Tanks and armored vehicles of Germany of World War II

Wehrmacht (from the German words Wehrmacht, from Wehr - “weapon”, “defense, resistance” and Macht - “strength, power; power, influence”, “army”) - The armed forces of Nazi Germany in 1935-1945. Historically, the word "Wehrmacht" in German-speaking countries denoted the armed forces of any country.

Panzer Division (tank division) - a combined army formation of the Wehrmacht, which included tank units and motorized infantry, as well as artillery and other auxiliary units. The composition of the divisions, as well as the share of tank and motorized units in the divisions, changed. Wehrmacht tanks became the basis of blitzkrieg tactics.

The Wehrmacht tank division had its own motorized infantry, and since 1943, self-propelled artillery, which allowed the tanks to conduct independent operations (in the armies of the world, tanks were used to support other types of troops). The transfer of the leading role to tanks ensured the decisive success of the Wehrmacht in the initial period of the Second World War. Panzer divisions were divided into two categories: the standard Wehrmacht panzer division and the SS panzer divisions.

The concept of “Wehrmacht” acquired its meaning during the rise to power of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The law on the creation of the armed forces was adopted on March 16, 1935, that is, two years after Hitler came to power. The "armed forces" consist of the ground forces (German: Heer), the navy (Kriegsmarine) and the air force (Luftwaffe). At their head, the corresponding governing bodies are created - the Supreme Commands.

High Command of the Wehrmacht

On February 7, 1938, the Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) was created from the Armed Forces Directorate of the War Ministry, subordinate directly to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Adolf Hitler, and called the Fuhrer's Headquarters. There is no post of Minister of War. The OKW had four directorates:

• Operations Department - A. Jodl;
• military intelligence and counterintelligence - Abwehr - V. Canaris;
• economic department (supply and armament of the army) - G. Thomas
• general purpose control. General (from 1940 - Field Marshal) Wilhelm Keitel was appointed chief of staff of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces.

Trophy

In addition to vehicles of its own production, Germany used captured ones, applying its own camouflage to them and modernizing them according to the requirements of the German army.

French tanks in the Wehrmacht are the most popular foreign vehicles, if you close your eyes to the Czechoslovak ones. They were not distinguished by the most modern design and weak firepower, but they had sufficient armor and good reliability. Due to weak weapons, they were used mainly in the rear for security, training, and so on.

Also, French equipment was converted into self-propelled guns, installing wheelhouses and German guns on the chassis.

Captured Soviet tanks of the Wehrmacht, to the surprise of many inexperienced readers, were not very popular. During the summer-autumn of 1941, according to German data, 14,079 USSR tanks were captured and destroyed. Of these, 1300 - 1700 BT, KV, T-26, T-28 and T-34 were in park storage and were in excellent condition.

By October of the same year, about 40 armored vehicles had been put into operation, a completely ridiculous figure. On paper, domestic tanks in 1941 were superior to all German tanks, with the exception of Pz.Kpfw IV, in armament; in practice, Soviet 45 mm guns did not correspond to the tabulated data and did not pose a danger to Panzerwaffe tanks at distances of 400 meters.

The Germans were dismissive of the T-26 and BT, since it was cramped and uncomfortable inside, and the armor was not enough to adequately protect the crew.

The Germans did not follow the path of creating self-propelled guns based on Soviet tanks. The T-26, BT and T-28 engines required scarce high-quality gasoline. At the same time, German engines quietly ran on synthetic.

The T-34 and KV, equipped with diesel engines, were also not suitable for the Germans, who tried to replace diesel fuel with a mixture of crude oil with kerosene and oil.

As a result, during the Great Patriotic War, the Wehrmacht used less than 300 Soviet tanks and converted 10 T-26s into self-propelled guns.

