OSPREY MODELLING 17 WW2 GERMAN PANZER IV TANK JAGDPANZER STURMPANZER FLAKPANZER STURMGESCHUTZ

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THE PANZERKAMPFWAGEN IV (PZ.KPFW. IV) COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE PANZER IV WAS A MEDIUM TANK DEVELOPED IN NAZI GERMANY IN THE LATE 1930S AND USED EXTENSIVELY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. ITS ORDNANCE INVENTORY DESIGNATION WAS SD.KFZ. 161.

DESIGNED AS AN INFANTRY-SUPPORT TANK, THE PANZER IV WAS NOT ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO ENGAGE ENEMY ARMOR�THAT FUNCTION WAS PERFORMED BY THE LIGHTER PANZER III. HOWEVER, WITH THE FLAWS OF PRE-WAR DOCTRINE BECOMING APPARENT AND IN THE FACE OF SOVIET T-34 TANKS, THE PANZER IV SOON ASSUMED THE TANK-FIGHTING ROLE OF ITS INCREASINGLY OBSOLETE COUSIN. THE MOST WIDELY MANUFACTURED AND DEPLOYED GERMAN TANK OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE PANZER IV WAS USED AS THE BASE FOR MANY OTHER FIGHTING VEHICLES, INCLUDING THE STURMGESCH�TZ IV ASSAULT GUN, JAGDPANZER IV TANK DESTROYER, THE WIRBELWIND SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPON, AND THE BRUMMB�R SELF-PROPELLED GUN.

ROBUST AND RELIABLE, IT SAW SERVICE IN ALL COMBAT THEATERS INVOLVING GERMANY AND HAS THE DISTINCTION OF BEING THE ONLY GERMAN TANK TO REMAIN IN CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION THROUGHOUT THE WAR, WITH OVER 8,800 PRODUCED BETWEEN 1936 AND 1945. UPGRADES AND DESIGN MODIFICATIONS, OFTEN MADE IN RESPONSE TO THE APPEARANCE OF NEW ALLIED TANKS, EXTENDED ITS SERVICE LIFE. GENERALLY THESE INVOLVED INCREASING THE PANZER IV'S ARMOR PROTECTION OR UPGRADING ITS WEAPONS, ALTHOUGH DURING THE LAST MONTHS OF THE WAR WITH GERMANY'S PRESSING NEED FOR RAPID REPLACEMENT OF LOSSES, DESIGN CHANGES ALSO INCLUDED RETROGRADE MEASURES TO SIMPLIFY AND SPEED MANUFACTURE.

THE PANZER IV WAS THE MOST WIDELY EXPORTED TANK IN GERMAN SERVICE, WITH AROUND 300 SOLD TO PARTNERS SUCH AS FINLAND, ROMANIA, SPAIN AND BULGARIA. AFTER THE WAR, SEEKING TO IMPROVE ITS ARMOURED FORCES, SYRIA PROCURED A NUMBER OF PZKPFW IV FROM FRANCE AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA, WHICH WERE TO SEE COMBAT IN THE 1967 SIX-DAY WAR.

THE FIRST MASS-PRODUCED VERSION OF THE PANZER IV WAS THE AUSF�HRUNG A (ABBREVIATED TO AUSF. A, MEANING "VARIANT A"), IN 1936. IT WAS POWERED BY MAYBACH'S HL 108TR, PRODUCING 250 PS (183.87 KW), AND USED THE SGR 75 TRANSMISSION WITH FIVE FORWARD GEARS AND ONE REVERSE, ACHIEVING A MAXIMUM ROAD SPEED OF 31 KILOMETRES PER HOUR (19.26 MPH). AS MAIN ARMAMENT, THE VEHICLE MOUNTED THE KAMPFWAGENKANONE 37 L/24 (KWK 37 L/24) 75 MM (2.95 IN) TANK GUN, WHICH WAS A LOW-VELOCITY GUN DESIGNED TO MAINLY FIRE HIGH-EXPLOSIVE SHELLS.

