Since 1925, German designers have been secretly working on the creation of a new generation of armored vehicles, bypassing shameful for Germany, the Treaty of Versailles and numerous sanctions imposed on the defeated country. As a result, the first models of the new Panzerkampfwagen light and medium tanks appeared - models I, II, III and, finally, the famous IV. It is the T-IV that will become the most massive tank of the Third Reich, the workhorse of the Wehrmacht and the SS troops. Were there any flaws in the steel fingers of the Nazi army?
The baptism of fire of Panzer IV tanks took place in the Polish campaign of 1939. According to German data, the Wehrmacht lost 19 of these vehicles. During the French campaign, Germany has already lost 79 new tanks. However, real hell awaited the German tankers on the eastern front. Already in 1941, it became clear that the 1937 tank did not meet all the requirements and challenges of the time. Initially, the tank had light armor and a short 75 mm gun. The Panzer IV cannon was often unable to inflict significant damage on Soviet medium and heavy tanks. As a result, from 1941 to 1945, the Panzer IV will receive 8 major design updates.
German designers were forced to follow the path of constantly increasing the caliber of the gun and the length of the barrel, as well as increasing the armor. Initially, the light and very fast T-IV began to rapidly lose in maneuverability and speed, for the sake of survivability in the event of a projectile hit. By the end of the war, the T-IV, with additional armor plates and protective screens, looked much more like a heavy tank than a medium one.
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As a result, the speed of the tank on the highway fell below the initial 42 km/h, which is why the tank noticeably lost to Soviet vehicles of its class. For example, the T-34-85 of the second half of the war ran along the highway at a speed of 55 km / h. In terms of driving performance, the German tank lost to the Soviet in all directions. The German "four" overcame ditches of 2.2 meters, while the Soviet T-34 took ditches of 2.5 meters. The depth of the ford to be overcome by the Germans was also worse: 0.6 meters versus 0.7 meters.
After installing a long-barreled gun, a German tank could penetrate 82 mm of armor at a distance of 1,000 meters. Moreover, when the T-34 tanks were upgraded, they could penetrate 87 mm of armor at the same distance. Lost T-IV and booking issues, because of which the Germans were forced to constantly hang more and more additional elements of protection. By the second half of the war, the Germans still managed to turn the Panzer IV into a serious machine, however after the appearance of the T-34-85 on the front in the race of the main tanks of the two armies, in fact, a bold dot.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about how was the first battle of Soviet tanks KV-85 and German Ferdinands.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/281221/61690/