A Guy Hid a Real WWII Panther Tank in His Basement. Now, There Are Consequences.

[Dial H For Hero]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a37147381/ww2-panther-tank-hidden-in-basement/



A court in Germany is determining the best way to dispose of one of the rarest pieces of military history in the world. German authorities seized the Panther medium tank in 2015 from a pensioner who bought the vehicle as scrap and hid it in his basement. The tank, one of just 12 left in the world, is almost certainly worth millions of dollars.

Now, authorities are trying to untangle what is actually a fairly complex legal case, according to the BBC. At some point in the past, the unnamed German citizen allegedly purchased the 45-ton tank, along with a towed 88-millimeter anti-tank/anti-aircraft gun and a torpedo, and stored it away.

The German Army Panzerkampfwagen V “Panther” medium tank was one of the most technologically advanced tanks of World War II. The Panther was armed with one 75-millimeter Kw.K.42 L/70 main gun and two 7.92-millimeter machine guns. The tank used sloped steel armor, which gave it a sleek appearance, and interleaved road wheels.

While the Panther was a fantastic tank on technical grounds, in reality, its performance was severely hampered by engine breakdowns, mechanical issues, and low-quality steel armor in wartime.

[eleny]

1. I was hoping they could tell us how the owner got it into his basement! nt

[CrispyQ]

3. We watched a couple of seasons of NCIS, where Gibbs builds a boat in his basement.

The only entrance ever shown to the basement was a steep staircase going up to a regular sized door. I always wondered how he was going to get the boat out after he finished it.

[marie999]

10. Maybe you can help me with this.

I don't think I have ever missed an episode of NCIS. What I would like to know is there a reason Gibbs's last boat was a motorboat? Also is he now using power tools?

[CrispyQ]

20. I never got that far in the series.

I'd forgotten that he didn't use power tools.

[chowder66]

19. Looks like he lived in a villa that had a subterranean bunker.

Might be like an old large stone root cellar.

[captain queeg]

2. Wow, what a find. I'm sure some museums would love to get it.

Comment on its actual performance: yes it had some significant teething problems, engine fires were common and it always seemed to have trouble with its final drive. But a lot of the issues were worked out. It, like the Tiger just weren’t the best use of resources by the Germans by that time of the war. Scarcity of some materials played a part, being built to large degree by slave labor and the accompanying QC issues hurt it. Lack of transport and gasoline didn’t help, but it was hugely technologically advanced and much of its design was used in later tanks.

[Dirty Socialist]

13. An unnamed American museum is getting it

I would like to check it out

[mitch96]

21. I'm curious for how much?$ and who gets the money? Are the guns operational?

How about the 88 and the torpedo...How many kilos of explosives are in that fish?
m

[hlthe2b]

17. It sure is. Without any around, Hollywood had to get very creative for movies like Kelly's Heroes...

I remember reading how they had to craft one out of Russian T-34 tanks.

[ananda]

4. How does somebody get a tank in their basement???

That's what I wanna know.

[marie999]

11. Easy, first you demolish your house.

Then you dig a hole and put the tank in it. Then you rebuild your house on top of it.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Build the basement around it?

[lastlib]

14. Like Johnny Cash said--"One Piece At A Time"......

[lpbk2713]

16. Take a left at the V-2 rocket.

[Historic NY]

5. If it was demilled, then what claims does the government have on it..

other than its now value. Where he got it in the first place is what I'd like to know. We had a scrapyard in the nearby city that had two tracked vehicles for decades in the back corner of the yard. I thought the National Guard just drove them there. Eventually, a collector 20 miles away bought them for parts.

[flying_wahini]

6. Guessing he built his basement around it.

[Sneederbunk]

7. Did they check to see what he had in his attic?

[Historic NY]

8. more on it

[link:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57965260|]

[OnDoutside]

15. "who had earlier searched the home for stolen Nazi art" I think there's

more to this story....

[DFW]

18. If the home was searched for Nazi-stolen art, but a tank and anti-aircraft rocket were overlooked

I can't imagine much art was found, either. Those big canvas napkins the guy had sure were realistic prints of Monet and Van Gogh, though, and he can't have had much money, since no two of them were alike....

[marble falls]

9. That WWII tecnology is obsolete. They make tankless water heaters now.

[eleny]

23. !

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

22. In 1995 a San Diego man stole a tank from the Army armory. This is the result:

I lived in San Diego at the time and watched this live on television. The policemen who climbed on the tank and ultimately killed the driver were incredibly courageous. He could have been armed, or freed the tank and crushed them as he took off.

[Skittles]

24. WHEN will they be doing that pay-per-article thing

I AM SO READY TO SIGN UP!!!