Pershing vs. Panther : The Epic Tank Duel At The Cologne Cathedral
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- čas přidán 12. 12. 2022
- The tank battle at Cologne Cathedral, although brief, is perhaps the most famous of all time.
Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Cologne was the fourth largest city in Germany and the largest city on the river Rhine with a population of approximately 800,000 people.
Allied bombers repeatedly bombed Cologne during the war because it was a major German city closest to England.
By the beginning of March 1945, most of the city was destroyed roughly 20,000 people remained in the city.
The Germans were retreating as quickly as they could to the Rhine's banks, in order to prevent Allied river crossings.
Nonetheless, the commander of one German Panther tank refused to leave. Instead, he made his final stand in front of Cologne Cathedral.
#ww2tanks #tankbattle #cologne
Tbh the real heros are these camera men, I mean I can't imagine not seeing anything in ww2 and just use your imagination or talk to veterans
I just love history.
Combat camera men and Medics are top of the list as exceptional men.
I understand what you’re saying, but calling the cameramen “the real heroes” was not the move.
This fight is surprisingly well documented. There are two camera angles plus multiple after action reports and in-depth analyses. The after-action pictures of the Sherman knocked out in the beginning of the main video are haunting. The driver died in his seat with the hatch open. Absolutely chilling stuff.
Commander had his right leg severed. Managed to get out but died a few minutes later
@@JT-io9ii Yes in the full footage you can see him climb out of the hatch and roll over onto the engine deck with his leg gone. Awful nightmarish way to die.
@@geeknproud321 yes. I just pray he was in shock and felt little to no pain. God rest his soul.
The Panther crews other mistake was presenting it's flank, they MAY have stood a chance IF they had been straight on to the Pershing with their well sloped glacis plate
It’s possible that a Pershing round from that range would have punched straight through the rolled homogeneous armour although it may have bounced off depending on the impact angle. A firefly sabot round would penetrate and could penetrate up to 8 inches of armour although it did have accuracy problems.
Smart money is on the big fuckoff gun causing destruction...
They were eye-balling two street corners. The Panther couldn't have presented its front to both threats. Their doubt of the Pershing's identification was their fatal undoing. The gunner had his hand on the firing trigger but the commander hesitated for fear of hitting one of their own.
Nope. The quality of german steel had gone down by that time, the 90 mm gun could easily penetrate the frontal armour, specially at that distance
@@matheuscerqueira7952 Did you see the word MAY?
From what I’ve always heard is the allies purposely didn’t bomb the cathedral because the bomber used it as a ground marker.
So the Allies used a church as location marker to kill people, well that’s fucked up.
@@williamkarbala5718 yep. Total war. Sad to say but the allies killed a lot of civilians in that war.
@@nimitz1739 Allies committed massive crimes but as a Victor you can get away with it.
@@hansgruber650 pretty much
@@hansgruber650crimes that aren’t even close to the scale of Nazi crimes, and it’s worth thinking about what kind of world each side would create if they’d won.
Germany would have starved millions more Slavs and finished the holocaust.
Etc
Not denying anything, just trying to keep things in perspective
Thanks for this 👍
Welcome 👍
Fantastic video . Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
RIP Clarence Smoyer
Surprisingly most of the German tank members survived.
More survived than the Sherman crew.
They actually all died. Two or three got out, but they were found deceased. One tripped over a bycycle, one fell over running down the street.
@@61XAA I don’t know where you got your info but that’s completely wrong. One of the German guys literally met the American tank crew gunner a few years ago in cologne. The survivors have done interviews.
@@nimitz1739 there is an audio podcast called warriors in their own words. One of the episodes is with the gunner of the Pershing, Clarence Smoyer. In that episode he stated that they were all killed and that he was told what had happened to the ones that got out of the tank by the cameraman, Jim Bates.
This is the transcript from that part of the podcast:
So anyway, it started to burn. And I knew two of the crew, I saw them go out. And I didn't go back and look in that afterward because I knew some of them died in there. And somebody had told me that three of them. Two of them were burned up inside. And the gunner, my first shot hit by the gun shield and ricocheted down and went and cut his legs off. And Bates, the photographer, tells me that he'd crawled out, he got to the top of the tank and couldn't go anymore. So he burned up on top of the tank, two burned up in there. And he told me that the two that got out, one ran down the street, he fell over and died.
