German tanks in World War II

[1] German tanks were an important part of the Wehrmacht and played a fundamental role during the whole war, and especially in the blitzkrieg battle strategy.

In the subsequent more troubled and prolonged campaigns, German tanks proved to be adaptable and efficient adversaries to the Allies.

Development work was then halted and limited production was begun by Krupp in Magdeburg (Grusonwerk AG), Essen and Bochum in October 1939 with 20 vehicles built.

There were also technical problems with the Panzer III: it was widely considered to be under-gunned with the 3.7 cm KwK 36 gun and production was split among four manufacturers (MAN, Daimler-Benz, Rheinmetall-Borsig, and Krupp) with little regard for each firm's expertise, and the rate of production was initially very low (40 in September 1939, 58 in June 1940), taking until December 1940 to reach 100 vehicles a month.

Though the Anglo-French forces appeared numerically and technically superior, with a greater quantity of medium and heavy vehicles, German crews were trained and experienced in the new combined tactics of tanks, anti-tank guns and dive bombers.

In particular the Wehrmacht exploited the advantages of the Panzer III, with its modern radio communications system and a crew of three men in the turret, resulting in greater efficiency in the field and winning the Battle of France.

In April 1941 there was a general 'recall' of the Panzer III to upgrade the main gun to the new 50  mm KwK L/60, with the new Panzergranate 40 projectile, and muzzle velocity was pushed to 3875 ft/s (1,181 m/s).

The invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa signaled a very important change in German tank development.

[13] On the Western Front the American M4 Sherman's 75 mm M3 gun had troubles facing the Panzer IV late model.

Zimmerit paste to prevent magnetic charges being attached was also introduced on the Panzer IV from December 1943 to October 1944.

Two features of the Soviet tank were considered the most significant: the top was the sloped armor all round which gave much-improved shot deflection and also increased the armor effective relative thickness against penetration; the second was the long over-hanging gun, a feature German designers had avoided up to then.

If the overhanging gun and sloping armor are ignored the Panther was a conventional German design: its internal layout for the five crew was standard and the mechanicals were complex.

Weighing 43 tonnes it was powered by a 700 PS (522 kW) gasoline engine driving eight double-leaved bogie wheels on each side; control was through a seven-speed gearbox and hydraulic disc brakes.

The MAN design was officially accepted in September 1942 and put into immediate production with top priority; finished tanks were being produced just two months later and suffered from reliability problems as a result of this haste.

With a production target of 600 vehicles a month the work had to be expanded out of MAN to include Daimler-Benz, and in 1943 the firms of Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover and Henschel.

Due to disruption monthly production never approached the target, peaking in July 1944 with 380 tanks delivered and ending around April 1945 with at least 5,964 built.

In addition to these mainstream efforts the German army also experimented with a variety of unusual prototypes and also put into production several peculiarities.

The Panther first saw action in the Battle of Kursk beginning on July 5, 1943, where it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I.

The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long range engagements[19] and is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower and protection, although its initial tech reliability was less impressive.

It was not designed for combat, but rather as a training vehicle to familiarize tank crews with Germany's modern battle concepts, and to prepare the nation's industry for the upcoming war effort.

The Panzer I's participation in the Spanish Civil War did, however, provide vital information to the German military about modern tank warfare.

Along with the Panzer I, the II made up the bulk of German tank forces during the invasion of Poland and France.

Number built – 5,764 The Panzer III was intended to be the main medium core of the German armored force when it was designed during the inter-war period.

Its assault gun chassis variant, the Sturmgeschütz III, was, with just over 9,400 units built, the most widely produced German armored fighting vehicle of World War II.

Number built – 8,800 The Panzer IV was the workhorse of the German tank force during World War II.

It was thus armed with a 75 mm howitzer intended primarily to fire high-explosive shells in support of other tanks or infantry.

Number built – 1,347 In response to the T-34 after the invasion of the Soviet Union, the German forces ordered the construction of a new heavy tank.

This tank also had mechanical problems, partly from the complex, copper-dependent gasoline-electric drive system's poor grade of copper.

However, the Tiger II suffered from multiple mechanical problems due to its rushed development and excessive weight.

The Panzerkampfwagen E-100 (Gerät 383) (TG-01) was a German super-heavy tank design developed near the end of World War II.