The commander's tower of the tank t 4. Medium German tank Tiger Panzerkampfwagen IV

medium tank Panzer IV

Medium Panzer IV

“We froze when we saw the ugly, monstrous machines of bright yellow tiger coloring that appeared from the gardens of Sitno. They slowly rolled in our direction, flashing with the tongues of shots.
“I haven’t seen any of these yet,” says Nikitin.
The Germans are moving in a line. I peered into the nearest left-flank tank, which had pulled out far ahead. Its outline reminds me of something. But what?
- "Rheinmetall"! - I shouted, remembering the photo of a German heavy tank, which I saw in the album of the school, and quickly blurted out: - Heavy, seventy-five, direct shot eight hundred, armor forty ... "
So in his book "Notes of a Soviet Officer" he recalls the first meeting with the German Panzer IV tank in the June days of 1941, tankman G. Penezhko.
However, under this name, this combat was almost unknown to the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army. And now, half a century after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the combination of the German words "panzer fir" for many readers of the "Armored Collection" is bewildering. Both then and now, this tank is better known under the "Russified" name T-IV, which is not used anywhere outside of our country.
Panzer IV - the only one german tank, which was in mass production throughout the Second world war and became the most massive tank of the Wehrmacht. Its popularity among German tankers was comparable to the popularity of the T-34 among ours and the Sherman among the Americans. Well-designed and extremely reliable in operation, this combat vehicle was in the full sense of the word the "workhorse" of the Panzerwaffe.
HISTORY OF CREATION
Already at the beginning of the 30s, a doctrine for the construction of tank troops was developed in Germany, and views were formed on tactical use various types of tanks. And if light vehicles (Pz.l and Pz.ll) were considered mainly as combat training, then their heavier "brothers" - Pz.lll and Pz.lV - as full-fledged combat vehicles. At the same time, Pz.lll was supposed to serve as a medium tank, and Pz.lV - as a support tank.
The project of the latter was developed within the framework of the requirements for an 18-ton class vehicle intended for commanders of tank battalions. Hence its original name Bataillonsfuh-rerwagen - BW. By its design, it was very close to the ZW tank - the future Pz.lll, but, having almost the same hull, the BW had a wider hull and a larger turret ring diameter, which initially provided a certain reserve for its modernization. New tank It was supposed to be armed with a large-caliber gun and two machine guns. The layout was laid classical - single-turret, with a traditional front transmission for German tank building. The booked volume ensured the normal operation of the crew of 5 people and the placement of equipment.
The BW was designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG in Düsseldorf and Friedrich Krupp AG in Essen. However, Daimler-Benz and MAN also presented their projects. It is interesting to note that all variants, with the exception of the Rheinmetall one, had a chassis with a staggered arrangement of large-diameter road wheels, developed by engineer E. Knipkamp. The only prototype built in metal - VK 2001 (Rh) - was equipped with a chassis, almost completely borrowed from the heavy multi-turret tank Nb.Fz., Several samples of which were made in 1934-1935. This chassis design was preferred. The order for the production of the 7.5-cm Geschutz-Panzerwagen (Vs.Kfz.618) tank - "an armored vehicle with a 75-mm cannon (experimental model 618)" - was received by Krupp in 1935. In April 1936, the name was changed to Panzerkampfwagen IV (abbreviated Pz.Kpfw.lV, Panzer IV is common, and very short - Pz.lV). According to the end-to-end designation system for Wehrmacht vehicles, the tank had the index Sd.Kfz.161.
Several machines of the zero series were manufactured in the workshops of the Krupp plant in Essen, but already in October 1937, production was transferred to the Krupp-Gruson AG plant in Magdeburg, where the production of combat vehicles of modification A.
Pz.IV Ausf.A
The armor protection of the Ausf.A hull ranged from 15 (sides and rear) to 20 (forehead) mm. The frontal armor of the tower reached 30, sides - 20, stern - 10 mm. The combat weight of the tank was 17.3 tons. The armament was a 75-mm KwK 37 cannon with a barrel length of 24 calibers (L / 24); it included 120 shots. Two machine guns MG 34 caliber 7.92 mm (one coaxial with a gun, the other course) had 3,000 rounds of ammunition. The tank was equipped with a Maybach HL 108TR 12-cylinder V-shaped liquid-cooled carburetor engine with an HP 250 power. at 3000 rpm and a five-speed manual transmission type Zahnradfabrik ZF SFG75. The engine was located asymmetrically, closer to the starboard side of the hull. The undercarriage consisted of eight twin road wheels of small diameter, interlocked in pairs in four bogies suspended on quarter-elliptical leaf springs, four support rollers, a drive wheel front location and a guide wheel with a track tension mechanism. Subsequently, with numerous upgrades of the Pz.IV, its undercarriage did not undergo any major structural changes.
Characteristic features of the machines of modification A were a cylindrical commander's cupola with six viewing slots and a course machine gun in a ball mount in a broken frontal hull plate. The turret of the tank was shifted to the left of its longitudinal axis by 51.7 mm, which was explained by the internal layout of the turret rotation mechanism, which included a two-stroke gasoline engine, a generator and an electric motor.
Until March 1938, 35 tanks of modification A left the factory shops. In practice, this was an installation batch.
Pz.IV Ausf.B
Modification B machines were somewhat different from the previous ones. The broken frontal plate of the hull was replaced with a straight one, the course machine gun was eliminated (an observation radio operator appeared in its place, and a loophole for firing from personal weapons appeared to its right), a new commander's cupola and a periscope observation device were introduced, the armor design of almost all viewing devices was changed, instead of double-leaf covers of the landing hatches of the driver and radio operator were installed single-leaf. Ausf.Bs were equipped with a 300 hp Maybach HL120TR engine. at 3000 rpm and a six-speed ZF SSG76 gearbox. reduced to 80 shots and 2700 rounds. The armor protection practically remained the same, only the thickness of the frontal armor of the hull and turret was increased to 30 mm.
From April to September 1938, 45 Pz.IV Ausf.B.
Pz.IV Ausf.C
From September 1938 to August 1939, tanks of the C series were produced - 140 units (according to other sources, 134 tanks and six for engineering troops). From the 40th car of the series (serial number - 80341), they began to install the Maybach HL120TRM engine - in the future it was used on all subsequent modifications. Other improvements include a special chipper under the gun barrel for bending the antenna when turning the turret and the armor casing of the coaxial machine gun. Two Ausf.C vehicles were converted into bridge tanks.
Pz.IV Ausf.D
From October 1939 to May 1940, 229 modification D vehicles were manufactured, on which a broken frontal hull plate and a machine gun with additional rectangular armor appeared again. The design of the mask of the twin installation of the gun and machine gun has changed. The thickness of the side armor of the hull and turret increased to 20 mm. In 1940 - 1941, the frontal armor of the hull was reinforced with 20 mm sheets. Ausf.D tanks of later releases had additional ventilation holes in the engine compartment (option Tr. - tropen - tropical). In April 1940, 10 D-series vehicles were converted into bridgelayers.
In 1941, one Ausf.D tank was experimentally armed with a 50-mm KwK 39 cannon with a barrel length of 60 calibers. It was planned to re-arm all vehicles of this modification in this way, however, in the winter of 1942, preference was given to the F2 variant with a 75-mm long-barreled gun. In 1942-1943, a number of Pz.IV Ausf.D tanks received such guns during the overhaul. In February 1942, two tanks were converted into self-propelled guns armed with 105 mm K18 howitzers.
Pz.IV Ausf.E
The main difference between the Ausf.E modification and its predecessors was a significant increase in the thickness of the armor. The frontal armor of the hull was increased to 30 mm and, in addition, reinforced with a 30 mm screen. The forehead of the tower was also brought to 30 mm, and the mantlet to 35...37 mm. The sides of the hull and turret had 20 mm armor, and the stern had 15 mm armor. A new type of commander's turret appeared with armor reinforced to a thickness of 50 ... 95 mm, a turret, an improved driver's viewing device, a ball mount for a Kugelblende 30 course machine gun (the number 30 means that the mount's apple was adapted for mounting in 30 mm armor) , simplified drive and steering wheels, an equipment box attached to the rear of the turret, and other minor changes. The design of the stern sheet of the tower has also undergone changes. The combat weight of the tank reached 21 tons. From September 1940 to April 1941, 223 vehicles of the E version left the factory shops.
Pz.IV Ausf.F
Pz.IV Ausf.F appeared as a result of an analysis of the combat use of vehicles of previous versions in Poland and France. The thickness of the armor increased again: the forehead of the hull and turret - up to 50 mm, the sides - up to 30. The single-leaf doors in the sides of the turret were replaced with double-leaf ones, the frontal hull plate again became straight. At the same time, the machine gun was preserved, but now it was placed in a Kugelblende 50 ball mount. Since the mass of the tank hull increased by 48% compared to the Ausf.E, the vehicle received a new 400-mm caterpillar instead of the previously used 360-mm one. Additional ventilation holes were made in the roof of the engine compartment and in the covers of the transmission hatches. The placement and design of the engine mufflers and the turret traverse motor have been changed.
In addition to the Krupp-Gruson company, Vomag and Nibelungenwerke joined the production of the tank, which lasted from April 1941 to March 1942.
All of the above modifications of the Pz.IV tank were armed with a short-barreled 75-mm cannon with an initial velocity of an armor-piercing projectile of 385 m/s, which was powerless against both the English Matilda and the Soviet T-34s and KVs. After the release of 462 machines of the F variant, their production was stopped for one month. During this time, very significant changes were made to the design of the tank: the main one was the installation of a 75-mm KwK 40 cannon with a barrel length of 43 caliber and an initial speed of an armor-piercing projectile of 770 m / s, developed by designers from Krupp and Rheinmetall. The production of these guns began in March 1942. On April 4, a tank with a new gun was shown to Hitler, and after that its production was resumed. Vehicles with short guns were designated F1, and those with the new gun were designated F2. The ammunition load of the latter consisted of 87 rounds, 32 of which were placed in the turret. The vehicles received a new mask mount and a new TZF 5f sight. The combat weight reached 23.6 tons. Until July 1942, 175 Pz.lV Ausf.F2 were produced, another 25 vehicles were converted from F1.
Pz.IV Ausf.G
Pz.IV Ausf.G variant (1687 units made), the production of which began in May 1942 and continued until April 1943, fundamental differences from machines of modification F did not have. The only novelty immediately conspicuous was the two-chamber muzzle gun. In addition, on most of the vehicles produced, there were no observation devices in the frontal sheet of the turret to the right of the gun and on the right side of the turret. However, judging by the photographs, these devices are not present on many machines of the F2 variant. The last 412 Ausf.G tanks received a 75 mm KwK 40 cannon with a barrel length of 48 calibers. Later production vehicles were equipped with 1450-kg "eastern caterpillars" - Ostketten, additional 30-mm frontal armor (about 700 tanks received it) and side screens, which made them almost indistinguishable from the next modification - Ausf.H. One of production tanks was converted into a prototype Hummel self-propelled gun.
Pz.IV Ausf.H
Tanks of the H modification received 80-mm frontal armor, the radio station was moved to the rear of the hull, 5-mm side screens appeared on the hull and turret, which protected against cumulative (or, as they were called then, armor-burning) shells, the design of the drive wheels changed. Part of the tanks had non-rubber support rollers. The Ausf.H was equipped with the Zahnradfabrik ZF SSG77, similar to the one used in the Pz.lll tank. On the commander's cupola was mounted anti-aircraft gun machine gun MG 34 - Fliegerbeschussgerat41 or 42. On the machines of the latest releases, the rear hull sheet became vertical (previously it was located at an inclination of 30 ° to the vertical). The armor protection of the turret roof increased to 18 mm. Finally, all the outer surfaces of the tank were coated with zimmerite. This version of the Pz.IV became the most massive: from April 1943 to May 1944, the factory shops of three manufacturing companies - Krupp-Gruson AG in Magdeburg, Vogtiandische Maschinenfabrik AG (VOMAG) in Plausn and Nibelungenwerke in S. Valentin - left 3960 combat vehicles. At the same time, 121 tanks were converted into self-propelled and assault guns.
According to other sources, 3935 chassis were made, 3774 of which were used to assemble tanks. On the basis of 30 chassis, 30 StuG IV assault guns and 130 Brummbar self-propelled guns were fired.
Pz.IV Ausf.J
The last version of the Pz.IV was the Ausf.J. From June 1944 to March 1945, the Nibelungenwerke plant produced 1758 machines of this model. In general, similar to the previous version, the Ausf.J tanks have undergone changes related to technological simplifications. So, for example, the power unit of the electric drive for turning the turret was eliminated and only the manual drive remained! The design of the tower hatches was simplified, the driver's on-board observation device was dismantled (it became useless in the presence of side screens), the supporting rollers, the number of which on late production vehicles was reduced to three, lost rubber bandages, and the design of the steering wheel changed. High-capacity fuel tanks were installed on the tank, as a result of which the cruising range on the highway increased to 320 km. Metal mesh has been widely used for side screens. Some of the tanks had vertical exhaust pipes similar to those used on the Panther tank.
During the period from 1937 to 1945, attempts were repeatedly made to deep technical modernization of the Pz.IV. So, one of the Ausf.G tanks was equipped with a hydraulic transmission in July 1944. From April 1945, they were going to equip the Pz.IV with 12-cylinder diesel engines Tatra 103.
The most extensive were the plans for rearmament and rearmament. In 1943-1944, it was planned to install a Panther turret with a 75-mm KwK 42 cannon with a barrel length of 70 calibers or the so-called "close tower" (Schmalturm) with a 75-mm KwK 44/1 gun. They also built a wooden tank with this gun, placed in the standard turret of the Pz.IV Ausf.H tank. Krupp has developed a new turret with a 75/55 mm KwK 41 gun with a 58-caliber conical barrel.
Attempts were made to equip the Pz.IV missile weapons. A prototype tank was built with a 280 mm rocket launcher instead of a turret. The combat vehicle, equipped with two 75-mm Rucklauflos Kanone 43 recoilless guns located on the sides of the turret, and a 30-mm MK 103 in place of the standard KwK 40, did not leave the stage of the wooden model.
From March to September 1944, 97 Ausf.H tanks were converted into command tanks - Panzerbefehlswagen IV (Sd.Kfz.267). These machines received an additional FuG 7 radio station, which was serviced by the loader.
For units of self-propelled artillery from July 1944 to March 1945, in the workshops of the Nibelungenwerke plant, 90 Ausf.J tanks were converted into advanced artillery observer vehicles - Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV. Their main armament was preserved. In addition, these vehicles were equipped with a FuG 7 radio station, the antenna of which is easily recognizable by the characteristic "panicle" at the end, and a TSF 1 rangefinder. Instead of a regular tank, they received a commander's cupola from the StuG 40 assault gun.
In 1940, 20 tanks of modifications C and D were converted into Bruckenleger IV bridgelayers. The work was carried out in the workshops of the Friedrich Krupp AG factories in Essen and Magirus in Ulm, while the machines of both companies differed somewhat from each other in design. Four bridgelayers were included in the sapper companies of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th tank divisions.
In February 1940, Magirus converted two Ausf.C tanks into assault bridges (Infanterie Sturm-steg), designed to overcome various fortification obstacles by infantry. In place of the tower, a sliding one was mounted, structurally similar to a fire assault ladder.
As part of the preparations for the invasion of the British Isles (Operation Sea Lion), 42 Ausf.D tanks were equipped with underwater equipment. Then these vehicles entered the 3rd and 18th tank divisions of the Wehrmacht. Since the English Channel crossing did not take place, they received their baptism of fire on the Eastern Front.
In 1939, during tests of the 600mm Karl mortar, a need arose for an ammunition carrier. In October of the same year, one Pz.lV Ausf.D. tank was converted for this purpose. In a special box mounted on the roof of the engine compartment, four 600-mm projectiles were transported, for loading and unloading of which a crane was located on the roof of the front of the hull. In 1941, 13 Ausf.FI vehicles were converted into ammunition carriers (Munitionsschlepper).
In October-December 1944, 36 Pz.lV tanks were converted into ARVs.
The given production data of the Pz.lV, unfortunately, cannot be considered absolutely accurate. In different sources, data on the number of cars produced vary, and sometimes noticeably. So, for example, I.P. Shmelev in his book "Armored of the Third Reich" gives the following figures: Pz.lV with KwK 37 - 1125, and with KwK 40 - 7394. It is enough to look at the table to see the discrepancies. In the first case, insignificant - by 8 units, and in the second, significant - by 169! Moreover, if we sum up the production data by modifications, we get the number of 8714 tanks, which again does not coincide with the total of the table, although the error in this case is only 18 vehicles.
Pz.lV was exported in much larger quantities than other German tanks. Judging by German statistics, 490 combat vehicles were delivered to Germany's allies, as well as to Turkey and Spain in 1942-1944.
The first Pz.lV was received by the most loyal ally of Nazi Germany-Hungary. In May 1942, 22 Ausf.F1 tanks arrived there, in September - 10 F2. The largest batch was delivered in autumn 1944-spring 1945; according to various sources, from 42 to 72 vehicles of modification H and J. The discrepancy happened because some sources question the fact that tanks were delivered in 1945.
In October 1942, the first 11 Pz.lV Ausf.G arrived in Romania. Later, in 1943-1944, the Romanians received another 131 tanks of this type. They were used in hostilities both against the Red Army and against the Wehrmacht, after the transition of Romania to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
A batch of 97 Ausf.G and H tanks was sent to Bulgaria between September 1943 and February 1944. From September 1944, they took an active part in the battles with the German troops, being the main striking force of the only Bulgarian tank brigade. In 1950, the Bulgarian army still had 11 combat vehicles of this type.
In 1943 Croatia received several Ausf.F1 and G tanks; in 1944, 14 Ausf.J - Finland, where they were used until the beginning of the 60s. At the same time, the standard MG 34 machine guns were removed from the tanks, and Soviet diesel engines were installed instead.

