It was only after the appearance of a long-barrelled 75mm gun, the KwK40 L/43, armed Ausf F2 in the summer of 1942 that the Panzer IV finally became the powerful main battle tank and a potent tank killer.German Panzer-IV, version "D" on a training exercise in March 1940 It featured new front hull plate design (as Ausf A) and new external gun mantlet. Panzer IV Ausf D was truly the first production model and remained in service until 1944.The Panzer IVs would use their 75mm howitzer firing high explosives to destroy soft skinned targets such as enemy anti-tank guns, which were not particularly vulnerable to armour piercing shells.Panzer IV medium tank of German Panzergrenadier Division 'Großdeutschland' on a training exercise, The three man turret allowed the German tanks to fire much more rapidly than the one or two man turrets of French and British designs, and helped to make up for their thin armour and relatively poor guns.The driver was placed to the left of the superstructure, the radio operator to the right. It featured three man turret, with the commander in a central position below the cupola, the gunner to the left and the loader to the right. The Panzer IV required a crew of five men.The Panzer IV would have a short-barreled 75 mm howitzer as its main gun, KwK37 L/24, and was allotted a weight limit of 24 tonnes.Panzer IV tank and crew of German 12th SS Panzer Division 'Hitlerjugend' in Belgium or France, 1943 Its long combat service was result of its excellent design and upgradeability allowing it to meet the changing requirements of the battlefield. The Panzer IV shared the same basic design as all other German tanks, with the engine at the rear, the drive wheels at the front and the transmission running up the middle of the tank.It was intended to be a support tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications. The original Panzer IV was designed to operate in support of the Panzer III and not for anti-tank work.The Panzer IV comprised 30% of the Wehrmacht's total tank strength. The Panzer IV was the only German tank to remain in both production and combat throughout World War II. The Panzer IV was the most widely manufactured and deployed German tank.A tanks parading in Sudetenland, Germany (annexed from Czechoslovakia), Oct 1938 They were built ≈8,553 units and the unit cost was ≈103,462 Reichsmark The Panzer IV was designed by Krupp in 1936 and manufactured by Krupp, Vomag and Nibelungenwerk.The Panzer IV was a German medium tank and the brainchild of German general and innovative armored warfare theorist General Heinz Guderian.The Panzer IV codename was Bataillonsführerwagen (battalion commander’s vehicle), or Begleitwagen (accompanying vehicle) BW. The ordnance inventory designation of Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV) or Panzer IV was Sd.Kfz. 161.The fourth and, as it proved, the most enduring of the main types of tank with which Germany rearmed and entered the Second World War was the Panzer IV.
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