A Mark V German Panther that was knocked out of action at Normandy. An American M36 tank destroyer with a 90mm cannon penetrated the face plate from 100 yards.

A Mark V German Panther destroyed in Normandy by an M4 Sherman’s 76mm gun (hit on the left flank side), near Le Dézert, France (St. Lo sector), July 1944.

An American tank knocked out near Fromentel, France, 18 August 1944.

A Mark V Panther destroyed by overhead artillery fire at Le Dézert in Normandy, July 1944.

An M4 Sherman that was struck in its turret ring, near Ranes, France, 1944. Both turret and hull are damaged, thus making the tank unrepairable.

A close-up of shell marks in the frontal armor of a Panther Mark V, which was struck twice by a 76mm shot at close range, at Le Dézert, France, July 1944.

A T2 armored recovery vehicle towing a disabled M4 Sherman.

One of only two Super Pershing M26A1E2 tanks built, being test fired at Niederaussen, Germany. Weighing 53 tons, its 90mm-70 caliber gun fired at 3,850 feet per second. It was the most powerful tank in Word War II.

An M26 Pershing G7-32AK approaches the bombed Cathedral Plaza in Cologne. A German Panther Mark V had just knocked out an M4 Sherman.

An M26 Pershing comes around a corner and faces a Panther tank (not in photo). The Panther expects the M26 to stop before firing but gunner Clarence Smoyer’s tank had a gyrostabilizer that let him fire when moving.

The first shot struck the base of a gun mantelet and deflected down through the deck armor killing the German gunner and setting the tank on fire. Smoyer fired two other shots to the flank. Three Germans burned in the tank, while two (seen running) escaped death.

This Mark V Panther burned for two days.

Infantrymen of the 3d armored division advance toward Cologne Cathedral.

Assistant driver of M26 sitting on Panther turret. Assistant gunner loader John Dereggi, standing on the right holding rifle.

General Maurice Rose was killed in action on 30 March 1945 by a young German tank commander when the 3d Armor division enveloped the Ruhr Pocket. There were 380,000 German prisoners of war taken in this battle.

A Mark VI King Tiger shot in its rear engine back plate by an M4A1 Sherman. This tank was part of the group that emasculated our entire task force south of Paderborn on 30 March 1945. We believed that this was the tank that killed General Rose.

American 8th Infantry division infantryman examining the German Panther tank. Three of the German crew’s burned bodies were still in the tank.

This Mark VI Tiger tank ran out of gas and was captured in Central Germany.

A close-up of a shell that penetrated the back side of the face plate of a German Mark V Panther.

Three M4 Sherman tanks that were destroyed in street fighting in Paderborn, Germany.

Twenty-seven-year-old Lt. Belton Y. Cooper in Cologne, Germany, near the end of the war.