DESIGN DESCRIPTION
The layout of the tank is classic, with a front-mounted transmission.
The department of management was in front of the combat vehicle. It housed the main clutch, gearbox, turning, control devices, course machine gun (with the exception of modifications B and C), a radio station and jobs for two crew members - a driver and a radio operator gunner.
The fighting compartment was located in the middle of the tank. Here were (in the tower) a cannon and a machine gun, observation and aiming devices, vertical and horizontal aiming mechanisms and seats for the tank commander, gunner and loader. Ammunition was located partly in the tower, partly in the hull.
In the engine compartment, in the aft part of the tank, there was an engine and all its systems, as well as an auxiliary engine for the turret traverse mechanism.
FRAME the tank was welded from rolled armor plates with surface carburizing, mostly located at right angles to each other.
In front of the roof of the turret box there were manholes for the driver and gunner-radio operator, which were closed with rectangular hinged covers. Modification A has double-leaf lids, the rest have single-leaf lids. Each cover was provided with a hatch for launching signal rockets (with the exception of options H and J).
In the frontal hull sheet on the left was the driver's viewing device, which included a triplex glass block, closed by a massive armored sliding or folding shutter Sehklappe 30 or 50 (depending on the thickness of the frontal armor), and a KFF 2 binocular periscope observation device (for Ausf. A-KFF 1). The latter, if there was no need for it, moved to the right, and the driver could observe through the glass block. Modifications B, C, D, H and J did not have a periscope device.
On the sides of the control compartment, to the left of the driver and to the right of the gunner-radio operator, there were triplex viewing devices closed by folding armored covers.
Between the stern of the hull and the fighting compartment was a partition. In the roof of the engine compartment there were two hatches closed with hinged covers. Starting with Ausf.F1, the covers were equipped with blinds. In the reverse bevel of the left side there was an air inlet to the radiator, and in the reverse bevel of the starboard side there was an air outlet from the fans.
TOWER- welded, hexagonal, mounted on a ball bearing on the turret hull sheet. In its front part, in a mask, there was a cannon, a coaxial machine gun and a sight. To the left and right of the mask there were observation hatches with triplex glass. The hatches were closed with external armored shutters from inside the tower. Starting with modification G, the hatch to the right of the gun was missing.
The tower was driven by an electromechanical rotary mechanism with a maximum speed of 14 degrees / s. A full rotation of the tower was carried out in 26 s. The flywheels of the manual drive of the tower were located at the workplaces of the gunner and loader.
In the rear part of the roof of the tower there was a commander's cupola with five viewing slots with triplex glass. Outside, the viewing slots were closed with sliding armored shutters, and in the roof of the turret, intended for the entry and exit of the tank commander, with a double-leaf cover (later - a single-leaf). The turret had a dial-hour type device for determining the location of the target. The second such device was at the disposal of the gunner and, having received an order, he could quickly turn the turret on the target. At the driver's seat there was a turret position indicator with two lights (except for Ausf.J tanks), thanks to which he knew what position the gun was in (this is especially important when moving along wooded area and settlements).
For boarding and disembarking crew members on the sides of the tower there were hatches with single-leaf and double-leaf (starting with the F1 variant) covers. Viewing devices were installed in the manhole covers and sides of the tower. The aft sheet of the tower was equipped with two hatches for firing personal weapons. On some machines of modifications H and J, in connection with the installation of screens, viewing devices and hatches were absent.
WEAPONS. The main armament of tanks of modifications A - F1 is a 7.5 cm KwK 37 gun of 75 mm caliber from Rheinmetall-Borsig. The length of the gun barrel is 24 calibers (1765.3 mm). Gun weight - 490 kg. Vertical aiming - in the range from - 10 ° to + 20 °. The gun had a vertical wedge gate and electric trigger. Its ammunition included shots with smoke (weight 6.21 kg, muzzle velocity 455 m/s), high-explosive fragmentation (5.73 kg, 450 m/s), armor-piercing (6.8 kg, 385 m/s) and cumulative (4.44 kg, 450...485 m/s) shells.
The Ausf.F2 tanks and part of the Ausf.G tanks were armed with a 7.5 cm KwK 40 cannon with a barrel length of 43 caliber (3473 mm), which had a mass of 670 kg. Part of the Ausf.G tanks and the Ausf.H and J vehicles were equipped with a 7.5 cm KwK 40 cannon with a barrel length of 48 calibers (3855 mm) and a mass of 750 kg. Vertical aiming -8°...+20°. The maximum rollback length is 520 mm. On the march, the gun was fixed at an elevation angle of + 16 °.
A 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun was paired with the cannon. An MG 34 anti-aircraft machine gun could be mounted on a late-type commander's cupola on a special Fliegerbeschutzgerat 41 or 42 device.
The Pz.lV tanks were originally equipped with the TZF 5b monocular telescopic sight, and starting with the Ausf.E-TZF 5f or TZF 5f/1. These sights had a 2.5x magnification. The MG 34 course machine gun was equipped with a 1.8x KZF 2 telescopic sight.
The ammunition load of the gun, depending on the modification of the tank, ranged from 80 to 122 shots. For command tanks and advanced artillery observer vehicles, it was 64 shots. Machine gun ammunition - 2700 ... 3150 rounds.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION. The tank was equipped with Maybach HL 108TR, HL 120TR and HL 120TRM engines, 12-cylinder, V-shaped (camber - 60 °), carburetor, four-stroke, 250 hp. (HL 108) and 300 e.c. (HL 120) at 3000 rpm. Cylinder diameters 100 and 105 mm. Piston stroke 115 mm. The compression ratio is 6.5. The working volume is 10,838 cm3 and 11,867 cm3. It should be emphasized that both engines were of a similar design.
Fuel-leaded gasoline with an octane rating of at least 74. The capacity of three gas tanks is 420 liters (140+110+170). Ausf.J tanks had a fourth with a capacity of 189 liters. per 100 km when driving on the highway - 330 liters, off-road - 500 liters. The fuel supply is forced, using two Solex fuel pumps. Carburettors - two, brand Solex 40 JFF II.
The cooling system is liquid, with one radiator located obliquely on the left side of the engine. On the right side of the engine were two fans.
On the right side of the engine, a DKW PZW 600 (Ausf.A - E) or ZW 500 (Ausf.E - H) engine of the 11 hp turret traverse mechanism was installed. and a working volume of 585 cm3. The fuel was a mixture of gasoline and oil, the capacity of the fuel tank was 18 liters.
The transmission consisted of a cardan drive, a three-disk main clutch of dry friction, a gearbox, a planetary turning mechanism, final drives and brakes.
The five-speed gearbox Zahnradfabrik SFG75 (Ausf.A) and the six-speed SSG76 (Ausf.B - G) and SSG77 (Ausf.H and J) are three-shaft, with a coaxial arrangement of the drive and driven shafts, with spring disk synchronizers.
CHASSIS the tank in relation to one side consisted of eight double rubber-coated road wheels with a diameter of 470 mm, interlocked in pairs in four balancing carts suspended on quarter-elliptical leaf springs; four (for part Ausf.J - three) dual rubberized (except Ausf.J and part Ausf.H) support rollers.
The front drive wheels had two removable gear rims of 20 teeth each. Pin engagement.
Caterpillars are steel, small-linked, from 101 (starting with the F1 - 99) single-ridge track each. Track width 360 mm (up to option E), and then 400 mm.
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT was done in a single line. Voltage 12V. Sources: Bosch GTLN 600 / 12-1500 generator with a power of 0.6 kW (Ausf.A has two Bosch GQL300 / 12 generators with a power of 300 kW each), four Bosch batteries with a capacity of 105 . Consumers: Bosch BPD 4/24 electric starter with a power of 2.9 kW (Ausf.A has two starters), ignition system, tower fan, control devices, sight illumination, sound and light signaling devices, internal and external lighting equipment, sound, descents cannons and machine guns.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. All Pz.lV tanks were equipped with a Fu 5 radio station, with a range of 6.4 km telephone and 9.4 km telegraph.
COMBAT APPLICATION
The first three Panzer IV tanks entered the Wehrmacht in January 1938. The total order for combat vehicles of this type included 709 units. The plan for 1938 provided for the supply of 116 tanks, and the Krupp-Gruson company almost fulfilled it, transferring 113 vehicles to the troops. The first "combat" operations involving Pz.lV were the Anschluss of Austria and the capture of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in 1938. In March 1939 they marched through the streets of Prague.
On the eve of the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht had 211 Pz.lV tanks of modifications A, B and C. According to the current staff, a tank division should have consisted of 24 Pz.lV tanks, 12 vehicles in each regiment. However, only the 1st and 2nd tank regiments of the 1st Panzer Division (1. Panzer Division) were completed to the full state. The Training Tank Battalion (Panzer Lehr Abteilung), attached to the 3rd Panzer Division, also had a full staff. In the rest of the formations, there were only a few Pz.lVs, which, in terms of armament and armor protection, surpassed all types of Polish tanks opposing them. However, the 37-mm tank and anti-tank guns of the Poles posed a serious danger to the Germans. For example, during the battle near Glovachuv, Polish 7TRs knocked out two Pz.lVs. In total, during the Polish campaign, the Germans lost 76 tanks of this type, 19 of them irretrievably.
By the beginning of the French campaign - May 10, 1940 - the Panzerwaffe already had 290 Pz.lV and 20 bridge layers based on them. Basically, they were concentrated in the divisions operating in the directions of the main attacks. In the 7th Panzer Division of General Rommel, for example, there were 36 Pz.lV. Their equal opponents were medium French tanks Somua S35 and English "Matilda II". Not without a chance to win, French B Ibis and 02 could engage in battle with Pz.lV. During the battles, the French and British managed to knock out 97 Pz.lV tanks. The irretrievable losses of the Germans amounted to only 30 combat vehicles of this type.
In 1940, the proportion of Pz.lV tanks in the tank formations of the Wehrmacht increased slightly. On the one hand, due to the increase in production, and on the other hand, due to a decrease in the number of tanks in the division to 258 units. At the same time, most of them were still light Pz.l and Pz.ll.
During the fleeting operation in the Balkans in the spring of 1941, the Pz.lV, which took part in the battles with the Yugoslav, Greek and British troops, suffered no losses. It was planned to use the Pz.lV in the operation to capture Crete, but paratroopers managed there.
By the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, out of 3582 combat-ready German tanks, 439 were Pz.lV. It should be emphasized that according to the classification of tanks adopted by the Wehrmacht according to the caliber of the guns, these vehicles belonged to the heavy class. On our side, the KB was a modern heavy tank - there were 504 of them in the troops. In addition to the numerical, the Soviet heavy tank had an absolute superiority in terms of combat qualities. The average T-34 also had an advantage over the German machine. They pierced the armor of Pz.lV and 45-mm guns of T-26 and BT light tanks. The short-barreled German tank gun could only effectively deal with the latter. All this was not long in affecting combat losses: during 1941, 348 Pz.lV were destroyed on the Eastern Front.
The Germans faced a similar situation in North Africa, where the short gun Pz.lV was powerless in front of the powerfully armored Matildas. The first "fours" were unloaded in Tripoli on March 11, 1941, and there were not many of them at all, which is clearly seen in the example of the 2nd battalion of the 5th tank regiment of the 5th light division. As of April 30, 1941, the battalion included 9 Pz.l, 26 Pz.ll, 36 Pz.lll and only 8 Pz.lV (mostly vehicles of modifications D and E). Together with the 5th Light in Africa, the 15th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, which had 24 Pz.lV, fought. These tanks achieved the greatest success in the fight against the British cruiser tanks A.9 and A. 10 - mobile, but lightly armored. The main means of fighting the "Matildas" were 88-mm guns, and the main German tank in this theater in 1941 was the Pz.lll. As for the Pz.lV, in November there were only 35 of them left in Africa: 20 in the 15th Panzer Division and 15 in the 21st (converted from the 5th Light Division).
The Germans themselves then held a low opinion about the combat qualities of the Pz.lV. Here is what Major General von Mellenthin writes about this in his memoirs (in 1941, with the rank of major, he served in Rommel's headquarters): "The T-IV tank gained the reputation of a formidable enemy among the British mainly because it was armed with a 75-mm cannon However, this gun had a low muzzle velocity and poor penetration, and although we used the T-IV in tank battles, they were much more useful as a means of fire support for infantry. "The Pz.lV began to play a more significant role in all theaters of military operations only after acquiring a "long arm" - the 75-mm KwK 40 cannon.
The first vehicles of the F2 modification were delivered to North Africa in the summer of 1942. At the end of July, Rommel's African Corps had only 13 Pz.lV tanks, of which 9 were F2. In English documents of that period, they were called Panzer IV Special. On the eve of the offensive, which Rommel planned for the end of August, there were about 450 tanks in the German and Italian units entrusted to him: including 27 Pz.lV Ausf.F2 and 74 Pz.lll with long-barreled 50-mm guns. Only this technique posed a danger to the American tanks "Grant" and "Sherman", the number of which in the troops of the 8th British Army of General Montgomery on the eve of the battle at El Alamein reached 40%. In the course of this battle, which was in every respect a turning point for the African campaign, the Germans lost almost all the tanks. They managed to partially make up for their losses by the winter of 1943, after retreating to Tunisia.
Despite the obvious defeat, the Germans began to reorganize their forces in Africa. On December 9, 1942, the 5th Panzer Army was formed in Tunisia, which included the replenished 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions, as well as the 10th Panzer Division transferred from France, which was armed with Pz.lV Ausf.G tanks. The "tigers" of the 501st heavy tank battalion also arrived here, which, together with the "fours" of the 10th tank, participated in the defeat of the American troops at Kasserine on February 14, 1943. However, this was the last successful operation of the Germans on the African continent - already on February 23 they were forced to go on the defensive, their forces were quickly dwindling. On May 1, 1943, Rommel's troops had only 58 tanks - 17 of them Pz.lV. On May 12, the German army in North Africa capitulated.
Pz.lV Ausf.F2 also appeared on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1942 and took part in the offensive against Stalingrad and the North Caucasus. After the production of the Pz.lll was discontinued in 1943, the "four" gradually became the main German tank in all theaters of operations. However, in connection with the start of production of the Panther, it was planned to stop production of the Pz.lV, however, due to the tough position of the General Inspector of the Panzerwaffe, General G. Guderian, this did not happen. Further developments proved he was right...


