Hey all! Thank you so much for watching! This has blossomed into my biggest project yet, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Of course as always criticism and extra tips are always appreciated. List of Corrections (will keep updating): - “Vorpanzer” is not pronounced with a typical ‘V’ like in English, but more like an ‘F’ sound. In the future I will consult translators! - The Panzer IV J did not actually switch to 3 return rollers until the summer of 1944 - Later in Ausf H production, the side viewports in the turret doors were also deleted -Finland did use their Panzer IV’s in combat during WWII
The M in TRM is for Magnetzündung - magnetic ignition - and just allows the thing to work when there is no energy storage (eg. a battery) for spark. TR is for Trockensumpf, so it's a dry swamp design. (TU would indicate the presence of an oil pan) 120 is for displacement HL is for Hochleistung - high performance as opposed to NL (eg. NL 38 in Pz. I), Normalleistung - standard performance. Those indicate something about specific power (in rel. to mass). I don't know what exactly, but there seems to have been a mass to power relation that dictated which engines were used for which application. On some engines you will find designations such as P[number] and G[number], these indicate specific design purposes, P (Panzermotor) is a tank engine and G is a generator. Even though there were other designations, these would be rare (there is one for winches) since trains and boats always used diesel or some kind of steam turbine or steam engine and even though Maybach produced diesel engines, these had different designations altogether, same with engines for civilian applications (like the W series for cars) and engines for airplanes and airships. Maybach also licensed their engine designs to other companies (like BMW). The Maybach luxury cars were only a small subsegment of what was essentially a big engine manufacturer that produced engines for all kinds of applications (a bit like Rolls Royce).
@@eta320You should make more Sprocket videos. It is very rare to come across a RUclipsr who actually puts joy into their builds, yet maintaining realism. I also really like your tank designs. Maybe try leaning more to a KV-like tank next video for Sprocket?
You know, whats kinda scary? The fact that there's a small, but not impossible, chance of a tank crew being given a First Production Panzer 4 Ausf.A with a long 75mm, Side Schürzen and perhaps a new engine, and told to fight M4 Shermans or T-34-85's with a grand total of 14.5mm of frontal armour, I do not envy these hypothetical Crewmen and their very very unenviable task.
It's ... probably somewhat usable as a purely defensive, dug in position, like the thinly armored TDs Germany also used. RIP if sent on an attack though.
When Romania was forced to turn against Germany, R35 VDC crews had a the possibility to face off against King Tigers. I only thought that was only technically possible, then I found a photo of 2 abandomed King Tigers next to an abandoned R35 VDC. They absolutely dwarf it.
Another fun fact about the F2 is that it was known as the Panzer 4 "Special" during the North African campaign. Hans von Luck speaks to that name during his autobiography "Panzer Commander". Also, initially in the factory it was known as the Panzer 4 Ausf. F-Umbau (modified) and some factories called it the 7./B.W.-Umbau (7th series of the Begleitwagen conversion). Due to all of these names the Panzer 4 F-2 takes the crown as the most confusing variant of the Panzer 4.
@@Madduckkk Panzer is more like a shortcut for "Armored vehicle" which became an own word for its popularity like the word "tank" in english which started as a cover up name.
He's done a few t34 videos www.youtube.com/@eta320/search?query=t-34 The Utopian Tank might be the one you're after ruclips.net/video/H7BCA4G1oiY/видео.html
From what I've heard from American WW2 tankers is that the biggest issue they had when it came to German tanks was the Panzer 4. It was the most common and being such a small tank it was easier to conceal in towns and woods. The Germans were very crafty at using the Panzer 4 in ambushes and it's 75mm high velocity gun could easily destroy a M4 Sherman. It was also a hard target to hit from a distance because it was so small and the Germans had plenty of them in France. The British sector had to deal with Panthers and Tigers but the Americans had a terrible time dealing with panzer 4 tanks.
the commonwealth forces in normandy overall faced much higher armour concentration than the americans it wasn't really until after operation cobra that panzer divisions got to fight the americans
One of the most interesting vehicles of the war, the workhorse of a Medium Power that hit big The only German Tank to see production from before the warbtill the end And even saw service afterwards! I adore this thing... Not so much the operators
That's because they gutted literally everything they could that wasn't absolutley essential. Mostly little things that you wouldn't notice right away but the big one was the power traverse motor for the turret, all the late variants had to be hand cranked to turn the turret
Also fun fact: The AUSF. D, is the one the Anglerfish team uses, In Girl’s Und Panzer, it was modified then to the F2 and then, The H. Although, In Das finale Part 4, there seem’s to be a Kuromorimine Panzer 4 Ausf. G, with no Skirt’s and in a desert-like environment
@@itsyvonblitz6819 unforutanetly, No i do not … although, there seem’s to be a “first 9 minutes” of the movie already on youtube in full japanese so yeah, theres that.
@@PanzerHistorian Alrighty, well thanks! At least now I know the Japanese dub is already out s we're not too far away das finale part 4 Only 20 more years for 5 and 6
Bro, the amount of effort and research that goes into videos like this is insane. I wish I could subscribe a second time, because stuff like this is exactly why I subscribed. The incredible amount of research and dedication to tank knowledge. Hope this video breaks a million!
1 minute in and I already love your work! Instantly subscribed when I saw you hugging armoured vehicles. IV Panzers out of Sonderkraftfahrzeugen 161/1, very relatable.
I don't belive you mentioned the change in mounting of the kwk40 L/43 changing to the kwk40 L/48 very small detail but it did add and extra 10-20mm to penetrationg capability and was mounted on late ausf g's through to the ausf J's at the end. Great video man. Really loved this video on an overall underapreciated tank and I'm glad you put it in the light. ❤❤
Gosh that was so good. Just, fun vidoe to watch all round, very well presented, interesting info, I love it. Now make TER to Company of Heroes 2 already
Hey Eta when you ever talking about the vorpanzer well im not qualified german speaker but the letter v sounds alot more like f so rather then sounding like vorpanzer it's more like forpanzer Great video love it
The fifth series (the small series 2 of the D) where panzers for the SS motorized units. The Germans got a plan for after poland to mechanize the SS motorized brigades but the plan got stoped when the Leichte Divisions got converted to Panzer divisions (the leicht do not use panzers 4, so they now needed it). The SS got stugs for they troubles, well half the needed strenght, but they got something for the France campaing.
Love the AAF museum, everyone check it out whenever they can. It is one of the few remaining private collections of armour and weapons in the USA. They are constantly under threat from the local government that seems to have a vendetta against them. They need our support!
Sadly the museum shut down a week after my visit. Lack of visitors and revenue meant they were losing money and after a time it was too much. Thankfully the tanks are being redistributed back out to private owners. But what happens to them after that I suppose we don’t know.
Wow that's really sad. I have been 3 times. I will never forget the first time. I was 13 and my parents and I were driving home from a family vacation and we just happened to drive past it. I begged and begged to stop. They turned around and my dad and I spent an hour there but we had to leave. A few weeks later we had the chance to make a day trip out of it. It really sparkles my love for tanks and history in a real, tangible way.