German tanks during World War II

Since the mid-1930s, the German military, in accordance with the concept of warfare they adopted (“blitzkrieg”), when determining requirements for the development of tanks, placed the main emphasis not on the firepower of the tank, but on its maneuverability in order to ensure deep breakthroughs, encirclement and destruction of the enemy . For this purpose, the development and production of light tanks Pz.Kpfw.I and Pz.Kpfw.II and, somewhat later, medium tanks Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.IV began.

With the outbreak of World War II, German tanks successfully fought against enemy tanks, but with the advent of more advanced tanks among the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, Germany had to abandon light tanks and concentrate its efforts on developing first medium and then heavy tanks.

Medium tank Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.(G, H, J, L, M)

The Pz.Kpfw.III medium tank was developed in 1935 within the framework of the accepted concept of warfare as an effective means of combating enemy tanks and until 1943 it was the main tank of the Wehrmacht.
Produced from 1937 to 1943, a total of 5,691 tanks were produced. Before the start of the war, modifications of the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf tank were produced. (A, B, C, D, E, F). And during the war period 1940-1943, modifications of the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. (G, H, J, L, M). The tanks of the first batch of Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.A were of a “classic German” layout with the transmission located in the nose of the tank, weighing 15.4 tons, crew of five, with bulletproof protection with an armor thickness of 10-15 mm, with a short-barreled 37 mm a KwK 36 L/46.5 cannon and three 7.92 mm MG-34 machine guns, a 250 hp engine, providing a highway speed of 35 km/h and a cruising range of 165 km. Before and during the war it underwent a number of modifications. Of the main changes before the war on the Ausf.E modification, the main armor was increased to 30 mm and a 300 hp engine was installed.

Medium tank Pz.Kpfw.III

In 1940, a modification of the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.G tank was put into serial production, in which a short-barreled 50-mm KwK38 L/42 cannon was installed on the tank, since the long-barreled one had not yet been completed and instead of two coaxial machine guns, one was installed. The weight of the tank increased to 19.8 tons.

On the Ausf.H modification, produced from the end of 1940, the main difference was the strengthening of the armor. The rear of the turret was made of a solid bent armor plate 30 mm thick and an additional armor plate 30 mm thick was welded onto the frontal part of the hull, which increased the protection of the front of the hull to 60 mm.

The modification of the Ausf.J, produced since March 1941, the main difference was the increased protection of the front of the hull. The thickness of the main armor plate was increased to 50 mm, and from December 1941 a long-barreled 50-mm KwK 39 L/60 gun with increased armor penetration was installed.

On the Ausf.L modification, the protection of the front of the hull and turret is increased to 70 mm due to the installation of additional armor plates 20 mm thick, the weight of the tank has increased to 22.7 tons.

The Ausf.M modification, produced since October 1942, was not much different; six mortars for launching smoke grenades were installed on the sides of the turret, the gun's ammunition capacity was increased, and an installation for an anti-aircraft machine gun was placed on the commander's cupola.

The Ausf.N modification, produced since July 1943, is equipped with a short-barreled 75-mm KwK 37 L/24 gun, similar to that used on Pz tanks. Kpfw.IV Ausf.(A - F1), the weight of the tank increased to 23 tons.

At the beginning of the war, the Pz.Kpfw.III successfully resisted the French light tanks; the medium D2, S35 and heavy B1bis tanks lost; its 37 mm guns could not penetrate the armor of these tanks. The same situation was with British light and medium tanks of pre-war production, which had insufficient armor and were equipped with light weapons. But from the end of 1941, the British army in battles in North Africa was already saturated with more advanced tanks Mk II Matilda II, Mk.III Valentine, Mk.VI Crusader and the American M3/M5 General Stuart and Pz.Kpfw.III began to lose to them. However, in tank battles the German army was often victorious thanks to a more competent combination of tanks and artillery both offensively and defensively.