The presence of tanks in German armored and motorized divisions on the eve of Operation Citadel
By the summer of 1943, the staff of the German tank division included a two-battalion tank regiment. In the first battalion, two companies were armed with Pz.lV, and one with Pz.lll. In the second, only one company was armed with Pz.lV. In general, the division had 51 Pz.lV and 66 Pz.lll in combat battalions. However, judging by the available data, the number of combat vehicles in various tank divisions sometimes differed greatly from the state.
In the formations listed in the table, which accounted for 70% of the tank and 30% of the motorized divisions of the Wehrmacht and SS troops, in addition, 119 command and 41 different types were in service. In the motorized division "Das Reich" there were 25 T-34 tanks, in three heavy tank battalions - 90 "tigers" and "Panther Brigade" - 200 "panthers". Thus, the "fours" accounted for almost 60% of all German tanks involved in Operation Citadel. Basically, these were combat vehicles of the G and H modifications, equipped with armored screens (Schurzen), which changed the appearance of the Pz.lV beyond recognition. Apparently, for this reason, and also because of the long-barreled gun, they were often called "Tiger type 4" in Soviet documents.
It is quite obvious that not "tigers" with "panthers", namely Pz.lV and partly Pz.lll, made up the majority in the tank units of the Wehrmacht during Operation Citadel. This statement can be well illustrated by the example of the 48th German Panzer Corps. It consisted of the 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions and the motorized division "Grossdeutschland" (Grobdeutschland). In total, there were 144 Pz.lll, 117 Pz.lV and only 15 "tigers" in the corps. The 48th Panzer attacked in the Oboyan direction in the zone of our 6th Guards Army and by the end of July 5 managed to penetrate its defenses. On the night of July 6, the Soviet command decided to strengthen the 6th Guards. And two buildings 1st tank army General Katukov - 6th tank and 3rd mechanized. In the next two days, the main blow of the 48th tank corps of the Germans fell on our 3rd mechanized corps. Judging by the memoirs of M.E. Katukov and F.V. von Mellenthin, who was then chief of staff of the 48th corps, the fighting was extremely fierce. Here is what the German general writes about this.
“July 7, on the fourth day of Operation Citadel, we finally achieved some success. The Grossdeutschland division managed to break through on both sides of the Syrtsev farm, and the Russians withdrew to Gremuchemy and the village of Syrtsevo. The retreating masses of the enemy came under fire from German artillery and suffered very heavy losses. Our tanks, building up their blow, began to advance to the north-west, but on the same day they were stopped by heavy fire near Syrtsevo, and then counterattacked by Russian tanks. But on the right flank, we seemed to be about to win a major victory: a message was received that the grenadier regiment of the "Grossdeutschland" division had reached the village of Verkhopenye.A battle group was created on the right flank of this division to build on the success achieved.
On July 8, a combat group consisting of a reconnaissance detachment and an assault gun battalion of the "Grossdeutschland" division entered the highway (Belgorod - Oboyan highway - ed.) and reached a height of 260.8; this group then turned west to support the division's tank regiment and motorized rifle regiment who bypassed Verkhopenye from the east. However, the village was still held by significant enemy forces, so the motorized rifle regiment attacked it from the south. At a height of 243.0 north of the village there were Russian tanks, which had excellent visibility and shelling, and before this height the attack of tanks and motorized infantry bogged down. It seemed that Russian tanks were everywhere, inflicting continuous attacks on the advanced units of the "Grossdeutschland" division.
During the day, the battle group operating on the right flank of this division repulsed seven Russian tank counterattacks and destroyed twenty-one T-34 tanks. The commander of the 48th Panzer Corps ordered the Grossdeutschland Division to advance westward in order to assist the 3rd Panzer Division, on the left flank of which a very difficult situation had arisen. Neither height 243.0 nor the western outskirts of Verkhopenye were taken that day - there was no longer any doubt that the offensive impulse of the German troops had dried up, the offensive had failed.
And here is how these events look like in M.E. A.L.Getman (commander of the battalion corps - note of the author) reported that the enemy was not active in his sector. But on the other hand, S.M. hid anxiety:
- Something incredible, comrade commander! The enemy today threw up to seven hundred tanks and self-propelled guns into our sector. Two hundred tanks advance against the first and third mechanized brigades alone.
We have never dealt with such numbers before. Subsequently, it turned out that on that day the Nazi command threw the entire 48th Panzer Corps and the SS Panzer Division "Adolf Hitler" against the 3rd Mechanized Corps. Having concentrated such huge forces on a narrow, 10-kilometer sector, the German command hoped that it would be able to break through our defenses with a powerful tank ram.
Each tank brigade, each unit increased their combat score on the Kursk Bulge. So, in the first day of the fighting, the 49th tank brigade, interacting on the first defensive line with units of the 6th army, destroyed 65 tanks, including 10 "tigers", 5 armored personnel carriers, 10 guns, 2 self-propelled guns, 6 vehicles and over 1000 soldiers and officers.
The enemy did not manage to break through our defenses. He only pressed the 3rd mechanized corps by 5-6 kilometers.
It would be fair to admit that both of these passages are characterized by a certain tendentiousness in the coverage of events. From memories Soviet commander it follows that our 49th tank brigade knocked out 10 "tigers" in one day, and the Germans had only 15 of them in the 48th tank corps! Taking into account 13 "tigers" of the motorized division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", also advancing in the band of the 3rd mechanized corps, it turns out only 28! If you try to add up all the "tigers" "destroyed" on the pages of Katukov's memoirs dedicated to the Kursk Bulge, you will get much more. However, the point here, apparently, is not only the desire of various units and subunits to record more "tigers" on their combat account, but also the fact that in the heat of battle for real "tigers" they took "type 4 tigers" - medium tanks Pz.lv.
According to German data, 570 "fours" were lost during July and August 1943. For comparison, during the same time, "tigers" were lost 73 units, which indicates both the stability of a particular tank on the battlefield, and the intensity of their use. In total, in 1943, losses amounted to 2402 Pz.lV units, of which only 161 vehicles were repaired and returned to service.
In 1944, the organization of the German Panzer Division underwent significant changes. The first battalion of the tank regiment received Pz.V "Panther" tanks, the second was equipped with Pz.lV. In fact, the "panthers" did not enter service with all Wehrmacht tank divisions. In a number of formations, both battalions had only Pz.lV.
So, let's say, was the situation in the 21st Panzer Division, stationed in France. Shortly after receiving on the morning of June 6, 1944, the message about the beginning of the landing of the allied forces in Normandy, the division, in the ranks of which there were 127 Pz.lV tanks and 40 assault guns, began to move north, hastening to strike at the enemy. This advance was prevented by the capture by the British of the only bridge across the Orne River north of Caen. It was already around 4:30 p.m. when the German troops prepared for the first major tank counterattack since the Allied invasion against the British 3rd Division, which had landed during Operation Overlord.
From the bridgehead of the British troops they reported that several enemy tank columns were moving at once in their position. Encountering an organized and dense wall of fire, the Germans began to roll back to the west. At Hill 61 they encountered a battalion of the 27th Armored Brigade armed with Sherman Firefly tanks with 17-pounder guns. For the Germans, this meeting turned out to be disastrous: 13 combat vehicles were destroyed in a few minutes. Only a small number of tanks and motorized infantry of the 21st division managed to advance to the strongholds of the 716th German infantry division. At this moment, the landing of the 6th British Airborne Division began in a landing method on 250 gliders in the area near St. Aubin near the bridge over the Orne. Justifying itself by the fact that the British landing created a threat of encirclement, the 21st Division withdrew to the heights located on the outskirts of Caen. By nightfall, a powerful defensive ring was created around the city, reinforced by 24 88-mm guns. During the day, the 21st Panzer Division lost 70 tanks and its offensive potential was exhausted. The 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (Hitlerjugend), which was half equipped with Panthers and half Pz.lV, could not influence the situation either.
In the summer of 1944, German troops suffered defeat after defeat both in the West and in the East. The losses were also corresponding: in just two months - August and September - 1139 Pz.lV tanks were knocked out. Nevertheless, their number in the troops continued to be significant.


It is easy to calculate that in November 1944 Pz.lV accounted for 40% of German tanks on the Eastern Front, 52% on the Western and 57% in Italy.
The last major operations of the German troops with the participation of Pz.lV were the counteroffensive in the Ardennes in December 1944 and the counterattack of the 6th SS Panzer Army in the area of ​​Lake Balaton in January-March 1945, which ended in failure. Only during January 1945, 287 Pz.lVs were shot down, of which 53 combat vehicles were restored and returned to service.
The German statistics of the last year of the war ends on April 28 and gives summary information on the Pz.lV tank and the Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer. On this day, the troops had them: in the East - 254, in the West - 11, in Italy - 119. And we are talking here only about combat-ready vehicles. As for the tank divisions, the number of "fours" in them was different: in the elite Training Tank Division (Panzer-Lehrdivision), which fought on the Western Front, only 11 Pz.lV remained; The 26th Panzer Division in Northern Italy had 87 vehicles of this type; the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg remained more or less combat-ready on the Eastern Front - in addition to other tanks, it had 30 Pz.lV.
"Four" took part in the fighting until the last days of the war, including street fighting in Berlin. On the territory of Czechoslovakia, battles involving tanks of this type continued until May 12, 1945. According to German data, during the period from the beginning of World War II to April 10, 1945, the irretrievable losses of Pz.lV tanks amounted to 7636 units.
Thus, taking into account the tanks supplied by Germany to other countries, and the estimated losses for the last month of the war that were not included in the statistical reporting, about 400 Pz.lV tanks turned out to be in the hands of the winners, which is quite likely. Of course, the Red Army and our Western allies captured these combat vehicles before, actively using them in battles against the Germans.
After the surrender of Germany, a large batch of 165 Pz.lV was transferred to Czechoslovakia. Having passed, they were in service with the Czechoslovak army until the beginning of the 50s. In addition to Czechoslovakia, in the post-war years, Pz.lVs were used in the armies of Spain, Turkey, France, Finland, Bulgaria and Syria.
"Fours" entered the Syrian army in the late 40s from France, which then provided this country with the main military aid. An important role, apparently, was played by the fact that most of the instructors who trained the Syrian tankers were former officers panzerwaffe. It is not possible to give exact data on the number of Pz.lV tanks in the Syrian army. It is only known that Syria acquired 17 Pz.lV Ausf.H vehicles in Spain in the early 50s, and another batch of H and J tanks in 1953 came from Czechoslovakia.
The baptism of fire of the "fours" in the Middle East theater took place in November 1964 during the so-called "water war" that broke out over the Jordan River. Syrian Pz.lV Ausf.H, occupying positions on the Golan Heights, fired on Israeli troops.
Then the return fire of the "centurions" did not cause any harm to the Syrians. During the next conflict in August 1965, tanks "", armed with 105-mm cannons, fired more accurately. They managed to destroy two Syrian companies of Pz.lV and T-34-85, being out of range of the fire of their guns.
The remaining Pz.lVs were captured by the Israelis during the "six-day" war of 1967. Ironically, the last serviceable Syrian Pz.lV was hit by fire from its "old enemy" - the Israeli "Super Sherman".
Captured Syrian "fours" Ausf.H and J are in several military museums in Israel. In addition, combat vehicles of this type are preserved in almost all major tank museums in the world, including the Museum of armored weapons and equipment in Kubinka near Moscow (Ausf.G). By the way, it is this modification that is most widely represented in museum expositions. Of greatest interest are the Pz.lV Ausf.D, Ausf.F2 and the experimental Pz.lV with hydraulic transmission, located in the Aberdeen Proving Ground Museum in the USA. Bovington (Great Britain) exhibits a tank captured by the British in Africa. This machine, apparently, became a "victim of a big repair" - it has an Ausf.D hull, an E or F turret with screens, a long-barreled 75-mm gun. A well-preserved modification tower can be seen in the Military History Museum in Dresden. It was discovered in August 1993 during earthworks on the territory of one of the former training grounds of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
MACHINE EVALUATION
Apparently, we should start with a rather unexpected statement that the creation of the Pz.IV tank in 1937, the Germans determined the promising path for the development of world tank building. This thesis is quite capable of shocking our reader, since we are used to believing that this place in history is reserved for the Soviet T-34 tank. Nothing can be done, you have to make room and share the laurels with the enemy, although defeated. Well, so that this statement does not look unfounded, we present a number of proofs.
To this end, we will try to compare the "four" with the Soviet, British and American tanks that opposed it in different periods of the Second World War. Let's start with the first period - 1940-1941; At the same time, we will not focus on the then German classification of tanks according to the caliber of the gun, which attributed the medium Pz.IV to the heavy class. Since the British did not have a medium tank as such, we would have to consider two vehicles at once: one for infantry, the other for cruising. In this case, only the "pure" declared characteristics are compared, without taking into account the quality of manufacture, operational reliability, the level of crew training, etc.
As can be seen from Table 1, in 1940-1941 there were only two full-fledged medium tanks in Europe - the T-34 and Pz.IV. The British "Matilda" was superior to the German and Soviet tank in armor protection to the same extent that the Mk IV was inferior to them. The French S35 was a perfected tank that met the requirements of the First World War. As for the T-34, it was inferior to the German vehicle in a number of important positions (separation of the functions of crew members, the number and quality of surveillance devices), it had the same armor as the Pz.IV, somewhat better mobility and much more powerful weapons. Such a lag of the German vehicle is easily explained - the Pz.IV was conceived and created as an assault tank, designed to deal with enemy firing points, but not with his tanks. In this regard, the T-34 was more versatile and, as a result, according to the declared characteristics, the best medium tank in the world in 1941. Just six months later, the situation changed, as can be seen from the characteristics of the tanks of the period 1942-1943.
Table 1


table 2


Table 3


Table 2 shows how sharply the combat characteristics of the Pz.IV increased after the installation of a long-barreled gun. Not inferior to enemy tanks in all other respects, the "four" proved to be capable of hitting Soviet and American tanks beyond the reach of their guns. We are not talking about English cars - for four years of the war the British were marking time. Until the end of 1943, the combat characteristics of the T-34 remained virtually unchanged, Pz.IV took first place among medium tanks. The answer - both Soviet and American - was not long in coming.
Comparing tables 2 and 3, you can see that since 1942, the performance characteristics of the Pz.IV have not changed (except for the thickness of the armor) and have remained unsurpassed by anyone during the two wars! Only in 1944, having installed a 76-mm long-barreled gun on the Sherman, did the Americans catch up with the Pz.IV, and we, having launched the T-34-85 into the series, surpassed it. For a decent response, the Germans had neither time nor opportunity.
Analyzing the data of all three tables, we can conclude that the Germans, earlier than others, began to consider the tank as the main and most effective anti-tank weapon, and this is the main trend in post-war tank building.
In general, it can be argued that of all the German tanks during the Second World War, the Pz.IV was the most balanced and versatile. In this car, various characteristics harmoniously combined and complemented each other. The "Tiger" and "Panther", for example, had a clear bias towards security, which led to their overweight and deterioration of dynamic characteristics. Pz.III, with many other equal characteristics with Pz.IV, did not reach it in armament and, having no reserves for modernization, left the stage.
Pz.IV with a similar Pz.III, but a little more thoughtful layout, had such reserves in full. This is the only tank of the war years with a 75 mm cannon, whose main armament was significantly strengthened without changing the turret. The T-34-85 and Sherman had to change the turret, and, by and large, they were almost new machines. The British went their own way and, like a fashionista outfits, they changed not towers, but tanks! But the Cromwell, which appeared in 1944, did not reach the Quartet, as, indeed, did the Comet, released in 1945. Bypass the German tank, created in 1937, could only post-war "Centurion".
From what has been said, of course, it does not follow that the Pz.IV was an ideal tank. For example, he had an insufficient and rather rigid and outdated suspension, which adversely affected its maneuverability. To some extent, the latter was compensated for by the smallest L / B ratio of 1.43 among all medium tanks.
Equipping the Pz.lV (as, indeed, other tanks) with anti-cumulative screens cannot be attributed to the successful move of German designers. In large numbers, cumulative ones were rarely used, while the screens increased the dimensions of the vehicle, making it difficult to move in narrow aisles, blocked most of the observation devices, and made it difficult for the crew to board and disembark. However, even more senseless and rather expensive was the coating of tanks with zimmerite.
Values ​​of specific power of medium tanks


But perhaps the biggest mistake of the Germans was to try to switch to a new type of medium tank - the Panther. As the latter, it did not take place (for more details, see "Armored Collection" No. 2, 1997), making the company "Tiger" in the class of heavy vehicles, but played a fatal role in the fate of Pz.lV.
Having concentrated all efforts in 1942 on the creation of new tanks, the Germans ceased to seriously modernize the old ones. Let's try to imagine what would have happened if not for the "Panther"? The project of installing the "Panther" turret on the Pz.lV, both standard and "close" (Schmall-turm), is well known. The project is quite realistic in terms of dimensions - the inside diameter of the turret ring for the Panther is 1650 mm, for the Pz.lV-1600 mm. The tower rose without expanding the turret box. The situation with weight characteristics was somewhat worse - due to the large overhang of the gun barrel, the center of gravity shifted forward and the load on the front road wheels increased by 1.5 tons. However, it could be compensated by strengthening their suspension. In addition, it must be taken into account that the KwK 42 cannon was created for the Panther, and not for the Pz.IV. For the "four" it was possible to confine oneself to a gun with smaller weight and size data, with a barrel length, say, not 70, but 55 or 60 calibers. Such a gun, even if it would require the replacement of the turret, would still make it possible to get by with a lighter design than the "Panther" one.
The inevitable increase (by the way, without such a hypothetical re-equipment) of the tank's weight required the replacement of the Engine. For comparison: the dimensions of the HL 120TKRM engine, installed on the Pz.IV, were 1220x680x830 mm, and the "Panther" HL 230R30 - 1280x960x1090 mm. The clear dimensions of the engine compartments were almost the same for these two tanks. At the "Panther" it was 480 mm longer, mainly due to the slope of the rear hull plate. Therefore, equipping the Pz.lV with a higher power engine was not an unsolvable design problem.
The results of such a, of course, far from complete, list of possible modernization measures would be very sad, since they would nullify the work on creating the T-34-85 for us and the Sherman with a 76-mm gun for the Americans. In 1943-1945, the industry of the Third Reich produced about 6 thousand "panthers" and almost 7 thousand Pz.IV. If we take into account that the labor intensity of manufacturing the Panther was almost twice that of the Pz.lV, then we can assume that during the same time German factories could produce an additional 10-12 thousand modernized "fours", which would be delivered to the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition much more trouble than the Panthers.
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Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2

Main characteristics

Briefly

in detail

3.3 / 3.3 / 3.7 BR

5 people Crew

Mobility

22.7 tons Weight

6 forward
1 ago checkpoint

Armament

87 shells ammo

10° / 20° UVN

3,000 rounds of ammunition

150 rounds clip size

900 shots/min rate of fire

Economy

Description

Panzerkampfwagen IV (7.5 cm) Ausführung F2 or Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 - medium tank of the armed forces of the Third Reich. Unlike previous modifications, it was armed with a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 40 gun with a barrel length of 43 calibers and improved armor protection. It became the first German tank capable of opposing the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks on an equal footing, but this only applied to weapons, in terms of armor protection it was still inferior to its rivals and could easily be destroyed by Soviet tank 76-mm guns. For this reason, the armor of the vehicle was often reinforced by the crew itself by attaching spare tracks and other improvised means.