The Hl 120 TRM has 300 hp at 3000 rpm max performance, however continues performance for long marches is less, drivers werent told to keep at 2800 rpm to spare the engine. Tests for 320 hp at 3200 rpm were also done, but that overburdend the engine. And the difference in the name TR to TRM is the M stands for Schnapper Magnetzünder (Magneto) and other slight improvements. (Some sources also state 320 hp at 3000 rpm, but the original Source of Pz III Hull with diving componments states the HL 120 TRM as 300 Ps at 3000 rpm.
@Schimml0rd German ships are only good looking if you buy into the propaganda. It's like if you asked someone to draw a Japanese battleship but they had no sense of scale.
Thank you for making this comprehensive video; I just found your channel, but I definitely appreciate your passion for military history and attention to detail! The Panzer IV is my favorite tank in history, and I'm always down to see others bring attention to its story. The quality of your visuals (transitions, diagrams, etc.) is excellent, and you make a lot of relatable points to enthusiasts such as myself (e,g., how the Ausf. D is apparently the earliest most recognizable variant to the average viewer). Your pronunciation was great for the most part too, just a minor thing I'd point out is how "eu" in German is pronounced like "oi/oy" in English, so Neubaufahrzeug would be pronounced "Noi-bow-farr-tzoig". You pronounced "zeug" right, I just wanted to mention how the "eu" in "neu" would also be pronounced the same way, rather than like "new". Sorry for being pedantic! At 54:07 regarding the COBI kit, I can confirm that the one you thought you were buying was set 2508 (with hull Schürzen), and instead you received the later version set 2508A (or 2508 Ausführing A, if you will), which had no hull skirts. I own both variants of the set, and the earlier 2508 had inaccurate triple-wide track links (i.e., Tiger/Panther) while the later 2508A had the better double-wide tracks, which help with proportions. The lack of hull skirts was regrettable, but COBI themselves mentioned an interest in making a future version of the kit with everything included. In the meantime, I cannibalized my 2508 to put hull Schürzen on my 2508A, which works nicely. Keep up the great work, I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your content in the future!
German tank engineers: okay lets make a line of tanks and what will we name them? Hanz: Panzers? German tank engineers: Yes! Were gonna use the word for tank and slap it on the name! Perfecto! Hanz: schieße this guy is insane
fun fact, Panzer means Tank in German, so every time you say Panzer you’re just screaming tank, your German friend would be very confused on what tank you’re talking about
More specifically, they're Panzerkampwagens, Panzer is just short for that. And of all the major powers, only the British used only a name for their tanks. The US designated all of their tank as M followed by a number, and that would be their official designation on paper. And the Soviets designated all of their tanks with a T, IS, or SU prefix and a number and most, like the T-34 didn't seem to have an official nickname.
AFAIK they didnt use electric starter because it struggled to spin the engine until the oil was heated up. So, if you drove your tank and choked the engine, you could just turn it back on with electric starter. But starting cool engine with it, well, I dont think so.
While not a book, I would like to recommend the video series, "The German War Files", which has several videos, each dedicated to a type of war machine in the German land arsenal. The Panzer I-II, III, IV, V, VI, Stug, and Hummel apiece have a video. The documentary series is rather dry and British, but I prefer it that way. There isn't much attention paid to specifications, but rather to the career of each type - where they served, how well they fared, logistic issues, and so on. There are no interviews or CGI battles, just an Attenborough-like narrative.
Thanks for making this awesome video The Panzer IV is my favorite tank of all time so I quite enjoyed learning more about it from you :D I acknowledge all of the Panzer IV's flaws and that its competition (M4, T-34, etc.) were better than it in quite a few ways, but I love the Panzer IV because it was the way it was, not because it was a "good" tank. Also Vorpanzer just means "forward armor" and is basically just extra spaced armor on the tank. Panzer III L-N's additional front spaced armor can also qualify as "Vorpanzer" and there was even a protoype of the Tiger that was supposed to have "Vorpanzer"
wow... i remember when i subbed to you when you were playing sprocket and only was a few thousand big now your actually HUGE and the video quality is amazong
T-34s were used to quite some extent in the Middle-East and performed (mechanically) about as well as you'd expect. With most failures due mostly to lack of care if anything (and at this point they were wayyyyyyyyyyy past the designed service time lol)
Watched this and the T34 vid, really loving the depth of research. Also loving the inclusion of objective truths and the reality of the situation at the time. It really helps form opinions without just looking at performance on paper in the war.
The unholy screams of Reed Timmer was not what I was expecting would precede a comprehensive overview of the Panzer IV... and I honestly can't complain.
The AAF Museum closed on Veteran’s Day 2023. I was fortunate enough to visit a week before and they were selling everything, tanks included. I purchased a wheel and shell canister and plan on making them into a table.
I must commend you! You absolutely nailed that Panzer IV F2 desaster, which i expected you to get wrong, so im very positively surprised. GOOD JOB. BUT. The muzzle break wasnt changed. Its a completely different gun. The Ball-Shape Muzzle break is exclusive to the 75mm KwK 40 L/43, which is exclusive to the 7th Series F production run. Everything produced in the G (8th) production run was already upgunned to the 75mm KwK 40 L/48, which had the more commonly known muzzle break we all love so much.
There were actually L/43s without the ball muzzle break. Early Gs had L/43s without ball muzzle break. All Gs in Tunisia and Kharkov were L/43s. According to Jentz the first 1,275 Gs built from May 1942 to March 1943 had the L/43. The L/48 didn't appear on Gs until late March 1943.
@@RinaRavyn No worries. It's in the Jentz and Doyle book on German tanks. Plus if you look at all pictures of ausf Gs in Tunisia and Kharkov you can tell their 75s are not quite as long as the L/48. Cheers.
@@lyndoncmp5751 Ok so, what i have here is (nothing special really) "Panzerkampfwagen IV - Workhorse of the german Panzertruppe" by Walter J. Spielberger & Uwe Feist. While it buys into the F2 Fallacy, it too states the G's 75mm being L43 as well, be that without detailing specific production numbers about when the shift occurred. And even from a front comparison, barrel elevated, some of the Panzer IV G's do seem offsettingly stubby compared against what you would expect. Like it shrunk in the dryer or sum shit.
@@RinaRavyn Yeah I think Jentz must be correct with the date he gives for the change to the L/48 of late March 1943. He says ausf Gs with the L/48 were built from late March to June 1943, even though the ausf H, all built with the L/48, were being built from April. Cheers.
The Pz IV / B.W. with tortion bar suspention was actually the Rauchwagen R.W., it was first build with the new Pz IV Ausf. B superstructure put on it, and a modified Turret with an 10,5 cm LeFH 16 L/22. Then the turret were taken off on a teststand for testing and the hull was further modified to be a Brückenleger.
@@eta320 Sadly not much, only that the B.W. II hull recived an Pz IV Ausf. B superstructure and the B.W. I turret, armed with an 105 mm gun. Some sources say L/16 (tho the only L/16 gun is the pre WW1 LeFH 98/09) but more likely, cince it also had smoke (Rauchwagen = Smoke Vehicle) the 10,5 cm LeFH 16 L/22 which was used even in WW2 on different vehicles. After they put it all together about 8 month later (iirc) they took off the turret, put it on a test stand. And further modified the hull to be a bridgelayer, as seen in your video. Edit: I also missread, where? Just went through a couple books on the internet, wherever google search lead me to, information on it is very rare, sadly.
