Pz.4 A - installation party. Combat weight 17.3 tons. Engine Maybach HL 108 TR 250 l.e., five-speed gearbox- gearbox. Dimensions 5920x2830x2680 mm. Armament: 75 mm gun KwK 37 with a barrel length of 24 caliber and two machine guns MG 34. Armor thickness 8 - 20 mm. Izgo- 35 weapons were manufactured.

Pz.4B - straight frontal hull plate. The course machine gun was withdrawn. A new commander's cupola and a periscope observation device have been introduced. Engine Maybach HL 120 TR 300 hp, six-speed gearbox. Lobo thickness- turret and hull armor howl - 30 mm. From- 42 (or 45) units were prepared.

Pz.4C - a special chipper under the gun barrel for bending the antenna when turning the turret, spa armor casing- machine gun. Starting from the 40th machine- US series installed engine Maybach HL 120 TRM. Manufactured 140 units.

Pz.4D- frontal part of the body like Pz. lVA , including course machine gun. treason- no gun mask. The thickness of the side armor of the hull and turret has been increased to 20 mm. In 1940 - 1941, the frontal armor of the hull and turret was reinforced with 20 mm armor- mi sheets. Manufactured 229 units.

Pz.4E- 30mm frontal hull armor plus an additional 30mm armor plate. Frontal armor of the tower - 30 mm, wt- ka guns - 35 ... 37 mm. Installed but- high commander's cupola with reinforced armor and a ball mount of chickens- Kugelblende 30 owl machine gun, simplified - nye leading and directing wheels, ba- chest for equipment, etc. Combat- total weight is 21 tons. 223 units were manufactured.

Pz .4 F (F 1 ) - the latest modification with a short-barreled gun. straight lobo- hull plate with course machine gun. Commander's cupola of a new design- tions. Single hatches in the sides of the bash- nor replaced by double doors. Frontal armor 50 mm thick. Caterpillar 400 mm wide. 462 units were made.

PZ .4 F 2 - 75 mm KwK gun 40 with a barrel length of 43 calibers and a pear-shaped muzzle- brake. New gun mask mount and new scope TZF 5 f . Combat mas - ca 23.6 tons. 175 units were manufactured.

Pz .4 G (Sd . Kfz . 161/1) - two-chamber muzzle brake guns. Later production tanks were armed with a 75 mm cannon. KwK 40 with a barrel length of 48 calibers, they are- got more armor plate- one in the frontal part of the hull with a thickness of 30 mm, 1450-kg "eastern tracks" and

side screens. 1687 units were made.

Pz. 4N (Sd . Kfz . 161/2) - 75 mm KwK gun 40 with a barrel length of 48 calibers. 80 mm frontal armor. The radio station antenna was moved from the side of the hull to its stern. Installed anti-cumulative 5-mm screens. Commander's cupola of a new type with an anti-aircraft machine gun MG 34. Vertical aft hull sheet. Six speed gearbox ZF SSG 77. Manufactured 3960 (or 3935) units.

Pz. lVJ (Sd. Kfz. 161/2) - technologically and structurally simplified version Pz. LVH. Manual turret rotation. Support rollers without rubber bandages. Increased fuel capacity- tanks. 1758 units were made.

The first tanks Pz. 4 entered the Wehrmacht in January 1938. The total order for combat vehicles of this type included 709 tank units weapons.

The plan for 1938 provided for the settlement- rate of 116 tanks, and the firm Krupp almost you - filled it up by handing over 113 vehicles to the troops. The first "combat" operations with fate- eat Pz. IV became the Anschluss of Austria and the capture of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in 1938. In March 1939, they marched through the streets of Prague.

On the eve of the invasion of Poland on September 1- In 1939, there were 211 tanks in the Wehrmacht Pz. 4 modifications A, B and C. According to the current staff, a tank division should have consisted of 24 tanks Pz. IV, 12 cars in each regiment. One- to the full state, only the 1st and 2nd tank regiments of the 1st tank were completed- division howl (1. Panzer Division). The Training Tank Battalion also had a full staff(Panzer Lehr Abteilung), attached 3rd tan- kov division. In other compounds, there were only a few Pz. IV, which - ry in armament and armor protection surpassed all types of opposing them Polish tanks. However, for the time- During the Polish campaign, the Germans lost 76 tanks of this type, 19 of them irretrievably.

By the beginning of the French campaign Pan- the cervaffe already had 290 Pz. IV and 20 bridge layers based on them. Like Pz. lll they were concentrated in the divisions operating in the directions of the main attacks. In the 7th Panzer Division of General Rommel, for example, there were 36 Pz. IV. During the fighting, the French and the English- we managed to knock out 97 tanks Pz. IV. Without - the return losses of the Germans amounted to only 30 combat vehicles of this type.

In 1940, the proportion of tanks Pz. IV in the tank formations of the Wehrmacht increased slightly. On the one hand, due to an increase in production, and on the other, due to a decrease in- Decreases the number of tanks in the division to 258 units. During a fleeting operation in the Balkans in the spring of 1941. Pz. IV, participation - who fought in battles with the Yugoslav, Greek- mi and English troops, losses are not- carried

T ACTICAL AND TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TANK Pz. lVFI

COMBAT WEIGHT, t; 22.3, CREW, people; 5.