Issue Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 lasted from April to July 1942. During this period, 175 units were built and another 25 vehicles were converted from the F1 modification. The tank was used mainly on the Eastern Front, part of the vehicles of this modification was sent to the African Corps, where it was used to suppress the firing points and manpower of the allies, due to the shortage of armor-piercing shells. The tank played a significant role in the war, counteracting the tanks and armored vehicles of the Allies, which the rest of the German tanks, which had weaker weapons, could not cope with. After the production of the F2 modification was discontinued, the vehicle gave way to more advanced modifications of the Pz.Kpfw medium tank. IV.

Main characteristics

Armor protection and survivability

The location of the crew and modules inside the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2

Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. The F2 does not have the best armor protection among similar tanks on its battle rating (BRe). The entire frontal armor of the tank has a thickness of 50 mm, except for the armor section under the driver's slot, which has a thickness of 20 mm, but is located at an angle of inclination of 73 degrees, which gives the reduced armor thickness the same 50 mm. In addition, having studied the modification "Applied Armor", the frontal armor is reinforced with additional tracks 15 mm thick. The side and rear armor of the turret and hull is 30 mm and is easily hit even by heavy machine guns. The tight layout of the crew and modules negatively affects the survivability of the tank. The downside is the high commander's cupola, which can protrude from behind cover, even if the tank is completely hidden from the eyes of opponents.

Mobility

Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 has high speed and mobility. The maximum speed of the car is 48 km / h, it is gained quickly and is almost not lost from small obstacles. The rear speed is 8 km / h and it is quite enough to roll back after a shot or to pass backwards to drive behind cover. The maneuverability of the car is good both from a standstill and while driving. From a standstill, the tank turns around briskly, even better and faster on the move, but noticeably loses speed. Patency Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 high.

Armament

main gun

The most important advantage of the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 is its long-barreled 75 mm KwK40 L43 gun with 87 rounds of ammunition. The gun has simply amazing armor penetration. Due to the length of the barrel, unlike previous modifications with short-barreled guns, the KwK40 L43 has good projectile ballistics. In terms of armored action, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 is inferior to T-34 and KV-1 shells, but it is quite enough to destroy most of the enemy with one accurate hit. Gun reload is fast. Elevation angles range from -10 to +20 degrees, which allows you to fire from behind hills and obstacles hiding the hull behind them. The turret rotates at an average speed, so sometimes you will have to turn your body towards an enemy that suddenly appears.

Five types of shells are available for the tank:

• PzGr 39- an armor-piercing projectile with an armor-piercing tip and a ballistic cap. It has excellent armor penetration and good armor action. Recommended as the main projectile for this tank.

• Hl.Gr 38B- cumulative projectile. It has less armor penetration than the PzGr 39, but retains it at all distances. Recommended for shooting at enemies at very long distances.

• PzGr 40- armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile. It has the highest armor penetration, but much less armor penetration than the PzGr 39, and also significantly loses its armor penetration at long distances. In addition, the projectile is not very effective against opponents with sloped armor. Recommended for use at close range against heavily armored opponents.

• Spgr. 34- high-explosive fragmentation projectile. It has the lowest armor penetration of all the presented shells. It can be effective against non-armored vehicles, such as anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (SPAs) based on trucks.

• K.Gr.Rot Nb.- smoke projectile. It does not have armor penetration, it can cause damage only by hitting directly on the enemy crew. Temporarily releases a large cloud of smoke through which it will be impossible for the enemy to see the actions and movement of the player.

Machine gun armament

Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. The F2 is armed with a 7.92mm MG34 machine gun with 3,000 rounds of ammunition coaxial with a 75mm gun. Can incapacitate the crew on vehicles that do not have armor, for example, ZSU based on trucks.

Use in combat

To protect the vulnerable hull of the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2, it is better to choose such positions that would completely cover the body from enemy shells

Playing on Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2, you should always be aware of its weak armor and high vulnerability. Thanks to high speed, on Pz.Kpfw. IV can be one of the first to arrive at the capture point, but if there are no shelters on the point, then you can be an easy prey for enemy tanks. The same applies to the attack, you need to avoid open areas of the terrain where the vehicle will be easily destroyed and move only from cover to cover, destroying enemy tanks because of them. Well suited to the car and the role of a sniper. A good car for flank bypasses, fast speed will make it easy to go into the flank or rear of the enemy, and the effect of surprise and a good gun will allow you to cause significant damage to the enemy team.

Advantages and disadvantages

The armor does not have rational angles, so turn the hull a little, but not too much, so as not to substitute even weaker sides, good dynamics and mobility will allow you to take important positions quickly, and the UVN will shoot in most situations.

Advantages:

• Excellent armor penetration
• High flatness
• Good armor action of shells
• Remarkable speed and maneuverability
• Good cross
• Fast reload

Flaws:

• Weak booking
• Tight layout

History reference

In January 1934, the German War Department's Ordnance Department held a design competition for a new medium tank. Krupp, MAN, Daimler-Benz and Rheinmetall took part in the competition. The competition was won by the Krupp project, under the designation VK 2001(K). The new tank was conceived by the German command as a support tank for attacking forces, its main task was to suppress enemy firing points, mainly such as machine gun nests and anti-tank gun crews, as well as to fight enemy lightly armored vehicles. In terms of its design and layout, the tank was made in the classic German style - with the location of the control and transmission compartment in the front, the fighting compartment in the middle and the engine compartment in the rear of the hull. The tank was armed with a short-barreled 75-mm gun. Initially, observing the secrecy from the prohibitions of the Treaty of Versailles, new car was designated as Bataillonsführerwagen or B.W., which in translation meant "battalion commander's vehicle", later the tank received its final designation - Pz.Kpfw. IV (Panzerkampfwagen IV) or Sd.Kfz. 161, in Soviet and domestic sources T-4 or T-IV.

The first modification of the tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. A

The first pre-production samples of the Pz.Kpfw. IV, designated Ausf.A, they were produced in late 1936/early 1937. At the time of the outbreak of hostilities by Germany, on September 1, 1939, there were only 211 Pz.Kpfw tanks in the Wehrmacht tank fleet. IV of all modifications. Although these vehicles did not meet worthy opponents in the Polish campaign, the small-caliber anti-tank artillery of the Polish troops inflicted serious losses on German tanks. For this reason, urgently, measures were taken to strengthen the armor protection of tanks. The French campaign, where German tank forces clashed with French and British armored vehicles, only confirmed that the Pz.Kpfw. IV still did not have sufficient armor, in addition, it also showed that short-barreled 75-mm guns were powerless against the heavy British Matilda tanks. But the final cross on the production of Pz.Kpfw. IV with short-barreled guns was delivered by the campaign against the USSR, which began on June 22, 1941. Already in July of the same year, faced with heavy tanks KV-1 and medium T-34, the Germans realized that short guns could not do anything to new Soviet tanks, even with a point-blank shot.

Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F1 with a short gun

For this reason, in the late autumn of 1941, a hasty development of a new, long-barreled 75-mm tank gun began, which could successfully withstand the Soviet T-34 and KV-1. The idea of ​​installing a 50 mm gun with a barrel length of 42 calibers was previously put forward, but the experience of the war on the Eastern Front showed that the Soviet 76 mm guns were superior to the German 50 mm in all respects. To install a new gun, a modification of the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F, which was produced from April 1941 and was the result of an analysis of the course of hostilities in Poland and France. Unlike all previous modifications, the Ausf. F armor thickness of the forehead of the turret and hull increased to 50 mm, the sides to 30 mm, the frontal hull sheet became straight, single-leaf hatches on the sides of the turret were replaced with double-leaf ones. Due to the increased mass of the tank and the specific pressure on the ground, the vehicle received new tracks 400 mm wide, instead of 360 mm, as on all previous modifications.

With the installation of a 75-mm long-barreled gun KwK 40 with a barrel length of 43 calibers on the tank, the designation of the tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F, at the end, the numbers 1 and 2 were added, where the number 1 - meant that the car was with a short-barreled gun, and 2 - with a long-barreled one. The combat weight of the tank reached 23.6 tons. Production Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 began in March 1942 and ended in July of that year, giving way to other, more advanced modifications. During this period, 175 Ausf vehicles were produced. F2 and 25 more were converted from F1. With the advent of long-barreled guns, Pz.Kpfw. IV got the opportunity to compete on equal terms with Soviet heavy and medium tanks, but this only concerned weapons, in terms of armor protection the vehicle was inferior to the Soviet T-34 and, even more so, the KV-1. In addition, the increased weight of the vehicle reduced its speed and maneuverability, and the installation of a long-barreled gun increased the weight on the front of the hull, which led to rapid wear of the front rollers and led to a strong buildup of the tank during a sudden stop and after a shot.

Media

Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2



Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 before sending to the front



Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 at the Open Air Museum of Armored Vehicles

Review PzKpfw IV ausf F2 from Cross

Review PzKpfw IV ausf F2 from WarTube

PzKpfw IV ausf F2 review by Omero

PzKpfw IV ausf F2 review by CrewGTW

On January 11, 1934, at a meeting of the Wehrmacht's Armaments Department, the basic principles for arming tank divisions were approved. Shortly thereafter, a prototype of the future PzKpfw IV tank was born, which, for the purpose of secrecy, was called the already familiar definition of “medium tractor” - the Mittleren Tractor. When the need for conspiracy disappeared and the combat vehicle began to be openly called the tank of the battalion commander - Batail-lonfuhrerswagen (BW).

This name lasted until the introduction of a unified designation system for German tanks, when the BW finally turned into a medium tank PzKpfw IV. Medium tanks were supposed to serve to support the infantry. The weight of the vehicle was not to exceed 24 tons, it was supposed to be armed with a short-barreled 75-mm cannon. It was decided to borrow the general layout scheme, the thickness of the armor plates, the principle of crew placement and other characteristics from the previous tank - Pz Kpfw III. Work on the creation of a new tank began in 1934. The Rheinmetall-Borsig company was the first to present a plywood model of the future machine, and the following year a real prototype appeared, designated VK 2001 / Rh.

The prototype was made of mild weldable steel and weighed approximately 18 tons. He did not have time to leave the walls of the manufacturer, as he was immediately sent for testing in Kummersdorf. (It was in Kummersdorf that Adolf Hitler first became acquainted with Wehrmacht tanks. During this study tour, Hitler showed great interest in the motorization of the army and the creation of armored forces. Guderian, Chief of Staff of the Armored Forces Directorate, arranged demonstration tests of motorized forces for the Reich Chancellor. Hitler was shown a motorcycle and anti-tank platoons , as well as platoons of light and heavy armored vehicles. According to Guderian, the Fuhrer was very pleased with the visit.)

Tanks PzKpfw IV and PzKpfw III at "Tankfest" in Bovington

Daimler-Benz, Krupp and MAN also built their prototypes of the new tank. "Krupp" presented a combat vehicle, almost similar to the prototype of the platoon commander's vehicle that they had previously proposed and rejected. After the tests, the technical department of the tank forces chose the VK 2001 / K variant proposed by Krupp for mass production, making minor changes to its design. In 1936, the first prototype of the 7.5 cm Geschiitz-Panzerwagen (VsKfz 618) tank was built, an armored vehicle with a 75 mm gun (experimental model 618).

The initial order was 35 vehicles, which were produced by the factories of the Friedrich Krupp AG concern in Essen between October 1936 and March 1937. Thus began the production of the most massive German tank, which remained in service with the armored forces of the Third Reich until the very end of the war. The medium tank PzKpfw IV owes its high combat characteristics entirely to the designers, who brilliantly coped with the task of strengthening the armor and firepower of the tank without making significant changes to the basic design.

MODIFICATIONS OF THE PzKpfw IV TANK

Tank PzKpfw IV Ausf A became a model for the creation of all subsequent modifications. The armament of the new tank consisted of a 75mm KwK 37 L/24 cannon coaxial with a turret machine gun and a forward machine gun located in the hull. As power plant a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled Maybach HL 108TR carburetor engine was used, which developed 250 hp. The hull also housed an additional engine that powered an electric generator that provided power to the turret's electric drive. The combat weight of the tank was 17.3 tons, the thickness of the frontal armor reached 20 mm.

A characteristic feature of the Pz IV Ausf A tank was a cylindrical commander's cupola with eight viewing slots covered with armored glass blocks.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf A

The undercarriage for one side consisted of eight road wheels, interlocked in pairs in four bogies, suspended on quarter-elliptical leaf springs. Four small road wheels were provided on top. Drive wheel - front location. The idler wheel (sloth) had a track tensioning mechanism. It should be noted that this design of the undercarriage of the PzKpfw IV Ausf A tank was practically not subjected to significant changes in the future. Tank PzKpfw IV Ausf A - the first production tank of this type.

The performance characteristics of the medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf A (SdKfz 161)

Creation date ....................... 1935 (the first tank appeared in 1937)
Combat weight (t) .........................18.4
Dimensions (m):
length.........................5.0
width.........................2.9
height.........................2.65
Armament: ............ main 1 x 75 mm KwK 37 L/24 cannon secondary 2 x 7.92 mm MG 13 machine guns
Ammunition-main .............................. 122 shots
Reservation (mm): ..................... maximum 15 minimum 5
Engine type..............Maybach HL 108 TR (3000 rpm)
Maximum power (hp) .................250
Crew...................5 people
Maximum speed (km/h) .................32
Cruising range (km) ............... 150

Next modification of the tank: PzKpfw IV Ausf B- featured an improved Maybach HL 120TRM engine with 300 hp. at 3000 rpm and a new six-speed gearbox ZFSSG 76 instead of a five-speed SSG 75. The main difference between the PzKpfw FV Ausf B was the use of a straight hull plate instead of the broken one of its predecessor. At the same time, the course machine gun was dismantled. In its place was a radio operator's viewing device, which could fire from personal weapons through the loophole. Frontal armor increased to 30 mm, due to which the combat weight increased to 17.7 tons. The commander's turret was also changed, whose viewing slots were closed with removable covers. The order for the new "four" (still called 2 / BW) was 45 cars, however, due to a lack of necessary parts and materials, Krupp was able to produce only 42.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf B

tanks PzKpfw IV version Ausf C appeared in 1938 and differed very little from the Ausf B vehicles. Outwardly, these tanks are so similar that it can be very difficult to distinguish them. An additional similarity with the previous version is given by a straight frontal plate without the MG machine gun, instead of which an additional viewing device appeared. Minor changes affected the introduction of an armored casing for the MG-34 machine gun barrel, as well as the installation of a special bumper under the gun, which bent the antenna when the turret turned, preventing it from breaking. In total, approximately 140 units of 19-ton Ausf C tanks were produced.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf C

Tanks of the next model - PzKpfw IVD- received an improved design of the gun mask. The practice of using tanks forced us to return to the original design of a broken frontal plate (as on the PzKpfw IV Ausf A tanks). The installation of the front machine gun was protected by a square armor casing, and side and aft armor increased from 15 to 20 mm. After the new tanks were tested, the following entry appeared in the military circular (No. 685 of September 27, 1939): "PzKpfw IV (with a 75-mm cannon) SdKfz 161 from this moment is declared suitable for successful use and military formations" "" .

