tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030145265861917845.post5450921304223382644..comments2024-03-28T14:35:30.147-04:00Comments on Tank Archives: The English PantherPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09622237223229485503noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030145265861917845.post-13010001622141112832021-12-13T05:46:10.179-05:002021-12-13T05:46:10.179-05:00Nice article but unfortunately incorrect in some d...Nice article but unfortunately incorrect in some details, which have persisted in books for many years.<br /><br />The idea of a heavier medium tank for the British army dates back to early 1942: Rolls-Royce had just been given the contract to design a decent tank engine for British tanks - the RR Meteor engine, based on the Merlin aero engine. On seeing what they were being asked to put their lovely new engine into - the Cromwell tank - the RR engineers were aghast, there was so much wrong with the tank design. <br /><br />The RR engineers immediately proposed a new 45-ton tank, using an uprated 700hp Meteor engine, with the high-velocity 17-Pounder gun - the same spec as the German's were working on for their new Panther tank. A spec, the A29, was written for the new design, and RR called it the 'Clan' tank, after the works building they were using. It looked like an enlarged Cromwell tank, rather boxy.<br /><br />Sadly, the Government thought the new 45-ton tank too big & heavy, and the project was shelved.<br /><br />Fast forward to 1943, British Army staff has begun proposing an increase in the firepower and armour of British medium cruiser tanks more vociferously.<br /><br />The initial specification was for a tank immune frontally to the German 88mm. The new tank had a turret ring big enough to accommodate not only the 17-Pounder gun, but also the 32-Pounder gun that ended up in the Tortoise tank. <br /><br />The only problem was a 40-ton weight limit that was set for the new design - the designers initially opted for a sloped glacis of only 50mm, loosing not only the hull gunners slot (and weak-point) in the glacis, but also a vision port for the driver in the glacis as well, to ensure maximum armour integrity in the thin plate. The turret got 125mm of armour in a cast & welded design.<br /><br />Only once the British and Americans captured a number of Panther tanks during the fighting in France in July 1944, did the designers realise the spec needed to be upped - the Panther tank, it was realised, was to be the main tank of the German army - the proposed 77mm gun got dropped, the weight was allowed to go to 45-tonnes, with the glacis upped to 75mm armour, and the turret upped to 150mm armour.Design Agency in Cambridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15804636887407130353noreply@blogger.com