The Panzerkampfwagen IV ( Pz.Kpfw. IV ), commonly known as the Panzer IV , is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War . Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161 .
206-594: The Panzer IV was the most numerous German tank and the second-most numerous German fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War ; 8,553 Panzer IVs of all versions were built during World War II, only exceeded by the StuG III assault gun with 10,086 vehicles. Its chassis was also used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun ,
412-487: A heavy tank , armed with a massive 150 mm (5.91 in) cannon to defeat enemy fortifications , and even stronger armor. Such a tank would require a weight of 70 to 100 tonnes (77 to 110 tons) and was completely impractical given the manufacturing capabilities of the day. In the early 1930s, the German Army called upon a few German firms to put together some funded prototype light and medium tanks. At this time,
618-410: A tower . A small turret, or sub-turret set on top of a larger one, is called a cupola . The term cupola is also used for a rotating turret that carries a sighting device rather than weaponry, such as that used by a tank commander. Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th century, the classic battleship design used rows of gunport-mounted guns on each side of
824-621: A 30-millimetre (1.18 in) face-hardened appliqué steel plate welded (later bolted) to the glacis—in total, frontal armour was now 80 mm (3.15 in) thick. This decision to increase frontal armour was favorably received according to troop reports on 8 November 1942, despite technical problems of the driving system due to added weight. At this point, it was decided that 50% of Panzer IV production would be fitted with 30 mm (1.18 in) thick additional armour plates. On 5 January 1943, Hitler decided that all Panzer IV should have 80 mm (3.15 in) frontal armour. To simplify production,
1030-637: A 35 mm (1.38 in) thick external mantlet. Again, protection was upgraded, this time by increasing side armour to 20 mm (0.79 in). As the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 came to an end, it was decided to scale up production of the Panzer IV, which was adopted for general use on 27 September 1939 as the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 161 (Sd.Kfz. 161). In response to
1236-660: A 37-millimetre (1.46 in) anti-tank gun, the new vehicle would have a short-barreled, howitzer -like 75-millimetre (2.95 in) as its main gun , and was allotted a weight limit of 24 tonnes (26.46 short tons). Development was carried out under the name Begleitwagen ("accompanying vehicle"), or BW, to disguise its actual purpose, given that Germany was still theoretically bound by the Treaty of Versailles ban on tanks. MAN , Krupp , and Rheinmetall-Borsig each developed prototypes, with Krupp's being selected for further development. The chassis had originally been designed with
1442-459: A Panzer IV hull. This failed and confirmed that the chassis had reached the limit of its adaptability in both weight and available volume. The Panzer IV was originally intended to be used only on a limited scale, so initially Krupp was its sole manufacturer. Prior to the Polish campaign, only 217 Panzer IVs had been produced: 35 Ausf. A; 42 Ausf. B; and 140 Ausf. C; in 1941, production
1648-487: A brigade of two battalions of new Panther Ausf . D tanks come under its operational control before the battle. After the launch of Operation Citadel , the new Panthers were plagued by technical problems, suffering from engine fires and mechanical breakdowns, many before reaching the battle, in which the division was heavily engaged. Also, it may have affected the Großdeutschland Division's non-role in
1854-742: A buyer, with 35 Panzer IVs received until 4 May 1944 in exchange for some chromium ore. Delivery began with the Ausf. G and probably went on with Ausf. H versions. Other sources state only 15 to 22 tanks were delivered in 1943, all of the Ausf G version. The Soviet Army captured significant numbers of German armoured vehicles, including Panzer IVs (its Russian designation was "T-4"). Some of them were pressed into temporary service and some others were used for driver or anti-tank training. Sometimes, captured tanks were used in different temporary units or as single tanks. While captured Tiger I/IIs and Panthers were only permitted to be used until they irrecoverably broke down,
2060-536: A collaborative project between Germany and France in the 1950s, but the partnership ended, and the final design was ordered by the Bundeswehr , production of the German Leopard 1 starting in 1965. In total, 6,485 Leopard I tanks were built, of which 4,744 were battle tanks and 1741 were utility and anti-aircraft variants, not including eighty prototypes and pre-series vehicles. The Leopard quickly became
2266-479: A conference with Hitler, it was decided to improve the Panzer IV's main armament. Krupp was awarded the contract to integrate again the 50 mm (1.97 in) Pak 38 L/60 gun into the turret. The first prototype was to be delivered by 15 November 1941. Within months, the shock of encountering the Soviet T-34 medium and KV-1 heavy tanks necessitated a new, much more powerful tank gun. In November 1941,
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#17327913534732472-414: A contract for a turret design while Rheinmetall was to design both a chassis and turret. Rheinmetall's turret design had a rounded shape and was armed with a 3.7 cm (1.46 in) gun above the 7.5 cm (2.95 in) gun, while Krupp's turret was more rectangular and had the 3.7 cm gun mounted beside the 7.5 cm gun. Both turrets were also armed with a co-axial MG 34 machine gun, along with
2678-432: A crew of 18 to man the machine to full potential. With the 57 mm (2.24 in) main gun at front, internal operators had access to two 7.92 mm (0.312 in) machine guns at the rear along with a further four along the sides—two to a side. Each machine gun needed two personnel per gun - a firer and an ammunition re-supplier. The engine sat in the lower middle of the design with the main gear components resting under
2884-588: A failed 1916 experiment, a variant of the SPAD S.A two-seat fighter was probably the first aircraft to be fitted with a remotely-controlled gun, which was located in a nose nacelle . As aircraft flew higher and faster, the need for protection from the elements led to the enclosure or shielding of the gun positions, as in the "lobsterback" rear seat of the Hawker Demon biplane fighter. The first British operational bomber to carry an enclosed, power-operated turret
3090-633: A formidable opponent. The bocage countryside in Normandy favoured defense, and German tanks and anti-tank guns inflicted very heavy casualties on Allied armour during the Normandy campaign , despite the overwhelming Allied air superiority. German counter-attacks were blunted in the face of Allied artillery, infantry-held anti-tank weapons , tank destroyers and anti-tank guns , as well as the ubiquitous fighter-bomber aircraft. The side skirt armour could predetonate shaped charge anti-tank weapons such as
3296-446: A full complement of tanks and were often diminished below 50% combat readiness. The book The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan makes mention of the 7 million foreign workers who were forcibly brought into Germany to work in the factories and businesses — many of them in military assembly lines. Ryan specifically writes about these foreign workers in German tank manufacturing, who sabotaged every part they could and may have contributed to
3502-453: A gun turret mounted along the side, or the wings, of a warship , off the centerline. The positioning of a wing turret limits the gun's arc of fire, so that it generally can contribute to only the broadside weight of fire on one side of the ship. This is the major weakness of wing turrets as broadsides were the most prevalent type of gunnery duels. Depending on the configurations of ships, such as HMS Dreadnought but not SMS Blücher ,
3708-598: A handful of actions between March and October 1918. They suffered from numerous design faults, and Germany actually used more captured British tanks than A7Vs. As it became clear that the tank could play a significant role on the battlefield, Germany began working on designs for both heavy and light tanks, but only a small number of prototypes were completed by the end of the War. After the Armistice, all tanks in German hands were confiscated. Almost all were eventually scrapped, and
3914-416: A large, cylindrical gun turret mounted amidships above the low-freeboard upper hull , also referred to as the "raft". This extended well past the sides of the lower, more traditionally shaped hull. A small, armoured pilot house was fitted on the upper deck towards the bow; however, its position prevented Monitor from firing her guns straight forward. Like Coles's, one of Ericsson's goals in designing
4120-459: A main cannon mounted on top of the tank in a central revolving turret, separate fighting and engine compartments, a rear-mounted engine and a low track run. Neither the ordered test models nor the improved Oberschlesien II already planned were finished before the end of the war. In the end, time running out on the new designs and the limitations of the A7V design, and being a part of the losing side of
4326-519: A majority of Panzer III and IV medium tanks soon after the 1940 French campaign, thereby stealing a march on the Soviets and British, who still possessed obsolete equipment. Panzer III was the first of German Panzers to be equipped with intercom system for in-tank communications. Later on all of Panzers were equipped with this device which, proved to be very effective during combat. Panzer III was designed as platoon commander's vehicle ( Zugführerwagen ) and
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#17327913534734532-584: A mount in the turret roof, designed for the Nahverteidigungswaffe , was plugged by a circular armoured plate due to initial production shortages of this weapon. These modifications meant that the tank's weight increased to 25 tonnes (27.56 short tons). In spite of a new six-speed SSG 77 transmission adopted from the Panzer III, top speed dropped to as low as 16 km/h (10 mph) on cross country terrain. An experimental version of
4738-645: A new heavy tank had been started in 1937, without any production planning. Renewed impetus for the Tiger was provided by the quality of the Soviet T-34 encountered in 1941. Although the general design and layout were broadly similar to the previous medium tank, the Panzer IV, the Tiger weighed more than twice as much. This was due to its substantially thicker armour, the larger main gun, greater volume of fuel and ammunition storage, larger engine, and more solidly built transmission and suspension. The development of one of
4944-571: A race for superior armor and gun power. The third generation included many different variants, but the most important designs were the Panzer V (Panther) and Panzer VI (Tiger) tanks. First encountered on 23 June 1941, the T-34 outclassed the existing Panzer III and IV. At the insistence of General Guderian, a special Panzerkommision was dispatched to the Eastern Front to assess the T-34. Among