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf D

A total of 222 Ausf D tanks were produced, with which Germany entered World War II. During the Polish campaign, several "fours" ingloriously returned from the battlefields to their homeland for repairs and improvements. It turned out that the thickness of the armor of the new tanks was insufficient to ensure their safety, so additional armor plates were urgently needed to protect the most important nodes. It is curious that in the reports of the English military intelligence of that time, there is an assumption that the strengthening of the combat armor of tanks often took place “illegally”, without an appropriate order from above, and sometimes despite it. So, in the order of the German military command intercepted by the British, unauthorized welding of additional armor plates on the hulls of German tanks was strictly prohibited. The order explained that “handicraft* fastening of armor plates does not increase, but reduces the protection of the tank, so the Wehrmacht command ordered the commanders to strictly follow the instructions governing the work to strengthen the armor protection of combat vehicles.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf E

Soon the long-awaited "four" was born PzKpfw IV Ausf E, in the design of which all the previously identified shortcomings of the PzKpfw IV Ausf D were taken into account. First of all, this referred to the strengthening of armor protection. Now the 30 mm frontal armor of the hull was protected by additional 30 mm plates, and the sides were covered with 20 mm sheets. All these changes led to the fact that the combat weight increased to 21 tons. In addition, a new commander's cupola appeared on the Pz-4 Ausf E tanks, which now almost did not go beyond the tower. The course machine gun received a Kugelblende 30 ball mount. A box for spare parts and equipment was mounted on the rear wall of the turret. The undercarriage used new simplified drive wheels and wider tracks of a new type with a width of 400 mm instead of the old ones, with a width of 360 mm.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf F1

Tank was the next option. PzKpfw IV Ausf F1. These tanks had a one-piece frontal plate 50 mm thick and 30 mm sides. The forehead of the tower also received 50 mm armor. This tank was the last model armed with a short-barreled 75-mm cannon with a low muzzle velocity.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf F2

Soon, Hitler personally ordered that this ineffective gun be replaced with a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 40 L / 43 - this is how the medium tank was born PzKpfw IV F2. The new weapon required changes to the design of the turret's combat compartment in order to accommodate the increased ammunition load. 32 shots out of 87 were now placed in the tower. The initial speed of a conventional armor-piercing projectile has now increased to 740 m/s (against 385 m/s for the previous gun), and armor penetration has increased by 48 mm and amounted to 89 mm against the previous 41 mm (an armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 460 meters at a meeting angle of 30 °) . The new powerful gun immediately and forever changed the role and place of the new tank in the German armored forces. In addition, the PzKpfw IV received a new Turmzielfernrohr TZF Sf sight and a different shaped cannon mask. From now on, the PzKpfw III medium tank fades into the background, being content with the role of a support tank and infantry escort, and the PzKpfw IV for a long time becomes the main "assault" tank of the Wehrmacht. In addition to Krupp-Gruson AG, two more enterprises joined the production of PzKpfw IV tanks: VOMAG and Nibelungenwerke. The appearance on the stage of the theater of operations of the modernized "fours" Pz IV significantly complicated the position of the allies, since the new gun allowed the German tank to successfully fight against most of the armored vehicles of the USSR and coalition member countries. In total, for the period up to March 1942, 1,300 "fours" of early Ausfs (from A to F2) were produced.

PzKpfw IV is called the main tank of the Wehrmacht. More than 8,500 "fours" formed the basis of the Wehrmacht's tank forces, its main striking force.

The next large-scale version was the tank PzKpfw IV Ausf G. From May 1942 to June 1943, they were created much more than the machines of previous modifications, more than 1600 units.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf G

The very first Pz IV Ausf G practically did not differ from the PzKpfw IV F2, however, during the production process, numerous changes were made to the basic design. First of all, this concerns the installation of a 75-mm gun KwK 40 L / 48 with a two-chamber muzzle brake. The upgraded version of the KwK 40 tank gun had a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s. The new model of the "four" tank was equipped with additional protective 5-mm screens to protect the turret and sides of the hull, which received the joking nickname "apron" in the troops. The Pz Kpfw IV Aufs G tank, produced since March 1943, was armed with a 75-mm cannon with a barrel length of L / 48 instead of the previous one with a barrel length of 43 caliber. A total of 1700 machines of this modification were produced. Despite the enhanced armament, the PZ-4s still could not compete with the Russian T-34s.
Weak armor protection made them too vulnerable. In this photo you can see how the Pz Kpfw IV Ausf G tank uses sandbags as additional protection. Of course, such measures could not substantially improve the situation.

Tank became the most massive series PzKpfw IV Ausf N, more than 4,000 units were produced, including various self-propelled guns created on the T-4 ("four") chassis.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf H

This tank was distinguished by the most powerful frontal armor (up to 80 mm), the introduction of 5 mm side screens for the hull and turret, the MG-34 -Fliegerbeschussgerat 41/42 anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the commander's turret, a new, improved ZF SSG 77 gearbox and minor changes in the transmission. The combat weight of this modification Pz IV reached 25 tons. The last version of the "four" was the tank PzKpfw IVJ, which continued to be produced until March 1945. From June 1944 to March 1945, more than 1,700 of these machines were produced. Tanks of this type were equipped with high-capacity fuel tanks, which made it possible to increase the cruising range to 320 km. However, in general, the latest “fours” have been significantly simplified compared to previous models.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DESIGN OF THE TANK PzKpfw IV

TOWER AND HULL OF TANK Pz IV

The hull and turret of the Pz-4 tank were welded. On each side of the tower for landing and disembarking crew members were evacuation hatches.

Tank Pz IV with protection against cumulative projectiles installed on it

The tower was equipped with a commander's cupola with five viewing slots equipped with armored glass blocks - triplex and protective armor covers, which were lowered and raised using a small lever located under each slot.

Inside the Pz IV Ausf G tank. The photo was taken from the side of the right hatch (loader).

The floor of the tower rotated with it. The armament consisted of a 75-mm (short-barreled KwK 37 or long-barreled KwK 40) cannon and a coaxial turret machine gun, as well as an MG machine gun mounted in the frontal armor of the hull in a ball mount and intended for the gunner-radio operator. This armament scheme is typical for all modifications of the "fours" with the exception of tanks of version C.

Inside the Pz IV Ausf G tank. The photo was taken from the side of the left hatch (gunner).

The layout of the tank PzKpfw IV- classic, with a front-mounted transmission. Inside the tank hull was divided by two bulkheads into three compartments. In the rear compartment was the engine compartment.

As in other German tanks, a cardan shaft was transferred from the engine to the gearbox and drive wheels, passed under the turret floor. An auxiliary engine for the turret rotation mechanism was located next to the motor. Because of this, the tower was shifted to the left along the axis of symmetry of the tank by 52 mm. On the floor of the central fighting compartment, under the floor of the tower, three fuel tanks with a total capacity of 477 liters were installed. The turret of the fighting compartment housed the remaining three crew members (commander, gunner and loader), weapons (cannon and coaxial machine gun), observation and aiming devices, vertical and horizontal guidance mechanisms. The driver and gunner-radio operator, firing from a machine gun mounted in a ball bearing, were located in the front compartment of the hull, on both sides of the gearbox.

German medium tank PzKpfw IV Ausf A. View of the driver's seat.

The thickness of the armor of the tank PzKpfw IV constantly increased. The frontal armor of the T-4 was welded from rolled armor plates with surface carburizing and was usually thicker and stronger than the side armor. Additional protection with armor plates was not used until the creation of the Ausf D tank. To protect the tank from bullets and cumulative projectiles, a zimmerite coating was applied to the lower and side surfaces of the hull and the side surfaces of the turret. Testing of the T-4 Ausf G by the British using the Brinell method gave the following results: front end plate in an inclined plane (outer surface) - 460-490 HB; front vertical plate (outer surface) - 500-520 HB; inner surface-250-260 HB; tower forehead (outer surface) - 490-51 0 HB; hull sides (outer surface) - 500-520 HB; inner surface - 270-280 HB; sides of the tower (outer surface) -340-360 HB. As mentioned above, on the "fours" latest versions additional armored "screens" were used, produced from steel sheets, 114 x 99 cm in size and mounted on the sides of the hull and turret, at a distance of 38 cm from the hull. The tower was protected by armor plates 6 mm thick, fixed around the rear and sides, and in the protective screen there were hatches located exactly in front of the tower hatches.

ARMAMENT OF THE TANK.

On the PzKpfw IV Ausf A - F1 tanks, a short-barreled 75-mm KwK 37 L / 24 cannon was installed with a barrel length of 24 calibers, a vertical shutter and an initial projectile velocity not exceeding 385 m / s. The PzKpfw III Ausf N tanks and StuG III assault guns were equipped with exactly the same guns. The gun ammunition included almost all types of shells: armor-piercing tracer, armor-piercing tracer sub-caliber, cumulative, high-explosive fragmentation and smoke.

View of the double-leaf evacuation hatch in the turret of the Pz IV tank

To carry out the rotation of the gun at the prescribed 32 ° (from - 110 to + 21, 15 full revolutions were required. In the Pz IV tanks, both an electric drive and a manual drive for turning the turret were used. The electric drive was powered by a generator driven by a two-cylinder two-stroke water-cooled engine. For rough For this purpose, the angle of horizontal fire of the tank's turret gun, equal to 360 °, was divided into twelve divisions, and the division corresponding to the traditional position of the number 12 on the watch dial indicated the direction of movement of the tank. the notched ring in the commander's turret was set into motion.

View of the stern of the tank PZ IV

Thanks to this device, the commander could determine the approximate location of the target and give appropriate instructions to the gunner. The driver's seat was equipped with a turret position indicator (with two lights) on all models of the PzKpfw IV tank (except Ausf J). Thanks to this device, the driver knew the location of the turret and tank gun. This was especially important when driving through the forest and in settlements. The gun was mounted together with a coaxial machine gun and a TZF 5v telescopic sight (on tanks of early modifications); TZF 5f and TZF 5f/l (on tanks starting from PzKpfw IV Ausf E). The machine gun was powered by a flexible metal tape, the shooter fired using a special foot pedal. The telescopic 2.5-fold sight was supplied with scales of three ranges (for the main gun and machine gun).

View of the frontal part of the Pz IV tank turret

The MG-34 course machine gun was equipped with a KZF 2 telescopic sight. The full ammunition load consisted of 80-87 (depending on modification) artillery rounds and 2700 rounds for two 7.92-mm machine guns. Starting with the Ausf F2 modification, the short-barreled gun is replaced by a more powerful long-barreled 75-mm KwK 40 L / 43 cannon, and the latest modifications (starting with the Ausf H) receive an improved L / 48 gun with a barrel length of 48 calibers. Short-barreled guns had a single-chamber muzzle brake, long-barreled guns had to be equipped with two-chamber ones. The increase in barrel length required a counterweight. For this Pz-4 latest modifications were supplied with a heavy pressure spring mounted in a cylinder attached to the front of the turret's rotary floor.

Engine and transmission

The first versions of the PzKpfw IV were equipped with the same engine as the tanks of the PzKpfw III series, the 12-cylinder Maybach HL 108 TR with a power of 250 hp, which required gasoline with an octane rating of 74. Subsequently, they began to use improved Maybach HL 120 TR and HL 120 TRM engines with 300 hp The engine as a whole was distinguished by high reliability and resistance to temperature extremes, but this did not apply to the conditions of the African heat and sultry regions of southern Russia. To avoid boiling the engine, the driver had to drive the tank with all possible caution. In winter conditions, a special installation was used, which made it possible to pump a heated liquid (ethylene glycol) from a running tank to a tank that needed to be started. Unlike the PzKpfw III tanks, the engine of the T-4 was located asymmetrically, on the right side of the hull. The small-sized caterpillars of the T-4 tank consisted of 101 or 99 links (starting with F1) with a width (options) of PzKpfw IV Ausf A-E 360 mm, and in Ausf F-J - 400 mm, their total weight approached 1300 kg. rear guide wheel mounted on an eccentric axle. The ratchet mechanism prevented the axle from turning back and the track from sagging.

REPAIR OF TRACKS.
Each crew of the Pz IV tank had at its disposal an industrial belt of the same width as the tracks. The edges of the belt were perforated so that the holes matched the teeth of the drive wheel. If the caterpillar failed, a belt was attached to the damaged area, passed over the support rollers and attached to the teeth of the drive wheel. After that, the engine and transmission were started. The drive wheel turned and pulled the caterpillar with the belt forward until the caterpillar did not cling to the wheel. Anyone who has ever pulled off a heavy long caterpillar in the “old-fashioned way” - with a piece of rope or fingers, will appreciate what a salvation this simple scheme has become for the crew.

BATTLE CHRONICLE OF TANKS Pz IV

The "four" began their combat path in Poland, where, despite a small number, they immediately became a noticeable strike force. On the eve of the invasion of Poland, there were almost twice as many "fours" in the Wehrmacht troops than "triples" - 211 against 98. The fighting qualities of the "fours" immediately attracted the attention of Heinz Guderian, who from now on will constantly insist on increasing their production. Of the 217 tanks lost by Germany during the 30-day war with Poland, there were only 19 "fours". In order to better imagine the Polish stage of the PzKpfw IV's combat path, let's turn to the documents. Here I want to acquaint readers with the history of the 35th Tank Regiment, which took part in the occupation of Warsaw. I present to your attention excerpts from the chapter on the assault on the Polish capital, written by Hans Schaufler.

“It was the ninth day of the war. I have just joined the brigade headquarters as a liaison officer. We were in the small suburb of Okhota, which lies on the Rawa-Russkaya-Warsaw road. Another attack on the Polish capitals was coming. The troops are on full alert. Tanks lined up in a column, behind - infantry and sappers. We are waiting for the order to advance. I remember the strange calm that reigned in the troops. Neither rifle shots nor machine-gun bursts were heard. Only occasionally the silence was broken by the rumble of a reconnaissance aircraft flying over the convoy. I was sitting in command tank next to General von Hartlieb. To be honest, it was a bit crowded in the tank. The brigade adjutant, Captain von Harling, carefully studied the topographic map with the applied situation. Both radio operators clung to their radios. One listened to the message of the division headquarters, the second kept his hand on the key in order to immediately begin transmitting orders in parts. The engine rumbled loudly. Suddenly, a whistle cut through the silence, drowned out by a loud explosion the next second. First it exploded to the right, then to the left of our car, then to the rear. Artillery came into play. The first groans and cries of the wounded were heard. Everything is as usual - the Polish gunners send us their traditional "hello".
Finally received the order to go on the offensive. The engines roared, and the tanks moved to Warsaw. Quite quickly we reached the suburbs of the Polish capital. Sitting in the tank, I heard the chirping of machine gun bursts, the explosions of hand grenades and the clatter of bullets on the armored sides of our vehicle. Our radio operators received one message after another. “Forward - to the street barricade *,” he also transmitted from the headquarters of the 35th regiment. "Anti-tank gun - five tanks destroyed - a mined barricade ahead," the neighbors reported. "Order to the regiment! Turn straight south!" rumbled the general's bass. He had to yell over the infernal roar outside.

“Give a message to the division headquarters,” I ordered the radio operators. -Come to the outskirts of Warsaw. The streets are barricaded and mined. Turn right*. After some time, a short message comes from the headquarters of the regiment: -The barricades have been taken *.
And again the sound of bullets and loud explosions to the left and right of our tank ... I feel someone pushing me in the back. “The enemy positions are three hundred meters straight ahead,” the general shouted. - We turn right! * A terrible rattle of caterpillars on a cobblestone pavement - and we drive into a deserted square. - Faster, damn it! Even faster! * - the general shouts in a rage. He's right, you can't linger - the Poles shoot very accurately. “We came under heavy shelling,” reports from the 36th regiment. * 3rd regiment! the general replies immediately. “Request artillery cover immediately!” You can hear the drumming of stones and shell fragments on the armor. The blows are getting stronger. Suddenly, a monstrous explosion is heard very close by, and I smash my head into the radio with a swing. The tank throws up, throws to the side. Motor stalls.
Through the manhole cover I see a dazzling yellow flame.