OVERALL DIMENSIONS mm: length - 5920 width - 2880, height - 2680, ground clearance - 400.

ARMAMENT: 1 cannon KwK 37 caliber 75 mm and 2 machine guns MG 34 ka - libra 7.92 mm.

AMMUNITION: 80 - 87 artillery rounds and 2700 rounds. AIMING INSTRUMENTS* telescopic sight TZF 5b. RESERVATION, mm: forehead of the hull - 50; board - 20+20; feed - 20; roof -11; bottom - 10; tower - 30 - 50.

ENGINE: Maybach HL 120 TRM 12-cylinder carburetor, V -shaped, liquid cooling; working volume 11 867 cm3 3 ; power 300 hp (221 kW) at 3000 rpm. TRANSMISSION - three-disc dry friction main clutch, six-speed synchronized gearbox ZF SSG 76, planetary slewing mechanism, final drives. UNDERCARRIAGE: Eight small-diameter rubber-coated road wheels- meters on board, interlocked in pairs in four carts, suspended- mounted on quarter-elliptical leaf springs; leading to- forest front location with removable gear rims (for- traction lantern); four rubberized support rollers; each track has 99 tracks 400 mm wide. MAXIMUM SPEED, km/h: 42. POWER RESERVE, km: 200.

OVERCOME OBSTACLES: elevation angle, degrees - 30; breadth- on the ditch, m - 2.3; wall height, m ​​- 0.6; fording depth, m - 1. COMMUNICATIONS: radio station Fu 5.

To the beginning of Operation Barbarossa Ver- maht had 439 tanks Pz. IV, by the end of 1941, 348 of them were lost without return- military. Pz. IV, armed short barrel- guns, could not effectively- swarm with Soviet medium and heavy- our tanks. Only with the advent of the long-barrel modification did the situation level off. By the middle of 1943 Pz. IV became the main German tank on Vos- exact front. The staff of a German tank division included a two-battalion tank regiment. In the first battalion, two companies were armed Pz. IV, in the second, only one company. In general, the division- believed 51 tanks Pz. IV combat battalions - nah. In Operation Citadel, they were- whether almost 60% of the tanks that took part- tie in combat operations.

In North Africa, all the way to the capital- battles of the German troops, Pz. IV successfully resisted all types of Union tanks- nicknames. Greatest Success these tanks reached in the fight against the British cray- Seri tanks A.9 and A. 10 - move- nym, but lightly armored. The first modification machines F 2 delivered to

North Africa in the summer of 1942. At the end of July, Rommel's African Corps- thought only 13 tanks Pz. IV , of which 9 were F 2. AT English documents that period they were called Panzer IV Special.

Despite the defeat at El Alamein, the Germans began to reorganize- stationing its forces in Africa. On December 9, 1942, the 5th Panzer Army was formed in Tunisia, in which, among- sneeze entered transferred from France

10th Panzer Division, which had- weapons tanks Pz. IV Ausf. G. These tanks participated in the defeat of the American troops at Kasserine on February 14, 1943. However, this was the last successful operation.- walkie-talkie of the Germans on the African continent- those - already on February 23 they were forced- we went on the defensive, their forces were rapidly dwindling. On May 1, 1943 in the German troops- kah in Tunisia there were only 58 tanks - of which 17 Pz. IV.

In 1944, the organization of the German tank- howling division has undergone significant changes. The first battalion of the tank regiment received tanks Pz. V "Panther", WTO - the swarm was completed Pz. IV. In fact, the "panthers" entered the army- not all tank divisions Wehrmacht- that. In a number of formations, both battalions had only Pz. IV.

Summer 1944 German troops terpe- whether defeat after defeat, as per- pade, so in the East. I comply- there were also losses: only in two- six months - August and September - 1139 tanks were hit Pz. IV. However, me- her, their number in the troops continued to- be significant. In November 1944 Pz. IV accounted for 40% of German tanks on the Eastern Front, 52% - to the West- nom and 57% - in Italy.

The last major operations of the German army involving Pz. IV began a counteroffensive in the Ardennes in December 1944 and a counterattack by the 6th SS Panzer Army in the area of ​​Lake Balaton in January - March 1945, which ended in- scrap. During January 1945 alone, 287 Pz. IV, of which revolt - renovated and returned to service May 53- tires.

Pz. IV took part in the fighting before last days war, including street fighting in Berlin. On the territory of Czechoslovakia, fighting with fate- The use of tanks of this type continued until May 12, 1945.

tank losses Pz. IV amounted to 7636 units.

Pz. IV in much larger quantities- wah than other German tanks, postav- went for export. According to the German hundred- statistics, the allies of Germany, as well as Turkey and Spain received in 1942 - 1944. 490 combat vehicles. Beyond Ger- Mania Pz. IV were in service in Hungary (74, according to other sources - 104 units), Romania (142), Bulgaria (97), Fin- Landia (14) and Croatia.

