Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , more commonly referred to as the Panzer IV, was a
tank developed by
Germany and used extensively in
World War II. It was designed initially as an infantry-support medium tank, to work in conjunction with the anti-tank
Pzkpfw III. Later in the war, it was up-gunned and up-armored, and took over the tank-fighting role while Panzer IIIs were either put into infantry support duties or converted into other vehicles. The Panzer IV was the most common German tank of World War II, and was used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, such as
tank destroyers and self-propelled antiaircraft gun.
Encyclopedia
The
Panzerkampfwagen IV , more commonly referred to as the
Panzer IV, was a
tank developed by
Germany and used extensively in
World War II. It was designed initially as an infantry-support medium tank, to work in conjunction with the anti-tank
Pzkpfw III. Later in the war, it was up-gunned and up-armored, and took over the tank-fighting role while Panzer IIIs were either put into infantry support duties or converted into other vehicles. The Panzer IV was the most common German tank of World War II, and was used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, such as
tank destroyers and self-propelled antiaircraft gun. The Panzer IV has the distinction of being the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout all of WWII, with over 9,000 produced since 1939.
History
The Panzer IV was the workhorse of the German tank corps, being produced and used in all theatres of combat throughout the war. The design was upgraded repeatedly to deal with the changing threats from enemy forces.
On January 11, 1934, following specifications laid down by
Heinz Guderian, the Army Weapons Department drew up plans for a medium tank with a maximum weight of 24,000 kg and a top speed of 35 km/h. It was intended in a support and anti-infantry role, using a low-velocity, large-caliber gun firing high-explosive shells. It was not required to deal with enemy tanks on equal terms.
Krupp, Rheinmetall, and
MAN all produced prototypes, which were tested in 1935. As a result of the trials, the Krupp design was selected for full-scale production. The first Panzer IV A came off the assembly line in October of 1937, with a total of 35 being produced over the next six months.
Between 1937 and 1940, attempts were made to standardize parts between Krupp's Panzer IV and
Daimler-Benz's
Panzer III. The Panzer IV featured a relatively crude leaf spring suspension, unlike the then-new torsion bar suspension system on the Panzer III. There were several proposals to upgrade the suspension over the years, but none left the drawing board as the Germans dared not interrupt Panzer IV production. There was some resistance to using torsion bar suspensions; as late as the
Panther tank design, simpler leaf springs were still being considered.
The Panzer IV was originally intended principally to deal with infantry and fortifications, while the Panzer III dealt with enemy armoured units. To this end it was equipped with the 75 mm KwK 37 L/24 gun, which was effective against soft targets but lacked much armour penetration. It had poor accuracy, because the barrel was very short , giving a low muzzle velocity. For comparison the L/48 Gun is 3600 mm long.
Combat experience showed that increasingly the 50 mm L/60 gun mounted on late-model
Panzer III was unable to deal with enemy tanks at long range. Panzer IIIs struggled against
T-34s of the
Soviet Union and
M4 Shermans of the
United States, both of which had guns in the 75 or 76 mm calibre.
The Panzer IV's design already mounted a 75 mm gun and it was the obvious choice for the next medium tank development. As the Wehrmacht needed a tank with good anti-tank capabilities to deal with the T34, the production of the Panzer IV model F was changed to an improved model with a redesigned turret carrying a new, more powerful 75 mm L/43
anti-tank gun. The sprocket and idler wheels were altered to take wider tracks more able to support the increased weight of a larger gun. This required a change in naming conventions: the old 75 L24-equipped Pz-IV F was renamed Pz-IV F1, and the new 75 L/43-equipped was named Pz-IV F2. The Pz-IV F2 was later renamed Pz-IV G and production continued under this name with minor improvements. In late 1942 the Pz-IV G gun was upgraded to the even longer 75 L/48 gun. Early model Panzer IV tanks were often upgraded for increased combat efficiency. From 1943, for example, surviving Panzer IV models E/F were given additional armor and the 75 L48 gun.
The aforementioned upgrades allowed the Panzer IV to keep pace with newer designs such as the Sherman and the T-34. Production continued and was stepped up even while the more effective
Panther medium tank was in service, because of the Panzer IV's low cost and greater reliability; since the design was already in use and tested in the battlefield they could be upgraded and problems removed, while the Panther was a relatively new model.
Small numbers of Panzer IV were supplied by Germany to its allies.
Bulgaria received 88 vehicles and used them against Germans in late 1944.
Finland bought 15 Panzer IV Ausf Js, which arrived too late to fight against the Soviets the
Continuation War or against German troops in the following
Lapland War and served as training vehicles until 1962. Small numbers were also given to
Hungary,
Romania,
Spain and
Yugoslavia . In 1950s/1960s
Syria bought several dozens of Panzer IVs from the
USSR,
France,
Czechoslovakia and Spain and employed them in the 1965 conflict over
Jordan headwaters and in the
Six Days War .
Armor
The Panzer IV A had 15 mm of slightly sloped homogenous steel armor on all sides, with 10 mm of armor on the top and 5 mm on the bottom. This was deemed sufficient, as the Panzer IV was intended for anti-infantry work, while Panzer IIIs were to deal with opposing tanks. In practice, Panzer IVs would frequently face enemy tanks and anti-tank guns unsupported, and the armor was upgraded to 30 mm on the front hull of the Panzer IV B, 50 mm in the IV E, and 80 mm in the IV H, with armor on the sides and rear being increased as well. Panzer IVs frequently had armor skirting or additional layers of armor added in the field.
Armament
As the Panzer IV was intended to fill an anti-infantry combat role, early models were fitted with a low-velocity 75 mm KwK 37 L/24 gun, firing
high-explosive shells. After the Germans encountered the Soviet
T-34, the Panzer IV F2 and G were armed with the high-velocity 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 anti-tank gun. Later IV G models, and all subsequent Panzer IVs, were armed with the longer 75 mm KwK 40 L/48 anti-tank gun.
