Since the mid-1930s, the German military, in accordance with the concept of warfare adopted by them ("blitzkrieg"), when determining the requirements for the development of tanks, the main emphasis was not on the firepower of the tank, but on its maneuverability in order to ensure deep breakthroughs, encirclement and destruction of the enemy … To this end, the development and production of light tanks Pz. Kpfw. I and Pz. Kpfw. II and somewhat later medium tanks Pz. Kpfw. III and Pz. Kpfw. IV began.
With the outbreak of World War II, German tanks successfully fought against enemy tanks, but with the emergence of more advanced tanks from the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, Germany had to abandon light tanks and focus on developing first medium and then heavy tanks.
Medium tank Pz. Kpfw. III Ausf. (G, H, J, L, M)
The Pz. Kpfw. III medium tank was developed in 1935 within the framework of the accepted concept of warfare as an effective means of fighting enemy tanks and until 1943 was the main tank of the Wehrmacht. Produced from 1937 to 1943, a total of 5691 tanks were produced. Before the start of the war, modifications of the PzIII Ausf. (A, B, C, D, E, F). And during the war period 1940-1943, modifications of the Pz. Kpfw. III Ausf. (G, H, J, L, M).
The tanks of the first batch of PzIII Ausf. A were of a "classic German" layout with a transmission in the nose of the tank, weighing 15.4 tons, a crew of five, with bulletproof protection with an armor thickness of 10-15 mm, with a short-barreled 37-mm cannon KwK 36 L / 46, 5 and three 7, 92 mm MG-34 machine guns, 250 hp engine, providing road speed 35 km / h and a cruising range of 165 km. Before the war and during the war, it underwent a number of modifications. Of the major changes before the war on the Ausf. E modifications, the main armor was increased to 30 mm and a 300 hp engine was installed.
In 1940, a modification of the Pz. Kpfw. III Ausf. G tank was launched into mass production, in which a short-barreled 50-mm KwK38 L / 42 cannon was installed on the tank, since the long-barreled cannon had not yet been completed and one was installed instead of two coaxial machine guns. The weight of the tank increased to 19.8 tons.
On the Ausf. H modification, produced from the end of 1940, the main difference was the strengthening of the armor. The turret stern was made of one-piece curved armor plate 30 mm thick, and an additional 30 mm thick armor plate was welded onto the frontal part of the hull, while the protection of the hull's forehead was increased to 60 mm.
On the Ausf. J modification, produced from March 1941, the main difference was the increased protection of the hull's forehead. The thickness of the main armor plate was increased to 50 mm, and from December 1941 a long-barreled 50-mm KwK 39 L / 60 cannon with increased armor penetration was installed.
On the Ausf. L modification, the hull and turret forehead protection is increased to 70 mm due to the installation of additional armor plates 20 mm thick, the tank weight increased to 22.7 tons.
The Ausf. M modification, produced since October 1942, did not differ much, six mortars for launching smoke grenades were installed on the sides of the turret, the gun's ammunition was increased, and an anti-aircraft machine gun mount was placed on the commander's cupola.
The Ausf. N modification, produced since July 1943, is equipped with a short-barreled 75-mm KwK 37 L / 24 cannon, similar to that used on the Pz. Kpfw. IV Ausf. (A - F1), tank weight increased to 23 tons.
With the start of the war, the PzIII successfully resisted the French light tanks, medium D2, S35 and heavy B1bis, it was losing, its 37-mm cannons could not penetrate the armor of these tanks. The situation was the same with pre-war British light and medium tanks, which had insufficient armor and were equipped with light weapons. But from the end of 1941, the British army in battles in North Africa was already saturated with more advanced tanks Mk II Matilda II, Mk. III Valentine, Mk. VI Crusader and American M3 / M5 General Stuart and Pz. Kpfw. III began to lose to them. Nevertheless, in tank battles, the German army often won thanks to a more competent combination of tanks and artillery, both on the offensive and on the defensive.
On the Eastern Front in 1941, PzIII I tanks in tank divisions accounted for 25% to 34% of the total number of tanks and, in general, they were equal opponents to most Soviet tanks. In terms of armament, maneuverability and armor protection, it had a significant superiority only over the T-26, the BT-7 was inferior to it in armor protection, and the T-28 and KV in maneuverability, but in all characteristics the PzIII was weaker than the T-34.