5150-577: A record number of 692 tanks were reported lost. The Tiger differed from earlier German tanks principally in its design philosophy. Its predecessors balanced mobility, armour, and firepower, and were sometimes outgunned by their opponents. The Tiger I represented a new approach that emphasised firepower and armour. While heavy, this tank was not slower than the best of its opponents. However, with over 50 tonnes (55 tons) dead weight, suspensions, gearboxes, and other such items had clearly reached their design limits and breakdowns were frequent. Design studies for
5356-648: A result, the Finnish Army often referred to the PzKpfw IV Ausf.J as the "shaker" for its rough ride, when compared to their StuG IIIs which by comparison had the much better torsion-bar suspension of the PzKpfw III. According to the Finnish this not only affected general crew comfort, but also hampered the accurate aiming of the main gun whilst on the move. What exactly caused these "vibrations" that gave
5562-429: A revolving gun turret. Coles's aim was to create a ship with the greatest possible all round arc of fire, as low in the water as possible to minimise the target. The Admiralty accepted the principle of the turret gun as a useful innovation, and incorporated it into other new designs. Coles submitted a design for a ship having ten domed turrets each housing two large guns. The design was rejected as impractical, although
5768-479: A road march without losing vehicles due to breakdown. The Jagdtiger , built on a lengthened Tiger II chassis, suffered from a variety of mechanical and technical problems and had frequent breakdowns; ultimately more Jagdtigers were lost to mechanical problems or lack of fuel than to enemy action. German factories and industry were devastated by the end of World War II, but by the 1950s, the nation began to look at designing new tanks. The next tank design started as
5974-425: A ship's upperworks and secondary armaments, as distances of battle were limited by fire control and weapon performance. In the early 1900s, weapon performance, armour quality and vessel speeds generally increased along with the distances of engagement; the utility of large secondary batteries reducing as a consequence, and in addition at extreme range it was impossible to see the fall of lesser weapons and so correct
6180-406: A simple leaf spring double-bogie suspension, with eight rubber-rimmed road wheels per side. The prototype had a crew of five; the hull contained the engine bay to the rear, with the driver and radio operator, who doubled as the hull machine gunner, seated at the front-left and front-right, respectively. In the turret , the tank commander sat beneath his roof hatch, while the gunner was situated to
6386-439: A six-wheeled Schachtellaufwerk interleaved-road wheel suspension (as already adopted for German half-tracks ), but the German Army amended this to a torsion bar system. Permitting greater vertical deflection of the road wheels, this was intended to improve performance and crew comfort both on- and off-road. However, due to the urgent requirement for the new tank, neither proposal was adopted, and Krupp instead equipped it with
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6592-486: A slow infantry tank , armed with a small- caliber cannon and several machine guns . The infantry tank, according to Guderian, was to be heavily armored to defend against enemy anti-tank guns and artillery . He also envisioned a fast breakthrough tank, similar to the British cruiser tank , which was to be armored against enemy anti-tank weapons and have a large 75 mm (2.95 in) main gun. Lastly, Germany would need
6798-482: A small team passing fixed ammunition into the feed system. Smaller calibre weapons often operate on the autocannon principle, and indeed may not even be turrets at all; they may just be bolted directly to the deck. On board warships, each turret is given an identification. In the British Royal Navy , these would be letters: "A" and "B" were for the turrets from the front of the ship backwards in front of
7004-535: A standard of European forces, and eventually served as the main battle tank in Germany. It was superseded by the Leopard 2 . German tank development can be traced back to 1911, when Austrian Oberleutenant Gunther Burstyn proposed a design for "motor vehicle gun" ( Motorgeschütz ) with a turret. He patented his design in 1912 in Germany but it never progressed beyond paper. After British tanks went into action at
7210-404: A support tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications . Ideally, each tank battalion in a panzer division was to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs. On 11 January 1934, the German army wrote the specifications for a "medium tractor", and issued them to a number of defense companies. To support the Panzer III, which would be armed with
7416-562: A turret mounting, except for large destroyers, like the American Fletcher and the German Narvik classes. In naval terms, turret traditionally and specifically refers to a gun mounting where the entire mass rotates as one, and has a trunk that projects below the deck . The rotating part of a turret seen above deck is the gunhouse, which protects the mechanism and crew, and is where the guns are loaded. The gunhouse
7622-399: A turret where the rammer is fixed to the cradle that carries the guns, allowing loading to occur across a wider range of elevations. Earlier turrets differed significantly in their operating principles. It was not until the last of the "rotating drum" designs described in the previous section were phased out that the "hooded barbette" arrangement above became the standard. A wing turret is
7828-458: A very dangerous opponent for any Allied tank, and its thick (but not shot-deflecting) armor made it virtually indestructible. Both the M4 Sherman with its 76mm gun and T-34/85 stood a chance against Tiger only at close range. The rule applied by the British concerning the engagement of Tigers was that five Shermans were needed to destroy a single Tiger, but only one Sherman was to return from
8034-512: A war and fighting on the defensive, all led to a very average first try in the realm of tank design for the Germans. The post- World War I Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture, and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr . The victors pushed for severe restrictions on the country's war-making capabilities and Germany took the brunt of the blame to the west and
8240-482: A weight increase to 16 t (18 short tons), this improved the tank's speed to 42 kilometres per hour (26.10 mph). The glacis plate was augmented to a maximum thickness of 30 millimetres (1.18 in), while a new driver's visor was installed on the straightened hull front plate, and the hull-mounted machine gun was replaced by a covered pistol port and visor flap. The superstructure width and ammunition stowage were reduced to save weight. A new commander's cupola
8446-457: Is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in some degree of azimuth and elevation (cone of fire). Rotating gun turrets protect the weapon and its crew as they rotate. When this meaning of
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8652-468: Is handled, and the main trunk, which accommodates the shell and propellant hoists that bring ammunition up from the magazines below. There may be a combined hoist ( cf the animated British turret) or separate hoists ( cf the US turret cutaway). The working chamber and trunk rotate with the gunhouse, and sit inside a protective armoured barbette . The barbette extends down to the main armoured deck (red in
8858-479: Is supported on a bed of rotating rollers, and is not necessarily physically attached to the ship at the base of the rotating structure. In the case of the German battleship Bismarck , the turrets were not vertically restrained and fell out when she sank. The British battlecruiser Hood , like some American battleships, did have vertical restraints. Below the gunhouse there may be a working chamber, where ammunition
9064-577: The Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun , the Wirbelwind and Ostwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun , and the Brummbär self-propelled gun . The Panzer IV saw service in all combat theatres involving Germany and was the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the war. It was originally designed for infantry support, while the similar Panzer III
9270-517: The Panzergranate 39, the KwK ;40 L/43 could penetrate 77 mm (3.03 in) of steel armour at a range of 1,830 m (6,000 ft). The longer 7.5 cm guns made the vehicle nose-heavy to such an extent that the forward suspension springs were under constant compression. This resulted in the tank tending to sway even when no steering was being applied, an effect compounded by
9476-636: The Neubaufahrzeug started in 1932 when Wa Prüf 6 established design specifications for a new 15 t (17 tons) tank to be known as the mittlere Traktor . It had many connections to the previous Großtraktor , utilizing many of the same components including the engine and transmission. Initially both Krupp and Rheinmetall were asked to submit proposals, but after the end of trials of the Großtraktor prototypes, during which Rheinmetall's vehicle proved superior to others, Krupp would only be awarded
9682-483: The Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. Most of the 11 panzer divisions that saw action in Normandy initially contained an armoured regiment of one battalion of Panzer IVs and another of Panthers, for a total of around 160 tanks, although Waffen-SS panzer divisions were generally larger and better equipped than their Heer counterparts. Regular upgrades to the Panzer IV had helped to maintain its reputation as
9888-699: The Battle of Flers–Courcelette on 15 September 1916, the German Army immediately demanded their own landships. Following the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front , the War Ministry formed a committee of experts from leading engineering companies, answerable to the Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7, Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, 7th Branch, Transportation"). The project to design and build
10094-581: The Begleitwagen ("accompanying vehicle") which would come to fruition as the Panzer IV tank for infantry support. In 1934 Rheinmetall built two mild steel prototypes, one with their own turret design and one with Krupp's. Three more prototypes were built with proper armor and the Krupp turret design in 1936. The Großtraktor was later put into service for a brief period with the 1 Panzer Division;
10300-581: The Cold War tanks of the West German and East German Armies , all the way to the present day tanks of the Bundeswehr . The development of tanks in World War I began as an attempt to break the stalemate which trench warfare had brought to the Western Front . The British and French both began experimenting in 1915, and deployed tanks in battle from 1916 and 1917 respectively. The Germans , on
10506-609: The Jagdpanzer IV , leaving the Nibelungenwerk as the only plant still assembling the Panzer IV. With the slow collapse of German industry under pressure from Allied air and ground offensives—in October 1944 the Nibelungenwerk factory was severely damaged during a bombing raid—by March and April 1945, production had fallen to pre-1942 levels, with only around 55 tanks per month coming off the assembly lines. The Panzer IV
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#173279135347310712-526: The Leichttraktor remained in testing until 1935. In the late 1920s and early 1930s German tank theory was pioneered by two figures: General Oswald Lutz and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian . Guderian became the more influential of the two and his ideas were widely publicized. Like his contemporary Sir Percy Hobart , Guderian initially envisioned an armored corps ( panzerkorps ) composed of several types of tanks. This included