THE AUSF. F TANKS THAT RECEIVED THE NEW, LONGER, KWK 40 L/43 GUN WERE NAMED AUSF. F2 (WITH THE DESIGNATION SD.KFZ. 161/1). THE TANK INCREASED IN WEIGHT TO 23.6 TONNES (26.0 SHORT TONS). ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE AUSF. F2S WERE PRODUCED FROM MARCH 1942 TO JULY 1942. THREE MONTHS AFTER BEGINNING PRODUCTION, THE PANZER IV AUSF. F2 WAS RENAMED AUSF. G.

THE NEXT VERSION, THE AUSF. H, BEGAN PRODUCTION IN APRIL 1943 AND RECEIVED THE DESIGNATION SD. KFZ. 161/2. THIS VARIANT SAW THE INTEGRITY OF THE GLACIS ARMOR IMPROVED BY MANUFACTURING IT AS A SINGLE 80-MILLIMETRE (3.15 IN) PLATE. TO PREVENT ADHESION OF MAGNETIC ANTI-TANK MINES, WHICH THE GERMANS FEARED WOULD BE USED IN LARGE NUMBERS BY THE ALLIES, ZIMMERIT PASTE WAS ADDED TO ALL THE VERTICAL SURFACES OF THE TANK'S ARMOR.

IN KEEPING WITH THE WARTIME GERMAN DESIGN PHILOSOPHY OF MOUNTING AN EXISTING ANTI-TANK GUN ON A CONVENIENT CHASSIS TO GIVE MOBILITY, SEVERAL TANK DESTROYERS AND INFANTRY SUPPORT GUNS WERE BUILT AROUND THE PANZER IV HULL. BOTH THE JAGDPANZER IV, INITIALLY ARMED WITH THE 75-MILLIMETRE (2.95 IN) L/48 TANK GUN, AND THE KRUPP-MANUFACTURED STURMGESCH�TZ IV, WHICH WAS THE CASEMATE OF THE STURMGESCH�TZ III MOUNTED ON THE BODY OF THE PANZER IV, PROVED HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN DEFENSE. CHEAPER AND FASTER TO CONSTRUCT THAN TANKS, BUT WITH THE DISADVANTAGE OF A VERY LIMITED GUN TRAVERSE, AROUND 1,980 JAGDPANZER IVS AND 1,140 STURMGESCH�TZ IVS WERE PRODUCED. ANOTHER TANK DESTROYER, THE PANZER IV/70, USED THE SAME BASIC 75 MILLIMETER L/70 GUN THAT WAS MOUNTED ON THE PANTHER.

ANOTHER VARIANT OF THE PANZER IV WAS THE PANZERBEFEHLSWAGEN IV (PZ.BEF.WG. IV) COMMAND TANK. THIS CONVERSION ENTAILED THE INSTALLATION OF ADDITIONAL RADIO SETS, MOUNTING RACKS, TRANSFORMERS, JUNCTION BOXES, WIRING, ANTENNAS AND AN AUXILIARY ELECTRICAL GENERATOR. TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW EQUIPMENT, AMMUNITION STOWAGE WAS REDUCED FROM 87 TO 72 ROUNDS. THE VEHICLE COULD COORDINATE WITH NEARBY ARMOR, INFANTRY OR EVEN AIRCRAFT. SEVENTEEN PANZERBEFEHLSWAGEN WERE CONVERTED FROM AUSF. J CHASSIS, WHILE ANOTHER 88 WERE BASED ON REFURBISHED CHASSIS.

THE PANZERBEOBACHTUNGSWAGEN IV (PZ.BEOB.WG. IV) WAS AN ARTILLERY OBSERVATION VEHICLE BUILT ON THE PANZER IV CHASSIS. THIS, TOO, RECEIVED NEW RADIO EQUIPMENT AND AN ELECTRICAL GENERATOR, INSTALLED IN THE LEFT REAR CORNER OF THE FIGHTING COMPARTMENT. PANZERBEOBACHTUNGSWAGENS WORKED IN COOPERATION WITH WESPE AND HUMMEL SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY BATTERIES.