Tank PzKpfw IV

In the fighting compartment, everything is turned upside down, gas masks, fire extinguishers, camping bowls, other trifles are scattered everywhere ... A few seconds of terrible stupor. Then everyone shakes themselves, looks at each other anxiously, quickly feels themselves. Thank God, alive and well! The driver turns on the third gear, we wait with bated breath for a familiar sound and take a breath with relief when the tank obediently moves off. True, there is a suspicious tapping from the right track, but we are too happy to take into account such trifles. However, as it turned out, our troubles were far from over. Before we had time to drive a few meters, a new strong push shook the tank and threw it to the right. From every house, from every window, we were showered with furious machine-gun fire. From rooftops and attics, the Poles threw hand grenades and incendiary bottles of condensed gasoline at us. There were probably a hundred times more enemies than we passed, but we did not turn back.

We persistently continued to move in southbound and we could not be stopped by barricades of overturned trams, twisted barbed wire and rails dug into the ground. Every now and then our tanks came under fire from anti-tank guns. "God, make sure they don't knock out our tank!"- we silently prayed, perfectly aware that any forced stop would be the last in our life. Meanwhile, the sound of the caterpillar became louder and more menacing. Finally we drove into some kind of orchard and hid behind the trees. By this time, some units of our regiment managed to break through to the outskirts of Warsaw, but further advance became more and more difficult. Disappointing messages kept coming over the radio: "The offensive was stopped by heavy enemy artillery fire - the tank was blown up by a mine - the tank was hit by an anti-tank gun - artillery support is urgently required".

We also did not manage to take a breath under the canopy of fruit trees. The Polish gunners quickly took their bearings and unleashed a flurry of ferocious fire on us. Every second the situation became more and more frightening. We tried to leave the shelter, which had become dangerous, but then it turned out that the damaged caterpillar was completely out of order. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't even move. The situation seemed hopeless. It was necessary to repair the caterpillar on the spot. Our general could not even temporarily leave command of the operation, he dictated message after message, order after order. We sat idle ... When the Polish guns fell silent for a while, we decided to take advantage of this short respite to inspect the damaged undercarriage. However, as soon as we opened the hatch cover, the fire resumed. The Poles settled somewhere very close and, remaining invisible to us, turned our car into an excellent target. After several unsuccessful attempts, we nevertheless managed to get out of the tank and, hiding in thorny brambles, were finally able to inspect the damage. The results of the inspection were the most disappointing. The inclined frontal plate bent by the explosion turned out to be the most minor of all the damage. The undercarriage was in the most deplorable state. Several sections of the tracks fell apart, and small metal parts were confused along the way, the rest kept on parole. Damaged were not only the tracks themselves, but even the road wheels. With great difficulty, we somehow tightened the loose parts, removed the tracks, fastened the torn tracks with new fingers ... It was obvious that even with the most favorable outcome, these measures would give us the opportunity to go another couple of kilometers, but nothing else to do in such conditions was impossible. I had to climb back into the tank.

Even worse news awaited us there. From the headquarters of the division reported that air support was impossible, and the artillery was not able to cope with the superior forces of the enemy. Therefore, we were ordered to return immediately.

The general led the retreat of his units. Tank after tank, platoon after platoon, ours retreated, and the Poles rained down on them with the ferocious fire of their guns. In some sectors, the advance was so difficult that for some time we forgot about the deplorable state of our tank. Finally, when the last tank made it out of the suburbs that had become hell, it was time to think about yourself. After conferring, they decided to retreat along the same route they had come in. At first everything went quietly, but in this calmness some kind of hidden danger was felt. The ominous silence acted on the nerves much stronger than the familiar sounds of cannonade. None of us doubted that the Poles were hiding not by chance, that they were waiting for a convenient moment to finish us off. Slowly moving forward, we felt with our skin the hating glances of an invisible enemy directed at us ... Finally, we reached the place where we received the first damage. A few hundred meters away lay the highway leading to the location of the division. But another barricade blocked the path to the highway - abandoned and silent, like all the surroundings. We carefully overcame the last obstacle, entered the highway and crossed ourselves.

And then a terrible blow hit the weakly protected stern of our tank. It was followed by another and another ... Only four blows. The worst thing happened - we came under the aimed fire of an anti-tank gun. Roaring the engine, the tank made a desperate attempt to escape from the shelling, but the next second we were thrown aside by a strong explosion. Engine stalled.
The first thought was - it's all over, the Poles will destroy us with the next shot. What to do? Jumped out of the tank, rushed to the ground. We are waiting for what will happen ... A minute passes, then another ... But for some reason there is no shot and no. What's the matter? And suddenly we look - there is a column of black smoke above the stern of the tank. My first thought is that the engine is on fire. But where does this strange whistling sound come from? We took a closer look and couldn't believe our eyes - it turns out that a shell fired from the barricade hit the smoke bombs located at the stern of our car, and the breeze blew the smoke to the skies. We were saved by the fact that a black cloud of smoke hung just above the barricade and the Poles decided that the tank was on fire.

Animated tank PzKpfw IV

* The headquarters of the brigade - the headquarters of the division * - the general tried to get in touch, but the radio was silent. Our tank looked terrible - black, rumpled, with a mangled stern. The caterpillar, which had finally flown off, was lying nearby ... No matter how hard it was, you had to face the truth - you had to leave the car and try to get to your people on foot. We pulled out machine guns, took walkie-talkies and folders with documents, and in last time looked at the mutilated tank. My heart sank with pain... According to the instructions, the wrecked tank was supposed to be blown up so that the enemy would not get it, but none of us could decide on this... Instead, we masked the car with branches as best we could. Everyone hoped in their hearts that, if the circumstances were favorable, we would soon return and tow the car to our...
Until now, I recall with horror the way back ... Covering each other with fire, short dashes, we moved from house to house, from garden to garden ... When we finally reached our own in the evening, we immediately fell down and fell asleep .
However, I never managed to get enough sleep. After some time, I opened my eyes in horror and turned cold, remembering that we had abandoned our tank ... I could see how it was standing, defenseless, with an open turret, directly opposite the Polish barricade ... When I woke up again from sleep, then I heard the hoarse voice of the driver above me: “Are you with us?” I didn’t understand waking up and asked: “Where?” "I found a repair vehicle," he explained curtly. I immediately jumped to my feet, and we went to rescue our tank. It will take a long time to tell how we got there, how we busied ourselves over the resuscitation of our mutilated car. The main thing is that on that night we still managed to put our commander’s “four” into motion (The author of the memoirs is most likely mistaken when he calls his tank “four”. The fact is that Pz. Kpfw. IV tanks began to convert commander’s vehicles only since 1944. Most likely, we are talking about a command tank based on the Pz.Kpfw.III version D.)
When the awakened Poles tried to stop us with fire, we had already finished the work, so we quickly climbed into the tower and left. We were happy in our hearts... Even though our tank was hit and badly damaged, we still could not leave it to the joy of the triumphant enemy! A month-long campaign in the conditions of bad Polish roads and loose marshy soil had the most unfavorable effect on the condition of German tanks. The cars were in urgent need of repair and restoration. This circumstance, among others, influenced the postponement of the Nazi invasion to Western Europe. The Wehrmacht command was able to learn from the experience of the war in Poland and made significant changes to the hitherto existing scheme for organizing the repair and maintenance of combat vehicles. The effectiveness of the new Wehrmacht tank repair and restoration system can be judged from a newspaper article published in one of the German newspapers and reprinted in England in May 1941. The article was called "The Secret of the Combat Power of German Tanks" and contained a detailed list of measures to organize the smooth operation of the repair service and restoration, which was part of each tank division.
“The secret of the success of German tanks is largely determined by the impeccably organized system of evacuation and repair of damaged tanks, which makes it possible to carry out all the necessary operations in the shortest possible time. The more distances that tanks have to cover during the march, the more important is the impeccably debugged mechanism for the repair and maintenance of failed vehicles.
1. Each tank battalion has at its disposal a special repair and restoration platoon for emergency assistance in case of minor damage. This platoon, being the smallest repair unit, is located in close proximity to the front line. The platoon consists of engine repair mechanics, radio mechanics and other specialists. The platoon has at its disposal light trucks for transporting the necessary spare parts and tools, as well as a special armored recovery vehicle, converted from a tank, to transport these parts to the failed tank. A platoon is commanded by an officer who, if necessary, can call for help from several such platoons and send them all together to the area where emergency assistance is required.

It should be emphasized that the efficiency of the repair and restoration platoon directly depends on the availability of the necessary spare parts, tools and appropriate vehicles. Since in combat conditions time is worth its weight in gold, the chief mechanic of a repair platoon always has at his disposal a supply of basic components, assemblies and parts. This allows him, without losing a second, to be the first to go to the damaged tank and get to work, while the rest of the supply of necessary materials is being transported by truck. If the damage received by the tank is so serious that it cannot be repaired on the spot, or repairs require long time, the machine is sent back to the factory.
2. Each tank regiment has at its disposal a repair and restoration company, which has all the necessary equipment and tools. In the mobile workshops of the repair company, experienced craftsmen carried out battery charging, welding work and complex engine repairs. Workshops are equipped with special cranes, milling, drilling and grinding machines, as well as special tools for metalwork, carpentry, painting and tin work. Each repair and restoration company includes two repair platoons, one of which can be assigned to a specific battalion of the regiment. In practice, both platoons are constantly moving around the regiment, ensuring the continuity of the recovery cycle. Each platoon had its own truck for the delivery of spare parts. In addition, a repair and recovery company necessarily included a platoon of emergency repair and recovery vehicles that deliver failed tanks to a repair shop or to a collection point, where a tank repair platoon or the entire company was then sent. In addition, the company also includes a weapons repair platoon and workshops for the repair of radio stations.
In practice, both platoons constantly move around the regiment, ensuring the continuity of the recovery cycle. Each platoon had its own truck for the delivery of spare parts. In addition, a repair and recovery company necessarily included a platoon of emergency repair and recovery vehicles that deliver failed tanks to a repair shop or to a collection point, where a tank repair platoon or the entire company was then sent. In addition, the company also includes a weapons repair platoon and workshops for the repair of radio stations.

3. In the event that well-equipped repair shops exist behind the front lines or in territory occupied by us, the troops often use them to save transport and reduce rail traffic. In such cases, all the necessary spare parts and equipment are ordered from Germany, and a staff of highly qualified craftsmen and mechanics is also issued.
It can be said with all certainty that without a well-thought-out and well-functioning scheme for the work of repair units, our valiant tankers would not have been able to cover such vast distances and win such brilliant victories in a real war*.

Before the invasion of Western Europe, the "fours" were still an absolute minority of Panzerwaffe tanks - only 278 out of 2574 combat vehicles. The Germans were opposed by more than 3,000 Allied vehicles, most of which were French. Moreover, many French tanks at that time significantly surpassed even the "four" so beloved by Guderian both in terms of armor protection and weapon efficiency. However, the Germans had an undeniable advantage in strategy. In my opinion, the essence of "blitzkrieg" is best expressed in short phrase Heinz Guderian: "Do not feel with your fingers, but beat with your fist!" Thanks to the brilliant implementation of the "blitzkrieg" strategy, Germany easily won the French campaign, in which the PzKpfw IV slippers operated very successfully. It was at this time that German tanks managed to create for themselves a formidable glory, many times greater than the real capabilities of these poorly armed and insufficiently well-armored vehicles. There were especially many PzKpfw IV tanks in Rommel's Afrika Korps, but in Africa they were assigned an auxiliary infantry support role for too long.
In February 1941, in a review of the German press, regularly published in the British press, a special selection was published dedicated to the new PzKpfw IV tanks. The articles indicate that each tank battalion of the Wehrmacht has at its disposal a company of ten PzKpfw IV tanks, which are used, firstly , as an assault artillery gun, and secondly, as essential element rapidly advancing tank columns. The first purpose of the PzKpfw IV tanks was explained simply. Since field artillery is not able to instantly support armored forces in one direction or another, the PzKpfw IV took over its role with its powerful 75-mm cannon. Other advantages of using the "four" stemmed from the fact that its 75-mm gun with a maximum range of more than 8100 m could dictate the time and place of the battle, and the speed and maneuverability of the tayk made it an extremely dangerous weapon.
The articles, in particular, contain examples of how six PzKpfw IV tanks were used as an artillery unit against an advancing Allied column, how they were also used as weapons for counter-battery combat, and also acted from an ambush into which British tanks were lured by several German armored vehicles. In addition, PzKpfw IVs were also used in defensive operations, an example of which may be the next episode of the African campaign. On June 16, 1941, the Germans surrounded the British troops in the Capuzzo area. This was preceded by an unsuccessful attempt by the British to break through to Tobruk and recapture the fortress besieged by Rommel's troops. On June 15 they rounded the mountain range southeast of the Halfaya pass and advanced northward through Ridot ta Capuzzo almost to Bardia. Here is how a direct participant in the events from the British side recalls this:

“Armored vehicles stretched out along a wide front. They moved two or three, and if they met serious resistance, they immediately turned back. The vehicles were followed by infantry on trucks. This was the beginning of a full scale attack. Tank crews fired to kill, the accuracy of fire was 80-90%. They positioned their tanks so that they looked in front and sides at our positions. This allowed the Germans to effectively hit our guns, while remaining motionless. On the move, they rarely fired. In some cases, PzKpfw IV tanks suddenly opened fire from their guns, and they did not shoot at any specific target, but simply, creating a wall of fire in the course of their movement at ranges of 2000-3600 m. All this was done in order to terrify the our defenders. To be honest, they succeeded quite well.”

The first clash between American and German troops in Tunisia took place on November 26, 1942, when the troops of the 190th tank battalion of the African Corps in the area of ​​​​the city of Matera came into contact with the 2nd battalion of the 13th regiment of the 1st tank division. The Germans in this area had about three PzKpfw III tanks and at least six new PzKpfw IV tanks with long-barreled 75 mm KwK 40 guns. This is how this episode is described in the book "Old Ironsides".
“While the enemy forces were gathering from the north, the Waters battalion wasted no time in vain. By digging deep lines of defense, camouflaging their tanks, and doing other necessary work, they not only had time to prepare for a meeting with the enemy, but even carved out an extra day of respite. The next day, the head of the German column appeared. Siglin's company prepared to rush towards the enemy. A platoon of assault guns under the command of Lieutenant Ray Wasker moved forward to intercept and destroy the enemy. Three 75-mm howitzers on the chassis of half-track armored personnel carriers, located on the edge of a dense olive grove, let the Germans in at about 900 m and opened rapid fire. However, hitting the enemy tanks was not so easy. The Germans quickly withdrew and, almost completely hidden by clouds of sand and dust, responded with volleys of their powerful guns. The shells were bursting very close to our positions, but for the time being they did not cause any serious harm.

Wasker soon received an order from the battalion commander to set fire to the smoke bombs and withdraw his self-propelled artillery mounts to a safe distance. At this time, Siglin's company, consisting of 12 light tanks M3 "General Stuart", attacked the western flank of the enemy. The first platoon managed to break through closest to the enemy positions, but the Italo-German troops did not lose their heads, quickly found the target and brought down the full power of their guns on it. In a matter of minutes, Company A lost six of its tanks, but despite this, it still managed to push the enemy vehicles back, turning them behind the positions of Company B. This played decisive role in battle. Company B brought down the fire of its guns on the most vulnerable places of German tanks and, without letting the enemy come to their senses, disabled six PzKpfw IVs, one PzKpfw III. The rest of the tanks retreated in disarray (In order for the reader to feel the urgency of the situation in which the Americans found themselves, it makes sense for comparison to cite the main performance characteristics of the M 3 Stuart light tank: combat weight - 12.4 tons; crew - 4 people; booking - from 10 to 45 mm; armament - 1 x 37-mm tank gun; 5 x 7.62-mm machine guns; engine "Continental" W 670-9A, 7-cylinder, carbureted power of 250 hp; speed - 48 km / h ; cruising range (on the highway) - 113 km.).
In fairness, it should be noted that the Americans did not always emerge victorious from duels with German tank forces. Much more often, the circumstances developed in the opposite way, and the Americans had to suffer serious losses in military equipment and in people. However, in this case, they really won a convincing victory.