Based on the Pz. IV produced self-propelled artillery mounts, commanders- kie tanks, advanced artillery vehicles- Russian observers, evacuation tractors and bridge tanks.

After the surrender of Germany, a large batch of 165 Pz. IV was handed over to Che- Khoslovakia. Having undergone repairs, they are- whether in service with the Czechoslovak army until the early 1950s. Except Czechoslovakia in the post-war years Pz. IV operated in the armies of Spain, Turkey, France, Finland, Bulgaria and Syria.

The Germans themselves did not have a high opinion about the combat qualities of the Pz.lV. Here is what Major General von Mellenthin writes about this in his memoirs (in 1941, with the rank of major, he served in Rommel's headquarters): "The T-IV tank gained the reputation of a formidable enemy among the British mainly because it was armed with a 75-mm cannon However, this gun had a low initial speed projectile and weak penetration, and although we used the T-IV in tank battles, they were much more useful as a means of fire support for infantry. "The Pz.lV began to play a more significant role in all theaters of military operations only after acquiring a "long arm" - a 75-mm KwK 40 cannon (F2 series). On the Eastern Front, Pz.lV. lV Ausf.F2 also appeared in the summer of 1942 and took part in the attack on Stalingrad and North Caucasus. After the production of the Pz.lll was discontinued in 1943, the "four" gradually became the main German tank in all theaters of operations. However, in connection with the start of production of the Panther, it was planned to stop production of the Pz.lV, however, due to the tough position of the General Inspector of the Panzerwaffe, General G. Guderian, this did not happen. Subsequent events showed that he was right.

The combat characteristics of the Pz.IV increased sharply after the installation of a long-barreled gun. Not inferior to enemy tanks in all other respects, the "four" proved to be capable of hitting Soviet and American tanks beyond the reach of their guns. We are not talking about English cars - for four years of the war the British were marking time. Until the end of 1943, the combat characteristics of the T-34 remained virtually unchanged, Pz.IV took first place among medium tanks. Since 1942, the tactical and technical characteristics of the Pz.IV have not changed (with the exception of the thickness of the armor) and during the two years of the war they remained unsurpassed by anyone! Only in 1944, having installed a 76-mm long-barreled gun on the Sherman, did the Americans catch up with the Pz.IV, and we, having launched the T-34-85 into the series, surpassed it. The Germans had neither time nor opportunity for a decent response. Comparing the characteristics of WWII tanks, we can conclude that the Germans, before others, began to consider the tank as the main and most effective anti-tank weapon, and this is the main trend of post-war tank building.

In general, it can be argued that of all the German tanks during the Second World War, the Pz.IV was the most balanced and versatile. In this car various characteristics harmoniously combined and complemented each other. The "Tiger" and "Panther", for example, had a clear bias towards security, which led to their overweight and deterioration dynamic characteristics. Pz.III, with many other equal characteristics with Pz.IV, did not reach it in armament and, having no reserves for modernization, left the stage. Pz.IV with a similar Pz.III, but a slightly more thoughtful layout, had such reserves in full measure. This is the only tank of the war years with a 75 mm cannon, whose main armament was significantly strengthened without changing the turret. The T-34-85 and Sherman had to change the turret, and, by and large, they were almost new machines. The British went their own way and, like a fashionista outfits, they changed not towers, but tanks! But the Cromwell, which appeared in 1944, did not reach the Quartet, as, indeed, did the Comet, released in 1945. Bypass the German tank, created in 1937, could only post-war "Centurion".

From what has been said, of course, it does not follow that the Pz.IV was an ideal tank. For example, it had insufficient engine power and a rather rigid and outdated suspension, which adversely affected its maneuverability. To some extent, the latter was compensated for by the smallest L / B ratio of 1.43 among all medium tanks. The equipment of the Pz.lV (as well as other tanks) with anti-cumulative screens cannot be attributed to the successful move of the German designers. HEAT munitions were rarely used en masse, but the screens increased the dimensions of the vehicle, making it difficult to move in narrow aisles, blocked most of the observation devices, and made it difficult for the crew to board and disembark.
However, an even more senseless and rather expensive undertaking was the coating of tanks with zimmerite (anti-magnetic painting, from magnetic mines). But perhaps the biggest mistake of the Germans was to try to switch to new type medium tank - "Panther". As the latter, it did not take place, making the company "Tiger" in the class of heavy vehicles, but played a fatal role in the fate of the Pz.lV. Having concentrated all efforts in 1942 on the creation of new tanks, the Germans ceased to seriously modernize the old ones. Let's try to imagine what would have happened if not for the "Panther"? The project of installing the "Panther" turret on the Pz.lV, both standard and "close" (Schmall-turm), is well known. The project is quite realistic in terms of dimensions - the inside diameter of the turret ring for the Panther is 1650 mm, for the Pz.lV-1600 mm. The tower rose without expanding the turret box. The situation with weight characteristics was somewhat worse - due to the large overhang of the gun barrel, the center of gravity shifted forward and the load on the front road wheels increased by 1.5 tons. However, it could be compensated by strengthening their suspension. In addition, it must be taken into account that the KwK 42 cannon was created for the Panther, and not for the Pz.IV. For the "four" it was possible to confine oneself to a gun with smaller weight and size data, with a barrel length, say, not 70, but 55 or 60 calibers. Such a gun, even if it would require the replacement of the turret, would still make it possible to get by with a lighter design than the "Panther" one. The inevitable increase (by the way, even without such a hypothetical re-equipment) of the tank's weight required the replacement of the Engine. For comparison: the dimensions of the HL 120TKRM engine, installed on the Pz.IV, were 1220x680x830 mm, and the "Panther" HL 230R30 - 1280x960x1090 mm. The clear dimensions of the engine compartments were almost the same for these two tanks. At the "Panther" it was 480 mm longer, mainly due to the slope of the aft hull plate. Therefore, equipping the Pz.lV with a higher power engine was not an unsolvable design problem. The results of such a, of course, far from complete, list of possible modernization measures would be very sad, since they would nullify the work on creating the T-34-85 for us and the Sherman with a 76-mm gun for the Americans. In 1943-1945, the industry of the Third Reich produced about 6 thousand "panthers" and almost 7 thousand Pz.IV. If we take into account that the labor intensity of manufacturing the Panther was almost twice that of the Pz.lV, then we can assume that during the same time German factories could produce an additional 10-12 thousand modernized "fours", which would be delivered to the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition much more trouble than the Panthers.