Some early war panzer 4s were upgraded by add on armor and up gunned such as the panzer 4 in bovington tank museum it’s a panzer ausf A or E with extra armor and the 75mm gun
All panzer IV’s used a 75mm gun. The upgraded gun was the switch from the KwK 37 short barrel to the KwK 40 L/43 (then eventually the L/48). This change was made in March of 1942 and the first batch of tanks built with the upgraded gun was in the summer of 1942. Earlier model tanks such as A, B,C D, E, or F were upgraded with the new gun if they came back to the factory for repairs. The Panzer IV at Bovington is an E model 100%
Love the authentic US Army cold Weather Jacket Replica. Used to have one myself until I wore it out. a very warm jacket in all but the coldest weather.
It’s actually supposed to be an American style 2nd pattern WWII Tankers Jacket. But I’m not too familiar with cold war stuff so maybe it looks like something else.
Good News! the blue light did not die entirely, it became the blaupunkt radio, and there was a blue light that shone in my dad's 66 VW beetle when it was in some rare mode of whatever...it was not stereo, but it did light up sometimes. ;)
29:30 You forgot the step inbetween, as they had 3 other guns, the 7,5 cm K. L/33, the 7,5 cm K. L/41 and then developed the 7,5 cm K. L/34,5. The L/34,5 was also even mounted on an Pz IV Ausf. F1, it was a lengthened L/33, that now ended flush with the front hull, but both the L/34,5 and Pak 38 L/60 didnt perform as wished and so the Length limitation was lifted, the L/41 was also mounted on 3 different vehicles, a StuG III test bed for the Ausf. F, on the Pz.Sfl. II 7,5 cm K. L/41 and on the Eisenbahn Panzerzug 3. It was an improvement on the FK 16 n.A. L/36 and fired the 6,78 kg K. Gr. Rot Pz at 685 m/s (The requirement was to be better than the FK 16, with the basic requiremtn to have 650m/s, which was enove to penetrate the Char 2C front at above 500m). And furhter deveopment with the L/41 and the Pak 40 lead to the KwK 40.
Wow, none of these guns were ever brought up in anything I read. I totally believe that it goes that deep, but even if I had access to that information, I probably would have left it out for time and simplicity’s sake
I had my own rabbithole about a shell for the Pz.IV short 75 gun- War Thunder gives the StuG IIIA and Pz.IV F1 a better HEAT shell than any of their later successors- the Hl.Gr.38(C), with a purported 98mm of penetration. After these, only the Hl.Gr.38(B) is available, with a penetration that's worse by ~20mm. I was -mystified-, but weeks of digging makes it seem apparent that the Wehrmacht just ran out of these rounds before even finishing the invasion of Poland, and they never got replenished
To finish off my watching eta320 whilst using a pressure cooking saga, my ceiling is back to normal. 10/10 would watch eta320 whilst pressure cooking again.
35:33 aha! So that’s the model Schurtzen that the Anglerfish team’s Pz.IV has in GuP. Because in War Thunder we have the earlier straight down version, that allows room for Ostketten. Which means even with a custom GuP skin the Pz.IV in game doesn’t look quite like the one in the anime. As the side skirts don’t angle inwards in WT.
Anyone who played Germany religiously in Company of Heroes 2 should know how important Panzer Iv was in holding the line against T34 and KV1 until more powerful tanks like Panther arrived to change the tide.
One possibility for the difference in the engines is the powerband. The later engine, with fewer hp, might make it's power in a range that is more useful than the previous engine did. Higher RPM power delivery, might have worked better for that variant, even if the max horsepower was less.
I really loved this video (just like every Eta320 video lol) it made me jump right into war thunder with the Pz IV gunner sight and driver view only lol, I think the Pz IV is like the childhood tank of many tank enthusiast, I realised how much I loved it since BF 1942, but personal preference aside, I think is still a myth that if they were only stuck with the Pz iv production they would have won, just taking a brief look at the production quotas of every Panzer IV batch makes you sad comparing them with the T-34s or the Shermans quotas, no wonder why they gave up and then return to it mid war lol.
The HL120TRM is exactly the same as the TR. The M signifies an impulse coupling on the magneto for the ignition that just helps out on engine start. I think the performance numbers were an error of some kind
In case you’re wondering the TR instead of TU signifies the use of a dry sump over a wet sump where TU represents a wet sump. The HL is for high performance engines and NL for normal performance.
49:08 It didnt go anywhere because it came too late, they had the decision to make, stop production, retool and restart or just pump out more as is, and cince it was allready so late in the war, losses needed to be refilled, they continued as is.
If you ever get the chance, the Bovington Tank Musuem (The Tank Musuem) has an Ausf D upgraded to Ausf G/H style, as it had A LOT of bolt on armour on the front mantlet, and also had the Ausf H/J turret skirts
T-34s served a short amount of time in the Gobi desert at the tail end of WW2, along side some M4A2 76(W)s. They performed slightly worse than their US made counterparts, namely with battery trouble due to the heat. Tank archives has an article on the mission "Shermans in "August Storm".
This is excellent so far (halfway through). As to conversion to "long" 7,5cm guns: the surplus "short" 7,5cm were either mounted onto Sdkfz 251(251/9) because the Panzergrenadiers loved HE support or they were fitted into Pz III (Ausf.N) to support the anti-tank tanks (what a stupid word). All these conversion jobs COULD be done by maintenance units in the field. StuG III went through the same process, so it not unusual to see a StuG III Ausf. C/D with the long gun and "Schürzen". Again, surplus short barrels were re-used in the above mentioned ways. And then opinions finally differ: I say the easy and cheap to produce (and maintain) leaf spring suspension was very much on the plus side. While Pz IV was ready in 1939, Daimler Benz was still sorting out all kinds of issues on Pz III running gear. To anybody who never had the pleasure to change a broken torsion bar: STFU ! 🙂 Steel rimmed roadwheels USUALLY were not used on Panzer IV. StuG IV, Brummbär and Jagdpanzer IV used them due to the much heavier frontal armor AND their guns being mounted in the front as well. Panzer IV was still balanced because the long gun was mounted in the "middle" of the tank. You know, centre of gravity and all that nerd stuff. There were so many theoretical upgrades, i.e. sloped armor, torsion bars, overlapping road wheels, "Schmalturm", it's worth a seperate video. None of them were implemented, but this had more to do with keeping production up and running at all costs. For the same reason, they couldn't afford to phase out Pz IV in favour of Panther. Btw, Panther wasn't that much more expensive than Pz III and IV and it was much more streamlined for mass production. "Your" Pz IV in the museum is not that early; it already has the rubber removed on the return rollers. I'd settle for mid-production ? We should do a video together; everytime you butcher a German word, I kick you in the plums, alright ? 🙂 Just announce when you come to Germany, because I definetly won't cross the pond for no money. After the full video: still excellent ! You're absolutely worth a like&subscribe. Prost !