10918-654: The Panther was not delivered to German units in the Soviet Union until May 1943. The extent of German reliance on the Panzer IV during this period is reflected by their losses; 502 were destroyed on the Eastern Front in 1942. The Panzer IV continued to play an important role during operations in 1943, including at the Battle of Kursk . Newer types, such as the Panther, were still experiencing crippling reliability problems that restricted their combat efficiency, so much of
11124-556: The Panther or Panzer V in response. Its 75-millimetre (2.95 in) gun could penetrate the new Soviet tanks. Germany also developed the heavy Tiger I , released in 1942. The Tiger was soon joined by the Tiger II , also known as King Tiger, but too few were produced to impact the war in any discernible way. One note of interest was the poor reliability of the German tanks such as the Panther and Tiger; constant mechanical failures meant that German tank divisions were rarely able to field
11330-553: The Panzerkampfwagen II tanks was phased out and the remaining chassis were used as a base for Marder II (Sd.Kfz.131) tank destroyers and Wespe (Sd.Kfz.124) self-propelled howitzers. The second generation were the more heavily armored Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tanks . Ideally, the tank battalions of a panzer division were each to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs. The Germans began to convert their tank battalions to
11536-517: The Panzertruppen until 1940/41. The main armament of 20mm cannon was adequate at the time of its introduction into service but soon proved to be an outclassed weapon. After the Fall of France, due to the poor cross-country performance, some older Panzer II tanks were taken out of service, and an improved and modified version replaced them armed with newer 20mm KwK 38 L/55 cannon. But from then on
11742-754: The Red Army after the end of the war. These tanks were of many different models and were in very bad shape—many of them were missing parts and the side-skirts. These German T4 tanks remained in service until 1950, when the Army decided to use only Soviet equipment. By 1954, all German tanks in Romanian military service had been scrapped. While their numbers remain uncertain, Syria received around 60 Panzers that were refurbished in France between 1950 and 1952, followed by 50 others purchased from Czechoslovakia in 1954, per
11948-475: The Sd.Kfz. 265 Panzerbefehlswagen , the German Army's first purpose-designed command tank, converted from the Panzer I Ausf B, and was the primary German command tank in service at the beginning of World War II. In 1934, delays in the design and production of the Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks were becoming apparent. Designs for a stopgap tank were solicited from Krupp, MAN, Henschel, and Daimler-Benz. The final design
12154-594: The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux a British tank disabled one A7V and drove off two more. By the time of the arrival of the Sturmpanzerwagen , the Germans had already successfully developed their own brand of armor-piercing projectile as well. Near the end of the First World War, it was clear that the A7V was a failure, being too slow and clumsy in action and slow to build. Therefore, it
12360-735: The Six-Day War in 1967. Panzer IVs also participated in 1973 Yom Kippur War , with some dug in as pillboxes. Several of Syria's Panzer IVs were captured by the Israeli Army and donated to the Yad La-Shiryon museum, which later traded an Ausf H from this collection to the American Armored Foundation Tank Museum in Danville, Virginia in exchange for an M5 Stuart . In addition, Turkey was
12566-673: The Somua S35 and Char B1 . Although the Panzer IV was deployed to North Africa with the German Afrika Korps , until the longer gun variant began production, the tank was outperformed by the Panzer III with respect to armour penetration. Both the Panzer III and IV had difficulty in penetrating the British Matilda II's thick armour, while the Matilda's 40-mm QF 2 pounder gun could knock out either German tank;
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#173279135347312772-803: The United States Army Air Corps , almost simultaneously with the RAF's Overstrand biplane bomber design. The Martin XB-10 prototype aircraft first featured the nose turret in June 1932—roughly a year before the less advanced Overstrand airframe design—and was first produced as the YB-10 service test version by November 1933. The production B-10B version started service with the USAAC in July 1935. In time
12978-505: The armour protection or upgrading the weapons, although during the last months of the war, with Germany's pressing need for rapid replacement of losses, design changes also included simplifications to speed up the manufacturing process. The Panzer IV was partially succeeded by the Panther medium tank, which was introduced to counter the Soviet T-34 , although it continued to be a significant component of German armoured formations to
13184-496: The radio alphabet was used on naming the turrets (e.g. "Anton", "Bruno" or "Berta", "Caesar", "Dora") as on the German battleship Bismarck . In the United States Navy , main battery turrets are numbered fore to aft . Secondary gun mounts are numbered by gun muzzle diameter in inches followed by a second digit indicating the position of the mount, with the second digit increasing fore to aft. Gun mounts not on
13390-412: The " Krali Marko Line", remained in use until the fall of communism in 1989. Twenty Panzer IV Ausf. Hs and ten StuG III Ausf. Gs were supplied to Spain in December 1943, a small fraction of what Spain had originally asked for. The Panzer IV represented the best tank in Spanish service between 1944 and 1954, and was deployed along with T-26s and Panzer Is. Spain sold 17 Panzer IVs to Syria in 1967, with
13596-426: The "Q" turret amidships in favour of heavier guns in fewer mountings. Like pre-dreadnoughts , the first dreadnoughts had two guns in each turret; however, later ships began to be fitted with triple turrets. The first ship to be built with triple turrets was the Italian Dante Alighieri , although the first to be actually commissioned was the Austro-Hungarian SMS Viribus Unitis of the Tegetthoff class . By
13802-452: The Admiralty remained interested in turret ships and instructed its own designers to create better designs. Coles enlisted the support of Prince Albert , who wrote to the first Lord of the Admiralty, the Duke of Somerset, supporting the construction of a turret ship. In January 1862, the Admiralty agreed to construct a ship, HMS Prince Albert which had four turrets and a low freeboard, intended only for coastal defence. While Coles designed
14008-410: The Allies, Zimmerit paste was added to all the vertical surfaces of the tank's armour. The turret roof was reinforced from 10-millimetre (0.39 in) to 16-millimetre (0.63 in) and 25-millimetre (0.98 in) segments. The vehicle's side and turret were further protected by the addition of 5-millimetre (0.20 in) hull skirts and 8-millimetre (0.31 in) turret skirts. This resulted in
14214-454: The Army did not have a formal plan of action in terms of what it realistically needed. Light tanks could be made available in large quantities for a relatively low price while medium tanks afforded firepower but came at a price. At any rate, the German industrial infrastructure - both the post-war limitations and the economical hit caused by the crash of 1929 - meant the development of light tanks to start with. In 1931, Major-General Oswald Lutz
14420-404: The Ausf H was fitted with a hydrostatic transmission but was not put into production. Despite addressing the mobility problems introduced by the previous model, the final production version of the Panzer IV—the Ausf. J—was considered a retrograde from the Ausf. H. Born of necessity, to replace heavy losses, it was greatly simplified to speed production. The electric generator that powered
14626-418: The Ausf. E was introduced. This had 30 millimetres (1.18 in) of armour on the bow plate, while a 30-millimetre (1.18 in) appliqué steel plate was added to the glacis as an interim measure. A new driver's visor, adopted from the Sturmgeschütz III was installed on the hull front plate. A new commander's cupola, adopted from the Panzer III Ausf. G, was relocated forward on the turret eliminating
14832-432: The Ausf. E, and a further increase in side armour to 30 mm (1.18 in). The main engine exhaust muffler was shortened and a compact auxiliary generator muffler was mounted to its left. The weight of the vehicle was now 22.3 tonnes (24.6 short tons), which required a corresponding modification of track width from 380 to 400 mm (14.96 to 15.75 in) to reduce ground pressure. The wider tracks also facilitated
15038-544: The Austrian army. After initial plans were shared with the Army in December 1917, the design was extended to be a universal chassis which could be used as a base for both a tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen ("Overland vehicle") cargo carriers. Powered by two Daimler engines, the tank was first demonstrated in the German spring offensive of 1918. Internally, the Sturmpanzerwagen was cramped, smelly and noisy. It required
15244-598: The British PIAT , but could be pulled away by rugged terrain. German tankers in all theaters were "frustrated by the way these skirts were easily torn off when going through dense brush". The Allies had also been improving their tanks; the widely used American-designed M4 Sherman medium tank, while mechanically reliable, repairable, and available in large numbers, suffered from an inadequate gun in terms of armour-piercing. Against earlier-model Panzer IVs, it could hold its own, but with its 75 mm M3 gun , struggled against
15450-618: The Czechoslovakia-Syria arms deal. A Soviet 12.7mm DShK machine gun on an anti-aircraft mount was retrofitted on the cupola. These ex-German tanks were used to shell Israeli settlements below the Golan Heights , together with Soviet-supplied T-34s, and were fired upon in 1965 during the Water War by Israeli Super Sherman and Centurion tanks. Syria received 17 Panzer IVs from Spain, with these seeing combat during
15656-453: The German Army. Infantry still remained the heart and soul of any planned offensive, but the tank would become the spearhead of actions that could shatter enemy defenses through speed, force, and firepower. Tactics involved the splitting up of enemy formations and counteractions involving pincer movements to surround and ultimately decimate the enemy in whole. By 1926, German Army doctrine was all rewritten to fulfill this vision. Although at first
15862-402: The German designers and manufacturers with valuable experience in designing and producing next generation of new panzers that were soon to come. Although the Panzer I was not a superb combat tank, it proved to be an excellent training tank and most of the Panzer crews were trained on Panzer I until the end of the war or operated it in combat as their first armoured vehicle. The Germans also built
16068-689: The Interior), later called 'Escadron Autonome de Chars Besnier', was equipped in December 1944 with at least one Panzer IV. Tanks in the German Army This article deals with the tanks ( German : Panzer ) serving in the German Army ( Deutsches Heer ) throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army , the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht ,
