Panzer IV

The Panzer IV (Panzerkampfwagen IV) was the most powerful armored vehicle of the Wehrmacht’s armored divisions in the first three years of World War II. It successfully took part in the Polish Campaign, the invasion of France, and the first stage of Operation Barbarossa. At the end of 1941, however, the emergence of the Russian T-34 tank, in the Battle of Moscow, forced Krupp’s engineers to upgrade the Panzer IV with a more powerful gun and extra armor protection. Thus, Panzer IV Ausf F2, G, H, and J versions would be designed and manufactured.

These new variants of the PzKpfw IV were able to confront and destroy the Soviet T-34 tank; it was thanks to the new, long-barreled, high-velocity guns, the 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/43 and L/48, which replaced the 75mm KwK 37 L/24 short-barreled gun. The Panzer IV was in service throughout the entire war, from 1939 to 1945, being deployed on every Front. By 1944, it made up 37 % of the German Army total tank strength.

This German medium tank was developed in the 1930s and used extensively in every military campaign. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. It had been conceived by Krupp’s engineers in 1936 as an infantry support tank, but, by mid 1939, it had been assigned to armored divisions as it assumed a tank-fighting role, replacing the Panzer III. And when WW2 broke out, it constituted the core of the Wehrmacht’s armored forces in the Blitzkrieg war. If the Third Reich had massively produced the Panzer IV Ausf G and H, fitted with the lethal 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/48 long-barreled gun, from 1939, in large numbers, Germany would surely have won the Battle of Moscow and WW2.

Technical characteristics

The Panzerkampfwagen IV was manufactured by Krupp and Steyr-Daimler-Puch from 1938 until 1945, entering service with the German Army in 1939. The Panzer IV Ausf B weighed 24 tons and was powered by a 12-cylinder, 300 hp, Maybach HL 120TRM engine, capable of reaching a maximum speed of 42 km/h on road and 20 km/h across country. The Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf H had a 80mm-thick armor on the turret and front hull, and 30mm on the sides, and was armed with a 75 mm KwK 40 L/48 gun and a 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun.

Below, the Pzkpfw IV, Ausf G, featuring the new 75-mm, L/43 gun, in North Africa

Specifications for the Panzer IV Ausf H

Type: medium tank
Weight: 25 tons
Hull length: 5.9 m
Width: 3.29 m
Height: 2.68 m
Armor: 88mm-thick at the front
Weapons: 7.5-cm KwK 40 L/48 gun, with a muzzle velocity of 930 m/s (using armor-piercing rounds) and maximum effective range 2000 m; two 7.92mm MG 34 machine guns
Crew: 5

Below, PzKpfw IV, Ausf D at Smolensk in July 1941, during Operation Barbarossa. You can see the 75-mm short-barreled L/24 gun

Below, the Panzer IV, Ausf H, fitted out with an 80-mm-thick glacis armor plate and Zimmerit (anti-magnetic) paste.