ALSO BASED ON THE PANZER IV CHASSIS WAS THE STURMPANZER IV BRUMMB�R 150-MILLIMETRE (5.91 IN) INFANTRY-SUPPORT SELF-PROPELLED GUN. THESE VEHICLES WERE PRIMARILY ISSUED TO FOUR STURMPANZER UNITS (NUMBERS 216, 217, 218 AND 219) AND USED DURING THE BATTLE OF KURSK AND IN ITALY IN 1943. TWO SEPARATE VERSIONS OF THE STURMPANZER IV EXISTED, ONE WITHOUT A MACHINE GUN IN THE MANTLET AND ONE WITH A MACHINE GUN MOUNTED ON THE MANTLET OF THE CASEMATE. FURTHERMORE, A 105-MILLIMETRE (4.13 IN) ARTILLERY GUN WAS MOUNTED IN AN EXPERIMENTAL DEMOUNTABLE TURRET ON A PANZER IV CHASSIS. THIS VARIANT WAS CALLED THE HEUSCHRECKE ("GRASSHOPPER"). ANOTHER 105 MM ARTILLERY/ANTI-TANK PROTOTYPE WAS THE 10.5 CM K (GP.SFL.) NICKNAMED DICKER MAX.

FOUR DIFFERENT SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT VEHICLES WERE BUILT ON THE PANZER IV HULL. THE FLAKPANZER IV M�BELWAGEN WAS ARMED WITH A 37-MILLIMETRE (1.46 IN) ANTI-AIRCRAFT CANNON; 240 WERE BUILT BETWEEN 1944 AND 1945. IN LATE 1944 A NEW FLAKPANZER, THE WIRBELWIND ("WHIRLWIND"), WAS DESIGNED, WITH ENOUGH ARMOR TO PROTECT THE GUN'S CREW AND A ROTATING TURRET, ARMED WITH THE QUADRUPLE 20MM FLAKVIERLING ANTI-AIRCRAFT CANNON SYSTEM; AT LEAST 100 WERE MANUFACTURED. SIXTY-FIVE SIMILAR VEHICLES WERE BUILT, NAMED OSTWIND ("EAST WIND"), BUT WITH A SINGLE 37-MILLIMETRE (1.46 IN) ANTI-AIRCRAFT CANNON INSTEAD. THIS VEHICLE WAS DESIGNED TO REPLACE THE WIRBELWIND. THE FINAL MODEL WAS THE FLAKPANZER IV KUGELBLITZ, OF WHICH ONLY FIVE PILOT VEHICLES WERE BUILT. THIS VEHICLE FEATURED A ENCLOSED TURRET ARMED WITH TWIN 30-MILLIMETRE (1.18 IN) ANTI-AIRCRAFT CANNONS.

ALTHOUGH NOT A DIRECT MODIFICATION OF THE PANZER IV, SOME OF ITS COMPONENTS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH PARTS FROM THE PANZER III, WERE UTILIZED TO MAKE ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY-USED SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY CHASSIS OF THE WAR�THE GESCH�TZWAGEN III/IV. THIS CHASSIS WAS THE BASIS OF THE HUMMEL ARTILLERY PIECE, OF WHICH 666 WERE BUILT, AND ALSO THE 88mm (3.46 IN) GUN ARMED NASHORN TANK DESTROYER, WITH 473 MANUFACTURED. TO RESUPPLY SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZERS IN THE FIELD, 150 AMMUNITION CARRIERS WERE MANUFACTURED ON THE GESCH�TZWAGEN III/IV CHASSIS.

ANOTHER RARE VARIANT WAS THE BERGEPANZER IV ARMORED RECOVERY VEHICLE.