At the same time, the Pz. Kpfw. III surpassed all Soviet tanks in terms of the best visibility from the tank, the number and quality of observation devices, the reliability of the engine, transmission and chassis, as well as a more successful distribution of responsibilities between the crew members. These circumstances, in the absence of superiority in tactical and technical characteristics, allowed the PzIII to emerge victorious in tank duels in most cases. However, when meeting with the T-34 and even more so with the KV-1, this is not easy to achieve, since the German tank gun could penetrate the armor of Soviet tanks only from a distance of no more than 300 m.
Considering that in 1941 the Pz. Kpfw. III formed the backbone of the German tank forces and was far from superior to Soviet tanks, of which there were several times more, Germany risked a lot when attacking the USSR. And only tactical superiority in the use of tank formations allowed the German command to win convincing victories at the initial stage of the war. Since 1943, the main load in the confrontation with Soviet tanks passed to the Pz. Kpfw. IV with a long-barreled 75-mm cannon, and the Pz. Kpfw. III began to play a supporting role, while they still made up about half of the Wehrmacht's tanks on the Eastern Front.
In general, the Pz. Kpfw. III was a reliable, easily controlled vehicle with a high level of crew comfort and its modernization potential at the beginning of the war was quite sufficient. But, despite the tank's reliability and manufacturability, the volume of its turret box was insufficient to accommodate a more powerful gun, and in 1943 it was discontinued.
Medium tank Pz. Kpfw. IV
The Pz. Kpfw. IV tank was developed in 1937 in addition to the Pz. Kpfw. III tank as a fire support tank with a longer-range cannon with a powerful fragmentation shell capable of hitting anti-tank defenses beyond the reach of other tanks. The most massive tank of the Wehrmacht, serially produced from 1937 to 1945, a total of 8686 tanks of various modifications were produced. Modifications of the Ausf. A, B, C tank were produced before the war. modifications Ausf. (D, E, F, G, H, J) during World War II.
The Pz. Kpfw. IV tank also had a "classic German" layout with a front-mounted transmission and a crew of five. With the weight of the modification of the Ausf. From 19, 0 tons, it had low armor protection, the thickness of the armor of the forehead of the hull and turret was 30 mm, and the sides were only 15 mm.
The hull and turret of the tank were welded and did not differ in a rational slope of the armor plates. A large number of hatches made it easier for the crew to board and access various mechanisms, but at the same time reduced the strength of the hull. The tower had a multifaceted shape and made it possible to upgrade the armament of the tank. A commander's cupola with five observation devices was installed on the roof of the tower at the back. The tower could be rotated manually and electrically. The tank provided good conditions for habitability and visibility to the crew of the tank, there were perfect observation and aiming devices at that time.
The main armament on the first modifications of the tank consisted of a short-barreled 75-mm KwK.37 L / 24 cannon and additional armament from two 7, 92-mm MG-34 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the other course in the hull.
The power plant was a Maybach HL 120TR 300 hp engine. sec., providing a speed of 40 km / h and a cruising range of 200 km.
The modification of the Ausf. D tank, produced since 1940, was distinguished by increased armor protection of the sides to 20 mm and additional 30 mm armor of the hull and turret forehead.
On the modification of the Ausf. E tank, produced since the end of 1940, following the results of the Polish campaign, the thickness of the front plate was increased to 50 mm and additional 20 mm protection was installed on the sides of the hull. The weight of the tank increased to 21 tons.
On the modification of the Ausf. F, in production since 1941, the booking was changed. Instead of the hull and turret hinged front armor, the thickness of the main armor plates was increased to 50 mm, and the thickness of the hull and turret sides was increased to 30 mm.
On the modification of the Ausf. G tank, produced since 1942, the short-barreled 75-mm cannon was replaced by a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 40 L / 43 cannon and the frontal armor of the hull was reinforced with additional 30mm armor plates, while the weight of the tank increased to 23.5 tons. … This was due to the fact that in a collision with Soviet T-34 and KV-1 on the Eastern Front, German anti-tank guns could not penetrate their armor, and 76-mm Soviet guns pierced the armor of German tanks at almost any real battle distance.