16274-547: The L/43 tank gun available. At the time, these were the only German tanks that could defeat T-34 or KV-1 with sheer firepower. They played a crucial role in the events that unfolded between June 1942 and March 1943, and the Panzer IV became the mainstay of the German panzer divisions. Although in service by late September 1942, the Tiger I was not yet numerous enough to make an impact and suffered from serious teething problems, while
16480-696: The Matilda II's major disadvantage was its low speed. By August 1942, Rommel had only received 27 Panzer IV Ausf. F2s, armed with the L/43 gun, which he deployed to spearhead his armoured offensives. The longer gun could penetrate all American and British tanks in theater at ranges of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), by that time the most heavily armoured of which was the M3 Grant . Although more of these tanks arrived in North Africa between August and October 1942, their numbers were insignificant compared to
16686-550: The Overstrand was fitted with an enclosed and powered nose turret , mounting a Lewis gun . Rotation was handled by pneumatic motors while elevation and depression of the gun used hydraulic rams. The pilot's cockpit was also enclosed but the dorsal (upper) and ventral (belly) gun positions remained open, though shielded. The Martin B-10 all-metal monocoque monoplane bomber introduced turret-mounted defensive armament within
16892-473: The Panzer II formed the backbone of such early forays. The plan was to produce a better-armed and armored version of a light tank to shore up the limitations of the Panzer I as well as provide priceless training to tank crews. Underpowered, under-armored and lightly armed, the Panzer II experienced its hardships particularly against anti-tank weaponry at close ranges. Nevertheless, war was on the horizon so time
17098-642: The Panzer IV was the Ausführung A (abbreviated to Ausf. A, meaning "Variant A"), in 1936. It was powered by a Maybach HL108 TR , producing 250 PS (183.87 kW), and used the SGR ;75 transmission with five forward gears and one reverse, achieving a maximum road speed of 31 kilometres per hour (19.26 mph). As main armament, the vehicle mounted the short-barreled, howitzer -like 75 mm (2.95 in) Kampfwagenkanone 37 7.5 cm KwK 37 tank gun, 24 calibres in length which
17304-509: The Panzer IV's side-skirts had been replaced by wire mesh, while the gunner's forward vision port in the turret front was eliminated and the number of return rollers was reduced from four to three to further speed-up production. In a bid to augment the Panzer IV's firepower, an attempt was made to mate a Schmalturm turret — carrying the longer 75 mm (2.95 in) L/70 tank gun from the developing Panther Ausf. F tank design, and partly developed by Rheinmetall from early 1944 onwards — to
17510-473: The Polish Army possessed less than 200 tanks capable of penetrating the German light tanks, Polish anti-tank guns proved more of a threat, reinforcing German faith in the value of the close-support Panzer IV. Despite increased production of the medium Panzer IIIs and IVs prior to the German invasion of France on 10 May 1940, the majority of German tanks were still light types. According to Heinz Guderian,
17716-592: The PzKw IV Ausf. J such a bad name among Finnish tank crews remains somewhat unclear as it isn't mentioned in any German or Allied descriptions, but the inadequate leaf spring suspension and comparison with the very smooth ride of the StuG III seems to be the most likely cause. After 1945, Bulgaria incorporated its surviving Panzer IVs into defensive bunkers as strongpoints along its border with Turkey , along with Soviet T-34 turrets. This defensive line, known as
17922-566: The Russian town of Taganrog in the Black Sea during the Siege of Taganrog . The Lady Nancy "proved a great success" and Coles patented his rotating turret design after the war. The British Admiralty ordered a prototype of Coles's patented design in 1859, which was installed in the ironclad floating battery, HMS Trusty , for trials in 1861, becoming the first warship to be fitted with
18128-400: The Soviet Union but instead ended up being used against Nazi Germany during their withdrawal through Lapland . After the war, they served as training tanks and one portrayed a Soviet KV-1 tank in the movie The Unknown Soldier in 1955. The additional weight, going from the 18.4 tons (Ausf. A) to about 25 tons (Ausf. J), of these modifications strained the simple leaf springed suspension. As
18334-412: The T-34 at ranges of up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) at any angle. The 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 gun on the Panzer IV could penetrate a T-34 at a variety of impact angles beyond 1,000 m (3,300 ft) range and up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft). Shipment of the first model to mount the new gun, the Ausf. F2, began in spring 1942, and by the summer offensive there were around 135 Panzer IVs with
18540-511: The Turmzielfernrohr 5f/1 optic. The next version, the Ausf. H, began production in June 1943 and received the designation Sd. Kfz. 161/2. The integrity of the glacis armour was improved by manufacturing it as a single 80-millimetre (3.15 in) plate. A reinforced final drive with higher gear ratios was introduced. To prevent adhesion of magnetic anti-tank mines, which the Germans feared would be used in large numbers by
18746-620: The Wehrmacht dearly. Of the 2,300 tanks and assault guns it had committed to Normandy (including around 750 Panzer IVs), over 2,200 had been lost. Field Marshal Walter Model reported to Hitler that his panzer divisions had remaining, on average, five or six tanks each. During the winter of 1944–45, the Panzer IV was one of the most numerous tanks in the Ardennes offensive , where further heavy losses—as often due to fuel shortages as to enemy action—impaired major German armoured operations in
18952-453: The Wehrmacht invaded France with 523 Panzer Is, 955 Panzer IIs, 349 Panzer IIIs, 278 Panzer IVs, 106 Panzer 35(t)s and 228 Panzer 38(t)s . Through the use of tactical radios and superior tactics, as well as greater mobility generally, the Germans were able to outmaneuver and defeat French and British armour. However, Panzer IVs armed with the KwK 37 L/24 75-millimetre (2.95 in) tank gun found it difficult to engage French tanks such as
19158-486: The West thereafter. The Panzer IVs that took part were survivors of the battles in France between June and September 1944, with around 260 additional Panzer IV Ausf. Js issued as reinforcements. Finland bought 15 new Panzer IV Ausf. Js in 1944. The remainder of an order for 40 tanks and some StuG IIIs were not delivered and neither were necessary German tank instructors provided. The tanks arrived too late to see action against
19364-684: The aim. Therefore, most early dreadnought battleships featured "all big gun" armaments of identical calibre, typically 11 or 12 inches (280 or 300 mm), some of which were mounted in wing turrets. This arrangement was not satisfactory, however, as the wing turrets not only had a reduced fire arc for broadsides, but also because the weight of the guns put great strain on the hull and it was increasingly difficult to properly armour them. Larger and later dreadnought battleships carried superimposed or superfiring turrets (i.e. one turret mounted higher than and firing over those in front of and below it). This allowed all turrets to train on either beam, and increased
19570-505: The amount of matériel shipped to British forces. The Panzer IV also took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the invasion of Greece in early 1941. With the launching of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, the unanticipated appearance of the KV-1 and T-34 tanks prompted an upgrade of the Panzer IV's 75 mm (2.95 in) gun to a longer, high-velocity 75 mm gun suitable for anti-tank use. This meant that it could now penetrate
19776-402: The animation). At the base of the turret sit handing rooms, where shell and propelling charges are passed from the shell room and magazine to the hoists. The handling equipment and hoists are complex arrangements of machinery that transport the shells and charges from the magazine into the base of the turret. Bearing in mind that shells can weigh around a 5 long tons (5.6 short tons; 5.1 t),
19982-496: The beginning of World War II , most battleships used triple or, occasionally, quadruple turrets, which reduced the total number of mountings and improved armour protection. However, quadruple turrets proved to be extremely complex to arrange, making them unwieldy in practice. The largest warship turrets were in World War II battleships where a heavily armoured enclosure protected the large gun crew during battle. The calibre of
20188-546: The bridge and behind the "B" turret, thus having restricted training fore and aft. Secondary turrets were named "P" and "S" ( port and starboard ) and numbered from fore to aft, e.g. P1 being the forward port turret. There were exceptions; the battleship HMS Agincourt had the uniquely large number of seven turrets. These were numbered "1" to "7" but were unofficially nicknamed "Sunday", Monday", etc. through to "Saturday". In German use, turrets were generally named "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", going from bow to stern. Usually
20394-517: The bridge, and letters near the end of the alphabet (i.e., "X", "Y", etc.) were for turrets behind the bridge ship, "Y" being the rearmost. Mountings in the middle of the ship would be "P", "Q", "R", etc. Confusingly, the Dido -class cruisers had a "Q" and the Nelson -class battleships had an "X" turret in what would logically be "C" position; the latter being mounted at the main deck level in front of
20600-471: The bulge underneath the cupola. Older model Panzer IV tanks were retrofitted with these features when returned to the manufacturer for servicing. 206 Ausf. Es were produced between October 1940 and April 1941. In April 1941, production of the Panzer IV Ausf. F started. It featured 50 mm (1.97 in) single-plate armour on the turret and hull, as opposed to the appliqué armour added to
20806-476: The casemate for a rotating turret . This version was accepted into service after testing in 1934. Although these tanks were referred to as the La ;S and LKA well beyond the start of production, its official designation, assigned in 1938, was Panzerkampfwagen I Ausführung. A ('model A' or, more accurately, 'batch A'). The first fifteen tanks, produced between February and March 1934, did not include
21012-478: The centerline would be assigned odd numbers on the port side and even numbers on the starboard side. For example, "Mount 52" would be the forwardmost 5 inches (130 mm) gun mount on the starboard side of the ship. During World War I, air gunners initially operated guns that were mounted on pedestals or swivel mounts known as pintles . The latter evolved into the Scarff ring , a rotating ring mount which allowed
21218-472: The committee that oversaw its development. It weighed around 30 long tons (30 t), capable of crossing ditches up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) wide, have armaments including cannon at front and rear as well as several machine-guns, and reach a top speed of at least 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph). The running gear was based on the Holt tractor, parts for which were copied from examples borrowed from
