Panzerkampfwagen IVIntroductionColonel-General Heinz Guderian is generally considered by most to be the architect of the modern day German Panzertruppen. The Panzer IV, could be said to be Heinz Guderian's "brain child" of the mid 1930's for it incorporated and balanced fairly well the three main qualities needed for a tank to be successful on a modern 1930's/40's battlefield. Defined as mobility, protection and firepower, Guderian had laid down these three basic qualities as early as 1933. However, Guderian added a fourth component which a lot of other armed services simply dismissed at the time, that of communications. Radio communications was essential for fluid armoured fighting vehicle operations. A five-man crew was also considered optimum. A three-man turret crew allowed the commander to actually command the vehicle, the gunner to concentrate on destroying targets directed to by his commander and the loader to increase the rate of fire of the main weapon. The driver was allowed to do what he was obviously good at, and the radio operator relayed messages and manned the bow machine gun. The crew acted as one and this is what gave the German Panzertruppe the edge over their Allied counterparts and allowed the early successes in Poland, France, the Balkans, Russia and North Africa to be achieved. The Panzer IV certainly wasn't the best AFV to see service in its class during WWII, the Russian made T-34 would enjoy that accolade, but in the hands of an experienced crew it was certainly a deadly weapon, one which Allied crews learned to ignore at their peril. The Panzer IV was to become the most numerous of German World War II tanks. In all some 8500+ examples of all variants were produced.
The Panzer IV was borne from a requirement arising in 1934/35 which was instigated by the Heereswaffenamt. Guderian, of course, had a heavy input in the specification. It called for the design of a medium support tank for Panzer III units and infantry, to have an overall weight of some 18 tons, a top speed of 35km/h and a 75mm KwK 37 L/24 gun as main armament.
The companies involved in the initial design were Krupp, Rheinmetall-Borsig and Maschinenfabrik-Augsburg-Neurnberg AG, hereto and forever more known as MAN. Krupp concentrated mostly on turret development and MAN on the running gear and suspension but all three company's produced prototypes which, when tested under various conditions at Kummersdorf and Ulm in 1935/36, exhibited varying but similar qualities and characteristics. After much deliberation Krupp's design was selected for full-scale production.
Sd. Kfz. 161 - Ausf. A-F Development & ProductionAfter receiving an initial contract in 1936, Krupp then set about improving the design of the PzKpfw IV by incorporating the best features then found in existing tank designs throughout the world. Therefore, it wasn't until October of 1937, after extensive testing of various prototypes that the very first PzKpfw IV Ausf A rolled off of Krupp's production line at Gruson. 35 were eventually produced in this initial production run, 5 were used for further testing by Krupp while the other 30 were issued to combat units.
Between April and September of 1938 Krupp produced no fewer than 42 PzKpfw IV Ausf B's at its Gruson plant. The only real difference of any significance between the Ausf B and the previous example was the installation of a slightly different, but same horse power, Maybach HL 120 TR, 12 cylinder engine.
Further developments resulted in 134 PzKpfw IV Ausf C's built between October 1938 and August 1939 along with 229 of the PzKpfw IV Ausf D variant being manufactured between October 1939 and May of 1941. The Pzkpfw IV Ausf D was considered to be the first 'true' production model of the Panzer IV series, the Ausf A/B & C variants were considered as development models, most of which, nonetheless ended up with front line combat units. They were to see extensive use, albeit in limited numbers, during the Polish campaign of 1939. The Ausf D was available in limited numbers for the French campaign during the summer of 1940.
Overlapping the production of the Pzkpfw IV Ausf D was the production of the Ausf E variant of which some 233 models were produced between September 1940 and April 1941. 487 examples were produced of the Ausf F1 (F) version between April 1941 and March 1942. The Ausf F1 variant was the last version of the Panzer IV series to use the 'short' chassis and to be armed with the short stubby 75mm KwK 37 L/24 cannon.