In relation to the 4 D panzer with the 5 cm cannon , There were basically two reasons for its cancelation. Firstly, the 5 cm gun could be easily placed in the smaller Panzer III tank, with some modification. This was implemented in the production of the later Panzer III Ausf.J and L versions. While this gun had relatively good penetration capabilities for 1942, it would be quickly outclassed by superior enemy designs.The second reason for the cancelation of the 5 cm armed Panzer IV project was that the Germans simply deemed it a waste of resources to install such a small-caliber gun in the Panzer IV, which clearly could have been armed with stronger weapons.
While the Panzer 4 was pushed far beyond what it was intended to be, and do, what was remarkable was that it could be pushed so far beyond its intended role.
During operation, barbarossa they did NOT only have 531 tanks on hand. The majority of them were Panzer IIIs, taking up 29% of the panzer inventory. 23% were Panzer 38ts, and only ~13% of tanks were Panzer IVs, the rest were Panzer Is and IIs, and all kinds of command tanks. In total, over ~3,000 tanks were available and used for the invasion of the USSR in June 1941. NOT just the 531 Panzer IVs I understand in the context you are solely referring to how many Panzer IVs were available, but you didn't specify so I wanna make it clear to people Other than that I am damn glad someone made a video about the panzer IV like this, I loved your other videos on the Stug and Sherman and I sure as hell loved this one, good stuff man!
Great video overall, congratulation! I don't want to be that guy, but you put a picture of a bulgarian pz iv. when you talked about hungary. I saw this picture so many times mislabeled, probably it was a taken in hungary after the bulgarians swicthed sides.
Panzer IVs are a hidden gem. Mostly because I like playing with them in War thunder. But in real life, the Pz IV is always mistaken for everything else german tank and I even found videos about calling it the "Tiger" in the movie 'White Tiger' but it is in fact a Pz IV H and the funniest thing is that I watched the movie and they said it in the movie that it was a "tank 4" (yes, the Panzer IV)😂 Oh yeah, and the Soviet tank naming is WAY worse imo, because they have like two different tanks called T-26 and T-34 for example
In USSR German tanks are named in Russian designation, T-34 is (Tank-34) and that's why Panzer II will be T-II (Tank-2) and Panzer IV will be T-IV (Tank-4) and so on, so in theory that's true.
A considerable amount of research, writing, and editing was done for this video, as evidenced by the high Like to views ratio👏 also, the use of BF1 music was much appreciated !😂
I think you over estimate just how organized tank production was in the us. There are hundreds of M4s that came out of the factories with some differences from what model they were, and changes were often made randomly throughout production. The difference was that the American factories were not craft making tanks, they were using standard precise measurements to ensure everything worked together and as such could adapt much faster to changes.
Quick aid for some German pronunciation: For Neubaufahrzeug, both “eu”s are pronounced like the “oy” in “annoy”, the “au” is pronounced like the exclamation “ow”, “fahr” is a bit tougher but it’s like “far” but you massively de-emphasize the “r” like in the Queen’s English or “fa” in do re mi fa so la si. Finally for “zeug” the emphasis is really placed on the z, i.e. “Tseug”. So all in all phonetically (more or less) it would be Noybowfatsoyg. I’ll list the phonetic pronunciations for some of the pronunciations you struggled with because I can’t be bothered to explain every pronunciation in as much detail Neubaufahrzeug - Noy-bow-fa-tsoyg Nibelungenwerke - Knee-bill-lungen-werke (queen’s R) Vorpanzer - For-pantser (queen’s R x2) Panzerkampfwagen - Pahntser-kahmpf-vahggen (queen’s R) Also, all in all, great video :)
the difference for the engines was done to increase the fuel efficiency and speed at the cost of torque leading to less ability to climb or push but slightly faster and more fuel efficient
Panzer III was their last good medium tank, IV was a stopfap they stuck with too long (manufacturing process is too complex to be mass producible), Panther is essentially a heavy given its size and weight (and not an MBT, its cannon lacks APDS or any characteristic that defeat most armor such as that on the Centurion)
Hey all! Thank you so much for watching!
This has blossomed into my biggest project yet, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Of course as always criticism and extra tips are always appreciated.
List of Corrections (will keep updating):
- “Vorpanzer” is not pronounced with a typical ‘V’ like in English, but more like an ‘F’ sound. In the future I will consult translators!
- The Panzer IV J did not actually switch to 3 return rollers until the summer of 1944
- Later in Ausf H production, the side viewports in the turret doors were also deleted
-Finland did use their Panzer IV’s in combat during WWII
We do not speak of '99
All I care is about what song is played from 33:49. So catchy that I couldn't follow what you were saying.
Song is Professor E. Gadd theme from Luigi’s Manson
The M in TRM is for Magnetzündung - magnetic ignition - and just allows the thing to work when there is no energy storage (eg. a battery) for spark.
TR is for Trockensumpf, so it's a dry swamp design.
(TU would indicate the presence of an oil pan)
120 is for displacement
HL is for Hochleistung - high performance
as opposed to NL (eg. NL 38 in Pz. I), Normalleistung - standard performance.
Those indicate something about specific power (in rel. to mass). I don't know what exactly, but there seems to have been a mass to power relation that dictated which engines were used for which application.
On some engines you will find designations such as P[number] and G[number], these indicate specific design purposes, P (Panzermotor) is a tank engine and G is a generator.
Even though there were other designations, these would be rare (there is one for winches) since trains and boats always used diesel or some kind of steam turbine or steam engine and even though Maybach produced diesel engines, these had different designations altogether, same with engines for civilian applications (like the W series for cars) and engines for airplanes and airships.
Maybach also licensed their engine designs to other companies (like BMW).
The Maybach luxury cars were only a small subsegment of what was essentially a big engine manufacturer that produced engines for all kinds of applications (a bit like Rolls Royce).
@@eta320You should make more Sprocket videos. It is very rare to come across a RUclipsr who actually puts joy into their builds, yet maintaining realism. I also really like your tank designs. Maybe try leaning more to a KV-like tank next video for Sprocket?
You know, whats kinda scary? The fact that there's a small, but not impossible, chance of a tank crew being given a First Production Panzer 4 Ausf.A with a long 75mm, Side Schürzen and perhaps a new engine, and told to fight M4 Shermans or T-34-85's with a grand total of 14.5mm of frontal armour, I do not envy these hypothetical Crewmen and their very very unenviable task.
It's ... probably somewhat usable as a purely defensive, dug in position, like the thinly armored TDs Germany also used. RIP if sent on an attack though.
I think they'll weld up additional plates on the front of the Hull and turret
Although the sides are still gonna stay 14.5mm + 5mm Skirts
When Romania was forced to turn against Germany, R35 VDC crews had a the possibility to face off against King Tigers.
I only thought that was only technically possible, then I found a photo of 2 abandomed King Tigers next to an abandoned R35 VDC. They absolutely dwarf it.
They would just send that to another axis country
They never had less than 20mm frontal armor, I don't get it.
Another fun fact about the F2 is that it was known as the Panzer 4 "Special" during the North African campaign. Hans von Luck speaks to that name during his autobiography "Panzer Commander". Also, initially in the factory it was known as the Panzer 4 Ausf. F-Umbau (modified) and some factories called it the 7./B.W.-Umbau (7th series of the Begleitwagen conversion). Due to all of these names the Panzer 4 F-2 takes the crown as the most confusing variant of the Panzer 4.