On the Eastern Front in 1941, Pz.Kpfw.III I tanks in tank divisions accounted for from 25% to 34% of the total number of tanks and, in general, they were equal opponents of most Soviet tanks. In terms of armament, maneuverability and armor protection, it had a significant superiority only over the T-26, the BT-7 was inferior to it in armor protection, and the T-28 and KV in maneuverability, but in all characteristics the Pz.Kpfw.III was weaker than the T-34.

At the same time, the Pz.Kpfw.III was superior to all Soviet tanks in terms of better visibility from the tank, the number and quality of observation devices, reliability of the engine, transmission and chassis, as well as a more successful distribution of responsibilities between crew members. These circumstances, in the absence of superiority in tactical and technical characteristics, allowed the PzIII to emerge victorious in tank duels in most cases. However, when meeting with the T-34 and even more so with the KV-1, this is not easy to achieve, since the German tank gun could penetrate the armor of Soviet tanks only from a distance of no more than 300 m.

Considering that in 1941 the Pz.Kpfw.III formed the basis of the German tank forces and its characteristics were far from superior to Soviet tanks, of which there were several times more, Germany took a great risk by attacking the USSR. And only tactical superiority in the use of tank formations allowed the German command to win convincing victories at the initial stage of the war. Since 1943, the main load in the confrontation with Soviet tanks passed to the Pz.Kpfw.IV with a long-barreled 75-mm cannon, and the Pz.Kpfw.III began to play a supporting role, while they still accounted for approximately half of the Wehrmacht tanks on the Eastern Front.

In general, the Pz.Kpfw.III was a reliable, easy-to-control vehicle with a high level of crew comfort, and its modernization potential was quite sufficient at the beginning of the war. But, despite the reliability and manufacturability of the tank, the volume of its turret box turned out to be insufficient to accommodate a more powerful gun, and in 1943 it was discontinued.

Medium tank Pz.Kpfw.IV

The Pz.Kpfw.IV tank was developed in 1937 to complement the Pz.Kpfw.III tank as a fire support tank with a longer-range gun with a powerful fragmentation shell capable of hitting anti-tank defenses beyond the range of other tanks.
The most popular tank of the Wehrmacht, it was mass-produced from 1937 to 1945, a total of 8,686 tanks of various modifications were produced. Modifications of the Ausf.A,B,C tank were produced before the war. modifications Ausf. (D, E, F, G, H, J) during World War II. The Pz.Kpfw.IV tank also had a “classic German” layout with a front transmission and a crew of five people. With the weight of the modification of the Ausf.C tank being 19.0 tons, it had low armor protection, the thickness of the armor on the front of the hull and turret was 30 mm, and the sides were only 15 mm.

The hull and turret of the tank were welded and did not differ in the rational slope of the armor plates. A large number of hatches made it easier for the crew to board and access various mechanisms, but at the same time reduced the strength of the hull. The turret had a multifaceted shape and made it possible to modernize the tank's armament. A commander's cupola with five observation devices was installed on the rear roof of the tower. The tower could be rotated manually or electrically. The tank provided good living conditions and visibility for the tank crew, and there were advanced observation and aiming devices for that time.

The main armament on the first modifications of the tank consisted of a short-barreled 75-mm KwK.37 L/24 cannon and additional armament of two 7.92-mm MG-34 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the other course-mounted in the hull.

The power plant was a Maybach HL 120TR engine with a power of 300 hp. s., providing a speed of 40 km/h and a range of 200 km.

The modification of the Ausf.D tank, produced since 1940, was distinguished by increased armor protection of the sides to 20 mm and additional 30 mm armor for the front of the hull and turret.

Medium tank Pz.Kpfw.IV D

On the modification of the Ausf.E tank, produced since the end of 1940, based on the results of the Polish campaign, the thickness of the front plate was increased to 50 mm and additional 20 mm protection was installed on the sides of the hull. The weight of the tank increased to 21 tons.

On the modification of the Ausf tank. F, produced since 1941, the armor was changed. Instead of mounted armor on the front of the hull and turret, the thickness of the main armor plates was increased to 50 mm, and the thickness of the sides of the hull and turret was increased to 30 mm.