All models of the Panzer IV had a 7.92 mm coaxial
machine gun mounted in the turret, and all except the IV B and IV C had a second 7.92 mm gun in the hull.
Mobility
The Panzer IV A was powered by a 230 hp , 12-cylinder Maybach HL 108 TR engine, giving a top speed of 30 km/h and a range of 150 km . All later models were powered by the 320 hp , 12-cylinder Maybach HL 120 TRM engine. Top speed varied among models, depending on the transmission , armor, and gun, but was around 40 km/h . The range was generally around 200 km .
Like all of Germany's World War II tanks, the Panzer IV used gasoline .
Variants
The word "Ausf" is the shortcut of "Ausführung", which means "version".
- Ausf A
- Ausf B : Thicker armor, larger engine.
- Ausf C : Minor improvements.
- Ausf D : Thicker side armor. First model intended for combat.
- Ausf E : Thicker front and side armor.
- Ausf F1 : Simplified construction.
- Ausf F2 : Armed with a long anti-tank gun.
- Ausf G : Thicker turret armor, winter combat modifications. Some late ausf Gs were fitted with 'Schürzen', thin metal plates attached to the hull sides and turret via mounting brackets for protection against Soviet anti-tank rifles.
- Ausf H : Longer, more powerful gun and thicker armor. Radio antenna moved to left rear of hull.
- Ausf J : Turret traverse engine replaced with an extra fuel tank. later ausf Js had simplified vertical exhaust mufflers and the use of 3 instead of 4 track return rollers. Very late ausf J's used wire mesh side-skirts in place of solid metal plates to conserve strategic materials and reduce overall weight.
- Tauchpanzer : A "diving tank". Ausf D converted for Operation Sealion. All openings were sealed, commander's cupola, gun mantlet and machine gun mount covered with rubber sheeting, turret ring protected by inflatable rubber ring. Exhausts were fitted with non-return valves. Air was supplied via a flexible 18-meter hose held on the surface by a buoy. Maximum safe depth was about 15 meters, maximum underwater speed about 3 mph . Some were used by the 18th Panzer Regiment during River Bug crossing in Operation Barbarossa.
- Panzerbefehlswagen IV : Ausf H converted to command vehicle, were fitted with second radio.
- Panzerbeobachtungwagen IV : Pz IV, mostly Ausf J, converted to Panzerartillerie Forward Observation Officer's vehicle. Were fitted with additional periscope to the left of the commander's cupla and with additional radios.
Designs based on chassis
- Möbelwagen: 3.7 cm Flak in an open-topped superstructure.
- Wirbelwind: Quad 2 cm Flak in a fully rotating open turret.
- Ostwind: 3.7 cm Flak in a fully rotating open turret.
- Kugelblitz: Twin 3 cm Flak in an enclosed ball turret. Very limited production.
- Brummbär: Armed with a 15 cm SiG-33 infantry gun.
- Jagdpanzer IV: 7.5 cm L/48 and L/70 tank hunter.
- StuG IV: Panzer IV with a StuG III superstructure.
- 10.5 cm K18 auf Panzer Selbstfahrlafette IVa: Assault gun / tank destroyer. Two prototypes built were used on the Eastern Front.
- 10.5 cm leFH18/1 auf Geschützwagen IVb : 10.5 cm self-propelled howitzer. The howitzer was mounted in an open-topped turret with traverse 70 degrees to each side on a shortened Panzer IV chassis. Eight prototypes were produced by Krupp in November 1942 and sent to the Eastern Front for trials.
- 10.5 cm leFH18/1 L/28 auf Waffenträger GW IVb, nicknamed Heuschrecke : 105 mm self-propelled howitzer. The howitzer was mounted in a turret with full-round traverse on a slightly lengthened Panzer IV chassis. The turret could be removed by means of a lifting gantry and placed on a concrete base or on a wheeled carriage carried on the vehicle, while the vehicle itself could act as an ammunition carrier.
- Brückenlegepanzer IV / Brückenleger IV: Bridgelayer based on Ausf C / D. Nine-meter bridge had a 28-ton capacity. The vehicle was found to be too heavy for the suspension and the design was canceled in 1941. 20 units produced were used by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 10th Panzer Divisions in the 1940 campaign.
- Infanterie Sturmsteg: Infantry Assault Bridge, Panzer IV chassis carrying a telescopic catwalk. 2 units produced were used during the 1940 campaign and during the Operation Barbarossa.
- Munitionspanzerwagen IV: Ammunition carrier.
- Munitionsschlepper für Karlgerät: Ammunition carrier rounds for the Karl 600 mm mortar based on Ausf D. Could carry 3 rounds. Was fitted with a 3-ton electric crane.
- Bergepanzer : A recovery vehicle, essentially a turretless Panzer IV chassis fitted with a crane.
- Land-Wasser Schlepper / Panzerfähre: An amphibious tractor based on Panzer IV chassis which carried a large pontoon and a cabin.
- Geschützwagen III/IV, a lengthened chassis based on that of Panzer IV with Panzer III components, was used for the Nashorn tank destroyer, Hummel 15 cm self-propelled howitzer and Leichte PzH18/40/2 auf Geschützwagen III/IV 10.5 cm self-propelled howitzer.
References
- Bryan Perrett, Jim Laurier - Panzerkampfwagen IV Medium Tank 1936–45, 1999 Osprey Publishing , ISBN 1-85532-843-7.*
See also
- List of common WWII combat vehicles
- List of World War II military vehicles of Germany
- List of SdKfz designations
External links
