire war. Could one also argue that a Russian JS 2 was a medium class tank, it did compare to a Panther in weight class.

As far as the Jagdpanther, even the Russians held it in high regards, it is a pity that they only fielded a few hundred of them.

I dont think it was a pity they only fielded a few hundred of them. i think it was a good thing

 

[Waylander]

I alos think that Palnatoke hit the nail on the head.
Since the question was about WWII I voted for the T-34 since it contributed alot to the Sovjet war efforts.
Speaking strictly of the capabilities of one tank I would have voted for the Panther, too.
IMHO the Panther was one of the most important forerunners of the modern MBTs. It's combination of good armor, mobility, firepower and situational awareness/tracking capabilities was close to being revolutionary as well as the idea of it being used as the mainstay of the German Panzer Divisions.

 

[jaffo4011]

the british centurian was designed during world war 2 and would surely have been the best of all if it had entered service.fantastic armour,great gun,good mobility.....it incorporated all of the lessons learnt by the allied forces during the conflict

 

[Scott]

Best has so many possible interpretations. King Tiger was the most dominant in a 1-on-1 battle, but limited production and reliability issues limited it's impact on the outcome of the war. Including it is somewhat like including the B-70 Valkyrie in rankings for best post-war bomber.

Sherman would rank last in 1-on-1 battle, but the US produced so many of them that they played a significant role in the outcome of the war.

T-34 was a superior tank when introduced & sloped armor was a revoutionary development. Soviets produced so many that they similarly had a significant role in the outcome of the war.

Panther was designed to be superior to T-34 & succeeded, so it got my vote.

 

[Kaka22]

One American WW2 tank that doesn't get much recognition is the M26 Pershing.

WW2 Combat Footage - Pershing vs Panther

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqH_WEqNK5Y]YouTube - WW2 Combat Footage - Pershing vs Panther[/ame]

 

[eckherl]

the british centurian was designed during world war 2 and would surely have been the best of all if it had entered service.fantastic armour,great gun,good mobility.....it incorporated all of the lessons learnt by the allied forces during the conflict

British Comet was a pretty good tank also, to bad they came out during the final year of the war.

 

[mavericck]

Panther gets my vote, at least the one from 1944.