"Panzerkampfwagen IV" ("PzKpfw IV", also "Pz. IV"; in the USSR it was also known as "T‑IV") - a medium tank of the armored forces of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. There is a version that the Pz IV was originally classified by the German side as a heavy tank, but it has not been documented.

The most massive tank of the Wehrmacht: 8,686 vehicles were produced; serially produced from 1937 to 1945 in several modifications. The ever-increasing armament and armor of the tank in most cases allowed the PzKpfw IV to effectively resist tanks of a similar class. The French tanker Pierre Danois wrote about the PzKpfw IV (in modification, at that time, still with a short-barreled 75-mm gun): “This medium tank was superior to our B1 and B1 bis in all respects, including weapons and, to some extent, armor ".

History of creation

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, defeated in the First World War, Germany was forbidden to have armored troops, with the exception of a small number of armored vehicles for the needs of the police. But despite this, since 1925, the Reichswehr Armaments Office has been secretly working on the creation of tanks. Until the early 1930s, these developments did not go beyond the construction of prototypes, both because of the insufficient performance of the latter, and because of the weakness of the German industry of that period. Nevertheless, by the middle of 1933, German designers managed to create their first serial tank - Pz.Kpfw.I, and during 1933-1934 start it. mass production. The Pz.Kpfw.I, with its machine gun armament and a two-man crew, was seen only as a transitional model on the way to building more advanced tanks. The development of two of them began back in 1933 - a more powerful "transitional" tank, the future Pz.Kpfw.II and a full-fledged battle tank, the future Pz.Kpfw.III, armed with a 37-mm cannon, designed mainly to fight other armored vehicles.

Due to the initial armament limitations of the Pz.Kpfw.III, it was decided to supplement it with a fire support tank, with a longer-range cannon with a powerful fragmentation projectile capable of hitting anti-tank defenses beyond the reach of other tanks. In January 1934, the Armaments Department organized a project competition for the creation of a machine of this class, whose mass would not exceed 24 tons. Since work on armored vehicles in Germany at that time was still carried out in secret, the new project, like the rest, was given the code name “support vehicle” (German: Begleitwagen, usually abbreviated to B.W .; incorrect names are given in a number of sources of German. Bataillonwagen and German Bataillonfuehrerwagen). From the very beginning, the firms Rheinmetall and Krupp took up the development of projects for the competition, later they were joined by Daimler-Benz and M.A.N. Over the next 18 months, all firms presented their developments, and the Rheinmetall project under the designation VK 2001 (Rh) was even made in metal in the form of a prototype in 1934-1935.

Tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. J (Armoured Vehicles Museum - Latrun, Israel)

All submitted projects were undercarriage with a staggered arrangement of large-diameter road wheels and the absence of support rollers, with the exception of the same VK 2001 (Rh), which, on the whole, inherited the undercarriage with small-diameter road wheels interlocked in pairs and side screens from an experimental heavy tank Nb.Fz. As a result, the Krupp project - VK 2001 (K) was recognized as the best of them, but the Armaments Administration did not satisfy its spring suspension, which they demanded to be replaced with a more advanced torsion bar. However, Krupp insisted on the use of a running gear with medium-diameter rollers interlocked in pairs on a spring suspension, borrowed from the rejected Pz.Kpfw.III prototype of its own design. In order to avoid the inevitable delays in the processing of the project for a torsion bar suspension with the start of production of a tank badly needed by the army, the Ordnance Department was forced to agree to the Krupp proposal. After the subsequent refinement of the project, Krupp received an order for the production of a pre-production batch of a new tank, which by that time had received the designation "armored vehicle with a 75-mm gun" (German: 7.5 cm Geschütz-Panzerwagen) or, according to the end-to-end designation system adopted at that time, "experimental model 618" (German: Versuchskraftfahrzeug 618 or Vs.Kfz.618). From April 1936, the tank acquired its final designation - Panzerkampfwagen IV or Pz.Kpfw.IV. In addition, he was assigned the index Vs.Kfz.222, previously owned by Pz.Kpfw.II.

