World War 2 In Review: Panzerkampfwagen IV: German Medium Tank

PzKpfw. IV Ausf. E from the 36th Tank Regiment of the 4th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht. Böblingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 1940.

The Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.

The Panzer IV was the most numerous German tank and the second-most numerous German fully tracked armored fighting vehicle of the Second World War; 8,553 Panzer IVs of all versions were built during World War II, only exceeded by the StuG III assault gun with 10,086 vehicles. Its chassis was also used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun, the Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun, the Wirbelwind and Ostwind self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and the Brummbär self-propelled gun.

The Panzer IV saw service in all combat theatres involving Germany and was the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the war. The Panzer IV was originally designed for infantry support, while the similar Panzer III was to fight armored fighting vehicles. However, as the Germans faced the formidable T-34, the Panzer IV had more development potential, with a larger turret ring to mount more powerful guns, so it swapped roles with the Panzer III whose production wound down in 1943. The Panzer IV received various upgrades and design modifications, intended to counter new threats, extending its service life. Generally, these involved increasing the armor protection or upgrading the weapons, although during the last months of the war, with Germany's pressing need for rapid replacement of losses, design changes also included simplifications to speed up the manufacturing process.

The Panzer IV was partially succeeded by the Panther medium tank, which was introduced to counter the Soviet T-34, although it continued to be a significant component of German armored formations to the end of the war. It was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia, which saw combat in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. F2, Russian steppe, summer 1943.

A crew with their Panzer IV Ausführung H protecting the oil fields in Romania (1944).

Captured and destroyed Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf D medium tank near Sidi Rezegh. December 1941.

Captured and destroyed Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tank near Sidi Rezegh. December 1941. The same vehicle as in the previous photo.

Another view of the same Panzer IV as seen in the previous two photos.

Panzerkampfwagen IV captured by 101st Airborne Division, Bastogne, Belgium.

Captured and destroyed Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tanks near Sidi Rezegh. December 1941.

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. G, 10th or 21st Panzer Division, Tunisia, 1943.

Panzerkampfwagen IV (7.5 cm Kw.K. L/24) Ausf. E (Sd.Kfz. 161) Nr. ??1.

Two Panzer IVs knocked out by 'B' Squadron, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1944. Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North West Europe, 1944. The most widely manufactured German tank of the war, the Panzer IV was somewhat outdated by the time of the Normandy landings of 1944. It was in the process of being replaced by the Panther and Tiger, but still comprised around half of the available German tank strength in the west prior to the invasion. Most German panzer divisions in France contained an armored regiment of one battalion of Panzer IVs and one of Panthers. The two Mark IVs shown here are armed with 75 mm KwK 40 L/48 guns, an upgraded weapon that allowed the Mark IV to take on most Allied tanks of the time on an equal basis. The Allies christened this improved model the 'Mark IV Special'.

Destroyed German Mk IV Special. The ridge with the wood on the sky-line being the much attacked point 112, south of Caen', 1944. Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North West Europe (1944-1945), 1944. The British nicknamed the Panzer IV Ausf F2 the 'Mark IV Special' since it was superior to any American or British tank then in use when it was introduced in 1942. This was due to its armor and 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 gun. The latter had been introduced to counter the Soviet T-34.

Panzerkampfwagen IV knocked-out in Italy.

Panzerkampfwagen IV’s, Toulouse, France, 1942.

German soldiers of the 1st SS Panzer Division on a Panzer IV during the battle of Kursk, July 1943.

Kursk, 1943: Tiger I heavy tank, Panzer IV medium tank and Panzerfunkwagen SdKfz 263 (8-rad) radio vehicle.

Panzerkampfwagen IV, Normandy, June 1944.

Driver of a Panzerkampfwagen IV, 1941.

A huge Panzer IV German tank, part of the German expeditionary force in North Africa, halts in the Libyan Desert on April 14, 1941.

Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf G with winter tracks somewhere near Kharkiv. March 1943.

Panzer IV.

Wehrmacht Panzer-Regiment 35, Pz.Rgt. 35 on railway flatbeds at the Karachev station. In the foreground is a PzKpfw IV Ausf. E, followed by PzKpfw. IV Ausf. D, then a PzKpfw. II and PzKpfw. III.

Panzer IVs, Russia, 1943.

Engine maintenance on a Panzer IV, Eastern Front.

American soldier examines a Panzer IV knocked out in Tunisia.

StuG III and PzKpfw IV, Italy, June 1944.

German tanks caught by a Typhoon, Normandy, 1944. Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North West Europe, 1944. Two abandoned German PzKpfw IV tanks sit at the side of a track after being shot up by a rocket-firing RAF Typhoon fighter-bomber. Typhoon squadrons took a heavy toll on German transport columns both prior to and after the D-Day landings.

Knocked out Panzer IV and Panzer IV tanks.

PzKpfw IV Ausf A, serial number 80113, produced in February of 1938. This is one of the few tanks of this type that received camouflage paint.

The turret of the PzKpfw IV Ausf A from the rear, showing pistol ports and the commander's cupola.

A Panzer IV blown apart6 by what must have been a terrific internal explosion.

PzKpfw IV.

Some PzKpfw IVs had an antenna guard added underneath the gun to move the antenna out of the way as the turret rotated.

PzKpfw IV.

A PzKpfw IV Ausf F2 tank destroyed by an internal explosion, being inspected by a British officer, 6 September 1942.

A PzKpfw IV Ausf B destroyed by an internal explosion during the Battle of France.

PzKpfw IV destroyed by an internal explosion. In the background is a Panzer III also destroyed by an internal explosion.

Knocked out PzKpfw IV, North Africa.

American troops examine a PzKpfw IV destroyed by an internal explosion near Salerno, Italy.

PzKpfw IV Ausf. H of the Grossdeutschland Division.

Panzer IV Ausf. H '505'.

PzKpfw IV medium tanks, France, 1940.

Knocked out Panzer IV and Tiger I.

Indian troops capture one of the crew of a knocked-out German PzKpfw IV tank, 8 December 1941. Imperial War Museum photo E3767E.

Crew of a PzKpfw IV watch a burning French warship, probably the cruiser Colbert, during the scuttling of the French fleet.