Understandably so, may i add
The british names them "Special" the germans named them Panzer IV Lang (long)
genuinely the best tank channel, you're so criminally underrated
If only bro posted more consistent vids tho
@@Roboticwhale19he’s the v sauce of the tank community
so true!
The Germans got real creative naming their medium tanks
Tank4 tank5:panther
@@clayfuller5547doesn’t panzer mean armored (if you correct this comment you like men)
@@Madduckkk ´no panzer means tank and panzerung means armor
@@Madduckkkpanzer means armor and tank.
@@Madduckkk Panzer is more like a shortcut for "Armored vehicle" which became an own word for its popularity like the word "tank" in english which started as a cover up name.
I know it would be absolute hell to make, but maybe a T-34 guide one day?
He's done a few t34 videos www.youtube.com/@eta320/search?query=t-34
The Utopian Tank might be the one you're after ruclips.net/video/H7BCA4G1oiY/видео.html
From what I've heard from American WW2 tankers is that the biggest issue they had when it came to German tanks was the Panzer 4. It was the most common and being such a small tank it was easier to conceal in towns and woods. The Germans were very crafty at using the Panzer 4 in ambushes and it's 75mm high velocity gun could easily destroy a M4 Sherman. It was also a hard target to hit from a distance because it was so small and the Germans had plenty of them in France. The British sector had to deal with Panthers and Tigers but the Americans had a terrible time dealing with panzer 4 tanks.
The British and Canadians also dealt with more Panzer IVs and Stugs in Normandy than the Americans did.
the commonwealth forces in normandy overall faced much higher armour concentration than the americans
it wasn't really until after operation cobra that panzer divisions got to fight the americans
One of the most interesting vehicles of the war, the workhorse of a Medium Power that hit big
The only German Tank to see production from before the warbtill the end
And even saw service afterwards!
I adore this thing... Not so much the operators
I'd heard that the Panther only became cheaper to manufacture than the Pz. IV by the end of the war (Panther Ausf. G)
The question then is
Which model of panzer 4 was meant?
Yeah panther are cheaper to manufacture but money is just printed in central bank, you still have to get more steel to make panzer v than a panzer iv.
@@ja_exe It is still easier to manufacture compared to a PzIV. You tried to sound smart and failed.
@@ja_exematerial usage isnt everything. Maschine time, man hours etc are just as important
That's because they gutted literally everything they could that wasn't absolutley essential. Mostly little things that you wouldn't notice right away but the big one was the power traverse motor for the turret, all the late variants had to be hand cranked to turn the turret
Thank you for this amazing work. I hope one day you'll tackle the monstrous task of doing a comprehensive guide to T-54/55 variants
Also fun fact: The AUSF. D, is the one the Anglerfish team uses, In Girl’s Und Panzer, it was modified then to the F2 and then, The H. Although, In Das finale Part 4, there seem’s to be a Kuromorimine Panzer 4 Ausf. G, with no Skirt’s and in a desert-like environment
dont spoil DF4!! rude!!!!
@@pomzieee9373 nah don’t worry, what i have just mentioned is in the trailers of DF4. i haven’t seen it yet since it hasn’t released in the west yet
@@PanzerHistorianDo you know when it'll release?
@@itsyvonblitz6819 unforutanetly, No i do not … although, there seem’s to be a “first 9 minutes” of the movie already on youtube in full japanese so yeah, theres that.
@@PanzerHistorian Alrighty, well thanks! At least now I know the Japanese dub is already out s we're not too far away das finale part 4
Only 20 more years for 5 and 6
Bro, the amount of effort and research that goes into videos like this is insane. I wish I could subscribe a second time, because stuff like this is exactly why I subscribed. The incredible amount of research and dedication to tank knowledge.
Hope this video breaks a million!
1 minute in and I already love your work! Instantly subscribed when I saw you hugging armoured vehicles. IV Panzers out of Sonderkraftfahrzeugen 161/1, very relatable.
I don't belive you mentioned the change in mounting of the kwk40 L/43 changing to the kwk40 L/48 very small detail but it did add and extra 10-20mm to penetrationg capability and was mounted on late ausf g's through to the ausf J's at the end. Great video man. Really loved this video on an overall underapreciated tank and I'm glad you put it in the light. ❤❤
I see a photo of panzer in a flowerfield on your back. What a cultured fella
Gosh that was so good.
Just, fun vidoe to watch all round, very well presented, interesting info, I love it.
Now make TER to Company of Heroes 2 already
Hey Eta when you ever talking about the vorpanzer well im not qualified german speaker but the letter v sounds alot more like f so rather then sounding like vorpanzer it's more like forpanzer
Great video love it
Thank you! I’ll definitely be better about consulting translators for things in the future
I just wanted to say thank you for the time you took to document and research this tank. I really enjoyed this!
a fantastic look at my favourite tank! thank you very much for this!!
Great, now we need to see the Slightly Confusing Guide to the Su Series next. Also, imma save this video to put it in my playlist
26:15 "Vorpanzer" means First tank in line or Tank that goes First so they were up armored to sustain enemy fire 👍
The fifth series (the small series 2 of the D) where panzers for the SS motorized units. The Germans got a plan for after poland to mechanize the SS motorized brigades but the plan got stoped when the Leichte Divisions got converted to Panzer divisions (the leicht do not use panzers 4, so they now needed it). The SS got stugs for they troubles, well half the needed strenght, but they got something for the France campaing.
Love the AAF museum, everyone check it out whenever they can. It is one of the few remaining private collections of armour and weapons in the USA. They are constantly under threat from the local government that seems to have a vendetta against them. They need our support!
Sadly the museum shut down a week after my visit. Lack of visitors and revenue meant they were losing money and after a time it was too much. Thankfully the tanks are being redistributed back out to private owners. But what happens to them after that I suppose we don’t know.
Wow that's really sad.
I have been 3 times. I will never forget the first time.
I was 13 and my parents and I were driving home from a family vacation and we just happened to drive past it. I begged and begged to stop. They turned around and my dad and I spent an hour there but we had to leave. A few weeks later we had the chance to make a day trip out of it. It really sparkles my love for tanks and history in a real, tangible way.
The Hl 120 TRM has 300 hp at 3000 rpm max performance, however continues performance for long marches is less, drivers werent told to keep at 2800 rpm to spare the engine. Tests for 320 hp at 3200 rpm were also done, but that overburdend the engine. And the difference in the name TR to TRM is the M stands for Schnapper Magnetzünder (Magneto) and other slight improvements. (Some sources also state 320 hp at 3000 rpm, but the original Source of Pz III Hull with diving componments states the HL 120 TRM as 300 Ps at 3000 rpm.
Im not too fond of German tanks during WW2 but in WoT and WT, the Panzer IV is my consistently best German tank ive played and still like it!
I always thought they had the best looking tanks, and that's coming from someone who hates german ships with a passion.
@@pedrofelipefreitas2666wtf bro? Scharnhorst curves are unREAL
@Schimml0rd German ships are only good looking if you buy into the propaganda. It's like if you asked someone to draw a Japanese battleship but they had no sense of scale.