Tank PzKpfw IV Ausf G. Armored Museum in Kubinka.

Mass production

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.A - Ausf.F1

The first few Pz.Kpfw.IV "zero" series were manufactured in 1936-1937 at the Krupp plant in Essen. The serial production of the first series, 1.Serie / B.W., was launched in October 1937 at the Krupp-Gruson plant in Magdeburg. In total, until March 1938, 35 tanks of this modification were produced, designated as Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausführung A (Ausf.A - “model A”). By unified system designations of German armored vehicles, the tank received the index Sd.Kfz.161. The Ausf.A tanks were in many ways still pre-production vehicles and carried bulletproof armor that did not exceed 15-20 mm and weakly protected observation devices, especially in the commander's cupola. At the same time, the main design features Pz.Kpfw.IV, and although in the future the tank was repeatedly upgraded, the changes mainly boiled down to the installation of more powerful armor and weapons, or to an unprincipled alteration of individual components.

Immediately after the end of production of the first series, Krupp began production of an improved 2.Serie / B.W. or Ausf.B. The most noticeable outward difference of the tanks of this modification was a straight upper frontal plate, without a prominent driver's cabin and with the elimination of the course machine gun, which was replaced by a viewing device and a hatch for firing personal weapons. The design of viewing devices was also improved, primarily the commander's cupola, which received armored shutters, and the driver's viewing device. According to other sources, the new commander's cupola was already introduced during production, so some of the Ausf.B tanks carried the old-style commander's cupola. Minor changes also affected the landing hatches and various hatches. Frontal armor on the new modification was brought up to 30 mm. The tank also received a more powerful engine and a new 6-speed gearbox, which made it possible to significantly increase its maximum speed, and its cruising range also increased. At the same time, the Ausf.B ammunition was reduced to 80 rounds for the gun and 2700 machine gun rounds, instead of 120 and 3000, respectively, on the Ausf.A. Krupp was given an order for the production of 45 Ausf.B tanks, but due to a shortage of components, only 42 vehicles of this modification were actually produced from April to September 1938.

Tank Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.A on parade, 1938.

The first relatively massive modification was 3.Serie/B.W. or Ausf.C. Compared to the Ausf.B, the changes in it were insignificant - externally, both modifications are distinguishable only by the presence of an armored casing for the barrel of a coaxial machine gun. The rest of the changes came down to replacing the HL 120TR engine with an HL 120TRM of the same power, as well as the beginning of installing a fender under the gun barrel on part of the tanks to bend the antenna located on the hull when the turret turns. In total, 300 tanks of this modification were ordered, but already in March 1938 the order was reduced to 140 units, as a result of which, according to various sources, 140 or 134 tanks were produced from September 1938 to August 1939, while 6 chassis were transferred for conversion into bridgelayers.

Museum Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D with additional armor

Machines of the next modification, Ausf.D, were produced in two series - 4.Serie / B.W. and 5.Serie/B.W. most notable external change there was a return to the broken upper frontal plate of the hull and the course machine gun, which received enhanced protection. The inner mantlet of the gun, which proved vulnerable to lead spatter from bullet hits, was replaced with an outer one. The thickness of the side and rear armor of the hull and turret was increased to 20 mm. In January 1938, Krupp received an order for the production of 200 4.Serie / B.W. and 48 5.Serie/B.W., but during production, from October 1939 to May 1941, only 229 of them were completed as tanks, while the remaining 19 were allocated for the construction of specialized variants. Some of the late production Ausf.D tanks were produced in a "tropical" version (German tropen or Tp.), with additional ventilation holes in the engine compartment. A number of sources speak of armor reinforcement carried out in 1940-1941 in parts or during repairs, which was carried out by bolting additional 20-mm sheets to the upper side and frontal plates of the tank. According to other sources, later production vehicles were regularly equipped with additional 20 mm side and 30 mm frontal armor plates of the Ausf.E type. Several Ausf.Ds were re-armed with KwK 40 L/48 long guns in 1943, but these converted tanks were only used as training tanks.

Tank Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.B or Ausf.C on exercises. November 1943.

The appearance of a new modification, 6.Serie/B.W. or Ausf.E, was caused primarily by the lack of armor protection of vehicles early series, demonstrated during Polish campaign. On Ausf.E, the thickness of the lower frontal plate was increased to 50mm, in addition, it became standard to install additional 30mm plates above the upper frontal and 20mm above the side plates, although on a small part of the tanks of early production, additional 30mm plates were not were established. The armor protection of the tower, however, remained the same - 30 mm for the frontal plate, 20 mm for the side and aft plates and 35 mm for the gun mantlet. A new commander's cupola was introduced, with a vertical armor thickness of 50 to 95 mm. The inclination of the aft wall of the turret was also reduced, now made of a single sheet, without the "influx" for the turret, and on late production vehicles, an unarmored equipment box was attached to the stern of the turret. In addition, the Ausf.E tanks featured a number of less noticeable changes - a new driver's viewing device, simplified drive and steering wheels, an improved design of various hatches and inspection hatches, and the introduction of a turret fan. The order for the sixth series of Pz.Kpfw.IVs amounted to 225 units and was completed in full between September 1940 and April 1941, in parallel with the production of Ausf.D tanks.

Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.F. Finland, 1941.

Shielding with additional armor (on average by 10-12 mm), used on previous modifications, was irrational and was considered only as a temporary solution, which was the reason for the appearance of the next modification, 7.Serie/B.W. or Ausf.F. Instead of using hinged armor, the thickness of the frontal top plate of the hull, the frontal plate of the turret and the mantlet of the gun was increased to 50 mm, and the thickness of the sides of the hull and the sides and rear of the turret was increased to 30 mm. The broken upper frontal plate of the hull was again replaced by a straight one, but this time with the preservation of the course machine gun, and the side hatches of the turret received double doors. Due to the fact that the mass of the tank increased by 22.5% compared to the Ausf.A after the changes made, wider tracks were introduced to reduce ground pressure. Other, less noticeable changes included the introduction of ventilation air intakes in the middle frontal plate to cool the brakes, a different arrangement of silencers and slightly modified viewing devices due to the thickening of the armor, and the installation of a course machine gun. On the Ausf.F modification, other firms, in addition to Krupp, joined the production of Pz.Kpfw.IV for the first time. The latter received the first order for 500 machines of the seventh series, later orders for 100 and 25 units were received by Vomag and Nibelungenwerke. Of this number, from April 1941 to March 1942, before switching production to the Ausf.F2 modification, 462 Ausf.F tanks were produced, 25 of which were converted to Ausf.F2 at the factory.

Tank Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E. Yugoslavia, 1941.

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.F2 - Ausf.J

Although the main purpose of the 75 mm Pz.Kpfw.IV cannon was to destroy unarmored or lightly armored targets, the presence of an armor-piercing projectile in its ammunition load allowed the tank to successfully fight armored vehicles protected by bulletproof or light anti-ballistic armor. But against tanks with powerful anti-cannon armor, such as the British Matilda or the Soviet KV and T-34, it proved to be completely ineffective. Back in 1940 - early 1941, a successful combat use Matilda stepped up work on re-equipping the Pz.Kpfw.IV with a gun with better anti-tank capabilities. On February 19, 1941, on the personal order of A. Hitler, work began on arming the tank with a 50-mm Kw.K.38 L / 42 cannon, which was also installed on the Pz.Kpfw.III, and further work to strengthen the armament of the Pz.Kpfw. IV also advanced under his control. In April, one Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D was re-armed with the newest, more powerful 50 mm Kw.K.39 L/60 gun for demonstration to Hitler on his birthday, April 20th. It was even planned to produce a series of 80 tanks with such weapons from August 1941, but by that time the interest of the Ordnance Department (Heereswaffenamt) had shifted to a 75-mm long-barreled gun and these plans were abandoned.

Since the Kw.K.39 had already been approved as a weapon for the Pz.Kpfw.III, it was decided to choose an even more powerful gun for the Pz.Kpfw.IV, which could not be installed on the Pz.Kpfw.III with its smaller turret ring diameter . Since March 1941, Krupp, as an alternative to the 50-mm cannon, has been considering a new 75-mm cannon with a barrel length of 40 calibers, intended to rearm StuG.III assault guns. At a distance of 400 meters, it pierced 70 mm armor at a meeting angle of 60 °, but since the Ordnance Department demanded that the gun barrel did not protrude beyond the dimensions of the tank hull, its length was reduced to 33 calibers, which led to a decrease in armor penetration to 59 mm under the same conditions. It was also planned to develop a sub-caliber armor-piercing projectile with a detachable pallet, penetrating 86-mm armor under the same conditions. Work on re-equipping the Pz.Kpfw.IV with the new gun was going well, and in December 1941 the first prototype was built with a 7.5 cm Kw.K. L/34.5.

Tank Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.F2. France, July 1942.

In the meantime, the invasion of the USSR began, during which German troops encountered T-34 and KV tanks, which were slightly vulnerable to the main tank and anti-tank guns of the Wehrmacht and at the same time carried a 76-mm cannon that pierced the frontal armor of German tanks, which were then practically in service with the Panzerwaffe. at any real combat distances. The Special Tank Commission, sent to the front in November 1941 to study this issue, recommended the re-equipment of German tanks with such a weapon that would allow them to hit soviet cars from great distances, remaining outside the radius of the effective fire of the latter. On November 18, 1941, the development of a tank gun was initiated, similar in its capabilities to the new 75-mm anti-tank gun. Pak gun 40. Such a tool, originally designated Kw.K.44, was developed jointly by Krupp and Rheinmetall. The barrel passed to him from the anti-tank gun without changes, but since the shots of the latter were too long for use in a tank, a shorter and thicker cartridge case was developed for the tank gun, which led to a reworking of the breech of the gun and a reduction in the overall length of the barrel to 43 calibers. Kw.K.44 also received a single-chamber muzzle brake of a spherical shape, different from the anti-tank gun. In this form, the gun was adopted as the 7.5 cm Kw.K.40 L/43.