On the modification of the Ausf. H tank, produced since the spring of 1943, the armor changed, instead of additional 30-mm armor plates on the forehead of the tank hull, the thickness of the main armor plates was increased to 80-mm and hinged anti-cumulative screens made of 5-mm armor plates were introduced. A more powerful 75 mm KwK 40 L / 48 cannon was also installed.
The modification of the Ausf. J tank, produced since June 1944, was aimed at reducing the cost and simplifying the production of the tank. The electric turret drive and auxiliary engine with generator were removed from the tank, an additional fuel tank was installed, and the hull roof was reinforced with additional 16-mm armor plates. the weight of the tank increased to 25 tons.
Unlike the Pz. Kpfw. III tank, which was created as an effective anti-tank weapon, the Pz. Kpfw. IV tank was created in addition to the Pz. Kpfw. III and was considered as an assault artillery support tank, designed to fight not against tanks, but against fire points of the enemy.
It should also be noted that the Pz. Kpfw. IV was developed within the framework of the "blitzkrieg" concept and the main attention was paid to its mobility, while the firepower and protection were insufficient already at the time of the creation of the tank. A short-barreled gun with a low initial velocity of an armor-piercing projectile and a weak thickness of frontal armor, on the first modifications only 15 (30) mm, made the PzIV an easy prey for anti-tank artillery and enemy tanks.
Nevertheless, the Pz. Kpfw. IV tank proved to be a long-liver and survived not only pre-war tanks, but also a number of tanks developed and mass-produced during World War II. The sharply increased combat characteristics of the tank in the process of its modernization, which led to the installation of a long-barreled cannon and an increase in frontal armor to 80 mm, made it a universal tank capable of performing a wide range of tasks.
It turned out to be a reliable and easily controlled vehicle and was actively used by the Wehrmacht from the beginning to the end of World War II. However, the mobility of the tank in the last overweight modifications was clearly unsatisfactory and, as a result, by the end of the war, the PzIV was seriously inferior in its characteristics to the main medium tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. In addition, the German industry was unable to organize its mass production and, in quantitative terms, it also lost. During the war, the Wehrmacht's irrecoverable losses in PzIV tanks amounted to 7,636 tanks.
Before the start of World War II, Pz. Kpfw. IV made up less than 10% of the Wehrmacht's tank fleet, nevertheless, it successfully fought the tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. With the installation of a long-barreled 75-mm cannon, it confidently confronted the T-34-76 and almost all American and British tanks at most real combat distances. With the appearance in 1944 of the T-34-85 and modifications of the American M4 General Sherman with a 76mm cannon, significantly superior to the Pz. IV and hitting him from a distance of 1500-2000 meters, he finally began to lose in the tank confrontation.
Heavy tank Pz. Kpfw. V "Panther"
The Pz. Kpfw. V "Panther" tank was developed in 1941-1942 as a response to the appearance of the Soviet T-34 tank. Serially produced since 1943, a total of 5995 tanks were produced.
The layout of the tank was "classic German" with a front-mounted transmission, outwardly it was very similar to the T-34. The crew of the tank was 5 people, the structure of the hull and turret was assembled from armor plates connected "in a thorn" and a double welded seam. Armor plates were installed at an angle to increase armor resistance in the same way as on the T-34. A commander's cupola was installed on the roof of the tower, the hatches of the driver and radio operator were placed on the roof of the hull and did not weaken the upper frontal plate.
With a tank weight of 44.8 tons, it had good protection, the thickness of the armor of the hull's forehead was 80 mm top, 60 mm bottom, sides top 50 mm, bottom 40 mm, turret forehead 110 mm, turret sides and roof 45 mm, hull roof 17 mm, bottoms 17-30 mm.
The armament of the tank consisted of a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 42 L / 70 cannon and two 7, 92-mm MG-34 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the other a course one.
A Maybach HL 230 P30 engine with a capacity of 700 hp was used as a power plant, providing a road speed of 55 km / h and a cruising range of 250 km. The option of installing a diesel engine was being worked out, but it was abandoned due to a shortage of diesel fuel, which is necessary for submarines.
