I often hear on online forums that it took like 15 shermans to kill 1 tiger or panther, or the Elefant had a kill ratio of 11 to 1 because it broke down or infantry took it out because of the lack of a machine gun. These figures seen a bit exaggerated to me because of the "legends" surrounding WWII German tanks and I just want some reliable and accurate sources.
David C Hardison's Data on World War II Tank Engagements Involving the U.S. Third and Fourth Armored Divisions, a commercial reprint of a 1954 Ballistics Research Laboratory memorandum, compares the effectiveness of U.S. Sherman tanks and tank destroyers of the 3rd and 4th Armored Divisions versus their German opponents, in this case mostly Panther tanks. Several types of engagements were studied in 86 separate cases from Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge;
Common Types of Situations:
| Engagement type | Number of engagements | Total allied weapons | Total enemy weapons | Total allied casualties | Total enemy casualties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Shermans defending against attacking Panthers, with the Shermans firing first | 19 | 104 | 93 | 5 | 57 |
| U.S. tank destroyers defending against attacking Panthers, with the tank destroyers firing first | 11 | 61 | 19 | 1 | 19 |
| German antitank guns defending against attacking U.S. Shermans | 9 | 104 | 19 | 25 | 3 |
| U.S. Shermans attacking Panthers, and the Shermans firing first | 5 | 41 | 17 | 2 | 12 |
"Others" in the below case refers to any U.S. weapon that is not a Sherman or tank destroyer, and any German weapon that is not a Panther, antitank, or self propelled gun.
Totals:
| Allied weapons (A) | Enemy weapons (E) | Who fired first | Attacker | Engagements | Allied weapons | Allied casualties | Enemy weapons | Enemy casualties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M4 | Panther | A | A | 5 | 41 | 2 | 17 | 12 |
| M4 | Panther | A | E | 19 | 104 | 5 | 93 | 57 |
| M4 | Panther | E | A | 2 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| M4 | Panther | E | E | 1 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| M4 | Panther | E | Unknown | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| M4 | Panther | Unknown | A | 2 | 17 | 5 | 24 | 0 |
| Tank destroyer | Panther | A | E | 11 | 61 | 1 | 19 | 19 |
| Tank destroyer | Panther | E | A | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Tank destroyer | Panther | Unknown | E | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Others | Panther | A | A | 2 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 9 |
| Others | Panther | A | E | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Others | Panther | E | A | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Others | Panther | E | E | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Others | Panther | Unknown | A | 1 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| M4 | AT | E | A | 9 | 107 | 25 | 19 | 3 |
| M4 | AT | Unknown | Unknown | 1 | 32 | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| M4 | AT | Unknown | E | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Others | AT | E | A | 3 | 38 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
| M4 | SP | E | A | 2 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| M4 | SP | Unknown | A | 2 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Others | SP | E | A | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Others | SP | Unknown | Unknown | 2 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| M4 | Others | A | A | 1 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| M4 | Others | E | A | 3 | 40 | 12 | 12 | 3 |
| M4 | Others | Unknown | Unknown | 3 | 70 | 9 | 36 | 21 |
| M4 | Others | E | E | 1 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Others | Others | A | A | 1 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Others | Others | E | A | 4 | 44 | 19 | 19 | 4 |
| Others | Others | Unknown | Unknown | 2 | 24 | 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Total | -- | -- | -- | 86 | 797 | 149 | 327 | 158 |
During these engagements where Shermans fought Panthers, the Panther was 1.1 times as effective as the Sherman when the Panther was defending. The M4 was 8.1 times as effective as the Panther when the Sherman was attacking; the Sherman was overall 3.6 times as effective as the Panther in these 86 engagements.