Capitalistdoginchina Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Chatting with a friend about German tanks in WW2 the names Panther, Tiger and Leapard came up as the big cats. Can anyone tell me whether the Leapard was a German Tank? and was it used in WW2 ? My friend insists the Leapard was in fact a German WW2 Tank. Can anyone clarify this for me? Thanks CDIC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 No Leopard is a modern German tank but I gotta check out the web for its development history. Current model is Leopard 2A5 (or 6?) But I am damn sure it is not a WW2 tank! BTW, I suggest put your friend a copy of "Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two" by Peter Chamberlain, et al (ISBN: ISBN: 1854095188) into his/her mouth. Oh btw, I have both editions and if you want it, I would sell the 1st edition to you. [Ed: Confused is it "leapard" or "leopard"?] Griffin. [ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: GriffinCheng+ ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 I think this answers yuor question: The History of the Porsche Typ 100 and 101 also known as the Leopard and Tiger (P) by Thomas L Jentz and Hilary L Doyle Panzer Tracts series ISBN 10892848-03-1 Soft covers, 60 pages. Published by Darlington Productions Inc, Maryland, USA. Web site Price $19.95 each, UK price should be around £14. I don't know anything about the type 100 - anyone got details? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 The Leopard is the MBT currently in use by Germany and other countries. It's on par with the American Abrams and British Challenger, As I understand (similar weight and armoring, the same gun as the Abrams I believe). If there was something called the Leopard used in WWII I've never heard of it. [beaten to the punch yet again, I need to type faster ] [ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: Deuce ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Development history of Leopard 2 MBT here: http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/leo2.htm Griffin. [ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: GriffinCheng+ ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 I think you'll find that German soldiers were indeed issued with Leotards during the Second World War, but when senior officers realised that their objectives involved more fighting than ballet dancing, these were phased out in favour of more practical combat clothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 After a bit more digging (= web search!! ) the Type 100 was porsche's unsuccessful design for the Tiger 1. So to all you blokes going on about the MBT leopard :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcm1947 Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 I remember reading many years ago that the Leapard was actually developed and designed by the USA and Germany inconjuction for Germany's home defense. It was also one of the first tanks that I remember being designed to be so air tight that no kind of chemical gas would hurt the crew. But for sure it was after WWII. The original Leapard used the 105 mm also I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy w/gun Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 I wanna say that this join project between the US and Germany took place in the early sixties, possibly 1961? The Leopard 1 was the result. It's still in service in the Canadian army I believe. [ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: Guy w/gun ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Babra Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>...the development of the Pz Kw II series was not finished. Referring to the VK 1601 (Pz Kw II nA verstärkt)...the Army Weapons Department issued development contracts in 1941 to MIAG of Brunswick for the chassis and to Daimler-Benz for the turret and superstructure of a heavily armoured fighting vehicle for battle reconnaissance. The development was designated "Gefechtsaufklärer VK 1602 (Leopard)". It is interesting to note that the weight of the VK 1602 was laid down as about 26 tons. Proposed armour thicknesses were to be 50 to 80mm for the turret and 20 to 60mm for the hull. The power unit planned was a spark-ignition engine of 550 hp, which was intended to give the machine a maximum speed of 60 kph. A crew of four operated a 5 cm tank gun Type 39/I and an MG 42 mounted in the revolving turret. The drawings for the hull were completed on 30th July 1942, those for the main chassis parts on 1st September and those for the chassis assembly on 1st November. Construction of the vehicle did not, however, take place, bu the 5 cm turret was developed by Daimler-Benz and was later used for the improved Büssing-NAG 8-wheeled "Puma" armoured car<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> From "German Tanks of World War Two, F.M. von Senger und Etterlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