The undercarriage on each side contained eight road wheels, staggered in two rows with individual torsion bar suspension, the front and rear pairs of rollers had hydraulic shock absorbers, the drive wheel was in front.
The concept of the Pz. Kpfw. V tank no longer reflected the "blitzkrieg" concept, but the defensive military doctrine of Germany. After the battles on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, the main attention was paid to the protection of the tank and its firepower with limited mobility due to the large weight of the tank.
The first experience of the combat use of Pz. Kpfw. V tanks at the Kursk Bulge revealed both the advantages and disadvantages of this tank. This batch of tanks was characterized by low reliability and non-combat losses from malfunctions were very high. Among the advantages of the new tank, German tankers noted the reliable protection of the frontal projection of the hull, at that time invulnerable to all Soviet tank and anti-tank guns, a powerful cannon that made it possible to hit all Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns head-on and good aiming devices.
However, the protection of the remaining projections of the tank was vulnerable to fire from 76, 2-mm and 45-mm tank and anti-tank guns at the main battle distances. The tank's main weakness was its relatively thin side armor. The tank showed itself best of all in active defense, in ambush operations, in the destruction of advancing enemy tanks from long distances, in counterattacks, when the influence of the weakness of the side armor was minimized.
The tank had a number of unconditional advantages - good smoothness, a large fighting compartment, which increased the comfort of the crew, high-quality optics, high rate of fire, large ammunition and high armor penetration of the KwK 42 cannon. coalitions at distances up to 2000 m.
On the other hand, in 1944 the situation changed, new models of tanks and artillery guns of calibers 100, 122 and 152 mm were adopted for arming the armies of the USSR, USA and England, which literally broke through the increasingly fragile armor of the Pz. Kpfw. V.
The disadvantages of the tank were also its high height due to the need to transfer torque from the engine to the transmission units by means of cardan shafts under the floor of the fighting compartment, the greater vulnerability of the transmission units and drive wheels due to their location in the frontal part of the vehicle most susceptible to shelling, complexity and unreliability " chess "running gear. The mud that had accumulated between the road wheels often froze in winter and completely immobilized the tank. To replace the damaged inner track rollers from the inner row, it was necessary to dismantle from a third to half of the outer rollers, which took several hours.
Only Soviet tanks KV-85, IS-1, IS-2 and the American M26 Pershing can act as analogues of the Pz. Kpfw. V. The M26 was a belated reaction to the appearance of the Pz. Kpfw. V, but in terms of its main characteristics it was quite equal to the level of the Pz. Kpfw. V and could withstand it on an equal footing. He began to enter the troops in small numbers only in February 1945 and no longer played a serious role in the battles of World War II.
The Soviet heavy tank IS-2, with all the external similarity of its weight and size characteristics with the "Panther", was used not as a main tank, but as a breakthrough tank with a different balance of armor and weapons. In particular, great attention was paid to good airborne armor and fire power against unarmored targets. The power of the 122 mm cannon of the IS-2 was almost twice that of the 75 mm KwK 42 cannon, but the armor penetration was quite comparable. In general, both tanks were well suited to defeat other tanks.
In England, it was only by the end of the war that they were able to create some kind of alternative to the Pz. Kpfw. V in the form of the A34 Comet tank. Released at the end of 1944, the A34 Comet tank, armed with a 76, 2-mm cannon, was somewhat inferior in armor to the Pz. Kpfw. V, weighed 10 tons less and had higher firepower and maneuverability.
Heavy tank Pz. Kpfw. VI Tiger
In accordance with the "blitzkrieg" concept, there was no place for heavy tanks in the German army at the first stage. The Pz. Kpfw. III and Pz. Kpfw. IV medium tanks suited the military quite well. Since the end of the 30s, the development of such a tank was carried out, but due to the lack of demand for a tank of this class, no one was particularly interested in them. With the attack on the Soviet Union and the collision with the Soviet T-34 and KV-1, it became clear that the PzIII and Pz. Kpfw. IV were seriously inferior to them, and it became necessary to develop a more advanced tank. Work in this direction was intensified and in 1941 the Pz. Kpfw. VI tank was developed, the main purpose of which was to fight enemy tanks. In 1942, he began to enter the troops, in 1942-1944, 1357 Pz. Kpfw. VI Tiger tanks were produced.
