The common opinion is that the Panther was the best tank to come out of WWII. I have to agree that the Panther was the best "All-around" tank of the war.
The Panther was a medium tank like the Sherman and the T-34. Neither can compare with the Panther's firepower, frontal armor, and mobility combination. The T-34/85 is close but doesn't have the Panther's ability to hit at long range. The Sherman can't even keep up with the Panther on the open road so it's not even a factor. Even the later "Easy 8" Sherman compares poorly.
Yes, when it first rolled out it had some problems. Yea well, so did the M-16 rifle and the F-14 Tomcat. ...big deal. Problems can be fixed.
The question may be what about the King Tiger, JS-III or the M-26 Pershing (not listed but probably should have been)? They are all monsters with thick hides and killer guns. True.
The King Tiger was to heavy and slow to get around very well. However it may rank as the best tank in "defense".
The JS-III is the Russian answer to the King Tiger. Slightly more mobile than the King T with a better armor layout. But it's 122mm gun can't complete with the Tiger or the Panther at range. One heck of a punch but not too accurate.
The M-26 has good mobility, fair armor for a heavy, and a decent gun. But like the JS-III it came out too late to really be considered a WWII tank.
What I like about the Panther against the heavies is that it can easily take them from the side or rear, even at range. It's gun is that good. No other medium tank can make that claim. (Later Shermans maybe.)

Speed, mobility, armor, firepower, the Panther is the only medium that compete with the heavies on anything close to equal terms. A WWII medium tank is an "all-purpose" weapons platform. In this respect, the Panther wins.

There was a documentary on which was the best tank in WW2 it was between the german tiger and the sherman. The Tiger is better. It took 4 sherman tanks to kill 1 tiger. That 1 tiger can kill 3 shermans while the 4th sherman kills the tiger.

No question the Tiger was more than a match for any Allied tank when it came out. This was still true on the western front thru 1944. The Tiger's rep became legendary. As such, every german tank became a Tiger to the Allied troops. Many of those "Tigers" were actually Panthers.
On the technical side, The Tiger I was only superior (slightly) in firepower. The Panther was much faster and could cover terrain the Tiger couldn't cross without bogging down. Indeed the Tigers had a bad habit of getting stuck.
As far as Armor, the Panther had thicker armor on the front turret while the Tiger did on the front hull. However the Panther's armor was well sloped (idea stolen from the Russian T-34 it was designed to fight). You would have to look pretty hard to find any slope on a Tiger I.
On the King Tiger this problem of sloped armor was improved. And oddly enough, it's hull was shaped just like a.....Panther!
The Panther was a much better design than the Tiger I.
In addition, Allied tankers were quoted saying the same thing about the Panther. It took 5 Sherman to take one out.

Don't get me wrong. I have always loved the Tiger I. Honestly if I could have any tank sitting in my front yard on display, it would be the famous Tiger I. It's an awesome looking tank.

honestly i think the best firepower defensive tank was the tiger series, for example, they were only staffed with experienced crew, and were put into seperate tank regiments to promote its capabilties

a tiger tank somewhere in the holland region had distrupted the offensive by a british tank division for a day, it killed some 40 tanks in all with only one tank, AWeSOME


however, the best tank desotroyer was the ISU122, because its gun has a great range with the best penetration power of any selfpropelled gun.

the gun is the a-19 122mm heavy gun, which one battery of it had completely halted an ss tank regiment during kursk


wha?? shermans is in the list for the best world war ii tank??

hell no, that things a piece of crap

Originally Posted by AA

pick ur favorite world war II armored vehicles, post reasons why

Was the Sherman one of the first type of tanks that could fire on the move?? I heard that somewhere...

Agreed, the King Tiger is the best tank going for defense. Terrific gun even at long range. Frontal armor nearly impossible to penetrate.

Best TD? Either the Jagd Panther or the SU-100. The M-36 wasn't bad either. The SU-122 did pack a punch.
Like the King Tiger, the Jagd Tiger is a mean one if it gets a chance to set up for you. Great gun, 128mm. Same size as a 5" gun on a navy destroyer.

huh?

u mean the ISU 122, the su 122 was a self propelled howtizer, firing only he rounds, so its some what useless aginist tanks

You're right. Lack o detail on my part.

Still, I like the 88 on the jagdpanther. A bigger target but more dangerous at longer ranges.

In my view the King Tiger was the best but it never entered full production