Panzer IV

Panzer IV is the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the late 1930s by Germany and used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen IV (abbreviated PzKpfw IV) and the tank also had the ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 161.

It was initially designed as an infantry-support medium tank (Begleitwagen, mittlerer Panzer), to work in conjunction with the Panzer III which was intended to engage enemy armor. Later in the war it was up-gunned and up-armored and took over the tank-fighting role while Panzer IIIs were either put into infantry support duties or converted into other vehicles. The Panzer IV was the most common German tank of World War II, and was used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, such as tank destroyers and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. The Panzer IV has the distinction of being the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout all of World War II, with over 8,500 produced from 1937 to 1945.

VERSIONS

"Ausf" is an abbreviation of Ausfuhrung, which means "version".

* Ausf. A (1937-1938, 35 produced)
* Ausf. B (1938, 42 produced): Thicker armor, larger engine.
* Ausf. C (1938-1939, 138 produced): Minor improvements.
* Ausf. D (1939-1940, 229 produced): Thicker side armor. First model intended for combat.
* Ausf. E (1940-1941, 223 produced): Thicker front and side armor.
* Ausf. F1 (1941-1942, 462 produced): Simplified construction.
* Ausf. F2 (1942, 175 produced): Armed with a new, longer-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/43 gun.
* Ausf. G (1942-1943, 1687 produced): Thicker turret armor, winter combat modifications. Some late Ausf. Gs were fitted with 'Schürzen', side skirts, thin metal plates attached to the hull sides and turret via mounting brackets for protection against Soviet anti-tank rifles as well as hollow-charge rounds.
* Ausf. H (1943-1944, 3774 produced): Longer 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/48 gun and thicker armor. Radio antenna moved to left rear of hull.
* Ausf. J (1944-1945, 1758 produced): Turret traverse engine replaced with an extra fuel tank. Later ausf Js had simplified vertical exhaust mufflers and the use of 3 instead of 4 track return rollers. Very late ausf J's used wire mesh side-skirts (Drahtgeflecht Schürzen) in place of solid metal plates to conserve strategic materials and reduce overall weight.
* Tauchpanzer (1940, 42 converted): A "diving tank". Ausf. D converted in anticipation of Operation Sealion. All openings were sealed, commander's cupola, gun mantlet and machine gun mount covered with rubber sheeting, turret ring protected by inflatable rubber ring. Exhausts were fitted with non-return valves. Air was supplied via a flexible 18-meter hose held on the surface by a buoy. Maximum safe depth was about 15 meters, maximum underwater speed about 3 mph (5 km/h). Some were used by the 18th Panzer Regiment during River Bug crossing in Operation Barbarossa.
* Panzerbefehlswagen IV (PzBefWg. IV) (1944, 97 converted): Ausf H converted to command vehicle, were fitted with second radio.
* Panzerbeobachtungwagen IV (PzBeogWg. IV) (1944-1945, 96 converted): Pz IV, mostly Ausf. J, converted to Panzerartillerie Forward Observation Officer's vehicle. Were fitted with additional periscope to the left of the commander's cupola and with additional radios.