On the modification of the Ausf.G tank, produced since 1942, the short-barreled 75-mm cannon was replaced with a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 40 L/43 cannon and the frontal armor of the hull was reinforced with additional 30mm armor plates, the weight of the tank increased to 23.5 tons . This was due to the fact that in a collision on the Eastern Front with the Soviet T-34 and KV-1, German anti-tank guns could not penetrate their armor, and 76-mm Soviet guns penetrated the armor of German tanks at almost any real combat distance.

On the modification of the Ausf.N tank, produced since the spring of 1943, the armor was changed; instead of additional 30 mm armor plates on the forehead of the tank hull, the thickness of the main armor plates was increased to 80 mm and hinged anti-cumulative screens made of 5 mm armor plates were introduced. A more powerful 75 mm KwK 40 L/48 gun was also installed.

Medium tank Pz.Kpfw.IV H

A modification of the Ausf.J tank, produced since June 1944, was aimed at reducing the cost and simplifying the production of the tank. The electric turret drive and auxiliary engine with generator were removed from the tank, an additional fuel tank was installed, and the hull roof was reinforced by installing additional 16-mm armor plates. The weight of the tank increased to 25 tons.

Medium tank Pz.Kpfw.IV J

Unlike the Pz.Kpfw.III tank, which was created as an effective anti-tank weapon, the Pz.Kpfw.IV tank was created in addition to the Pz.Kpfw.III and was considered as an artillery support assault tank, designed to fight not against tanks, but against fire enemy points.

It should also be noted that the Pz.Kpfw.IV was developed within the framework of the “blitzkrieg” concept and the main attention was paid to its mobility, while firepower and protection were insufficient even at the time the tank was created. The short-barreled gun with a low initial velocity of an armor-piercing projectile and the weak thickness of the frontal armor, in the first modifications only 15 (30) mm, made the Pz.Kpfw.IV easy prey for anti-tank artillery and enemy tanks.

However, the Pz.Kpfw.IV tank turned out to be a long-liver and survived not only pre-war tanks, but also a whole series of tanks developed and mass-produced during the Second World War. The sharply increased combat characteristics of the tank during its modernization, which led to the installation of a long-barreled gun and an increase in frontal armor to 80 mm, made it a universal tank capable of performing a wide range of tasks.

It proved to be a reliable and easy-to-drive vehicle and was actively used by the Wehrmacht from the beginning to the end of World War II. However, the mobility of the tank in the latest overweight modifications was clearly unsatisfactory and, as a result, by the end of the war, the Pz.Kpfw.IV was seriously inferior in its characteristics to the main medium tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Moreover, German industry was unable to organize its mass production and it also lost in terms of quantity. During the war, the Wehrmacht's irretrievable losses in Pz.Kpfw.IV tanks amounted to 7,636 tanks.

Before the start of World War II, the Pz.Kpfw.IV accounted for less than 10% of the Wehrmacht's tank fleet, yet it successfully fought against tanks from the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. With the installation of a long-barreled 75 mm cannon, it confidently resisted the T-34-76 and almost all American and British tanks at most real combat distances. With the appearance in 1944 of the T-34-85 and modifications of the American M4 General Sherman with a 76mm cannon, which were significantly superior to the Pz. IV and hitting him from a distance of 1500-2000 meters, he finally began to lose in the tank confrontation.

Heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.V "Panther"

The Pz.Kpfw.V “Panther” tank was developed in 1941-1942 as a response to the appearance of the Soviet T-34 tank.
Serially produced since 1943, a total of 5,995 tanks were produced. The layout of the tank was “classical German” with a front-mounted transmission; in appearance it was very similar to the T-34. The tank had a crew of 5 people; the structure of the hull and turret was assembled from armor plates connected “in a spike” and with a double weld. The armor plates were installed at an angle to increase armor resistance in the same way as on the T-34. A commander's cupola was installed on the roof of the turret; the driver's and radio operator's hatches were placed on the roof of the hull and did not weaken the upper frontal plate.

Heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.V "Panther"

With a tank weight of 44.8 tons, it had good protection, the armor thickness of the hull front was 80 mm, top 60 mm, sides top 50 mm, bottom 40 mm, turret forehead 110 mm, turret sides and roof 45 mm, hull roof 17 mm, bottoms 17-30 mm.

The tank's armament consisted of a long-barreled 75-mm KwK 42 L/70 cannon and two 7.92-mm MG-34 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the other course-mounted.

The power plant was a Maybach HL 230 P30 engine with a power of 700 hp, providing a highway speed of 55 km/h and a range of 250 km. The option of installing a diesel engine was explored, but it was abandoned due to a shortage of diesel fuel needed for submarines.

The chassis on each side contained eight road wheels arranged in a checkerboard pattern in two rows with an individual torsion bar suspension, the front and rear pairs of rollers had hydraulic shock absorbers, and the drive wheel was located at the front.

The concept of the Pz.Kpfw.V tank no longer reflected the “blitzkrieg” concept, but the defensive military doctrine of Germany. After the battles on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, the main attention began to be paid to the protection of the tank and its firepower, while mobility was limited due to the heavy weight of the tank.

The first experience of combat use of Pz.Kpfw.V tanks on the Kursk Bulge revealed both the advantages and disadvantages of this tank. This batch of tanks was characterized by low reliability and non-combat losses from malfunctions were very high. Among the advantages of the new tank, German tankers noted the reliable protection of the frontal projection of the hull, which at that time was invulnerable to all tank and anti-tank Soviet guns, a powerful gun that made it possible to hit all Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns head-on, and good sighting devices.

However, the protection of the remaining projections of the tank was vulnerable to fire from 76.2 mm and 45 mm tank and anti-tank guns at the main battle distances. The main weakness of the tank was its relatively thin side armor. The tank performed best in active defense, ambush operations, destroying advancing enemy tanks from long distances, and counterattacks, when the influence of the weakness of the side armor was minimized.

The tank had a number of undoubted advantages - good smoothness, a large volume of the fighting compartment, increasing the comfort of the crew, high-quality optics, high rate of fire, large transportable ammunition and high armor penetration of the KwK 42 gun. In 1943, the armor penetration of the gun shells ensured the defeat of any tank from the anti-Hitler countries that fought at that time. coalitions at distances up to 2000 m.

On the other hand, in 1944 the situation changed; new models of tanks and artillery pieces of 100, 122 and 152 mm calibers were adopted by the armies of the USSR, USA and England, which literally broke through the armor of the Pz.Kpfw.V, which had become increasingly fragile.

The tank’s disadvantages were also its high height due to the need to transmit torque from the engine to the transmission units via driveshafts under the floor of the fighting compartment, the greater vulnerability of transmission units and drive wheels due to their location in the frontal part of the vehicle, which is most exposed to fire, complexity and unreliability “ chessboard" chassis. The dirt that accumulated between the road wheels often froze in winter and completely immobilized the tank. To replace damaged internal road wheels from the inner row, it was necessary to dismantle from a third to half of the outer rollers, which took several hours.

The only analogues of the Pz.Kpfw.V are the Soviet tanks KV-85, IS-1, IS-2 and the American M26 Pershing. The M26 was a belated reaction to the appearance of the Pz.Kpfw.V, but in its main characteristics it was quite comparable to the level of the Pz.Kpfw.V and could compete with it on equal terms. It began to enter troops in small numbers only in February 1945 and no longer played a major role in the battles of World War II.

American M26 Pershing tank

The Soviet heavy tank IS-2, despite all the external similarity of its weight and size characteristics with the Panther, was used not as a main tank, but as a breakthrough tank with a different balance of armor and weapons. In particular, much attention was paid to good side armor and fire power against unarmored targets. The power of the IS-2's 122 mm cannon was almost twice that of the KwK 42's 75 mm cannon, but its armor penetration was quite comparable. In general, both tanks were well suited to destroy other tanks.