Sd. Kfz. 161/1 - Ausf. F2-G Development & ProductionFrom March of 1942 onwards 200 of the next variant, Ausf F2 or "Mark IV Special", as the British called them in North Africa were produced along with 1275 Ausf G's. The Ausf F2 and G were superior to any British or American tank design at the time and were generally treated with a great deal of respect on the battlefield. The Ausf F2 was an identical tank to the Ausf F1(F) in every conceivable way except for the main armament. All later variants, Ausf F2 onwards, were based on the 'longer' version PzKpfw IV chassis and were armed with a newer gun. This was to be either a 75mm KwK 40 L/43 or an 75mm KwK 40 L/48. The Panzer IV in this configuration, was for the first time, able to compete with the Soviet made T-34 armed with a 76.2mm cannon on a somewhat equal footing, although 'other' tanks were developed to deal with the T-34 'menace' more effectively, namely the Panther.
Sd. Kfz. 161/2 - Ausf. G-J Development & ProductionFrom March of 1943 onwards an additional 412 PzKpfw IV Ausf G's were produced. These were fitted with the much newer and improved 75mm KwK 40 L/48 gun and re-designated as Sd. Kfz. 161/2's. Some late model Ausf G's were then fitted with steel armour skirts or 'Shurzen' which made them look very much like Ausf H variants.
In April of 1943, the PxKpfw IV Ausf H was introduced. No fewer than 3774 examples were produced between April of 1943 and July of 1944. This became the largest set of production figures for any Panzer IV variant. It was armed exclusively with the 75mm KwK 40 L/48 cannon and were fitted with steel armour skirts or 'Schurzen' for added protection against hollow charged projectiles. A large proportion of these vehicles were to see action during the allied invasion of Normandy and subsequent defence of Germany.
Panzer IV Ausf H SpecificationType: Medium Tank
Other Designations: PzKpfw IV Ausf H, Sd. Kfz. 161/2
Originating Nation: Germany
Manufacturers: Krupp
TOTAL CREW 5
TURRET CREW 3
WEIGHT 25000 kg
GROUND PRESSURE 0.89 kg/cm2
OVERALL LENGTH 7.02 m
OVERALL WIDTH 2.88 m
OVERALL HEIGHT 2.68 m
GROUND CLEARANCE 0.40 m
VERTICAL OBSTACLE 0.60 m
FORDING DEPTH 1.20 m
TRENCH CROSSING 2.30 m
TURNING RADIUS 5.92 m
MAX CLIMB GRADIENT 30 deg
GASOLINE CAPACITY 470 litres (3 tanks)
ROAD SPEED 38 km/h
ROAD RANGE 188 km
CROSS COUNTRY SPEED 8 km/h
CROSS COUNTRY RANGE 134 km
REVERSE SPEED 4 km/h
ENGINE: Maybach HL 120 TRM / 12-cylinder / 300hp
ARMAMENT MOUNTED on/at TRAVERSE ELEVATION AMMUNITION
7.5cm KwK 37 L/24 turret 360 deg @ -8 to 20 deg 52 Ap + 35 He
10 deg/sec
1 x 7.92 mm MG 34 and 1 x 7.92 mm MG 42, one mounted coaxial with the main gun, the other hull mounted. Total ammunition for both machine guns totalled 2700 rounds.
ARMOUR
mm/angle)
FRONT SIDES REAR TOP / BOTTOM
Hull: 80@14 deg 30@0 deg 20@8 deg 10@90 deg
Superstructure: 80@10 deg 30@0 deg 20@11 deg 12@85-90 deg
Turret: 50@10 deg 30@26 deg 30@15 deg 15@84-90 deg
Gun Mantlet: 50@0-30 deg
From June 1944 until the end of hostilities in Europe, 1758 PzKpfw IV Ausf J's were produced by Nibelungenwerke. This variant was similar to Ausf H but was simplified to aid production, the one main difference being that the turret was traversed manually by hand whereas in all earlier versions it had been driven by an electric motor. This was seen as a retrograde but understandable step given the shortages experienced by the German armaments industry at that late stage of the war.
Regards
Daren
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Beaz aka ==bz==
249 Squadron RAF "Gold Coast""With Fists and Heels"Part of the Tangmere Wing
