German+Tanks

= = =**__‍German Tanks in WW2‍__**=

Andrew Nichol Edited by Alison Nichol

Foreword
German development of the tank at this time was huge. Some technology used in them is now used in modern tanks. They were indeed working with modern technology. But with this brought the problems of complexity that modern tanks have learned to overcome.

Panzer I Panzer II Panzer III Panzer IV Panzer V Panzer VI "Tiger I" Panver VI "Tiger II" - Incomplete ||
 * __Table of contents__

Panzer I
This tank would be considered a light tank. It saw action in Spain, Poland, France, China, North Africa & Russia. It was used greatly in WWII & made up a fair chunk of the German armour early in the war. The ausf.1 had a couple of design flaws, such as being prone to overheating & pitching when traveling at high velocities. But the later model called the ausf.2 fixed most of these problems. The tank took a crew of 2 people & served as a popular training vehicle. Its armour was very light, so it was more of a anti-infantry tank. Its main armament was 2 mg13 machine guns. It could also travel 50 Km/h on road & 30 Km/h off road. It was produced between 1934-1937 & designed in 1934

[[image:http://hosted.wargamer.com/Panzer/panzer2i.jpg width="408" height="200" align="right" caption="Panzer II"]]
Due to delays in the production of Panzer IV & III; The Panzer II was born. It was designed to get a heavier tank to the troops faster & support the Panzer I. Its production can be directly linked to Germany's early war successes. It took a crew of 3 people, with 1 commander, driver & loader/radio operator. Ausf models from A to J were made during the war, with each one improving the vehicle. Its max speed was around 40 Km/h & its armour was a more thick then the Panzer I. Regardless of the thickness of its armour, it could be penetrated with 45mm anti-tank weapons. For armaments, the Panzer II had a co-axially mounted 7.92 mm machine gun with a 2 cm KwK 30 55 calibers long cannon. It was produced between 1936-1943 & designed in 1934.

Panzer III
This particular tank was classified as a medium tank of ww2. Its original intent was to go up against other armoured vehicles. It used a torsion bar for suspension that was new at the time of its creation. It had 30 mm of hard metal on its sides, 50 mm at its front & rear & a additional 20mm on the hull & turret on the last model. The last model armaments were a 7.5 cm KwK 37 cannon & 2 mg42's, each mounted in 2 different places. At its creation it was revolutionary as the turret had a 3 man team, with 1 loader, 1 gunner & 1 commander. This let the commander focus on situational awareness rather then the tasks of running the tank. This 3 man turret idea sparked a change in tank design as the allies started changing to it. Alongside the 3 man turret crew their was a driver & radio operator/bow machine gun operator. Its speed on road was 40 Km/h & off road was 20 Km/h. Its design took place between 1935 & 1937 by daimler-benz. Its manufactory was between 1939 & 1943 in Germany.

Panzer IV
This tank originally designed as a infantry supporting vehicle but later reversed roles as the major German armor facing medium tank. It was a robust & reliable tank that remained manufactured through the war. Using its chasis the Germans created a couple different vehicles with different purposes i.e anti aircraft vehicle. It had a 5 man crew with 1 loader, 1 gunner, 1 driver, 1 commander, 1 machine gunner & 1 radio operator. The tank had a leaf sping suspension system. Keep in mind the stats given here are the general ones as the tank had many different models as the war progressed. The armour was 10-80mm & along with that some of them had those well known side plates. This tanks armour utilized armour angling techniques to reduce damage. It usually had 2-3 mg34's & 1 KwK 40 for its armaments. On road it could travel at 42 Km/h & off road at 16 Km/h. It was designed in 1936 & was manufactured between 1936-1945.

Panzer V "Panther"
The Panther was a tank developed in World War II in 1943 by Nazi Germany as a medium tank. it was one of the most cost-effective of the German armored fighting vehicles of World War II, as it was far cheaper to produce than the Tiger tanks and only slightly more expensive than the Panzer IV. Its combination of fire power, mobility and protection became a base for the other nation’s late war and post-war tank designs and it is regarded as one of the best tanks of World War II. Even though it essentially the same engine as the Tiger I tank, it had had better frontal armor, better gun penetration, was lighter and thus faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger. It had its faults however including its weaker side armor. It also proved to be deadly in open country and long range engagements, but vulnerable in close-quarters combat. The 76.2 mm gun fired a slightly smaller shell than the Tiger's 88 mm gun, providing less high explosive firepower against infantry. It had good armor penetration making it one of the most powerful tank guns of World War II. The weight of the production model was originally planned for a 35 ton tank but was increased to 45 metric tons. This I because Hitler had personally reviewed the final designs and insisted on an increase in the thickness of the frontal armor. It ended up commanding respect from the allies in its combat capabilities and led directly to the introduction of heavier Allied tanks such as the Soviet IS-2 and the American M26 Pershing into the war. The crew was made up of five members, these being a driver, radio operator (who also fired the bow machine gun), gunner, loader, and commander. Its first sight of combat was the battle of Kursk where it was rushed in with un-corrected teething problems, which resulted in breakdowns and other equipment failures. Its reliability was improved over time and it was a very successful weapon but got outweighed by Germanys general declining position in the war.

Panzer VI "Tiger I"
The Tiger I was developed in 1942 and used in World War II. Even though the general design and layout was pretty similar to the Panzer IV, The Tiger I weighed just over 50 tons which is twice as much as the Panzer IV. This is because of its substantially thicker armor, the larger main gun, greater volume of fuel and ammunition storage, larger engine, and more solidly-built transmission and suspension. There were 5 crew members to operate the tank. Three men were seated in the turret. These were the loader to the right of the gun facing to the rear, the gunner to the left of the gun, and the commander behind him. The pilot and the radio- operator were located at the front of the tank and on either side of the gearbox. The gun chosen and used in this tank is the 88mm KwK 36 L/56 gun. These tanks were usually used in separate heavy tank battalions under army command. These battalions would be deployed to critical sectors, either for breakthrough operations or, more typically, counter-attacks. The Tiger was first used in action on the 23rd of September 1942 near Leningrad. Due to being under pressure from Hitler, the tank was put into action a lot earlier than planned. A lot of the early models proved to be mechanically unreliable causing many of them to break down in this first action. They are considered as being one of the best armored vehicles of the Second World War.

Wikipedia: [] [] [] [] [] [] [|www.hosted.wargamer.com] [|http://www.achtungpanzer.com] [|www.images.google.com]

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