The tank was of a "classic German" design with a front-mounted transmission. The crew of the tank was 5 people, the driver and radio operator were located in front of the hull. commander, gunner and loader in the tower. A commander's cupola was installed on the roof of the tower.
The hull and turret were welded from armor plates, installed mainly vertically without angles of inclination. The armor plates were joined by the dovetail method and joined by welding. With a weight of 56, 9 tons, the tank had high armor protection, the thickness of the armor of the hull's forehead top and bottom is 100 mm, the middle is 63 mm, the sides of the bottom are 63 mm, the top is 80 mm, the front of the tower is 100 mm, the sides of the tower are 80 mm and the roof of the tower is 28 mm, armored masks guns 90-200 mm, roof and bottom 28 mm.
The armament of the tank consisted of a long-barreled 88-mm KwK 36 L / 56 cannon and two 7, 92-mm MG-34 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the other a course one.
A 700 hp Maybach engine was used as a power plant. and a semi-automatic transmission. The tank was easily controlled with the steering wheel, and gear shifting was carried out without much effort. The power plant provided a highway speed of 40 km / h and a cruising range of 170 km.
The undercarriage on each side contained eight "staggered" large diameter road wheels with individual torsion bar suspension arranged in two rows and a front drive wheel. The tank had two types of tracks, a transport track with a width of 520 mm and a combat track with a width of 725 mm.
The firepower of the Pz. Kpfw. VI with an 88mm cannon, before the appearance of the Soviet IS-1, made it possible to hit any tank of the anti-Hitler coalition at any distance of battle, and only the IS-1 and IS-2 series tanks had armor that allowed them to withstand shelling from the KwK 36 from frontal angles and medium distances.
The Pz. Kpfw. VI in 1943 had the most powerful armor and could not be hit by any tank. Soviet 45-mm, British 40-mm and American 37-mm cannons did not penetrate it even at an extremely close combat distance, 76, 2-mm Soviet cannons could penetrate the side armor of the Pz. Kpfw. VI from distances not exceeding 300 m. T -34-85 penetrated its frontal armor from a distance of 800-1000 meters. Only by the end of the war, the saturation of the armies of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition with heavy 100-mm, 122-mm and 152-mm guns made it possible to effectively fight the Pz. Kpfw. VI.
The positive aspects of the tank include easy control of a very heavy vehicle and good ride quality provided by a torsion bar suspension with a "checkerboard" arrangement of road wheels. At the same time, such a design of the undercarriage in winter and off-road conditions was unreliable, the dirt that accumulated between the rollers froze overnight so that it immobilized the tank, and replacing damaged rollers from the inner rows was a tedious and time-consuming procedure. The heavy weight significantly limited the capabilities of the tank, since off-road the vehicle's transmission was overloaded and quickly failed.
The tank was expensive and difficult to manufacture and had a low maintainability of the undercarriage. Due to its heavy weight, the tank was difficult to transport by rail, as there were fears of damage to the bridges along which the cars were moving.
There were no worthy opponents among the tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition Pz. Kpfw. VI. In terms of firepower and protection, it surpassed the Soviet KV-1, and in mobility they were approximately equal. Only at the end of 1943, with the adoption of the IS-2, an equivalent rival appeared. In general, being inferior to the IS-2 in terms of security and firepower, the Pz. Kpfw. VI outperformed it in technical rate of fire at minimum combat distances.
Heavy tank Pz. Kpfw. VI Tiger II "Royal Tiger"
The Pz. Kpfw. VI Tiger II tank was developed in 1943 as a tank destroyer and entered the army in January 1944. It was the most powerful tank to take part in World War II. In total, 487 of these tanks were produced by the end of the war.
The Tiger II retained the layout of the Tiger I, with all its pros and cons. The crew also remained in the amount of five people. The design of the hull was changed, using an inclined arrangement of armor, as on the Panther tank.
The weight of the tank increased to 69.8 tons, while the tank had excellent protection, the thickness of the armor of the hull's forehead was 150 mm at the top, 120 mm at the bottom, 80 mm sides, 180 mm turret front, 80 mm turret sides, 40 mm turret roof, 25- 40 mm, body roof 40 mm.