And the other one, he turned and went behind the tank and he fell over a bicycle there and died on the spot there.
@@chrisfowler6102 I don’t know where you got your info but the book “Spearhead” that came out in 2019 is about Clarence Smoyer. It’s his book, and it tells the German side of the store from inside their tank during that famous duel. They got the story from the German side because they all didn’t die that day. Three of the two became prisoners. czcams.com/video/o_Uhx1YInQU/video.html
I really appreciated visiting the Cologne Cathedral as well as Deutschland. Peace and love.
Nice work here!
Thank you! Cheers!
Spearhead by Adam Makos, there's a whole book written about the Pershing crew, and why the Germans hesitated. Amazing read.
In my opinion the M26 Pershing was the best American tank of the war.
Pershing turned that panther into a roman candle.
Everytime i visit Düsseldorf i usually takw my time to visit Köln too. Sadly the church always close whenever i visited.
Epic footage
4:15 poor tank commander’s leg is gone . Look closely
I read he perished.
Even with the long barrelled 75 mm on the Panther it's interesting to wonder if It could have hurt the Pershing
6:11 Was Lip Gallagher in WW2? Gotta be him.
Yes the Pershing was showing it's side but so was the Panther. If both tanks where head on then I truly believe the Panthers 75 could not pen the Pershings front plate. ESPECIALLY that bulge in the upper middle. However the Pershings 90 could easily pen the Panthers front plate.
I feel like a panther prob couldn’t pen the front of the pershing still a lit battle tho
5:42 is that an Allied tank firing on a civilian vehicle?
Yes. They killed the vehicle driver and wounded the passenger, a woman. Aid was rendered to the woman who was left on the side of the street due to the ongoing battle. Sadly a Sherman tank later ran over her!
@@frankanddanasnyder3272 how did you hear about this where can I find it?
Is it maybe in the spearhead book?
Read the book Spearhead
Hate to say it folks but war sucks for everyone - even the victors…
Idk about the most famous battle of all time,for the US maybe but not of the whole war
I think they are referring to the fact that they have so much footage of it. It's not like today where everything is recorded.
Although, many people wish there were a lot fewer recordings still around from back then. They ban them on youtube, but they still get floated around on other parts of the net.
Cool
Epic
I think the statement at 7:45 that the panthers chose to stay and fight is not correct as the bridges across the rhine were destroyed at that time and their retreat therefore was cut off.
Yes, but the bridge was blown up about a hour before the clash. The tank could have withdrawn across but the tank commander decided to stay. I would guess he figured that a last stand would be made sooner or later, might as well make it by the Cathedral.
"It not Sherman, so it's German"
-Panther tank commander-
the town name is "Koln"not Cologne or aftershave.
American tank commander got his leg blown off, rolled off the tank and later expired.
panthers commander just told gunner to wait cuz he thought the T26 was one of the germans but made a fatal mistake
Hardly the most talked about tank battle of all time.
May the war dead rest in peace.
This is really not a big deal. The tank battles in Russia were more fierce. Just from the US perspectives and make it like something big.
This is Picture only from Filmed Cinema...Not The Real Battle Tank....
Yeah, they blew his leg off for the camera
Thry were shooting at that civilians cat- killing the man and his wofe- why isn't the narrator saying this- I think it's worth mentioning
The Panther’s crew never saw a Pershing before, that’s probably why they hesitated to shoot because they don’t know if the tank they are looking at is friendly or not. Shermans are easily recognizable and widely used by the US for the entire war so the crew would’ve shoot the tank if it was a Sherman. Bad luck.
The panther was actually out of ammo, and the crew had already abandoned tank!
Impressing video! But there is a misinformation at 7:40: The Panther crew couldn't retreat across the river because all bridges were destroyed! Even the last standing bridge, the Hohenzollern bridge, was lately destroyed by german soldiers so the Americans couldn't pass the river.
Nooo not the Panther!!
My favorite tank of all time!
Were any german snipers or machine gunners a able to use the cathedral to fire down upon the Americans?