Tornados, Techies and Tanks isnt a bad name for a show based around the Tornado (plane), technical's and tanks
Thank you for making this comprehensive video; I just found your channel, but I definitely appreciate your passion for military history and attention to detail! The Panzer IV is my favorite tank in history, and I'm always down to see others bring attention to its story.
The quality of your visuals (transitions, diagrams, etc.) is excellent, and you make a lot of relatable points to enthusiasts such as myself (e,g., how the Ausf. D is apparently the earliest most recognizable variant to the average viewer). Your pronunciation was great for the most part too, just a minor thing I'd point out is how "eu" in German is pronounced like "oi/oy" in English, so Neubaufahrzeug would be pronounced "Noi-bow-farr-tzoig". You pronounced "zeug" right, I just wanted to mention how the "eu" in "neu" would also be pronounced the same way, rather than like "new". Sorry for being pedantic!
At 54:07 regarding the COBI kit, I can confirm that the one you thought you were buying was set 2508 (with hull Schürzen), and instead you received the later version set 2508A (or 2508 Ausführing A, if you will), which had no hull skirts. I own both variants of the set, and the earlier 2508 had inaccurate triple-wide track links (i.e., Tiger/Panther) while the later 2508A had the better double-wide tracks, which help with proportions. The lack of hull skirts was regrettable, but COBI themselves mentioned an interest in making a future version of the kit with everything included. In the meantime, I cannibalized my 2508 to put hull Schürzen on my 2508A, which works nicely.
Keep up the great work, I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your content in the future!
German tank engineers: okay lets make a line of tanks and what will we name them?
Hanz: Panzers?
German tank engineers: Yes! Were gonna use the word for tank and slap it on the name! Perfecto!
Hanz: schieße this guy is insane
fun fact, Panzer means Tank in German, so every time you say Panzer you’re just screaming tank, your German friend would be very confused on what tank you’re talking about
More specifically, they're Panzerkampwagens, Panzer is just short for that. And of all the major powers, only the British used only a name for their tanks. The US designated all of their tank as M followed by a number, and that would be their official designation on paper. And the Soviets designated all of their tanks with a T, IS, or SU prefix and a number and most, like the T-34 didn't seem to have an official nickname.
the panzer 4 along with the stugs have always been some of my favorite german tanks
Cant wait for the next episode of tornados, technicals, and tanks!
Bro over here teaching history and putting a little comedy at the same time mad respect
AFAIK they didnt use electric starter because it struggled to spin the engine until the oil was heated up. So, if you drove your tank and choked the engine, you could just turn it back on with electric starter. But starting cool engine with it, well, I dont think so.
While not a book, I would like to recommend the video series, "The German War Files", which has several videos, each dedicated to a type of war machine in the German land arsenal. The Panzer I-II, III, IV, V, VI, Stug, and Hummel apiece have a video. The documentary series is rather dry and British, but I prefer it that way. There isn't much attention paid to specifications, but rather to the career of each type - where they served, how well they fared, logistic issues, and so on. There are no interviews or CGI battles, just an Attenborough-like narrative.
Thanks for making this awesome video
The Panzer IV is my favorite tank of all time so I quite enjoyed learning more about it from you :D
I acknowledge all of the Panzer IV's flaws and that its competition (M4, T-34, etc.) were better than it in quite a few ways, but I love the Panzer IV because it was the way it was, not because it was a "good" tank.
Also Vorpanzer just means "forward armor" and is basically just extra spaced armor on the tank. Panzer III L-N's additional front spaced armor can also qualify as "Vorpanzer" and there was even a protoype of the Tiger that was supposed to have "Vorpanzer"
New Favourite tank youtuber. Severely underrated, man i wish more tank related channels were like this
Love the video as usual! You are absolutely my favorite tank youtuber by far!
I must see it
I spent a part of a winter in S Korea (maneuvers) -15 and listened many stories from Oompa about winters in Russia.
Never heard about the electric start being hard on the engines. My grandfather served on pz4 and Panthers.
3:44 confirmed, eta320 was "Jschlatt" accomplice in "the incident"
This is so great, it's awesome thank you!
wow... i remember when i subbed to you when you were playing sprocket and only was a few thousand big now your actually HUGE and the video quality is amazong
T-34s were used to quite some extent in the Middle-East and performed (mechanically) about as well as you'd expect. With most failures due mostly to lack of care if anything (and at this point they were wayyyyyyyyyyy past the designed service time lol)
Watched this and the T34 vid, really loving the depth of research. Also loving the inclusion of objective truths and the reality of the situation at the time. It really helps form opinions without just looking at performance on paper in the war.
Loved the video Eta, have a great day
The unholy screams of Reed Timmer was not what I was expecting would precede a comprehensive overview of the Panzer IV... and I honestly can't complain.
I'm absolutely dissapointed that you did not include the picture I proposed, in this video. I'm crying and shaking
Oh god I’ve forgotten? Had you reached out to me in discord? I get so many DM’s every day 😭
@@eta320 I wrote in #video-suggestions (I think that's how this channel is called)
Stumbled across this channel by accident, but I'm glad i did!! Nice video man, keep it up!
The AAF Museum closed on Veteran’s Day 2023. I was fortunate enough to visit a week before and they were selling everything, tanks included. I purchased a wheel and shell canister and plan on making them into a table.
I could listen to this guy talk about tank history for hours
I really like that you put the Battlefield 1 music into the video
so Tank stuff is basically:
Americans in WW2 : Were the tank was build
Germans in WW2: The production line/order
I must commend you! You absolutely nailed that Panzer IV F2 desaster, which i expected you to get wrong, so im very positively surprised. GOOD JOB.
BUT. The muzzle break wasnt changed. Its a completely different gun.
The Ball-Shape Muzzle break is exclusive to the 75mm KwK 40 L/43, which is exclusive to the 7th Series F production run. Everything produced in the G (8th) production run was already upgunned to the 75mm KwK 40 L/48, which had the more commonly known muzzle break we all love so much.
There were actually L/43s without the ball muzzle break. Early Gs had L/43s without ball muzzle break. All Gs in Tunisia and Kharkov were L/43s.
According to Jentz the first 1,275 Gs built from May 1942 to March 1943 had the L/43. The L/48 didn't appear on Gs until late March 1943.
@@lyndoncmp5751 Thanks now im questioning my sanity.
I was so sure of that.
Lemme get back to you on this i must dig out my ole Panzer IV handbook.
@@RinaRavyn
No worries. It's in the Jentz and Doyle book on German tanks. Plus if you look at all pictures of ausf Gs in Tunisia and Kharkov you can tell their 75s are not quite as long as the L/48.
Cheers.
@@lyndoncmp5751 Ok so, what i have here is (nothing special really) "Panzerkampfwagen IV - Workhorse of the german Panzertruppe" by Walter J. Spielberger & Uwe Feist.
While it buys into the F2 Fallacy, it too states the G's 75mm being L43 as well, be that without detailing specific production numbers about when the shift occurred.
And even from a front comparison, barrel elevated, some of the Panzer IV G's do seem offsettingly stubby compared against what you would expect.
Like it shrunk in the dryer or sum shit.