The armament of the tank consisted of a new long-barreled 88-mm cannon KwK 43 L / 71 and two 7, 92-mm MG-34 machine guns.
The power plant was borrowed from the Tiger I. It was equipped with a 700 hp Maybach engine, providing a highway speed of 38 km / h and a cruising range of 170 km.
The chassis was also borrowed from the Tiger I tank, only another road roller was added and the track width was increased to 818mm.
The armor penetration of the 88 mm KwK 43 cannon ensured that the Tiger II could defeat any tank in the battles of World War II. Even the armor of the most protected tanks, such as the American M26, the British Churchill and the Soviet IS-2, provided them with practically no protection at real combat distances.
The frontal projection of the tank, despite the significant thickness of the armor plates and their inclined location, was by no means invulnerable. This was due to a decrease in alloying additions in the material of armor plates due to the loss by Germany of a number of deposits of non-ferrous metals, especially nickel. The sides of the tank were even more vulnerable, the 85-mm Soviet D-5T and S-53 guns pierced them from a distance of 1000-1500 m, the American 76-mm M1 cannon hit the side from a distance of 1000-1700 m, and the Soviet 76, 2- mm guns ZIS-3 and F-34 hit him in the side at best from 200 meters.
In duel combat, the Tiger II surpassed all tanks in terms of armor, as well as in accuracy and armor penetration of the guns. However, such head-to-head clashes were very rare and Soviet tankers tried to conduct a maneuverable battle, for which the Tiger II was the least suitable. Acting on the defensive, from ambushes, as a tank destroyer, he was extremely dangerous for Soviet tankers and could destroy several tanks before he himself was discovered and neutralized. As for the armored vehicles of the allies, the American and British tanks could not effectively resist the Tiger II and the allies most often used aircraft against it.
The increase in the tank's weight led to an extreme overload of the power plant and chassis and a sharp decrease in their reliability. Constant failures led to the fact that about a third of the tanks were out of order on the march. The poor handling and unreliability of the Tiger II almost completely neutralized its advantages in firepower and armor.
In terms of firepower and protection, the Tiger II was one of the strongest tanks during the Second World War. However, the numerous shortcomings of its design, especially in the power plant and chassis, huge weight, low reliability, as well as the operational and tactical situation, which did not allow full use of the tank's advantages, determined the overall rather low potential of the vehicle.
Super heavy tank Pz. Kpfw. VIII "Maus"
On the initiative of Hitler in 1943, the development of a super-heavy breakthrough tank with the highest possible protection began. At the end of 1943, the first instance of the tank would have been made. which, surprisingly, when running around the yard of the plant, showed good controllability and the fundamental possibility of creating such a super tank. Due to the lack of production capacity, its serial production did not begin, only two copies of the tank were manufactured.
The tank was of a classic layout weighing 188 tons with a crew of 6 people, armed with two twin cannons in the turret - 128 mm KwK-44 L / 55 and 75 mm KwK-40 L / 36, 6 and one 7, 92 mm MG- machine gun 34.
The tank had powerful armor, the thickness of the armor on the front of the hull was 200 mm, the sides of the hull were 105 mm at the bottom, at the top of 185 mm, the turret forehead was 220 mm, the sides and rear of the turret were 210 mm, and the roof and bottom were 50-105 mm.
The power plant consisted of the Daimler-Benz MV 509 aircraft engine with a capacity of 1250 hp. and an electric transmission with two generators and two electric motors, providing a highway speed of 20 km / h and a cruising range of 160 km. The tracks with a width of 1100 mm provided the tank with a completely acceptable specific ground pressure of 1.6 kg / sq. cm.
The Pz. Kpfw. VIII "Maus" was not tested in battle. When the army of the Soviet Union approached in April 1945, two samples of the tank were blown up, one of the two samples was assembled and now it is exhibited in the Armored Museum in Kubinka.
During World War II, German designers were able to develop, and the German industry to organize the mass production of a line of medium and heavy tanks, in terms of their characteristics not inferior, and in many respects superior to the tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. On the fronts of this war, German tanks confronted the tanks of their opponents on equal terms, and German tankers often won battles when using tanks with worse characteristics due to more advanced tactics of their use.