109 Gustav Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GriffinCheng+: [QB]Development history of Leopard 2 MBT here: http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/leo2.htm <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Good site, Griffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Babra: From "German Tanks of World War Two, F.M. von Senger und Etterlin.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I stand corrected. And that book is still for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Hey Babra - does the book say anything about the Porsche type 100? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Babra Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike the bike: Hey Babra - does the book say anything about the Porsche type 100?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No. It covers the E-100 (Adler, not Porsche), but there is no reference to a Porsche 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Ah well, we have still have 2 candidates for WW2 Leopard then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmaker Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 I believe the Germans and U.S. were in a joint venture to develop a tank (mid-late 70's IIRC). Somewhere along the road things gave out and both countries went seperate directions, Germany developing the popular and reliable Leopard II and the U.S. developing the M1 series. Both tanks have differences and similarities naturally from this "joint venture." However, the Leopard II is lighter to the M1A2. Probably has to do with that depleted uranium hull. Since I'm an American serviceman I prefer those Abrams but those Challengers and Leopard IIs do look impressive as hell. Though it's only a game, give Steel Beasts a try and you can easily see the differences of the Leopard II and M1A1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoffel Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Babra the Porsche type you search for is probably the VK 4501, 101 type Porsches model for the Tiger 1 You can find the book about the develepment and productionmodels and all variants on amazon.com It is a very good book written by walter spielberger and is named: Panzerkampfwagen Tiger und seine abarten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bakker@home Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Gentlemen, to my knowledge there was going to be a Leopard recon tank based on the PzkwII chassis with a 50l/60 gun. It never saw production. See; achtung panzer website (leopard) Greetings, S Bakker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taz Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Here is a site that deals with the different types of german panzer from WWII web page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
André Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 Hi As a former Leopard 1A5 tanker, I can assure you that it did not see combat during WW2. It was first produced in 1963 for the German Army and has been exported to a number of countries. It has a 105mm L7 rifled main gun and weighs 40 tons. It was designed to be fast and manouverable on the battlefield, not to slug it out in head-to-head battles. It is still in use in many countries, Norway is among them. The Norwegian 1A5 version has a fully stabilized gun and can hit targets while on the move. I would not feel very comfortable going into action with this tank because of the light armour(70mm max). The SABOT round the Norwegian Army purchased for the 105mm L7 is of very bad quality and useless against modern tanks. They bought the French round because it was cheaper than other alternatives. Take a look at this page for more info on Scandinavian armour: http://www.royhaaland.net Regards, Heinz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucero1148 Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 During the 70's the US and German militaries developed a prototype called the MBT 70 armed with a 155mm smoothbore canon. It was essentialy the same gun used as the Sheridan capable of firing a AT rocket as well as a HE shell. Needless to say the joint venture was a failure but a number of innovations used for the MBT 70 eventually fond its way into the M-1 Abrams. cheers Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertram Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 If I remember right the current versions of the Leopard (2A6 I think, but could be 2A5) and the M1 Abrahms use the same 120 mm gun, build by good old Krupps (for all your guns since the 1600's) in Germany. Bertram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karch Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 As for a Leopard in WWII, I also seem to recall a couple of books that mention there was to be a light tank Leopard produced, but it was cancelled and the turret design used on the Puma. If that turret would have sat on the Lynx (Lüchs), that would have been a pretty potent light tank. Smaller silhouette (sp?) than the Stuart. That would have been one cool light/recon tank. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitalis Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 http://www.achtungpanzer.com/heu.htm#vk3001p The Porsche type 100 Leopard also known as the VK3001(P). Started in 1937 as a medium tank to replace the Panzer IV. Check out the link, very interesting reading considering in 1937 Porsche was going to arm this bad boy with an 88mm gun. Too cool. Ahhhh, Good old German superiority in design. Vitalis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfcub Posted April 12, 2001 Share Posted April 12, 2001 this is slightly off topic but what does every 1 thnk is the best tank out of the challenger II, leapord [have no idea how u spell t] and the abrams ,personly i think the challenger [im british ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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