The Pz.Kpfw.IVs with the new gun were initially designated as "refitted" (German 7.Serie/B.W.-Umbau or Ausf.F-Umbau), but soon received the designation Ausf.F2, while the Ausf.F vehicles with the old guns were called Ausf.F1 to avoid confusion. The designation of the tank according to a single system changed to Sd.Kfz.161/1. With the exception of a different gun and related minor changes, such as the installation of a new sight, new shot stowage and slightly modified gun recoil armor, the early production Ausf.F2s were identical to the Ausf.F1 tanks. After a month-long break due to the transition to a new modification, the production of Ausf.F2 began in March 1942 and continued until July of the same year. A total of 175 tanks of this variant were produced and another 25 converted from the Ausf.F1.

Tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G (tail number 727) of the 1st Panzergrenadier Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". The vehicle was hit by gunners of the 4th battery of the 595th anti-tank fighter artillery regiment in the area of ​​st. Sumy in Kharkov, on the night of March 11-12, 1943. On the frontal armor plate, almost in the center, two inlets from 76-mm shells are visible.

The appearance of the next modification Pz.Kpfw.IV was not initially caused by any changes in the design of the tank. In June - July 1942, by orders of the Ordnance Department, the designation Pz.Kpfw.IV with long-barreled guns was changed to 8.Serie / B.W. or Ausf.G, and in October the Ausf.F2 designation was finally abolished for previously produced tanks of this modification. The first tanks produced as the Ausf.G were therefore identical to their predecessors, but more and more changes were made to the design of the tank during later production. Ausf.G of early releases still carried the index Sd.Kfz.161/1 according to the end-to-end notation, which was replaced by Sd.Kfz.161/2 on later releases. The first changes, made already in the summer of 1942, included a new two-chamber pear-shaped muzzle brake, the elimination of viewing devices in the front side plates of the turret and the observation hatch for the loader in its frontal plate, the transfer of smoke grenade launchers from the rear of the hull to the sides of the turret, and a system to facilitate launching in winter conditions .

Since the 50 mm frontal armor of the Pz.Kpfw.IV was still insufficient, not providing adequate protection against 57 mm and 76 mm guns, it was again reinforced, by welding or, on later production vehicles, by bolting additional 30 mm mm plates above the upper and lower end plates of the hull. The thickness of the frontal plate of the turret and gun mantlet, however, was still 50 mm and did not increase in the process of further modernization of the tank. The introduction of additional armor began on the Ausf.F2, when 8 tanks with increased armor thickness were produced in May 1942, but progress was slow. By November, only about half of the vehicles were produced with enhanced armor, and only from January 1943 did it become the standard for all new tanks. Another significant change introduced to the Ausf.G in the spring of 1943 was the replacement of the Kw.K.40 L/43 cannon with the Kw.K.40 L/48 gun with a 48-caliber barrel, which had slightly better armor penetration. Production of the Ausf.G continued until June 1943, with a total of 1,687 tanks of this modification produced. Of this number, about 700 tanks received enhanced armor and 412 received the Kw.K.40 L/48 cannon.

Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H with side screens and zimmerite coating. USSR, July 1944.

The next modification, Ausf.H, became the most massive. The first tanks under this designation, which rolled off the production line in April 1943, differed from the last Ausf.G only in the thickening of the front turret roof sheet up to 16 mm and the rear up to 25 mm, as well as reinforced final drives with cast drive wheels, but the first 30 tanks Ausf.H, due to delays in the supply of new components, received only a thickened roof. Since the summer of the same year, instead of an additional 30 mm hull armor, solid-rolled 80 mm plates were introduced to simplify production. In addition, hinged anti-cumulative screens made of 5 mm sheets were introduced, which were installed on most Ausf.H. In this regard, as unnecessary, viewing devices in the sides of the hull and turret were eliminated. Since September, the tanks have been coated with vertical armor with zimmerite to protect against magnetic mines.

Late production Ausf.H tanks received a turret mount for the MG-42 machine gun at the commander's cupola hatch, as well as a vertical stern plate instead of the inclined one that was on all previous tank modifications. In the course of production, various changes were also introduced to reduce the cost and simplify production, such as the introduction of non-rubbered support rollers and the elimination of the driver's periscope viewing device. Since December 1943, the front plates of the hull began to be connected to the side connection "into a spike", to increase resistance to projectile hits. Production of the Ausf.H continued until July 1944. Data on the number of produced tanks of this modification, given in various sources, vary somewhat, from 3935 chassis, of which 3774 were completed as tanks, to 3960 chassis and 3839 tanks.

Destroyed on the Eastern Front, the German medium tank Pz.Kpfw. IV lying upside down on the side of the road. Part of the caterpillar in contact with the ground is missing, in the same place there are no rollers with a fragment of the lower part of the hull, the bottom sheet is torn off, the second caterpillar is torn off. Top part the machine, as far as one can judge, does not have such fatal destruction. A typical picture during a land mine explosion.