@@RinaRavyn
Yeah I think Jentz must be correct with the date he gives for the change to the L/48 of late March 1943. He says ausf Gs with the L/48 were built from late March to June 1943, even though the ausf H, all built with the L/48, were being built from April.
Cheers.
Love the vid! hope you had a great Christmas ETA and ik you’ll have your best year yet in 2024
The Pz IV / B.W. with tortion bar suspention was actually the Rauchwagen R.W., it was first build with the new Pz IV Ausf. B superstructure put on it, and a modified Turret with an 10,5 cm LeFH 16 L/22. Then the turret were taken off on a teststand for testing and the hull was further modified to be a Brückenleger.
Where did you read about this? I’d be very interested in learning further
@@eta320 Sadly not much, only that the B.W. II hull recived an Pz IV Ausf. B superstructure and the B.W. I turret, armed with an 105 mm gun. Some sources say L/16 (tho the only L/16 gun is the pre WW1 LeFH 98/09) but more likely, cince it also had smoke (Rauchwagen = Smoke Vehicle) the 10,5 cm LeFH 16 L/22 which was used even in WW2 on different vehicles. After they put it all together about 8 month later (iirc) they took off the turret, put it on a test stand. And further modified the hull to be a bridgelayer, as seen in your video. Edit: I also missread, where? Just went through a couple books on the internet, wherever google search lead me to, information on it is very rare, sadly.
Just hopping over from one of the streams to peak at that BMW
Some early war panzer 4s were upgraded by add on armor and up gunned such as the panzer 4 in bovington tank museum it’s a panzer ausf A or E with extra armor and the 75mm gun
All panzer IV’s used a 75mm gun. The upgraded gun was the switch from the KwK 37 short barrel to the KwK 40 L/43 (then eventually the L/48). This change was made in March of 1942 and the first batch of tanks built with the upgraded gun was in the summer of 1942. Earlier model tanks such as A, B,C D, E, or F were upgraded with the new gun if they came back to the factory for repairs.
The Panzer IV at Bovington is an E model 100%
Thank god you're working on Aces & Armour, you're the only normal person there (that's sarcasm, though no one is normal there :) )
Great channel and nice video! Subscribed!
I've visited the AAF Museum once before a few years ago and I've been meaning to go back. Unfortunately it's permanently closed now :(
Love the authentic US Army cold Weather Jacket Replica. Used to have one myself until I wore it out. a very warm jacket in all but the coldest weather.
It’s actually supposed to be an American style 2nd pattern WWII Tankers Jacket. But I’m not too familiar with cold war stuff so maybe it looks like something else.
Good News! the blue light did not die entirely, it became the blaupunkt radio, and there was a blue light that shone in my dad's 66 VW beetle when it was in some rare mode of whatever...it was not stereo, but it did light up sometimes. ;)
Average WWII weapons arms race:
Germany: A slightly bigger tank
The US: A portable *star*
29:30 You forgot the step inbetween, as they had 3 other guns, the 7,5 cm K. L/33, the 7,5 cm K. L/41 and then developed the 7,5 cm K. L/34,5. The L/34,5 was also even mounted on an Pz IV Ausf. F1, it was a lengthened L/33, that now ended flush with the front hull, but both the L/34,5 and Pak 38 L/60 didnt perform as wished and so the Length limitation was lifted, the L/41 was also mounted on 3 different vehicles, a StuG III test bed for the Ausf. F, on the Pz.Sfl. II 7,5 cm K. L/41 and on the Eisenbahn Panzerzug 3. It was an improvement on the FK 16 n.A. L/36 and fired the 6,78 kg K. Gr. Rot Pz at 685 m/s (The requirement was to be better than the FK 16, with the basic requiremtn to have 650m/s, which was enove to penetrate the Char 2C front at above 500m).
And furhter deveopment with the L/41 and the Pak 40 lead to the KwK 40.
Wow, none of these guns were ever brought up in anything I read. I totally believe that it goes that deep, but even if I had access to that information, I probably would have left it out for time and simplicity’s sake
I had my own rabbithole about a shell for the Pz.IV short 75 gun- War Thunder gives the StuG IIIA and Pz.IV F1 a better HEAT shell than any of their later successors- the Hl.Gr.38(C), with a purported 98mm of penetration. After these, only the Hl.Gr.38(B) is available, with a penetration that's worse by ~20mm.
I was -mystified-, but weeks of digging makes it seem apparent that the Wehrmacht just ran out of these rounds before even finishing the invasion of Poland, and they never got replenished
...I'm 10 minutes in, the foundations of my knowledge are already crumbling
Also, Flying School is my favourite BF1 tune by miles, bless you for using it
I'm finally done. Thankyou for good content as always, eta
That’s sf funny lmao
@@Schimml0rd I hope gaijin never notices how busted Hl.Gr.38C is, I have 4000 battles in the StugIIIA and need my fix
Just found your channel. Lucky me…. Brilliant
It’s funny seeing how many they made of each and you just gotta realize even the British outproduced the German Tanks
To finish off my watching eta320 whilst using a pressure cooking saga, my ceiling is back to normal.
10/10 would watch eta320 whilst pressure cooking again.
Man, i hear the into music and all i can think of is deadly twister.... i miss those simpler times....
You should make Merch like a mug or something if you do I will totally buy it.
Ty for awesome and detailed video ❤
35:33 aha! So that’s the model Schurtzen that the Anglerfish team’s Pz.IV has in GuP. Because in War Thunder we have the earlier straight down version, that allows room for Ostketten. Which means even with a custom GuP skin the Pz.IV in game doesn’t look quite like the one in the anime. As the side skirts don’t angle inwards in WT.
Anyone who played Germany religiously in Company of Heroes 2 should know how important Panzer Iv was in holding the line against T34 and KV1 until more powerful tanks like Panther arrived to change the tide.
One possibility for the difference in the engines is the powerband. The later engine, with fewer hp, might make it's power in a range that is more useful than the previous engine did. Higher RPM power delivery, might have worked better for that variant, even if the max horsepower was less.
I really loved this video (just like every Eta320 video lol) it made me jump right into war thunder with the Pz IV gunner sight and driver view only lol, I think the Pz IV is like the childhood tank of many tank enthusiast, I realised how much I loved it since BF 1942, but personal preference aside, I think is still a myth that if they were only stuck with the Pz iv production they would have won, just taking a brief look at the production quotas of every Panzer IV batch makes you sad comparing them with the T-34s or the Shermans quotas, no wonder why they gave up and then return to it mid war lol.
The HL120TRM is exactly the same as the TR. The M signifies an impulse coupling on the magneto for the ignition that just helps out on engine start. I think the performance numbers were an error of some kind
In case you’re wondering the TR instead of TU signifies the use of a dry sump over a wet sump where TU represents a wet sump. The HL is for high performance engines and NL for normal performance.
My first video I've seen of yours, already subscribed!!!
Edit: also, sick beamer, I've got a CLK myself
We need a panzer 3 video now
Germans: This vehicle has one more box of MG ammo somewhere in the corner. Ausf B!
