Panzer
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For the German biologist, see Georg Wolfgang Franz Panzer.
Panzer IV Ausf. A, a medium tank first built in 1937
Panzer Leopard 2, a modern main battle tank
Panzer is a loanword from the German language. The term has been accepted in
English as a colloquialism to refer to a main battle tank or other armored vehicle,
usually a Second World War German model. The term is rarely used outside this
context, although it can refer to modern German tanks. It is occasionally used as an
adjective to imply a connection to the German WWII (Nazi) military, usually in a
derogatory sense.
The term gained infamy in English during Germany's successful Blitzkrieg armoured
advances of World War II.
The German noun Panzer (plural: Panzer), German pronunciation [ˈpanʦer]
(listen (help·info)), English [ˈpænzɝ], has a broad meaning translating as "armour" (in a
military technical sense, and not usually used outside a martial context), or "shell" (as
in thick protective animal hide, i.e. Schildkrötenpanzer means turtle shell). Besides
meaning tank in the sense of a heavily armored vehicle, it can refer to medieval armour
(Plattenpanzer literally translates as plate mail, Kettenpanzer as chain mail). The
adjective gepanzert means "armoured" or "mailed".
It is derived from the French pancier ("breastplate", compare English paunch). The
word has been calqued in many languages, such as Swedish pansarvagn or Finnish
panssarivaunu for any tracked armoured fighting vehicle.
[edit] See also
← Tanks
← Panzertruppe
← Panzerfaust
Panzerwaffe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Panzertruppe)
Panzerwaffe (German for "Armoured Force" or "Armoured Arm". Waffe translates into
the English "arm" as in an army, navy, or air force's "combat arm" or "fighting arm":
similarly Ubootwaffe translates as "U-boat Arm", and Luftwaffe translates as "Air Arm")
refers to a command within the German Wehrmacht responsible for the affairs of
panzer and motorized forces shortly before and during the Second World War. It was
originally known as Schnelltruppen ("Fast Troops"), a motorized command established
in the Reichswehr following the First World War, redesignated as Panzerwaffe in 1936
by Generalleutnant Heinz Guderian.
The men of the Panzerwaffe, referred to as Panzertruppen (lit. Armoured Troops),
were distinguishable by their close fitting black uniforms, known as Panzer wraps. After
1943, the Panzerwaffe, like most other German branches of service, had relaxed the
uniform rules and many Panzertruppen wore a variety of clothing, including
camouflage and winter items.
Two training schools existed for panzer crews throughout the war,
Panzertruppenschule I and II.
Motorized infantry were an early formation, and consisted of infantry transported by
trucks. Early in the war, there were a number of light divisions, each a semi-motorized
cavalry force created out of compromise with the Heer's cavalry command. These were
judged inadequate following the Invasion of Poland and converted to fully motorized
units.
The mainstay of the Panzerwaffe was the Panzer division. These consisted of a panzer
division (two tank regiments) and two motorized or mechanized infantry regiments. All
forces of a Panzer division were mobile. Support elements included self-propelled
artillery, self-propelled anti-tank, and armored reconnaissance cars. After the
campaigns in Poland and France, the Panzer divisions were reduced in size, with only
one Panzerregiment per Division. This move was taken to allow the creation of several
new divisions with the available tanks.
During World War II the German army also fielded a number of Panzergrenadier
divisions consisting of motorized infantry (or armored infantry for some of the
battalions, when sufficient half-tracked armored carriers were available), with self-
propelled artillery and Jagdpanzer, and in some cases a significant panzer component.
A panzer corps consisted of two to three divisions and auxiliary attachments.
Panzergruppen ("Panzer Groups") were commands larger than a corps, approximately
the size of an army, and named after their commander (e.g. Panzergruppe Hoth).
These were later recognized as Panzerarmeen ("Panzer Armies"), an army-level
command of two to three corps. These higher-level organizations almost always mixed
ordinary infantry units with the Panzerwaffe. (Folklore holds that in 1944 there was a
Panzerarmee fighting in Italy which controlled only one Panzerkorps along with other
assets, and that Panzerkorps controlled only one Panzer division, and that division
only had four operable tanks, with the result that the entire Panzerarmee had the
actual armored strength of a tank platoon.)
