Tanks with High Expectations: German Panzers

Germans had 2 types of tanks on their mind. The main tank was the Panzer III medium tank, supported by smaller numbers of the howitzer-armed Panzer IV. After they having faced with Soviet T-34, they noticed that they had to develop these tanks.

The Panzerkampfwagen III (Panzer III) was a medium tank developed in the 1930s. It was designed to fight against other armored fighting vehicles. As the Germans faced the T-34(Soviet heavy tank), more powerful anti-tank guns were needed, and since the Panzer IV had more development potential, it was redesigned to face with the enemy tanks. The Panzer III had 15 mm of rolled homogeneous armor on all sides with a 10 mm on the top and a 5 mm on the bottom. Those were considered weak in battle, and were upgraded to 30 mm on the front, sides and rear in the Ausf. D, E, F, and G models, with the H model having a second 30 mm layer of face-hardened steel applied to the front and rear hull.

The Panzerkampfwagen IV (Panzer IV), was a medium tank developed in 1937. The Panzer IV were the most numerous German tanks and the second-most numerous German armored fighting vehicle of the World War 2. Its weight was about 25 tons. The main reason of developing these tanks was being able to fight with T-34. It was an important development and Germans kept producing it till end of the war. Panzer IV was the most used German tank for sure. More than 8 thousand were built. The prototype required a crew of five men; the hull contained the engine bay to the rear, with the driver and radio operator, who doubled as the hull machine gunner, seated at the front-left and front-right.  The turret was offset 66.5mm placed at the left of the chassis center line, while the engine was moved 152.4 mm to the right.

Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, was a medium tank used especially on the Easter and Western Fronts in Europe from 1943 to end of war.  It was designed to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. It was one of the one of the best tanks of World War II. While having essentially the same engine as the Tiger I, it had more efficient frontal hull armor, better gun penetration, was lighter and faster. It was cheaper than the Tiger I. Its weight was 44.8 tons.  With forty to eighty millimeters of armor and a high-velocity Kw.K.42-75 mm gun, the Panther was a formidable opponent on any front.

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger, was a heavy tank fought with the Panther. It was about 55 tons. The 56-calibre 8.8 cm long KwK 36 was the best option for the Tiger. While the Tiger I had been first announced, it was over-engineered and was using expensive materials with labor-intensive production methods. The Tiger differed from earlier German tanks with its design. It had balanced mobility, armor and firepower, and was sometimes outgunned by their opponents.