Ironman Panther


  It is a commonly established belief that an average Panther tank would hardly last past a full fuel tank without mechanical breakdown, however, this one driver brought his machine, a recovery vehicle based on Panther's hull, on quite a journey.



"IX Exceptional achievements of tank drivers

1. Achievements of a Panther recovery tank drivers

Performance of a Panther-recovery tank driver. Unteroffizier Krause of a Panther workshop platoon has up to 3 May 1944 driven his Panther recovery tank – Chassis No. 212132 – 4,200km without an engine change or damage to the transmission, including the final drive units, gearbox and drive shaft. Approximately 1,000km of this was made towing a Panther tank. The vehicle and engine are still in excellent condition and continue to be operational.

Inspector General of tank forces awards a special recognition of service to Unteroffizier Krause."



   Chassis No. 212132 was, according to www.panther1944.de, manufactured in MAN factory in june 1943. It was one of the first series vehicles, that were manufactured as simple conversions from existing Panther D hulls. In future, I will try to track down which unit it was delivered to and where it was deployed in combat.

* From Nachrichtenblatt Der Panzertruppen, No.12, June 1944.

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