21424-563: The concept of the tank as a mobile weapon of war was met with apathy, German industry was silently encouraged to look into tank design, while quiet cooperation was undertaken with the Soviet Union . In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Germans closely co-operated with Russians in the development of armored vehicles, which were tested at Kama tank school , near Kazan in the USSR. There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden , including
21630-485: The core of Germany's armoured divisions, including elite units such as the II SS Panzer Corps , through 1944. In January 1945, 287 Panzer IVs were lost on the Eastern Front. It is estimated that combat against Soviet forces accounted for 6,153 Panzer IVs, or about 75% of all Panzer IV losses during the war. Panzer IVs comprised around half of the available German tank strength on the Western Front prior to
21836-462: The creation of Germany's first panzer divisions. Simplifying his earlier proposal, Guderian suggested the design of a main combat vehicle which would be developed later into the Panzer III, and a breakthrough tank, the Panzer IV. No existing design appealed to Guderian. As a stopgap, the German Army ordered the preliminary vehicle to train German tank crews. This became the Panzer I . The Panzer I
22042-475: The cylindrical muffler was replaced by two flame-suppressing mufflers. In June 1944 Wa Prüf 6 had decided that because bomb damage at Panzerfirma Krupp in Essen had seriously jeopardized tank production, all plates which should have been face-hardened for the Panzer IV were instead made with rolled homogeneous armour plate. By late 1944, Zimmerit was no longer being applied to German armoured vehicles, and
22248-448: The decision to up-gun the Panzer IV to the 50-millimetre (1.97 in) gun was dropped, and instead Krupp was contracted in a joint development to modify Rheinmetall 's pending 75 mm (2.95 in) anti-tank gun design, later known as 7.5 cm Pak 40 L/46. Because the recoil length was too great for the tank's turret, the recoil mechanism and chamber were shortened. This resulted in the 75-millimetre (2.95 in) KwK 40 L/43. When
22454-401: The design had plenty of headroom space for the average soldier, though travel made for an uneasy and overall bumpy ride. In theory, the idea of an armored box with a lot of weapons seemed sound. In practice, however, the large design was far from perfect. The vehicle was top-heavy, making it impractical to be used on uneven terrain. It was slow as well, often meaning that it could be outpaced by
22660-411: The difficulty of penetrating the thick armour of British infantry tanks ( Matilda and Matilda II ) during the Battle of France , the Germans had tested a 50 mm (1.97 in) gun — based on the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun — on a Panzer IV Ausf. D. However, with the rapid German victory in France, the original order of 80 tanks was cancelled before they entered production. In October 1940,
22866-666: The early 20th century, these hoods were known as turrets. Modern warships have gun-mountings described as turrets, though the "protection" on them is limited to protection from the weather. Rotating turrets can be mounted on a fortified building or structure such as a coastal blockhouse, be part of a land battery , be mounted on a combat vehicle , a naval ship , or a military aircraft , they may be armed with one or more machine guns , automatic cannons , large- calibre guns, or missile launchers . They may be manned or remotely controlled and are most often protected to some degree, if not actually armoured . The protection provided by
23072-422: The effort fell to the 841 Panzer IVs that took part in the battle. Throughout 1943, the German army lost 2,352 Panzer IVs on the Eastern Front; some divisions were reduced to 12–18 tanks by the end of the year. In 1944, a further 2,643 Panzer IVs were destroyed, and such losses were becoming increasingly difficult to replace. Nevertheless, due to a shortage of replacement Panther tanks, the Panzer IV continued to form
23278-484: The elimination of the vision ports located on the hull side, as the skirts obstructed their view. During the Ausf. H's production run, its rubber-tired return rollers were replaced with cast steel, a lighter cast front sprocket and rear idler wheel gradually replaced the previous components, the hull was fitted with triangular supports for the easily damaged side skirts, the Nebelwurfgerät was discontinued, and
23484-406: The end of the war. It was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia , which saw combat in the 1967 Six-Day War . The Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armoured warfare theorist Heinz Guderian . In concept, it was intended to be
23690-547: The engagement. Tiger I heavy tank originally received the designation of Panzerkampfwagen VI H (8.8 cm) Ausf H1 - Sd.Kfz.182, but then in March 1943, was redesignated to Panzerkampfwagen Tiger (8.8 cm L/56) Ausf E - Sd.Kfz.181. It was commonly referred to as Tiger, Tiger I and PzKpfw VI. Officially there was only one type of Tiger tank produced, but during the duration of production improvements were carried on. Gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret )
23896-407: The engine deck to the rear of the chassis, and cold weather performance was boosted by adding a device to heat the engine's coolant, as well as a starter fluid injector. A new light replaced the original headlight and the signal port on the turret was removed. On 19 March 1943, the first Panzer IV with Schürzen skirts on its sides and turret was exhibited. The double hatch for the commander's cupola
24102-458: The engine was moved 152.4 mm (6.00 in) to the right. Due to the asymmetric layout, the right side of the tank contained the bulk of its stowage volume, which was taken up by ready-use ammunition lockers. Accepted into service under the designation Versuchskraftfahrzeug 622 (Vs.Kfz. 622), "experimental motor vehicle 622", production began in 1936 at Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk AG factory at Magdeburg . The first mass-produced version of
24308-401: The ensuing epic tank Battle of Prokhorovka , in which it was held in reserve, its Panther tanks not engaging as most were broken down by the time the battle started. It also may have been an issue with the Tiger tanks. The Tiger's reliability problems were well known and documented; Tiger units frequently entered combat understrength due to breakdowns. It was rare for any Tiger unit to complete
24514-641: The entire war it comprised 30% of the Wehrmacht ' s total tank strength. Although in service by early 1939, in time for the occupation of Czechoslovakia , at the start of the war the majority of German armour was made up of obsolete Panzer Is and Panzer IIs . The Panzer I in particular had already proved inferior to Soviet tanks, such as the T-26 , during the Spanish Civil War . When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, its armoured corps
24720-689: The entire war. To arm Bulgaria , Germany supplied 46 or 91 Panzer IVs, and offered Italy 12 tanks to form the nucleus of a new Italian Army armoured division. These were used to train Italian tank crews while the-then Italian leader Benito Mussolini was deposed shortly after the Allied conquest of Sicily but were then retaken by Germany during its occupation of Italy in mid-1943. The Falangist Spanish government petitioned for 100 Panzer IVs in March 1943 but only 20 were ever delivered by December that same year. Finland bought 30 but only received 15 in 1944 and in
24926-507: The experience of the Spanish Civil War showed that shell-proof armor was required for tanks to survive on a modern battlefield as prior to that, armor was designed to stop machine gun fire and shell fragments. Production began in 1935, and by July 1937, the Panzer II was cleared and ready for production and by 1939, some 1,226 Panzer IIs were in circulation. While the Panzer I proved the spearhead of these initial invasion assaults,
25132-505: The extraction of technical data that proved invaluable to early German tank design. As early as 1926 various German companies, including Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz , produced a single prototype armed with a large 75-mm gun (codenamed Großtraktor , "large tractor ", to veil the true purpose of the vehicle). Only two years later prototypes of the new Leichttraktor ("light tractor") were produced by German companies, armed with 37 mm (1.46 in) KwK L/45 guns. Development of
25338-463: The features of the Soviet tank considered most significant were the sloping armor, which gave much improved shot deflection and also increased the effective armor thickness against penetration, the wide track, which improved mobility over soft ground, and the 76.2 mm (3.00 in) gun, which had good armor penetration and fired an effective high-explosive round. Daimler-Benz (DB) and MAN were given
25544-598: The firepower of those guns unable to engage an enemy because they sited on the wrong beam into a more powerful, and more versatile unified battery. Designs for a rotating gun turret date back to the late 18th century. In the mid-19th century, during the Crimean War , Captain Cowper Phipps Coles constructed a raft with guns protected by a 'cupola' and used the raft, named the Lady Nancy , to shell
25750-567: The first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer , a leading German automobile designer and manufacturer. He was chosen to design the World War I German tanks A7V and the Großkampfwagen ( K-Wagen ). The K-Wagen was a German super-heavy tank, two prototypes of which were almost completed by the end of World War I. The A7V tank which entered the war, was known as the Sturmpanzerwagen A7V, named after
25956-402: The first combat-ready tank to be delivered. It was also sent to Spain from 1937, and the Panzer II proved more capable against light infantry, but no better when faced with capable anti-tank guns or other tanks. Despite these weaknesses production continued until 1941, at the outbreak of war the German Army had 955 PzKpfw IIs and almost 4,000 were built in total. The Panzer II was designed before
26162-601: The first seagoing warship to carry her guns in turrets. Laid down in 1866 and completed in June 1869, it carried two turrets, although the inclusion of a forecastle and poop prevented the turret guns firing fore and aft. The gun turret was independently invented in the United States by the Swedish inventor John Ericsson , although his design was technologically inferior to Coles's version. Ericsson designed USS Monitor in 1861, its most prominent feature being
26368-412: The fitting of track shoe "ice sprags ", and the rear idler wheel and front sprocket were modified. The designation Ausf. F was changed in the meantime to Ausf. F1, after the distinct new model, the Ausf. F2, appeared. A total of 471 Ausf. F (later temporarily called F1) tanks were produced from April 1941 to March 1942. On 26 May 1941, mere weeks before Operation Barbarossa , during
26574-607: The gap and jammed the turrets during the First Battle of Charleston Harbor in April 1863. Direct hits at the turret with heavy shot also had the potential to bend the spindle, which could also jam the turret. Monitor was originally intended to mount a pair of 15-inch (380 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns , but they were not ready in time and 11-inch (280 mm) guns were substituted, each gun weighing approximately 16,000 pounds (7,300 kg). Monitor ' s guns used