Probably yes, but at that time there weren't that many german soldiers left to be honest.
Let alone good snipers...
Tigers destroyed dozens of t34s (an inderior tank) t34s only grace was it was simple to buold - first time body on chassis design for tanks- it also had a DIESEL- LESS LIABKE TO CATCH FIRE IN A DIRECT HIT- ONLY GOOD AGAINT PZKPFW4'S
Poor Panther and the crew 😟
There is no glory in killing the enemy. There is only glory in defending a good cause. Pity those that die in a bad cause. Pity the young men of all sides caught up in war.
@@celebrim1 You are entitled to your opinion.
@@revolution1423 lt was probably a green crew with a lot of kids. The Nazis really killed them. What a waste.
@@Mike-fx1eu You don't understand the gravity of the situation. You don't have WWII truth so you don't understand why that is.
Read the book "1939 The War that had Many Fathers"
What about the crew of the M4 that got hit?😟
Of course the Americans could also develop a heavy tank, but it came very unpleasant when being met by some of the German monsters during the Invasion in Normandy. As I think "Oddball" says in Kellys Heroes: "The only way a Sherman may delay a Tiger, is by letting it shoot holes in it"! Luckily a few was "Fireflies", with a large English cannon, turned to the side, to be able to be operated in the small turrets of the Sherman.
Reminds me of the Cathedral scene in The Last Tiger mission where the Tiger makes a last stand in Cologne. I want to visit one day. Shame they didn't build Pershings earlier; they were way better than the M4. If you have the supplies and materials why conform with a mediocre tank when you can roll out just as many heavy tanks. Imagine!
From what I read, the Pershing were prototypes and were built. Only like 100 or something. The US thought of sending them to D-Day but because of how heavy it was. They scrapped the idea because the tank would’ve easily had sunk at D-Day
@@summedfuture9 makes sense
Logistics and transportation were the biggest reasons.
From what I've read the Allies needed tanks that were easy to offload on the makeshift wharves that were erected at Normandy -- they didn't yet have access to a real port until later. Also, the concept was high numbers, accurate weapons, infantry support. Pershings were probably better tanks, but they couldn't have offloaded them at Normandy. Tanks were too heavy for the temporary, makeshift ports used at Normandy when the Allied, Re-Invasion of France began.
They lost due to overwhelming allied air power and men period!
Even when the Allie’s do something amazing, it’s still not as interesting as when the Germans do it, just because all the Allie’s were catered to, we’re as the Germans have pulled off some miracles feats with nothing in hand and everything against them, that makes them the better soldiers by far, and I just have the most respect for them.
What a silly and incoherent comment.
The panther would have won of they didn't mistake the t26 for.a.german tank- also germans stand.and.fight unlike.most.american soldiers who would break and.run at the slightest opportunity- the only reason america won is because the germans had bad.management from the top micromanager hitler who went batshit after valkyrie- and.also because the Americans had unlimited industrial.power and precious ores and fuel
I can agree with the bad management part on a broad scale, it wasn’t all hitler’s fault, supply problems also played a big role. However there are very few examples of American soldiers breaking and running during the Second World War the only examples that come to mind are Kassarine pass (due to being inexperienced national guard) and the flight of the 22nd infantry during the battle of the bulge (if you were faced with an entire enemy tank offensive during what you were told was supposed to be a vacation, what would you do?). On the contrary many examples exist where inexperienced German units broke and ran (only veteran units like SS, certain panzergrenadiers, or Fallshirmjager would stay).
There should be a statue erected in the Panther's honor.
I am a German and I say no, never ever!. They fought for a regime that I do never want to see in my country again.
The commander was SS, he knew what he was fighting for. I'd say different if he was a lower-ranking officer of the Wehrmacht, who were largely unaware (even at this time) of what the Third Reich truly was. But, due to his rank and knowledge, a statue is a very, very bad idea.
@@joachimthielker3132 Who are you kidding? they fought for a free Europe rid of Communist Bolsheviks.Brainwashed.
what a poor presentation with the footage available
Later in this War, the Allies created this strategy that when a Sherman saw a Tiger, they called in an artillery barrage to destroy the tank.
So, that is why Infantry was called in before the Sherman’s advanced.
