Nobody can really answer to that question. Usually, the two considered as the best are Panther and T34, though Panther is heavy for a medium tank and T34 poorly finished with a not so good gun.
Now, every tank you mention has good and bad points, even if not talking about manufacturing.
Panther: somewhat heavy (thus expensive), good armour, well placed (mainly on the front, even if armour above wheels was thin enough to be penetrated even by Sherman 75mm rounds), good gun. Engine development was not really completed, e.g. I think it was not supposed to be used at full speed (3000rpm), as vibrations could damage it.
Sherman: too high, 75mm was obsolete by 1944, and 76mm was only marginally better, suspension was also obsolete (much better on "easy eight", though), but easy to manufacture, comfortable and rugged.
T-34/85, good tank, but poor finish : poor radios and intercom, uncomfortable, water entered in the hull, damaging radios and made crew life a hell, gun was not that bad, but had poor characteristics for its caliber and was not able to penetrate big German tanks front armour.
Sherman Firefly: Sherman with an AT gun, only good for AT, poor against soft targets and not enough armoured.
Comet: better than the Cromwell, but some flaws :too thin belly armour and too boxy shape.
I see your source, though I doubt that Panther was almost the same price than Pz IV: it was heavier (more steel), had a more advanced gun and a more powerful engine.
I don't think that it was so easy to manufacture that it fill the gap in price between them.
This is only a feeling, though.
I see your source, though I doubt that Panther was almost the same price than Pz IV: it was heavier (more steel), had a more advanced gun and a more powerful engine.
I don't think that it was so easy to manufacture that it fill the gap in price between them.
This is only a feeling, though.
Yes, but the price in RM has nothing to do with the materials used. The price was agreed before series construction commenced (much like present-day large gouvernment contracts, although today it is the rule rather than the exception to break these contracts so I don't think the analogy holds water )
I think that the Panther was the best meduim tank in World War II, though it was not present in enough numbers.
I don't see your point: Panther was the standard medium tank, along with PzIV. Do you mean that it would have been better to replace PzIV by Panther or build more tanks?
In both cases, anyway, it was not possible.
I belive the Panther was the best medium tank of WWII. While it did have its flaws as all tanks do. It had superior armor and firepower. Communications were excelent and it had a good power to weight ratio. The problems that befeled the Panther, (and buy the way ALL German tanks) was lack of spares and latter lack of fuel. The spares problem was horrable, with panzer regiments sending technisions to parts factories to acquire parts and tanks being abonded because there were no parts to fix them. For the Panther, the defencies of the German supply system brought out the worst in the design.
Ok, moving on a bit from here, if you had to be in one of these tanks during the war, which would it be? Also which is the most pleasing to the eye?
My preference would be to be in a Panther while I think the T34 is the best looking, almost the coupe of the tank world!
Best regards,
Adrian.
__________________ Best Regards, Adrian. Seeking any material relating to U-406 & her crew & LDO marked EK2s.
best medium tank
Who knows?
)
Panther
Also which is the most pleasing to the eye? 
Linear Mode