26780-612: The gun to be turned to any direction with the gunner remaining directly behind it, the weapon held in an intermediate elevation by bungee cord , a simple and effective mounting for single weapons such as the Lewis Gun though less handy when twin mounted as with the British Bristol F.2 Fighter and German "CL"-class two-seaters such as the Halberstadt and Hannover -designed series of compact two-seat combat aircraft. In
26986-700: The heaviest armament: four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns or, late in the war, two AN/M2 light-barrel versions of the US Browning M2 machine gun as in the Rose-Rice turret . The tail gunner or "Tail End Charlie" position was generally accepted to be the most dangerous assignment. During the war, British turrets were largely self-contained units, manufactured by Boulton Paul Aircraft and Nash & Thompson . The same model of turret might be fitted to several different aircraft types. Some models included gun-laying radar that could lead
27192-427: The hoists have to be powerful and rapid; a 15 inches (380 mm) turret of the type in the animation was expected to perform a complete loading and firing cycle in a minute. The loading system is fitted with a series of mechanical interlocks that ensure that there is never an open path from the gunhouse to the magazine down which an explosive flash might pass. Flash-tight doors and scuttles open and close to allow
27398-533: The initial landings having to wait for port facilities to be ready to land. It was not until July 1944 that American Shermans fitted with the 76 mm gun M1 gun achieved a parity in firepower with the Panzer IV. By 29 August 1944, as the last surviving German troops of Fifth Panzer Army and Seventh Army began retreating towards Germany, the twin cataclysms of the Falaise Pocket and the Seine crossing cost
27604-447: The introduction of the Ausführung H in March 1943. The Ausf. F tanks that received the new, longer, KwK 40 L/43 gun were temporarily named Ausf. F2 (with the designation Sd.Kfz. 161/1). The tank increased in weight to 23.6 tonnes (26.0 short tons). Differences between the Ausf. F1 and the Ausf. F2 were mainly associated with the change in armament, including an altered gun mantlet, internal travel lock for
27810-410: The late 19th century up until the 1910s. In pre-dreadnought battleships, the wing turret contributed to the secondary battery of sub-calibre weapons. In large armoured cruisers , wing turrets contributed to the main battery, although the casemate mounting was more common. At the time, large numbers of smaller calibre guns contributing to the broadside were thought to be of great value in demolishing
28016-508: The late-model Panzer IV. The late-model Panzer IV's 80 mm (3.15 in) frontal hull armour could easily withstand hits from the 75 mm (2.95 in) weapon on the Sherman at normal combat ranges, though the turret remained vulnerable. The British up-gunned the Sherman with their highly effective 76 mm QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun , resulting in the Firefly ; although this was
28222-405: The left of the gun breech and the loader to the right. The torque shaft ran from the rear engine to the transmission box in the front hull between the driver and radio operator. To keep the shaft clear of the rotary base junction, which provided electrical power to the turret including the motor to turn it, the turret was offset 66.5 mm (2.62 in) to the left of the chassis centre line, and
28428-489: The main armament on large battleships was typically 300 to 460 mm (12 to 18 in). The turrets carrying three 460 mm (18 in) guns of Yamato each weighed around 2,500 t (2,500 long tons; 2,800 short tons). The secondary armament of battleships (or the primary armament of light cruisers ) was typically between 127 and 152 mm (5.0 and 6.0 in). Smaller ships typically mounted guns of 76 mm (3.0 in) and larger, although these rarely required
28634-433: The main weapon in the turret, while a second machine gun of the same type was mounted in the front plate of the hull. The main weapon and coaxial machine gun were sighted with a Turmzielfernrohr 5b optic while the hull machine gun was sighted with a Kugelzielfernrohr 2 optic. The Ausf. A was protected by 14.5 mm (0.57 in) of steel armour on the front plate of the chassis, and 20 mm (0.79 in) on
28840-575: The main weapon, new gun cradle, new Turmzielfernrohr 5f optic for the L/43 weapon, modified ammunition stowage, and discontinuing of the Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung in favor of turret mounted Nebelwurfgerät . Three months after beginning production, the Panzer IV Ausf. F2 was renamed Ausf. G. During its production run from March 1942 to June 1943, the Panzer IV Ausf. G went through further modifications, including another armour upgrade which consisted of
29046-516: The manpower and technical limitations imposed upon the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine General Staff to study World War I and develop future strategies and tactics. One such Reichswehr officer, Hans von Seeckt , became Commander-in-Chief. Seeckt took to heart the lessons learned in the Great War and set about in rewriting the foundation of
29252-461: The most famous tanks of World War II was not finished till after the war had started and the first massive Tiger I heavy tank emerged in July 1942. The first production Tigers were ready in August 1942 and from July 1942, 1,355 Tigers were manufactured till as late as August 1944. Tiger's production reached its highest point in April 1944, when 105 were produced. The main reason for the number produced
29458-615: The much faster firing 8-inch to shoot during the long reload time necessary for 12-inch guns by superposing secondary gun turrets directly on top of the primary turrets (as in the Kearsarge and Virginia -class battleships), but the idea proved to be practically unworkable and was soon abandoned. With the advent of the South Carolina -class battleships in 1908, the main battery turrets were designed so as to superfire , to improve fire arcs on centerline mounted weapons. This
29664-656: The new Germany, now wholly under Hitler, to skirt the rules of the Versailles Treaty and develop its systems of war under various peaceful disguises such as farm equipment. As such, this new light tank design fell under the designation of Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper 100 (or "LaS 100") under the guise that it was a farm tractor. The Panzer II was around 50% heavier than the I and added a 20 mm (0.787 in) Solothurn cannon as main armament as well as increasing maximum armour to 30 mm (1.2 in). Production began in 1935, but it took another eighteen months for
29870-567: The new KwK 40 was loaded with the Pzgr. 39 armour-piercing shell, the new gun fired the AP shell at some 750 m/s (2,460 ft/s), a substantial 74% increase over the howitzer-like KwK 37 L/24 gun's 430 m/s (1,410 ft/s) muzzle velocity. Initially, the KwK 40 gun was mounted with a single-chamber, ball-shaped muzzle brake , which provided just under 50% of the recoil system's braking ability. Firing
30076-531: The number of turrets carried and the number of guns mounted increased. RAF heavy bombers of World War II such as the Handley Page Halifax (until its Mk II Series I (Special) version omitted the nose turret), Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster typically had three powered turrets: rear, mid-upper and nose. (Early in the war, some British heavy bombers also featured a retractable, remotely-operated ventral /mid-under turret). The rear turret mounted
30282-517: The only Allied tank capable of dealing with all current German tanks at normal combat ranges, few (342) were available in time for the Normandy invasion. One Sherman in every British troop of four was a Firefly. By the end of the Normandy campaign, a further 550 Fireflies were built. which was enough to make good any losses. A second British tank equipped with the 17-pdr gun, the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger , could not participate in
30488-603: The other hand, were slower to develop tanks, concentrating on anti-tank weapons. The German response to the modest initial successes of the Allied tanks was the A7V , which, like some other tanks of the period, was based on caterpillar tracks of the type found on the American Holt Tractors . Initially unconvinced that tanks were a serious threat, the High Command ordered just twenty A7Vs, which took part in
30694-485: The passage between areas of the turret. Generally, with large-calibre guns, powered or assisted ramming is required to force the heavy shell and charge into the breech . As the hoist and breech must be aligned for ramming to occur, there is generally a restricted range of elevations at which the guns can be loaded; the guns return to the loading elevation, are loaded, then return to the target elevation, at which time they are said to be "in battery". The animation illustrates
30900-430: The rate of breakdown of German tanks in the field. This especially affected tanks built later in the war (such as the Panther and Tiger) when forced labor had replaced German manpower in their manufacture. In the Battle of Kursk , when the newly arrived Panther tanks moved into their assembly areas, 45 out of 200 experienced mechanical problems requiring repair. A good example was the Großdeutschland Division, which had
31106-437: The rear. A crew of two operated the front 57 mm (2.24 in) main gun, one to aim and fire while the other loaded it. Two drivers sat in the upper center bulge area operating a steering wheel and lever controls. Stowage was allotted for individual crew weapons in the form of rifles. During final design, a rear-facing cannon was removed and the number of machine-guns was increased to six. Grab ropes were provided throughout as
31312-459: The remaining three left conserved. These can be found in Madrid, Burgos and Santovenia de Pisuerga (Valladolid). Most of the tanks Romania had received were lost during combat between 1944 and 1945. These tanks, designated T4 in the army's inventory, were used by the Army's 2nd Armoured Regiment. On 9 May 1945, only two Panzer IVs were left. Romania received another 50 captured Panzer IV tanks from
31518-623: The rotating turret and were used for crew training. Following these, production was switched to the combat version of the tank. Its debut in combat was during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1938). First 32 PzKpfw I along with single Kleiner Panzer Befehlswagen I arrived in October 1936. Only 106 tanks, (102 Ausf A, Ausf B and four Kleiner Panzer Befehlswagen I) saw service with the Condor Legion (Major Ritter von Thoma 's Panzer Abteilung 88 also known as Abteilung Drohne ) and General Franco's Nationalists. Pz.Abt.88 with its 3 companies
31724-435: The same year a second batch of 62 or 72 was sent to Hungary (although 20 of these were subsequently diverted to replace German military losses). The Croatian Ustashe Militia received 10 Ausf. F1 and 5 Ausf. G in the autumn of 1944. In total, 297 Panzer IVs of all models were delivered to Germany's allies. The Panzer IV was the only German tank to remain in both production and combat throughout World War II, and measured over