I don't think that's accurate. Assault on Cologne was in march 45. 2 months later the war was over. Not much Tigers left to deal with. You surely mean an earlier moment.
@@HankScorpioXX
Yes, I did.
The biggest problem was the Panzerfausts and Panzershrencks which could be operated by SS and Hitler Youth fanatics.
Corny
Germany should have won the war
If they had, all you "incels" would have been sent to the ovens. They had no patience for whimps. Be careful what you wish for. 😏
You wouldn't have the freedom to say that if so.
If Hitler would have listened to his generals significantly more , Germany would have had a much better chance of winning antler was fighting on too many fronts simultaneously to be successful, especially a front as wide as the Eastern front not to mention the depth. The logistics were very wrong for the Germans supply lines were just too long and the German army did not have near the transport to sustain such long range war efforts
Had Hitler have taken the war slowly instead of trying to rush a victory, he very well would have.
Fortunately, his ego was bigger than his lust for victory.
@@ReapersKid07 The "Blitzkrieg" at the start was not a bad idea. Getting more fuel, oil, materials etc pretty fast. But the fight on 2 fronts was what broke germanys neck. That and the fact that many of Hitlers generals/closest to him didnt tell them how bad it was going, but only the accomplishments of the Wehrmacht. So the upper ranks were often in the dark considering pushbacks.
I choose to believe the Germans were defending the Church !
If they were going to die, then defending a Church meant they would go to Heaven !
DML.
Read the book 'Spearhead' by Adam Makos. It chronicles this specific tank duel in Cologne and the church was not the focus of why they stayed. The author interviewed survivors from both sides which gives a background on the fight.
Why has this footage not been restored and digitized? Shame this history will be lost if not saved.
You can watch restored footage of that fight here on youtube. Look for "cologne tank duel war" and you'll find plenty of videos.
fact phanter crew survived minus one,,,,,,the phanter was in synnergi with a stug
If the German Commander wouldn't have hesitated that Panther would have knocked that Pershing tank out. And then we wouldn't be having this video. Remember Germany didn't lose World War II because of lack of Manpower and material. Germany Lost World War II because of lack of oil and fuel. And that is a fact that cannot be taken apart.
Yes to some extent agreed. But let's admit the fact that they lacked metal, paint and rubber too! They were running low on resources as well necessary to build tanks. The heavy allied bombing destroyed important factories too! So it was an overall catastrophe
@@livingroomtheatre174 look 1942 was dedicated to taking the Caucasus. Because of the oil. Well we know how that ended, a loss. So from 1943 on germany was on the defensive. And from that point on the German airforce was slowly withdrawn from the easy to defend the homeland. And from 1944 to the end germany didn't have the fuel reserves to defend the skies of germany and its allies. Yes the bombings hurt. Like I said oil and fuel was what loss the war, if you can't fly you can't defend your skies, Period. No fuel no oil you can't move your tanks in Offensive attacks, 1944 onwards they didn't have the fuel to make counterattacks. Germany still was a better fighting force than that of the Soviets, Americans British etc even when tge war was clearly over. If germant has fuel and oil to continue Offensive actions the Russians cannot stop them,period. Germany didn't need to produce more stuff they had enough. They just needed to get fuel znd oil.
Wrong. Germany lost more soldiers, tanks, submarines,aircrafts and guns than they were able to replace. Just read about all the infantry division that stopped to exist because they were destroyed. The gun of the Sherman Firefly could also knock out any German tank.
@@christianvik3400 lol OK dude if you insist. Lol. Msm talking points. Lol. Oh how people repeat what main steam says, lol 😂
@@rickmoreno6858 You obviously have a lot of gaps in your history knowledge. Everyone with a little basic WW2 knowledge knows that Germany lost many divisions all over, in Northern Africa for instance, panzer divisions was reduced from 220 tanks to under 8-10 because they was not able to replace their combat losses. The same happened on the Western and Eastern fronts. Germany lost 75 % of their submarines also, their trained pilots and so on. Just in Stalingrad Germany lost an whole army (6.army).
The US 90 mm gun of the T-26 could easily have penetrated the armour of any German panzer.
I have family members who fought against Nazi Germany so I know a lot of this.