The appearance of the Ausf.J modification on the assembly lines since June 1944 was associated with the desire to reduce the cost and simplify the production of the tank as much as possible in the face of the deteriorating strategic position of Germany. The only but significant change that distinguished the first Ausf.J from the latest Ausf.H was the elimination of the electric turret traverse and the associated auxiliary carburetor engine with a generator. Soon after the launch of the new modification, the pistol ports in the stern and sides of the turret were eliminated, which were useless because of the screens, and the design of other hatches was also simplified. Since July, on the site of the liquidated auxiliary engine began to install an additional fuel tank with a capacity of 200 liters, but the fight against its leakage dragged on until September 1944. In addition, the 12-mm roof of the hull began to be reinforced by welding additional 16-mm sheets. All subsequent changes were aimed at further simplifying the design, the most notable among them being the abandonment of the zimmerite coating in September and the reduction of the number of carrier rollers to three per side in December 1944. The production of Ausf.J modification tanks continued almost until the very end of the war, until March 1945, but the slowdown in production due to the weakening of the German industry and difficulties in the supply of raw materials led to the fact that only 1758 tanks of this modification were produced.

Production volumes of the T-4 tank

Design

The Pz.Kpfw.IV had a layout with a combined transmission compartment and control compartment in the front, the engine compartment in the aft, and the fighting compartment in the middle part of the vehicle. The crew of the tank consisted of five people: a driver and gunner-radio operator, located in the control compartment, and a gunner, loader and tank commander, who were in a triple tower.

Armored corps and turret

The turret of the PzKpfw IV tank made it possible to upgrade the tank gun. Inside the tower were the commander, gunner and loader. The commander's seat was directly under the commander's turret, the gunner was located to the left of the cannon breech, the loader was to the right. Additional protection was provided by anti-cumulative screens, which were also installed on the sides. The commander's cupola at the rear of the turret gave the tank good visibility. The tower had an electric turn drive.

Soviet soldiers are considering a broken German tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H (single hatch and no triple-barreled grenade launchers on the turret). The tank is painted in tricolor camouflage. Oryol-Kursk direction.

Means of observation and communication

The tank commander in non-combat conditions, as a rule, conducted observation, standing in the hatch of the commander's cupola. In battle, to view the area, he had five wide viewing slots around the perimeter of the commander's cupola, which gave him an all-round view. The viewing slots of the commander, like those of all other crew members, were equipped with a protective triplex glass block on the inside. On the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.A, the viewing slots did not have any additional cover, but on the Ausf.B, the slots were equipped with sliding armor shutters; in this form, the commander's viewing devices remained unchanged on all subsequent modifications. In addition, on tanks of early modifications in the commander's cupola there was a mechanical device for determining the heading angle of the target, with the help of which the commander could carry out accurate target designation to the gunner who had a similar device. However, due to excessive complexity, this system was eliminated starting with the Ausf.F2 modification. Viewing devices for the gunner and loader on the Ausf.A - Ausf.F consisted of, for each of them: a viewing hatch with an armored cover without viewing slots, in the frontal plate of the tower on the sides of the gun mantlet; inspection hatch with a slot in the front side plates and a viewing slot in the side hatch cover of the tower. Starting with the Ausf.G, as well as on parts of the late production Ausf.F2, viewing devices in the front side plates and the loader's viewing hatch in the frontal plate were eliminated. On the part of the tanks of modifications Ausf.H and Ausf.J, in connection with the installation of anti-cumulative screens, viewing devices in the sides of the tower were completely eliminated.

The main means of observation for the driver of the Pz.Kpfw.IV was a wide viewing slot in the frontal plate of the hull. From the inside, the slit was protected by a triplex glass block, from the outside, on the Ausf.A it could be closed with a simple folding armored flap, on the Ausf.B and subsequent modifications with a replaced Sehklappe 30 or 50 sliding flap, also used on the Pz.Kpfw.III. A periscopic binocular viewing device K.F.F.1 was placed above the viewing slot on Ausf.A, but it was eliminated on Ausf.B - Ausf.D. On Ausf.E - Ausf.G, the viewing device appeared already in the form of an improved K.F.F.2, but starting with Ausf.H, it was again abandoned. The device was displayed in two holes in the frontal plate of the hull and, if it was not needed, it was moved to the right. The gunner-radio operator on most modifications did not have any means of viewing the frontal sector, in addition to the sight of the course machine gun, but on the Ausf.B, Ausf.C and part of the Ausf.D, in place of the machine gun, there was a hatch with a viewing slot in it. Similar hatches were placed in the side plates on most Pz.Kpfw.IVs, being eliminated only on Ausf.J in connection with the installation of anti-cumulative screens. In addition, the driver had a turret position indicator, one of two lights warned of the turret turning to one side or another, in order to avoid damage to the gun when driving in cramped conditions.

For external communications, Pz.Kpfw.IV platoon commanders and above were equipped with a Fu 5 VHF radio station and a Fu 2 receiver. Line tanks were equipped only with a Fu 2 receiver. The FuG5 had a transmitter power of 10 W and provided a communication range of 9.4 km in telegraph and 6.4 km in telephone mode. For internal communication, all Pz.Kpfw.IVs were equipped with a tank intercom for four of the crew members, with the exception of the loader.