31930-420: The ship was to present the smallest possible target to enemy gunfire. The turret's rounded shape helped to deflect cannon shot. A pair of donkey engines rotated the turret through a set of gears; a full rotation was made in 22.5 seconds during testing on 9 February 1862. However, fine control of the turret proved to be difficult, as it would have to be reversed if it overshot its mark. In lieu of reversing
32136-423: The ship, often mounted in casemates . Firepower was provided by a large number of guns, each of which could traverse only in a limited arc. Due to stability issues, fewer large (and thus heavy) guns can be carried high on a ship, but as this set casemates low and thus near the waterline they were vulnerable to flooding, effectively restricted their use to calm seas. Additionally casemate mounts had to be recessed into
32342-523: The side of a vessel to afford a wide arc of fire, and such recesses presented shot traps , compromising the integrity of armour plating. Rotating turrets were weapon mounts designed to protect the crew and mechanism of the artillery piece and with the capability of being aimed and fired over a broad arc, typically between a three-quarter circle up to a full 360 degrees. These presented the opportunity to concentrate firepower in fewer, better-sited positions by eliminating redundancy, in other words combining
32548-587: The simplicity of the Panzer IV and the large number of captured parts allowed for long-term repair and continued use. At least one captured Panzer IV Ausf. H was used by the Warsaw Tank Brigade of the Polish 2nd Corps in Italy during 1944. One Panzer IV Ausf. J was used by the 5th Independent Armored Artillery Divizion from 1945. The 1st GMR (Groupement Mobile de Reconnaissance) of the FFI (French Forces of
32754-485: The standard propellant charge of 15 pounds (6.8 kg) specified by the 1860 ordnance instructions for targets "distant", "near", and "ordinary", established by the gun's designer Dahlgren himself. They could fire a 136-pound (61.7 kg) round shot or shell up to a range of 3,650 yards (3,340 m) at an elevation of +15°. HMS Thunderer (1872) represented the culmination of this pioneering work. An ironclad turret ship designed by Edward James Reed , she
32960-511: The strain on the hull would have been too great. Many modern surface warships have mountings for larger calibre guns, although the calibres are now generally between 3 and 5 inches (76 and 127 mm) for use against both air and surface targets . The gunhouses are often just weatherproof covers for the gun mounting equipment and are made of light un-armoured materials such as glass-reinforced plastic . Modern turrets are often automatic in their operation, with no humans working inside them and only
33166-484: The tank's turret traverse was removed, so the turret had to be rotated manually. The turret traversing mechanism was modified and fitted with a second gear which made hand-operation easier when the vehicle was on sloping terrain. On reasonably level ground, hand operation at 4 seconds to traverse to 12.5° and 29.5 seconds to traverse to 120° was achieved. The resulting space was later used for the installation of an auxiliary 200-litre (53 US gal) fuel tank; road range
33372-423: The tank's weight to 18.14 t (20.00 short tons). After assembling 40 Ausf. Cs, starting with chassis number 80341, the engine was replaced with the improved HL 120TRM. The last of the 140 Ausf. Cs was produced in August 1939. Production changed to the Ausf. D; this variant, of which 248 vehicles were produced, reintroduced the hull machine gun and changed the turret's internal gun mantlet to
33578-599: The target and compensate for bullet drop . As almost a 1930s "updated" adaptation of the First World War Bristol F.2b concept, the UK introduced the concept of the "turret fighter", with aeroplanes such as the Boulton Paul Defiant and Blackburn Roc where the armament was four (0.303 in (7.7 mm)) machine-guns was in a turret mounted behind the pilot, rather than in fixed positions in
33784-508: The task of designing a new 30- to 35-ton tank, designated VK30.02, which resembled the T-34 hull and turret form. Like the T-34, the DB design had a rear drive sprocket. Unlike the T-34, the DB design had a three-man turret crew: commander, gunner, and loader. But as the planned L/70 75 mm (2.95 in) gun was much longer and heavier than the T-34's, mounting it in the Daimler-Benz turret
33990-456: The turret from sliding sideways. When not in use, the turret rested on a brass ring on the deck that was intended to form a watertight seal. However, in service, the interface between the turret and deck ring heavily leaked, despite caulking by the crew. The gap between the turret and the deck proved to be another kind of problem for several Passaic -class monitors , which used the same turret design, as debris and shell fragments entered
34196-486: The turret may be against battle damage, the weather conditions, general environment in which the weapon or its crew will be operating. The name derives from the pre-existing noun turret , from the French "touret", diminutive of the word "tower", meaning a self-contained protective position which is situated on top of a fortification or defensive wall as opposed to rising directly from the ground, in which case it constitutes
34402-413: The turret, a full rotation would have to be made to train the guns where desired. Including the guns, the turret weighed approximately 160 long tons (179 short tons; 163 t); the entire weight rested on an iron spindle that had to be jacked up using a wedge before the turret was free to rotate. The spindle was 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter which gave it ten times the strength needed in preventing
34608-458: The turret. This was only capable of stopping artillery fragments , small-arms fire, and light anti-tank projectiles. A total of 35 A versions were produced. In 1937, production moved to the Ausf. B. Improvements included the replacement of the original engine with the more powerful 300 PS (220.65 kW) Maybach HL 120TR, and the transmission with the new SSG 75 transmission, with six forward gears and one reverse gear. Despite
34814-596: The turrets, the ship was the responsibility of Chief Constructor Isaac Watts . Another ship using Coles' turret designs, HMS Royal Sovereign , was completed in August 1864. Its existing broadside guns were replaced with four turrets on a flat deck and the ship was fitted with 5.5 inches (140 mm) of armour in a belt around the waterline. Early ships like the Royal Sovereign had little sea-keeping qualities being limited to coastal waters. Sir Edward James Reed , went on to design and build HMS Monarch ,
35020-471: The two sub-turrets at the front and rear of the tank. The Neubaufahrzeug was intended to fulfill the role of a medium tank in Germany's developing armored force, but it proved to have too many problems with its front drive and aircraft engine for this role. But even with all its faults, the Neubaufahrzeug provided insight into tank designing that was valuable to the next German medium tank project,
35226-425: The various postwar treaties forbade the former Central Powers from building or possessing tanks. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany . Although he initially headed a coalition government , he quickly eliminated his government partners. He ignored the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and began rearming, approving the development of many German tank designs he
35432-432: The very infantry it was to assist. The short tracks of the tractor system also made the vehicle relatively unsafe and uncontrollable in some cases. If the A7V has one saving grace, it was that the all-around armor protection for the crew was second to none - even when compared to the British designs - with over an inch in some areas. Twenty of these tanks were produced, and the first of these were ready in October 1917. The A7V
35638-406: The vision ports on either side of the turret and the loader's forward vision port in the turret front were removed, while a rack for two spare road wheels was installed on the track guard on the left side of the hull. Complementing this, brackets for seven spare track links were added to the glacis plate. For operation in high temperatures, the engine's ventilation was improved by creating slits over
35844-476: The war, German tank design went through at least three generations, plus constant minor variations. The first generation included such unbattleworthy prewar vehicles as the Panzer I and II, which were similar to the Russian T-26 and T series and to the British cruiser tanks. Panzer II (Sd.Kfz.121) was larger than Panzer I but also did not prove very effective in combat, although it was the main battle tank of
36050-466: The weight of fire forward and aft. The superfiring or superimposed arrangement had not been proven until after South Carolina went to sea, and it was initially feared that the weakness of the previous Virginia -class ship's stacked turrets would repeat itself. Larger and later guns (such as the US Navy's ultimate big gun design, the 16"/50 Mark 7 |16-inch) also could not be shipped in wing turrets, as
36256-475: The wing turrets could fire fore and aft, so this somewhat reduced the danger when an opponent crossed the T enabling it to fire a full broadside. Attempts were made to mount turrets en echelon so that they could fire on either beam, such as the Invincible -class and SMS Von der Tann battlecruisers , but this tended to cause great damage to the ships' deck from the muzzle blast. Wing turrets were commonplace on capital ships and cruisers during
36462-439: The wings. The Defiant and Roc possessed no fixed, forward-firing guns; the Bristol F.2 was designed with one synchronized Vickers machine gun firing forward on a fuselage mount. The concept came at a time when the standard armament of a fighter was only two machine guns and in the face of heavily armed bombers operating in formation, it was thought that a group of turret fighters would be able to concentrate their fire flexibly on
36668-415: The word "turret" started being used at the beginning of the 1860s, turrets were normally cylindrical. Barbettes were an alternative to turrets; with a barbette the protection was fixed, and the weapon and crew were on a rotating platform inside the barbette. In the 1890s, armoured hoods (also known as "gun houses") were added to barbettes; these rotated with the platform (hence the term "hooded barbette"). By
36874-537: Was 250 tanks per month at MAN. This was increased to 600 per month in January 1943. Despite determined efforts, this figure was never reached due to disruption by Allied bombing, manufacturing bottlenecks, and other difficulties. Production in 1943 averaged 148 per month. In 1944, it averaged 315 a month (3,777 having been built that year), peaking with 380 in July and ending around the end of March 1945, with at least 6,000 built in total. Front-line combat strength peaked on 1 September 1944 at 2,304 tanks, but that same month
37080-412: Was Germany's first true medium battle tank. The Panzer III formed the bulk of the Panzer Divisions' strength during early years of war. Also, in 1940/41, attempts were made to standardize the production of Panzer III and Panzer IV but soon after further development was halted. However, the appearance of a few of the new generation T-34 and KV-1 tanks in Russia during 1941 compelled the Germans to begin