Significant numbers of panzer and motorized formations were of the Waffen-SS. These
did not fall under the Panzerwaffe administratively, although operationally they were
organized and fought as part of army formations and under army command.
[edit] See also
← Panzer, Tank, German AFVs of World War II
← Panzerkorps, Panzer Division, List of German divisions in WWII
← Blitzkrieg, Armored warfare, Maneuver warfare
← Wehrmacht, Heer, Luftwaffe, Waffen-SS
[edit] References
← Guderian, Heinz [1952] (2001). Panzer Leader, Da Capo Press Reissue edition,
New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81101-4.
Categories: German panzer divisions | Wehrmacht
Jagdpanzer IV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jagdpanzer IV/48
Type Tank destroyer
Place of origin Nazi Germany
Specifications
Weight 24 tonnes
Length 6.85 m
Width 3.17 m
Height 1.85 m
Crew 4
Armor 10 - 80 mm
Primary 1x 7.5 cm PaK 39 L/48
armament 79 rounds
Secondary 1x 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr
armament 34
600 rounds
Engine Maybach HL 120 TRM
300 hp
Power/weight 12.5 hp/tonne
Suspension Leaf springs
Operational 210 km
range
Speed 40 km/h
The Jagdpanzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV
chassis built in three main variants. It was developed against the wishes of Heinz
Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Stug
III. Guderian objected against the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from
Panzer IV tank production, as the Stug III and Stug IV were still more than adequate for
their role.
Contents
[hide]
1 Development
2 Variants
3 Combat history
4 External links
[edit] Development
Nevertheless in late 1942 the Wehrmacht's arms bureau, the Waffenamt, called for a
new tank destroyer design based on the Panzer IV, which would be armed with the
same 7.5 cm gun as fitted to the Panther: the Pak 42 L/70.
Unlike previous tank destroyers like the Marder series, this gun was to be mounted
directly into the Jagdpanzer's superstructure, keeping its silhouette as low as possible.
The Jagdpanzer IV kept the basis chassis of the Panzer IV tank, but the original
vertical front plate was replaced by a sharp edged nose. Internally, the layout was
changed to accommodate the new superstructure, moving the fuel tanks and
ammunition racks. Because the Jagdpanzer lacked a turret, the engine which originally
powered the Panzer IV's turret could be eliminated.
The new superstructure had sloped armour, which gives a much larger armor
protection for a given thickness than conventional armor and at the front was a 100
mm thick. To make the manufacturing process as simple as possible, the
superstructure was made out of large, interlocking plates which were welded together.
Armament consisted of a 7.5 cm main gun, originally intended to be the PaK 42 L/70,
but shortages meant that for the preproduction and the first production run different
older guns were used, the 7.5 cm PaK 39 L/48. These were shorter and less powerful
than the PaK 42.
Jagdpanzer IV/70 (A) Prototype
On later variants, the much larger PaK 42 meant that the Jagdpanzer IV was quite
heavy in the nose, especially with the heavy frontal armor. This made them less mobile
and more difficult to operate in rough terrain, leading their crews to nickname them
Guderian-Ente; Guderian's Duck.
The final prototype of the Jagdpanzer IV was presented in December 1943 and
production started in January 1944, with the PaK 39 L/48 armed variant staying in
production until November. Production of the PaK 42 L/70 armed variants started in
August and continued until March/April 1945.
It was intended to stop production of the Panzer IV itself at the end of 1944 to
concentrate solely on production of the Jagdpanzer IV, but this did not seem to have
happened.
[edit] Variants
Jagdpanzer IV/70(V)
Type Tank destroyer
Place of origin Nazi Germany
Specifications
Weight 25.8 tonnes
Length 8.5 m
Width 3.17 m
Height 1.85 m
Crew 4
Armor 10 - 80 mm
Primary 1x 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70
armament 55 rounds
Secondary 1x 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr
armament 34
600 rounds
Engine Maybach HL 120 TRM
300 hp
Power/weight 11.63 hp/tonne
Suspension Leaf springs
Operational 210 km
range
← Jagdpanzer IV with 7.5 cm PaK 39 L/43: a small number of these were built as
the preproduction series.