Despite the fact that on the eve of the invasion of Russia, Germany significantly increased the production of PzKpfw IV tanks, they still accounted for no more than one sixth of all Wehrmacht combat vehicles (439 out of 3332). True, by that time the number of obsolete light tanks PzKpfw I and PzKpfw II had significantly decreased (thanks to the actions of the Red Army), and Czech LT-38s (PzKpfw 38 (1) and German “troikas” began to make up most of the Panzerwaffe. With such forces, the Germans began to implement The Soviet Union's slight superiority in military equipment did not confuse the OKW strategists too much, they had no doubt that German vehicles would quickly cope with this gigantic fleet of obsolete Russian tanks. At first it turned out that way, but the appearance of a new Soviet medium tank T-34 and heavy KV-1, changed the situation dramatically. Before the creation of the Panthers and Tigers, no German tank could withstand competition with these magnificent tanks. At close range, they literally shot down weakly armored German vehicles. changed somewhat with the appearance in 1942 of a new "four" armed with a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 40 gun. Now I want to introduce Here you are with an excerpt from the memoirs of a former tanker of the 24th Tank Regiment, "which describes the duel of the new "four" with a Soviet tank in the summer of 1942 near Voronezh.
"There were bloodshed street fighting for Voronezh. Even by the evening of the second day, the valiant defenders of the city did not lay down their arms. Unexpectedly, Soviet tanks, former main force defense, made an attempt to break through the ring of troops that closed around the city. A fierce tank battle ensued. The author then cites a detailed
Sergeant Freyer's report: “On July 7, 1942, on my PzKpfw IV, armed with a long-barreled gun, I took up a position at a strategically important crossroads of Voronezh. Well disguised, we hid in a dense garden near one of the houses. A wooden fence hid our tank from the side of the street. We received orders to support the advance of our light combat vehicles with fire, protecting them from enemy tanks and anti-tank guns. At first everything was relatively calm, except for a few clashes with scattered groups of Russians, nevertheless, the battle in the city kept us in constant tension.

The day was hot, but after sunset it seemed to get even hotter. At about eight o'clock in the evening, a Russian T-34 medium tank appeared to our left, clearly intending to cross the intersection guarded by us. Since the T-34 was followed by at least 30 other tanks, we could not allow such a maneuver. I had to open fire. At first luck was on our side, with the very first shots we managed to knock out three Russian tanks. But then our gunner, non-commissioned officer Fisher, radioed: “The gun is jammed!” here it must be clarified that our front sight was completely new, and there were often problems with it, which consisted in the fact that after shooting every second or third projectile, an empty sleeve stuck in the breech. At this time, another Russian tank ferociously poured fire all over the space around it. Our loader, Corporal Groll, was seriously wounded in the head. We pulled him out of the tank and laid him on the ground, and the radio operator took the vacant place of the loader. The gunner extracted the spent cartridge case and resumed firing... A few more times, NCO Schmidt and I had to feverishly pick at the barrel with an artillery banner under enemy fire in order to pull out the stuck cartridge cases. The fire of Russian tanks blew the wooden fence to pieces, but our tank still did not receive any damage.

In total, we knocked out 11 enemy vehicles, and the Russians managed to break through only once, at the moment when our gun jammed again. Almost 20 minutes passed from the beginning of the battle before the enemy was able to open aimed fire at us from their guns. In the descending twilight, shell explosions and a roaring flame gave the landscape some kind of eerie, supernatural look ... Apparently, it was from this flame that they found us. They helped us get to the location of the regiment stationed on the southern outskirts of Voronezh. I remember that, despite being tired, I could not sleep because of the exhausting heat and stuffiness ... The next day, Colonel Rigel noted our merits in the order for the regiment:
"The Fuhrer and Supreme High Command award the sergeant major of the 4th platoon Freyer with the Knight's Cross. In the battle near Voronezh, sergeant major Freyer, the commander of the PzKpfw IV tank, destroyed 9 medium Russian T-34 tanks and two T-60 light tanks. This happened at the moment when a column of 30 Russian tanks was trying to break through to the city center. Despite the overwhelming majority of the enemy, Sergeant Freyer remained faithful to his military duty and did not leave his post. He allowed the enemy to approach and opened fire on him from his tank. As a result, the Russian tank column was dispersed and partially destroyed. In the meantime, our infantry, after heavy bloody battles, managed to occupy the city.
In front of the entire regiment, I would like to be the first to congratulate Sergeant Freyer on his high award. The entire 24th Panzer Regiment is proud of our Knight's Cross holder and wishes him continued success in future battles. I would also like to take this opportunity to express special thanks to the rest of the brave tank crew:
Gunner non-commissioned officer Fischer
To the driver, non-commissioned officer Schmidt
Charging Corporal Groll
Radio operator corporal Muller

and convey my admiration for their actions on July 7, 1942. Your feat will go down in the golden annals of the glory of our valiant regiment.

The German army entered the Second World War with a rather strange situation in the system of tank weapons. The medium tank Pz.Kpfw.III, which was created as the main one, in fact at that time turned out to be the smallest in the Wehrmacht. As for the other medium tank, the Pz.Kpfw.IV, it was designed as a support vehicle, but at the same time, there were almost four times more such vehicles in the troops than the Pz.Kpfw.III. The German industry was able to equalize the number of tanks of these two types in the army only at the very end of 1939. By this time, a new version of the support tank, the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D, had already gone into production, and in a sense, it became a return to the original concept.

Return of the course machine gun

The spring of 1938 was decisive for further fate Pz.Kpfw.IV. The fact is that the 6th department of the Arms Administration seriously thought about removing the brainchild of the Krupp concern from the production program. Instead of the Pz.Kpfw.IV, it was supposed to create a support tank based on the Pz.Kpfw.III, thus unifying both medium tanks in terms of the main components and assemblies.

On the one hand, the idea was sound. However, it should be noted that the Pz.Kpfw.III at that time was going through far from the best of times. And the production of the Pz.Kpfw.IV was not without problems, but it still went on, and the Krupp designers got into the weight category determined by the customers from the first time.

Thus, when on May 2, 1938, Erich Wolfert, Krupp's chief engineer, sharply criticized the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcombining two tanks on one platform, victory was on his side. The 6th department of the Armaments Directorate was forced to give in, because behind Wolfert was not only an industrial giant, but also common sense.

The lesson, however, did not benefit, and the 6th Department of the Armaments Directorate continued to compete with the idea of ​​​​a single chassis for two types of tanks throughout the war. This impulse, one of the initiators of which was Heinrich Ernst Kniepkamp, ​​with enviable constancy turned into a rake race, and each time the proper conclusions were not drawn from what had happened before.

Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D in original configuration. In metal, the car looked a little different.

The requirements for a support tank, meanwhile, continued to grow. Back in early January 1938, discussions began on the characteristics of the fourth modification of the tank, which received the designation 4.Serie / B.W.

One of the first items on the agenda was the return to the place of the course machine gun. Someone upstairs finally realized that you can’t even shoot much from the pistol port, let alone hit somewhere. It was decided to use the Kugelblende 30 mount, developed for the Z.W.38 (future Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.E). It had much more successful protection than the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.A ball mount. In connection with the return of the course machine gun, the front plate of the turret box again received a characteristic step.

On March 10, 1938, a meeting was held in Berlin, where employees of the Krupp concern and the 6th department of the Arms Administration discussed the possibility of strengthening the tank's armor. The thickness of the side armor of the hull, turret box and turret, which was 14.5 mm, was considered insufficient. It was necessary to increase it to 20 mm, so that at long distances the tank would not be hit by the fire of 20 mm automatic guns. In addition, the military asked to increase the thickness of the bottom from 8 to 10 mm.

The answer to the new requirements came on April 12. According to the calculations of engineers, the increase in the thickness of the armor increased the combat weight of the tank by 1256 kg, to almost 20 tons. This was followed by changes in individual elements of the hull. The hatches in the area of ​​the support rollers received a different shape, the air intakes of the engine compartment have changed. At the end of April, tracks with increased teeth were developed, and the number of suspension travel stops was increased to five per side (one each for the three front bogies and two for the rear).

Certain changes were made to the design of the tower. First of all, the armor of the gun system was reworked. The fact is that the previously used design turned out to be very vulnerable to enemy fire. A bullet or a fragment of a projectile, falling into the gap between the elements of the armor, could well jam the gun in a vertical plane. At the end of May 1938, development began new protection for the gun. The new armor of the system was located on the outside of the tower and coped with its task much better. The thickness of the armor has been increased to 35 mm.

In addition, viewing devices on the side hatches and sides of the tower were replaced.

When, on July 4, 1938, a contract was finally signed with the Krupp concern for the manufacture of tanks of the 4.Serie / B.W. modification, the car changed quite a lot. According to the contract, the factories of Grusonwerk, one of the divisions of Krupp, were to produce 200 tanks of this series. In October, the contract was extended. The SS troops ordered 48 tanks, which received the designation 5.Serie/B.W. In fact, they were no different from the 4.Serie/B.W. By the way, in the end, these vehicles did not get into the SS unit, since it was decided to order StuG III assault self-propelled guns instead.

Tanks of the 4th and 5th series received the designation Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D. The machines were assigned serial numbers in the range 80501–80748.

Based on the experience of the first two campaigns

Serial production of the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D began in October of 1939. Unlike the Pz.Kpfw.III, whose production was accelerated by manufacturers, there were no special breakthroughs in the production of support tanks. Until the end of 1939, 45 tanks were assembled, later the volumes averaged 20-25 vehicles per month. In total, by May 1, 1940, 129 machines of this modification were manufactured.

Meanwhile, back in March of 1939, it was decided that in the future the Wehrmacht would continue to order these tanks, and the vehicles of the 6th series (6.Serie / B.W.) would henceforth be designated as Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E. A new contract for the manufacture of 223 tanks of this type was signed in July 1939. In general, this tank was supposed to repeat its predecessor, but already in May some changes began to appear.

To begin with, it was decided to change the driver’s viewing device, which did not change from the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.B, to the Fahrersehklappe 30. This device was distinguished by the fact that instead of massive parts going up and down, it used an “eyelash” thick 30 mm. It covered the viewing slot covered with glass block much more reliably, and its design turned out to be much simpler.

A rather large ventilation hatch from the roof of the tower also disappeared, and a fan appeared instead. A hatch for signal flags has moved to the place of the periscope device. The shape of the commander's cupola has also changed.

It became clear after the Polish campaign in September 1939 that the Ausf.E would not go into production as planned, and that the Ausf.D would also undergo certain changes. The fact is that Polish troops massively used 37-mm anti-tank guns Armata przeciwpancerna 37 mm wz against German tanks. 36 Bofors. Even though the Polish shells were not of the best quality, they confidently pierced German vehicles in all projections. The strengthening of the frontal part up to 30 mm did not help much here either.

In the autumn of 1939, studies began to be carried out to identify the possibility of additionally loading the Pz.Kpfw.IV with another 1.5 tons of armor and bringing its combat weight to 21.4 tons. Tests have shown that the tank quite easily tolerates such an increase in mass.

On December 18, 1939, the 6th Department of the Ordnance Directorate adjusted the task for 4.Serie / B.W. and 5.Serie/B.W. The last 68 tanks were to receive hulls with front plates reinforced to 50 mm. But by the start of the campaign in France, which began on May 10, 1940, the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D still continued to be produced with a 30 mm thick front plate.

The very first battles showed that such slowness is extremely reckless. Of course, the 37-mm short-barreled guns that were placed in a row French tanks, including the FCM 36 and Renault R 35, 30 mm thick frontal armor could not be penetrated. But they were not at all the main opponents of German tanks. The French were doing well with anti-tank artillery, and for her armor 30 mm thick was by no means something outrageous. Even worse for the Germans was that a number of French tanks had 47 mm guns as their main armament.

The losses of the Pz.Kpfw.IV in France were even higher than in September 1939 in Poland. Of the 279 Pz.Kpfw.IVs available in units on May 10, 1939, 97, that is, more than a third, were irretrievably lost. The battles of May-June 1940 also showed that the 75-mm short-barreled gun was almost powerless against tanks with anti-cannon armor.

It became clear that the problem must be solved, and solved quickly. On May 15, the Krupp concern reported that shielding for the hull and turret box had been manufactured and tested. The forehead of the turret box received additional sheets 30 mm thick, due to which their total thickness increased to 60 mm. The sides were reinforced with 20 mm thick screens. Later, in addition to these screens, a reinforcement was made for the frontal hull sheet, while corners appeared at the top and bottom for additional reinforcement.

Nevertheless, until the end of the French campaign, the troops did not receive a single shielding kit. Deliveries began only on June 25, when they were already, in general, not really needed. From July 1940, tanks began to be equipped with screens as standard. At the same time, the thickness of the front hull plate, turret and armor of the gun mantlet increased to 50 mm.

Another serious metamorphosis with the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D happened in August 1940. According to the decision made on June 3 of the same year, the last 68 4.Serie / B.W. and 5.Serie/B.W. were made with turrets and turret boxes 6.Serie/B.W. The last such vehicles were delivered to the troops in October 1940, after which tanks of the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E modification went into production.

The machines of this series received serial numbers 80801-81006. They can be distinguished from the latest 68 Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.Ds only if the vehicle's serial number is known. Additional confusion in what is happening is the fact that not all Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E, not to mention Ausf.D, received screens on the frontal part of the turret box.

At the beginning of 1941, some tank units tried to do shielding on their own, but an order came from above to stop this activity. However, another modification was born, also known as the Vorpanzer. It differed in that quite massive screens were attached to the front of the tower. They were installed on tanks of the Ausf.D, E and F modifications. Apparently, the Vorpanzer were used exclusively by the Grossdeutschland (Großdeutschland) Panzer Division. It is believed that the division used them only in exercises, but there are also front-line photographs that refute such claims.

For crossings and other purposes

Orders for Pz.Kpfw.IV tanks of the 4th, 5th and 6th series were not fulfilled in full. Some of total number ordered Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D went to other targets. 16 chassis produced in March-April 1940 went to the manufacture of bridge tanks Brückenleger IV b. These vehicles were included in the engineering battalions assigned to tank divisions. They were used as part of the units that fought during the May-June 1940 campaign in France.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 1940, Krupp produced 16 sets of turret boxes and turrets. Later, three bridge tanks with numbers 80685, 80686 and 80687 were converted into regular Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D. According to a report for May 1941, out of 29 Pz.Kpfw.IVs produced, 13 belonged to 4.Serie/B.W. Thus, 247 vehicles of the Ausf.D modification nevertheless went to the troops as ordinary tanks. The last, 248th car with serial number 80625 was used as a test chassis.

A slightly different situation developed with the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E. Instead of the 223 tanks that were originally planned to be built, 206 vehicles were produced in one form or another, of which 200 were ordinary tanks. In January 1941, 4 chassis 6.Serie/B.W. was sent to Magirus, where they were built bridge layers Brückenleger IV c. Like the vehicles of the previous series, they went to the 39th tank engineering battalion, attached to the 3rd tank division. In this form, they participated in the battles on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1941.

The fate of the last two tanks of the 6th series, numbers 81005 and 81006, turned out to be even more interesting. On December 14, 1940, the 6th Department of the Armaments Directorate gave the go-ahead to the Krupp concern to develop a new undercarriage. Its main difference was that the diameter of the road wheels grew to 700 mm, and in order for all of them to fit, they had to be placed in a checkerboard pattern. The width of the tracks at the same time increased to 422 mm. During 1941-42, these vehicles were actively tested, and then tank 81005 ended up in training center Wunsdorf. Also, at least one tank was converted into an ammunition carrier for the Gerät 040 ("Karl") heavy self-propelled mortar.

Finally, some of the serial tanks were converted into very specific special vehicles. In August-July 1940, 48 Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.Ds were converted into Tauchpanzer IV, a tank for crossing rivers along the bottom. Attachments for special sealed covers were installed on the tank, and covers were also placed on the air intakes. In addition, a special hose with a float was used, through which air was supplied to the machine. Similarly, a number of Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.Es produced in January-March 1940 were redone. Similar vehicles were used in June 1941 as part of the 18th Panzer Division.

Blitzkrieg support vehicle

In April 1941, production of 7.Serie/B.W., aka Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.F., began. This tank was created taking into account the experience of the campaigns of the first two years of the war. But it only became the main support tank for the German army in the fall of 1941. Of the 441 Pz.Kpfw.IV, which by June 22, 1941 concentrated on the border with the USSR, they were a minority. The basis was Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D and Ausf.E.

By that time, the tanks of these modifications had changed somewhat. On February 14, 1941, the first German tanks arrived in Tripoli, and on the 16th, the Afrika Korps was formed. In this regard, back in early February, a “tropical” set for the ventilation system was developed.

Since March, they began to put a turret box for personal belongings on tanks. Since it was originally designed for the Afrika Korps, it was nicknamed the "Rommel box". It was not placed on all tanks. On many tanks, boxes on the turrets were not installed at all, and instead of them, an analogue was placed on the side of the hull. And in some units they developed their own "Rommel Box", which differs in shape from the regular one.

And this was only the beginning of all sorts of alterations that were introduced at the level of tank divisions, and sometimes even at the level of battalions. The body kit itself, which the Pz.Kpfw.IV received only in 1941, is a topic for a separate large material.