37286-484: Was Tiger's difficult production. Out the entire number produced some 500 saw service with sSSPzAbts. On June 7 of 1943, Japanese ambassador in Germany, General Oshima was shown a Tiger from sPzAbt 502. Single Tiger was then sold to Japan in 1943, but was never delivered due to the war situation and was loaned by Japan to the German Army (sSSPzAbt 101). Tiger I was armed with a powerful 88 mm (3.46 in) gun (originally developed from 88mm Flak 36 L/56 gun) that made it
37492-410: Was a low-velocity weapon mainly designed to fire high-explosive shells. Against armoured targets, firing the Panzergranate ( armour-piercing shell ) at 430 metres per second (1,410 ft/s) the KwK 37 could penetrate 43 millimetres (1.69 in), inclined at 30 degrees, at ranges of up to 700 metres (2,300 ft). A 7.92 mm (0.31 in) MG 34 machine gun was mounted coaxially with
37698-444: Was a radical design for a fast-moving, lightly armored assault tank. The Oberschlesien included a track which was placed under the tank and only wrapped around half of it. The design sacrificed armor for the sake of speed and only required a 180 horsepower (130 kW) engine for the 19 long tons (19 t) body, giving it a projected ground speed of 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph). The tank featured such advanced features as
37904-477: Was appointed the "Inspector of Motor Transport" in the German Army ( Reichswehr ) with Heinz Guderian as his Chief of Staff and they began building the German Armored Forces and a program of light training tank to train future personnel of panzer divisions. In 1932, specifications for light (5 long tons (5.1 t)) tank were made and issued to Rheinmetall, Krupp , Henschel , MAN and Daimler Benz. Soon after rising to power in Germany, Adolf Hitler approved
38110-407: Was armed with two obsolescent 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 13 machine guns. Machine guns were known to be largely useless against even the lightest tank armor of the time, restricting the Panzer I to a training and anti-infantry role by design. A mass-produced version of the LKA was designed by a collaborative team from Daimler-Benz, Henschel, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall, exchanging
38316-469: Was based at Cubas near Toledo, where German instructors trained future Spanish crews, while the unit was used for training duties and combat (e.g. assault on Madrid). Panzer I tanks proved to be outclassed by Soviet T-26 and BT-5 provided to Republican forces. However, the Panzer I was also a propaganda tool and as a show piece of the Third Reich and its military might in the years leading to beginning of World War II. Lesson learned from Panzer I provided
38522-435: Was based on the Panzer I, but larger, and with a turret mounting a 20 mm (0.787 in) anti-tank gun. The Panzer II came about in a German Ordnance Department requirement enacted in 1934, this time proposing a 10 long tons (10 t) light tank development with 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon and 7.92 mm (0.312 in) machine gun armament. As was the case in developing the Panzer I, it became common practice for
38728-491: Was composed of 1,445 Panzer Is, 1,223 Panzer IIs, 98 Panzer IIIs and 211 Panzer IVs; the more modern vehicles amounted to less than 10% of Germany's armoured strength. The 1st Panzer Division had a roughly equal balance of types, with 17 Panzer Is, 18 Panzer IIs, 28 Panzer IIIs, and 14 Panzer IVs per battalion. The remaining panzer divisions were heavy with obsolete models, equipped as they were with 34 Panzer Is, 33 Panzer IIs, 5 Panzer IIIs, and 6 Panzer IVs per battalion. Although
38934-400: Was decided that a lighter tank was required which could spearhead assaults and which could be mass-produced and was called the Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien . Thirteen companies bid for the contract and in the middle of 1918 construction of a design by Captain Müller was assigned to the Oberschlesien Eisenwerk of Gleiwitz , which had partially completed two prototypes by October 1918. It
39140-454: Was delayed, however, mainly because there were too few specialized machine tools needed for the machining of the hull. Finished tanks were produced in December and suffered from reliability problems as a result of this haste. The demand for this tank was so high that the manufacturing was soon expanded beyond MAN to include Daimler-Benz, Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover (MNH) and Henschel & Sohn in Kassel. The initial production target
39346-417: Was difficult. The two designs were reviewed over a period from January through March 1942. Reichsminister Todt , and later, his replacement Albert Speer , both recommended the DB design to Hitler but a review by a special commission appointed by Hitler in May 1942 ended up selecting the MAN design. Hitler approved this decision after reviewing it overnight. One of the principal reasons given for this decision
39552-445: Was equipped with revolving turrets that used pioneering hydraulic turret machinery to maneouvre the guns. She was also the world's first mastless battleship , built with a central superstructure layout, and became the prototype for all subsequent warships. With her sister HMS Devastation of 1871 she was another pivotal design, and led directly to the modern battleship. The US Navy tried to save weight and deck space, and allow
39758-425: Was extended to Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik ("VOMAG") (located in the city of Plauen ) and the Nibelungenwerk in the Austrian city of St. Valentin. In 1941, an average of 39 tanks per month were built; this rose to 83 in 1942, 252 in 1943, and 300 in 1944. However, in December 1943, Krupp's factory was diverted to manufacture the Sturmgeschütz IV and, in the spring of 1944, the Vomag factory began production of
39964-403: Was first used at St Quentin on 21 March 1918 . Although some of its features, such as the sprung tracks and the thicker armour, made it better than British tanks at that time, the A7V was less successful as a battle vehicle. The main problems concerned its mechanical reliability and the difficulty it encountered crossing enemy trenches. Three of the five tanks committed broke down at St Quentin. At
40170-484: Was forced into signing the Treaty in June 1919. Limitations for the land army included a 100,000-strong infantry army, absolutely no tanks of any kind and just a few armored vehicles for spot duty. The German Army became a shell of its former self. Paragraph Twenty-four of the treaty provided for a 100,000- mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months for anybody who "[manufactured] armoured vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use". Despite
40376-416: Was intended not just to train Germany's panzer troops, but to prepare Germany's industry for the mass production of tanks in the near future: a difficult engineering feat for the time. In July 1932, Krupp revealed a prototype of the Landswerk Krupp A , or LKA, with a sloped front glacis plate and large central casemate , a design heavily influenced by the British Carden Loyd tankette . The tank
40582-460: Was introduced which was adopted from the Panzer III Ausf. C. A Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung (smoke grenade discharger rack) was mounted on the rear of the hull starting in July 1938 and was back fitted to earlier Ausf. A and Ausf. B chassis starting in August 1938. Forty-two Panzer IV Ausf. Bs were manufactured. The Ausf. C replaced the B in 1938. This saw the turret armour increased to 30 mm (1.18 in), which brought
40788-438: Was necessitated by a need to move all main battery turrets to the vessel's centerline for improved structural support. The 1906 HMS Dreadnought , while revolutionary in many other ways, had retained wing turrets due to concerns about muzzle blast affecting the sighting mechanisms of a turret below. A similar advancement was in the Kongō -class battlecruisers and Queen Elizabeth -class battleships, which dispensed with
40994-587: Was of the essence and the more lethal Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs were being developed and soon be mass-produced for the coming battles. The multi-turreted heavy tank Neubaufahrzeuge prototypes were used mainly for propaganda before the war and their role was extended with the German invasion of Norway, when a special Panzerabteilung was formed which took the three armored prototypes with them to Oslo . They saw some combat there, with one being blown up by German engineers when it got stuck in swamps near Åndalsnes . The other prototypes were eventually scrapped. During
41200-470: Was one of the most widely exported German tanks of the Second World War. In 1942, Germany delivered 11 tanks to Romania and 32 to Hungary, many of which were lost on the Eastern Front between the final months of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 during the battles around Stalingrad, at which the Hungarian and Romanian troops there were almost annihilated by the attacking Soviet forces. Romania received approximately 120 Panzer IV tanks of different models throughout
41406-401: Was replaced by a single round hatch from very late model Ausf. G. and the cupola was up-armoured from 50 mm (1.97 in) to 95 mm (3.74 in). In April 1943, the KwK 40 L/43 was replaced by the longer 75-millimetre (2.95 in) KwK 40 L/48 gun, with a redesigned multi-baffle muzzle brake with improved recoil efficiency. The longer L/48 resulted in the introduction of
41612-429: Was shown. The German Army first used Panzer I light tanks, along with the Panzer II , but the mainstays were the medium Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs which were released in 1937. The IV became the backbone of Germany's panzer force and the power behind the blitzkrieg. During the invasion of Russia in 1941 , the Germans encountered the famous and technologically advanced Soviet T-34 tanks . This led Germany to develop
41818-403: Was that the MAN design used an existing turret designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig, while the DB design would have required a brand-new turret to be designed and produced, substantially delaying the commencement of production. A mild steel prototype was produced by September 1942 and, after testing at Kummersdorf , was officially accepted. It was put into immediate production. The start of production
42024-424: Was the Boulton & Paul Overstrand twin-engined biplane, which first flew in 1933. The Overstrand was similar to its First World War predecessors in that it had open cockpits and hand-operated machine guns. However, unlike its predecessors, the Overstrand could fly at 140 mph (230 km/h) making operating the exposed gun positions difficult, particularly in the aircraft's nose. To overcome this problem,
42230-442: Was thereby increased to 320 km (200 mi), The remaining pistol and vision ports on the turret side hatches were removed, and the engine's radiator housing was simplified by changing the slanted sides to straight sides. Three sockets with screw threads for mounting a 2-ton jib boom crane were welded on the turret roof while the hull roof was thickened from 11-millimetre (0.43 in) to 16-millimetre (0.63 in). In addition,
42436-437: Was to fight armoured fighting vehicles . However, as the Germans faced the formidable T-34 , the Panzer IV had more development potential, with a larger turret ring to mount more powerful guns, so it swapped roles with the Panzer III whose production wound down in 1943. The Panzer IV received various upgrades and design modifications, intended to counter new threats, extending its service life. Generally, these involved increasing
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