← Jagdpanzer IV with 7.5 cm PaK 39 L/48, official name Sturmgeschütz neuer Art
mit 7.5 cm PaK L/48 auf Fahrgestell PzKpfw IV. Some 780 or so were produced in
1944.
← Jagdpanzer IV/70 (V) (Sd.Kfz.162/1) was one of two variants armed with the
PaK 42 L/70 gun. Some 940 were built in 1944 and 1945. The (V) stands for the
builder, Vomag.
← Jagdpanzer IV/70 (A) (Sd.Kfz.162/1) was the other PaK 42 L/70 armed
Jagdpanzer IV. This differed in that its superstructure was mounted directly on the
original Panzer IV chassis and as such lacked the sharp edged nose of the other
variants. Only 278 were built during 1944 and 1945. The (A) stands for the builder,
Alkett.
Minor modifications and improvements were made throughout the production runs of
all variants, as well as several field improvements, the most common being the
addition of armor sideskirts.
Originally the Jagdpanzer IV/48's gun had a muzzle brake installed, but because the
gun was so close to the ground, each time it was fired, huge dust clouds would rise up
and betray the vehicle's position, leading many crews to remove the muzzle brake in
the field. Later variants dispensed with the muzzle brake.
Early L/48 and L/70-armed vehicles had zimmerit, but this was discontinued after about
September 1944. Later vehicles had three return rollers rather than the original four,
and adopted the twin vertical exhausts typical of the late Panzer IV series. Some late
vehicles also had all-steel road wheels on the first bogie on each side.
[edit] Combat history
Jagdpanzer IV served in the anti-tank sections of Panzer and SS Panzer divisions.
They fought in Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and on the Eastern Front (WWII).
They were very successful tank destroyers but performed badly when used out of role
as substitutes for tanks or assault guns.
In the later stages of the war however, they were increasingly used as tank substitutes,
because there was often nothing else available.
One of the more notable Jagdpanzer IV aces was SS-Oberscharführer Roy from the
12th SS Panzerjäger Abteilung of 12th SS Panzer Division. He was killed by an
American sniper while looking out of the hatch of his Jagdpanzer IV on December 17,
1944 during the Ardennes Offensive in Belgium.
After the war, West Germany continued the Jagdpanzer concept with the
Kanonenjagdpanzer, but few other fixed-casemate self-propelled guns were built
postwar.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Jagdpanzer IV
← Jagdpanzer IV and Panzer IV/70 at Achtung Panzer!
← Jagdpanzer IV at Panzerworld
← Panzer IV/70 at Panzerworld
← Jagdpanzer Photos of the Jagdpanzer IV at the Canada War Museum
← Surviving Panzer IV variants - A PDF file presenting the Panzer IV variants (Jagdpanzer
IV, Hummel, Nashorn, Brummbär, StuG IV, Flakpanzer tanks and prototypes based on Pz IV)
still existing in the world
[hide]
v•d•e
German armored fighting vehicles of World War II
Panzer I • Panzer II • Panzer III • Panzer IV • Panther • Tiger I • Tiger II •
Tanks
Panzer 35(t) • Panzer 38(t)
Self-propelled artillery Wespe • Hummel • Grille • Panzerwerfer • Wurfrahmen 40
Assault guns StuG III • StuG IV • StuH 42 • Brummbär • Sturmtiger
Panzerjäger I • Marder I , II , III • Hetzer • Jagdpanzer IV • Jagdpanther •
Tank destroyers
Nashorn • Jagdtiger • Elefant
Half-tracks SdKfz 2 • 4 • 6 • 7 • 10 • 11 • 250 • 251 • 252 • 253 • 254
Armored cars Sdkfz 221/22/23 • Sdkfz 231/32/34/63 • ADGZ
Flakpanzer IV: Möbelwagen, Wirbelwind, Ostwind, Kugelblitz • Flakpanzer
Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns
38(t)
Maus • E- series • Panther II • Heuschrecke 10 • Neubaufahrzeug • Sturer
Prototypes
Emil
Proposed designs Panzer VII 'Löwe' • Panzer IX • Panzer X • Ratte • Monster
German armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
Categories: World War II tank destroyers of Germany
