Caption from the book "Panther vs. Sherman" for this photo (p. 14) states:

"This Panther Ausf. G of the 1st SS-Panzer Division was knocked out in the fighting near the Baugnez Crossroads and has suffered a castrophic ammunition fire, evident from the blown-out sponson floor sitting on the tracks (NARA)"

The blown-out floor of the side sponson marks the boundaries of the two magazines in the sponson. Note the hole in the side sponson just below the front of the turret, where the Panther tank was struck. Directly behind this hole was the forward-most of two magazines in the side sponson holding ammunition for the Panther's 75mm main gun; the penetrating round would have exploded right into the propellant casings of the 75mm rounds stored there as the rounds were stored with the shell tips facing towards the middle of the turret.

The 50mm armor of the side superstructure on the Ausf. G Panther could be penetrated by all Allied tank and anti-tank guns at normal combat ranges. The 75mm M4 cannon could penetrate this part of the Panther at 400m, and the 76mm M4 cannon at 2800m. Panthers could "brew up" and burn just as fiercely as the M4 Shermans when struck in their ammunition stores.

U.S. Army Photo, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Zaloga, Steven (2008). Armored Thunderbolt. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole. ISBN 9780811704243. p. 250

Zaloga, Steven (2008). Panther vs. Sherman: Battle of the Bulge 1944. Oxford: Osprey Publishing (UK). ISBN 9781846032929. p. 14

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