The Pz.Kpfw.IVs that ended up in Africa found themselves, figuratively speaking, in greenhouse conditions. In February 1941, 20 tanks were sent there, 3 of which were lost on the way, 20 more units arrived in April. The only truly dangerous enemy for them was the Matildas, which was primarily due to the thick armor of these English tanks. The 2-pounder (40-mm) guns on the British vehicles could only penetrate the shielded forehead of the Pz.Kpfw.IV at point-blank range, and such cases were rare.

Quite different conditions turned out to be on the Eastern Front. During the fighting at the end of June 1941, only 15 Pz.Kpfw.IVs were irretrievably lost. This is largely due to the fact that their opponents were T-26 and BT, who performed in a completely different weight category. The atmosphere of complete confusion in the first weeks of the Great Patriotic War also contributed. However, already in July, 109 tanks, that is, a quarter of the original number, were scrapped. In August, 68 more cars were added to them. In total, in 1941, the Germans lost 348 Pz.Kpfw.IVs on the Eastern Front, that is, more than 3/4 of their original number.

The German tank crews could quite rightly blame the 6th department of the Armaments Directorate for such significant losses, which approached the issue of strengthening the armor very lightly. In fact, the shielding installed on the tanks corresponded to the experience of the September 1939 campaign. At the same time, the fact that the French already had 47-mm tank and anti-tank guns was ignored. And this was done in vain: even a 47-mm SA 35 tank gun with a barrel length of 32 caliber, as shown by tests in the USSR, could easily penetrate 50 mm armor of German tanks at a distance of 400 meters.

Even more depressing for the Germans were the characteristics of the 47 mm Canon de 47 Mle.1937 anti-tank gun, in which the barrel length was 50 calibers. At a distance of a kilometer, she pierced armor with a thickness of 57 mm. The Germans could reasonably assume that the French were not the only ones with more powerful anti-tank artillery and tank guns than the Poles.

Ultimately, the Wehrmacht had to pay for the miscalculations of the military leadership in assessing the weapons of the enemy with tanks and their crews. While the main opponents of the Pz.Kpfw.IV were the T-26 and BT, everything was going relatively well for the German tankers. In the future, more and more often they had to deal with the T-34 and KV-1, armed with 76-mm guns. In addition, some of the tanks ended up with only partially thickened armor, which significantly reduced the chances of surviving even under fire from 45-mm tank and anti-tank guns.

The KV-2 heavy tanks also made a certain contribution. The hit of his 152-mm projectile on a German tank turned it into a pile of scrap metal. However, penetration by other shells did not bring anything good. Cases of ammunition detonation were quite common for the Pz.Kpfw.IV. It is worth noting that German tanks were almost powerless against the T-34 and KV-1. Regular armor-piercing shells had almost no effect against new ones. Soviet tanks, and the 7.5 cm Gr.Patr.38 Kw.K. Hitler allowed the use only in February 1942.

Already in August 1941, the captured Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E from the 20th Panzer Division was delivered to the training ground of the Research Testing Institute of Armored Vehicles (NIIBT Polygon) in Kubinka. The car was quite badly damaged: there were several hits in the frontal part of the hull, and the shielding in the area of ​​​​the driver's viewing device was also partially shot down. The staff of the Polygon compiled a brief description, according to which the combat weight of the tank, designated as the “Medium Tank T-IV of the 1939-40s”, was estimated at 24 tons, and the maximum speed was 50 km / h. After preliminary calculations, the following conclusions were made:

.“The armor protection of the T-IV tank is affected by artillery of all calibers.

The tank turret, inspection hatches, ball mount of the radio operator's machine gun are affected by large-caliber small arms.

Captured Pz.Kpfw.IV from the end of 1941 became a fairly frequent occurrence. Nevertheless, the NIIBT Polygon did not engage in bringing the tank captured back in the summer of 1941 into working condition or trying to get a running trophy.

This is largely due to the fact that the Soviet military did not show much interest in the tank. It seems that they considered it as an addition to the Pz.Kpfw.III, despite the fact that the combat weight and engine of the two medium tanks were similar. For approximately the same reasons, the StuG III Ausf.B was not restored to running condition. More important task it was considered to study the driving characteristics of captured Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.38 (t), and was considered a pointless exercise to waste time on secondary vehicles.

In September 1942, tests took place, during which fire was fired at the captured tank from various weapons. First of all, he was fired from a DShK machine gun. It turned out that the side of the DShK turret did not penetrate even from a distance of 50 meters, but at a distance of 100 meters it was possible to break through the side and rear of the hull.

Much more interesting were tests by shelling from a 45-mm cannon installed in the T-70 tank. At a distance of 50 meters, a frontal hull sheet 50 mm thick was pierced. It is worth noting that the same gun did not penetrate the captured StuG III self-propelled guns. Boards with a thickness of 40 mm (20 + 20 mm) were pierced at a distance of 400 meters.

The final verdict on the German tank was the shelling of the 76-mm F-34 cannon mounted in the T-34 medium tank. The front plate was pierced at a distance of 500 meters (inlet diameter of the through hole - 90 mm, output - 100 mm). The next shot, made from a distance of 800 meters, split the sheet into two parts. When firing from a distance of 800 meters into the side of the hull, the projectile pierced the 40-mm armor on the right side, exploded inside and exited from the left side. When firing a high-explosive projectile into the side, the side turret hatch was torn off by the first hit, the commander's turret was torn off by the second projectile, and hitting the side of the engine compartment (20 mm thick) led to a breach measuring 130 × 350 mm. It was decided not to fire from long distances - and so everything was clear.

In addition to shelling, NII-48 specialists studied the design of the hull and turret.

In July 1942, the few Ausf.D and Ausf.E tanks remaining in service were upgraded. Instead of a regular gun, they installed a long-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 40 gun. In addition, from May 1943, side screens began to be installed on the hull and turret. By that time, these machines had been withdrawn from the first line and transferred to training units, including the institutions of the NSKK (National Socialist Mechanized Corps).

Such tanks were also part of the tank units stationed in France. One of them (Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D, serial number 80732, released in July 1940) was captured by the British in the summer of 1944. It is now on display at the Bovington Tank Museum.

No one at the Krupp factory in 1936 could have imagined that this massive vehicle, equipped with a short-barreled infantry support gun and considered auxiliary, would be so widely used in Germany. With a final total of 9,000 units, it became the most massive tank ever produced in Germany , whose production volumes, despite the shortage of materials, grew until the very last days of World War II in Europe.

Wehrmacht work horse

Despite the fact that combat vehicles appeared that were more modern than the German T-4 tank - "Tiger", "Panther" and "King Tiger", it not only made up the majority of the Wehrmacht's weapons, but was also part of many elite SS divisions. The recipe for success was probably the large hull and turret, ease of maintenance, reliability and robust chassis, which allowed for a wider array of weapons than the Panzer III. From Model A to F1, the early modifications that used a short 75mm barrel were gradually replaced by "long" ones, F2 to H, with a very effective high-velocity cannon inherited from the Pak 40, which could deal with the Soviet KV-1 and T -34. In the end, the T-4 (photo presented in the article) completely surpassed the Panzer III both in numbers and in its capabilities.

Krupp prototype design

Initially it was assumed that the German T-4 tank, the technical characteristics of which were determined in 1934 by the Waffenamt, would serve as an "escort vehicle" to hide its true role, which was prohibited by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Heinz Guderian took part in the development of the concept. This new model was supposed to become an infantry support tank and be placed in the rear. It was planned that at the battalion level one such vehicle should be for every three Panzer IIIs. Unlike the T-3, which was equipped with a variant of the standard 37 mm Pak 36 gun with good anti-tank performance, the short barrel of the Panzer IV howitzer could be used against all types of fortifications, blockhouses, pillboxes, anti-tank guns and artillery positions.

Initially, the weight limit of the combat vehicle was 24 tons. MAN, Krupp and Rheinmetall-Borsig produced three prototypes and Krupp received the main contract. The suspension was brand new at first, with six alternating wheels. Later, the army demanded the installation of rod springs, which provided better vertical deflection. Compared to the previous system, this made for a smoother ride, but the need for a new tank stopped further development. Krupp reverted to a more traditional system with four twin wheeled bogies and leaf springs for ease of maintenance. A crew of five was planned - three were in the tower (commander, loader and gunner), and the driver with a radio operator was in the hull. The fighting compartment was relatively spacious, with improved soundproofing in the rear engine compartment. The German T-4 tank inside (photos in the material illustrate this) was equipped with an on-board communication system and a radio.

Although not very noticeable, the Panzer IV's hull is asymmetrical, with the turret offset 6.5 cm to the left and the engine 15 cm to the right. This was done in order to directly connect the turret ring to the transmission for faster turning. As a result, ammunition boxes were located on the right.

The prototype, designed and built in 1936 at the Krupp AG plant in Magdeburg, was designated Versuchskraftfahrzeug 622 by the Army Ordnance Department. Nevertheless, it quickly became known as Pz.Kpfw.IV (Sd.Kfz. 161) in the new pre-war nomenclature.

The tank had a Maybach HL108TR gasoline engine with an HP 250 power. with., and the SGR 75 box with five forward and one reverse gears. The maximum speed on tests on a flat surface was 31 km / h.

75 mm gun - low speed Kampfwagenkanone (KwK) 37 L/24. This gun was intended for firing at concrete fortifications. Nevertheless, some anti-tank capability was provided by the armor-piercing Panzergranate projectile, whose speed reached 440 m/s. It could penetrate 43 mm steel sheet at a distance of 700 m. Two MG-34 machine guns completed the armament, one coaxial and the other in front of the vehicle.

In the first batch of Type A tanks, the thickness of the hull armor did not exceed 15 mm and the turret did not exceed 20 mm. Although it was hardened steel, such protection could only withstand light firearms, light artillery, and grenade launcher fragments.

Early "short" pre-series

The German T-4 A tank was a kind of preliminary series of 35 units produced in 1936. The next was the Ausf. B with a modified commander's dome, a new Maybach HL 120TR engine developing 300 hp. with., as well as the new transmission SSG75.

Despite the extra weight, maximum speed increased to 39 km / h, and protection was enhanced. The thickness of the armor reached 30 mm in the frontal inclined part of the hull and 15 mm in other places. In addition, the machine gun was protected by a new hatch.

After the release of 42 vehicles, production switched to the German T-4 C tank. The thickness of the armor on the turret increased to 30 mm. The total weight was 18.15 tons. After the delivery of 40 units in 1938, the tank was improved by installing a new Maybach HL 120TRM engine for the next hundred vehicles. It is quite logical that modification D followed. The Dora can be distinguished by the machine gun newly installed on the hull and the embrasure brought out. The thickness of the side armor has increased to 20 mm. A total of 243 machines of this model were manufactured, the last of which was at the beginning of 1940. Modification D was the last pre-production, after which the command decided to increase the scale of production.

Standardization

The German T-4 E tank was the first large-scale series to be produced during the war. Although many studies and reports speak of the lack of penetrating power of the 37 mm Panzer III gun, its replacement was not possible. Looking for a solution to test one Panzer IV Ausf. D, a modification of the medium-velocity 50 mm Pak 38 gun was installed. The initial order for 80 units was canceled after the end of the French campaign. In tank battles, in particular, against the British "Matilda" and the French "B1 bis", it finally turned out that the thickness of the armor was insufficient, and the penetrating power of the gun was weak. In Ausf. E retained the KwK 37L/24 short gun, but the thickness of the front armor was increased to 50 mm, with 30 mm steel plate overlays as a temporary measure. By April 1941, when this modification was replaced by the Ausf. F, its production reached 280 units.

Latest "short" model

Another modification significantly changed the German T-4 tank. Characteristics early model F, renamed F1 when the next one appeared, have changed due to the replacement of the front patch plate with a 50 mm plate and the increase in the thickness of the sides of the hull and turret to 30 mm. The total weight of the tank grew to over 22 tons, which prompted other changes such as an increase in track width from 380 mm to 400 mm to reduce ground pressure from appropriate replacement two tension and driving wheels. The F1 was produced at 464 before being replaced in March 1942.

The first "long"

Even with the armor-piercing Panzergranate projectile, the Panzer IV's low-velocity cannon was no match for heavily armored tanks. In the context of the upcoming campaign in the USSR, a decision was to be made on a major upgrade of the T-3 tank. The now available Pak 38L/60 gun, the effectiveness of which was confirmed, was intended for installation in the Panzer IV turret. In November 1941, the prototype was completed and production was scheduled. But during the first battles with the Soviet KV-1 and T-34, the production of the 50 mm gun, also used in the Panzer III, was discontinued in favor of a new, more powerful Rheinmetall model based on the 75 mm Pak 40L / 46 gun. This led to the KwK 40L/43, a relatively long caliber equipped to reduce recoil. The muzzle velocity of the Panzergranade 39 projectile exceeded 990 m/s. It could penetrate 77 mm armor at a distance of up to 1850 m. After the creation of the first prototype in February 1942, mass production of the F2 began. By July, 175 units were manufactured. In June, the German T-4 F2 tank was renamed to T-4 G, but for the Waffenamt both types were designated as Sd.Kfz.161/1. In some documents, the model is referred to as F2/G.

transitional model

The German T-4 G tank was an improved version of the F2 with changes to save metal by using progressive frontal armor thickened at the base. The frontal glacis was reinforced with a new 30 mm plate, which in total increased the thickness to 80 mm. This was enough to successfully counter the Soviet 76 mm gun and 76.2 mm anti-tank gun. At first, it was decided to bring only half of the production to this standard, but in January 1943, Adolf Hitler personally ordered a complete transition. However, the weight of the car has grown to 23.6 tons, revealing the limited capabilities of the chassis and transmission.

The German T-4 tank has undergone significant changes inside. Turret viewing slots were eliminated, engine ventilation and ignition at low temperatures were improved, additional holders for spare wheels and cleats for track links on the glacis were installed. They also served as temporary protection. The headlights were updated, the armored dome was strengthened and modified.

In later versions in the spring of 1943, side armor appeared on the hull and turret, as well as smoke grenade launchers. But most importantly, a new, more powerful KwK 40L / 48 gun appeared. After 1275 standard and 412 improved tanks, production shifted towards the Ausf.H.

Main version

The German T-4 H tank (photo below) was equipped with a new long-barreled gun KwK 40L / 48. Further changes were made to facilitate production - the side viewing slots were removed, and spare parts common with the Panzer III were used. In total, until the next modification of the Ausf. J in June 1944, 3774 vehicles were assembled.

In December 1942, Krupp received an order for a tank with fully sloping armor, which, due to the extra weight, required the development of a new chassis, transmission, and possibly an engine. Nevertheless, production began with an updated version of the Ausf.G. The German T-4 tank received a new ZF Zahnradfabrik SSG-76 gearbox, a new set of radios (FU2 and 5, and intercom). The thickness of the frontal armor increased to 80 mm without overlay sheets. Weight H reached 25 tons in combat gear, and the maximum speed was reduced to 38 km / h, and in real combat conditions - up to 25 km / h, and much less over rough terrain. By the end of 1943, the German T-4N tank began to be covered with Zimmerit paste, air filters were updated, and an anti-aircraft machine for MG 34 was installed on the turret.

Latest simplified model

The last tank, the German T-4J, was assembled at the Nibelungwerke in St. Valentin, Austria, as Vomag and Krupp were now on different missions, and were subjected to simplifications geared towards more mass production and rarely supported by crews. For example, the turret electric drive was removed, aiming was carried out manually, which made it possible to increase the volume of the fuel tank by 200 liters, increasing the operating range to 300 km. Other modifications included the removal of the turret observation window, slits and anti-aircraft machine in favor of mounting a smoke grenade launcher. "Zimmerit" was no longer used, as well as anti-cumulative "skirts" Schürzen, replaced by cheaper mesh panels. The engine radiator housing has also been simplified. The drive has lost one return roller. There were two silencers with flame arresters, as well as a mount for a 2-ton crane. In addition, the SSG 77 transmission from the Panzer III was used, although it was clearly overloaded. Despite these casualties, deliveries were in jeopardy due to constant Allied bombing, and a total of only 2,970 out of 5,000 planned tanks were completed by the end of March 1945.

Modifications

German tank T-4: performance characteristics

It must be said that a large number of Panzer IV tanks that survived after the Second World War were not lost or scrapped, but were used for their intended purpose in countries such as Bulgaria and Syria. Some of them were equipped with the new Soviet heavy machine gun. They took part in the battles for the Golan Heights during the 1965 war and in 1967. Today, German T-4 tanks are part of museum displays and private collections around the world, and dozens of them are still in working condition.