49:08 It didnt go anywhere because it came too late, they had the decision to make, stop production, retool and restart or just pump out more as is, and cince it was allready so late in the war, losses needed to be refilled, they continued as is.
i love the bf1 music in the background
If you ever get the chance, the Bovington Tank Musuem (The Tank Musuem) has an Ausf D upgraded to Ausf G/H style, as it had A LOT of bolt on armour on the front mantlet, and also had the Ausf H/J turret skirts
T-34s served a short amount of time in the Gobi desert at the tail end of WW2, along side some M4A2 76(W)s.
They performed slightly worse than their US made counterparts, namely with battery trouble due to the heat.
Tank archives has an article on the mission "Shermans in "August Storm".
This is excellent so far (halfway through).
As to conversion to "long" 7,5cm guns: the surplus "short" 7,5cm were either mounted onto Sdkfz 251(251/9) because the Panzergrenadiers loved HE support or they were fitted into Pz III (Ausf.N) to support the anti-tank tanks (what a stupid word). All these conversion jobs COULD be done by maintenance units in the field. StuG III went through the same process, so it not unusual to see a StuG III Ausf. C/D with the long gun and "Schürzen". Again, surplus short barrels were re-used in the above mentioned ways.
And then opinions finally differ: I say the easy and cheap to produce (and maintain) leaf spring suspension was very much on the plus side. While Pz IV was ready in 1939, Daimler Benz was still sorting out all kinds of issues on Pz III running gear. To anybody who never had the pleasure to change a broken torsion bar: STFU ! 🙂
Steel rimmed roadwheels USUALLY were not used on Panzer IV. StuG IV, Brummbär and Jagdpanzer IV used them due to the much heavier frontal armor AND their guns being mounted in the front as well. Panzer IV was still balanced because the long gun was mounted in the "middle" of the tank. You know, centre of gravity and all that nerd stuff.
There were so many theoretical upgrades, i.e. sloped armor, torsion bars, overlapping road wheels, "Schmalturm", it's worth a seperate video. None of them were implemented, but this had more to do with keeping production up and running at all costs. For the same reason, they couldn't afford to phase out Pz IV in favour of Panther. Btw, Panther wasn't that much more expensive than Pz III and IV and it was much more streamlined for mass production.
"Your" Pz IV in the museum is not that early; it already has the rubber removed on the return rollers. I'd settle for mid-production ?
We should do a video together; everytime you butcher a German word, I kick you in the plums, alright ? 🙂 Just announce when you come to Germany, because I definetly won't cross the pond for no money.
After the full video: still excellent ! You're absolutely worth a like&subscribe. Prost !
This panzer's gotta flyy
26:10 I was thinking about Girlz und Panzer, what else?
Yea, me too
In relation to the 4 D panzer with the 5 cm cannon , There were basically two reasons for its cancelation. Firstly, the 5 cm gun could be easily placed in the smaller Panzer III tank, with some modification. This was implemented in the production of the later Panzer III Ausf.J and L versions. While this gun had relatively good penetration capabilities for 1942, it would be quickly outclassed by superior enemy designs.The second reason for the cancelation of the 5 cm armed Panzer IV project was that the Germans simply deemed it a waste of resources to install such a small-caliber gun in the Panzer IV, which clearly could have been armed with stronger weapons.
Awesome vid quality is insane!!!
While the Panzer 4 was pushed far beyond what it was intended to be, and do, what was remarkable was that it could be pushed so far beyond its intended role.
During operation, barbarossa they did NOT only have 531 tanks on hand.
The majority of them were Panzer IIIs, taking up 29% of the panzer inventory. 23% were Panzer 38ts, and only ~13% of tanks were Panzer IVs, the rest were Panzer Is and IIs, and all kinds of command tanks.
In total, over ~3,000 tanks were available and used for the invasion of the USSR in June 1941. NOT just the 531 Panzer IVs
I understand in the context you are solely referring to how many Panzer IVs were available, but you didn't specify so I wanna make it clear to people
Other than that I am damn glad someone made a video about the panzer IV like this, I loved your other videos on the Stug and Sherman and I sure as hell loved this one, good stuff man!
Sorry for the bad phrasing, but I was specifically referring to the Panzer IV
@@eta320 Yes obviously lol, just bad phrasing. I wanted to just specify for anyone who might get confused. I don't mean to offend
Great video overall, congratulation!
I don't want to be that guy, but you put a picture of a bulgarian pz iv. when you talked about hungary. I saw this picture so many times mislabeled, probably it was a taken in hungary after the bulgarians swicthed sides.
I appreciate the correction!
Panzer IVs are a hidden gem. Mostly because I like playing with them in War thunder. But in real life, the Pz IV is always mistaken for everything else german tank and I even found videos about calling it the "Tiger" in the movie 'White Tiger' but it is in fact a Pz IV H and the funniest thing is that I watched the movie and they said it in the movie that it was a "tank 4" (yes, the Panzer IV)😂
Oh yeah, and the Soviet tank naming is WAY worse imo, because they have like two different tanks called T-26 and T-34 for example
In USSR German tanks are named in Russian designation,
T-34 is (Tank-34) and that's why
Panzer II will be T-II (Tank-2) and
Panzer IV will be T-IV (Tank-4)
and so on,
so in theory
that's true.
A considerable amount of research, writing, and editing was done for this video, as evidenced by the high Like to views ratio👏 also, the use of BF1 music was much appreciated !😂
Thank you so much! That means a lot, and yeah the BF1 soundtrack has to be one of my tops of all time
I think you over estimate just how organized tank production was in the us. There are hundreds of M4s that came out of the factories with some differences from what model they were, and changes were often made randomly throughout production. The difference was that the American factories were not craft making tanks, they were using standard precise measurements to ensure everything worked together and as such could adapt much faster to changes.
Are you saying that the Germans didn't use "standard precise measurements" ? Where do you get this info?
From what I can recall the Aufs D had two naming conventions due to some being sent to North Africa but it’s been years since I’ve seen that document
Quick aid for some German pronunciation:
For Neubaufahrzeug, both “eu”s are pronounced like the “oy” in “annoy”, the “au” is pronounced like the exclamation “ow”, “fahr” is a bit tougher but it’s like “far” but you massively de-emphasize the “r” like in the Queen’s English or “fa” in do re mi fa so la si. Finally for “zeug” the emphasis is really placed on the z, i.e. “Tseug”. So all in all phonetically (more or less) it would be Noybowfatsoyg.
I’ll list the phonetic pronunciations for some of the pronunciations you struggled with because I can’t be bothered to explain every pronunciation in as much detail
Neubaufahrzeug - Noy-bow-fa-tsoyg
Nibelungenwerke - Knee-bill-lungen-werke (queen’s R)
Vorpanzer - For-pantser (queen’s R x2)
Panzerkampfwagen - Pahntser-kahmpf-vahggen (queen’s R)
Also, all in all, great video :)
the difference for the engines was done to increase the fuel efficiency and speed at the cost of torque leading to less ability to climb or push but slightly faster and more fuel efficient
If i remember correctly more rpm can mean more force for tracks
Panzer III was their last good medium tank, IV was a stopfap they stuck with too long (manufacturing process is too complex to be mass producible), Panther is essentially a heavy given its size and weight (and not an MBT, its cannon lacks APDS or any characteristic that defeat most armor such as that on the Centurion)
Love your videos !!!!