Soviet heavy tank IS-2

In England, only towards the end of the war were they able to create some kind of alternative to the Pz.Kpfw.V in the form of the A34 Comet tank. Released at the end of 1944, the A34 Comet tank, armed with a 76.2-mm tank gun, was slightly inferior in armor to the Pz.Kpfw.V, weighed 10 tons less and had higher firepower and maneuverability.

English tank A34 Comet

Heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger

In accordance with the concept of “blitzkrieg” in the German army at the first stage there was no place for heavy tanks.
The medium tanks Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.IV were quite suitable for the military. Since the late 30s, development of such a tank had been underway, but due to the lack of demand for a tank of this class, no one was particularly interested in them. With the attack on the Soviet Union and the clash with the Soviet T-34 and KV-1, it became clear that the PzIII and PzIV were seriously inferior to them and the need arose to develop a more advanced tank. Work in this direction was intensified and in 1941 the Pz.Kpfw.VI tank was developed, the main purpose of which was to fight enemy tanks. In 1942, it began to enter service with the troops; between 1942 and 1944, 1,357 Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger tanks were produced. The tank had a “classic German” layout with a front-mounted transmission. The tank had a crew of 5 people, the driver and radio operator were located in the front of the tank. commander, gunner and loader in the turret. A commander's cupola was installed on the roof of the tower.

Heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger

The hull and turret were welded from armor plates, installed mainly vertically without angles of inclination. The armor plates were joined using the dovetail method and joined by welding. Weighing 56.9 tons, the tank had high armor protection, the armor thickness of the front of the hull was 100 mm, top and bottom, middle 63 mm, bottom sides 63 mm, top 80 mm, turret forehead 100 mm, turret sides 80 mm and turret roof 28 mm, armored masks guns 90-200 mm, roofs and bottoms 28 mm.

The tank's armament consisted of a long-barreled 88-mm KwK 36 L/56 cannon and two 7.92-mm MG-34 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the other course-mounted.

The power plant was a Maybach engine with a power of 700 hp. and semi-automatic transmission. The tank was easily controlled using the steering wheel, and gears were changed without much effort. The power plant provided a highway speed of 40 km/h and a range of 170 km.

The chassis on each side contained eight “staggered” large-diameter road wheels arranged in two rows with an individual torsion bar suspension and a front drive wheel. The tank had two types of tracks, a transport track with a width of 520 mm and a combat track with a width of 725 mm.

The firepower of the Pz.Kpfw.VI with an 88mm cannon before the appearance of the Soviet IS-1 made it possible to hit any tank of the anti-Hitler coalition countries at any combat distance, and only the IS-1 and IS-2 series tanks had armor that could withstand fire from the KwK 36 from frontal angles and medium distances.

The Pz.Kpfw.VI in 1943 had the most powerful armor and could not be hit by any tank. Soviet 45-mm, British 40-mm and American 37-mm cannons did not penetrate it even at extremely close combat range; 76.2-mm Soviet cannons could penetrate the side armor of the Pz.Kpfw.VI from distances not exceeding 300 m. T -34-85 penetrated its frontal armor from a distance of 800-1000 meters. Only towards the end of the war did the saturation of the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition countries with heavy 100-mm, 122-mm and 152-mm guns make it possible to effectively fight the Pz.Kpfw.VI.

The positive aspects of the tank include easy control of a very heavy vehicle and good ride comfort provided by a torsion bar suspension with a “checkerboard” arrangement of road wheels. At the same time, this design of the chassis was unreliable in winter and off-road conditions; the dirt that accumulated between the rollers froze overnight so that it immobilized the tank, and replacing damaged rollers from the inner rows was a tedious and lengthy procedure. The heavy weight significantly limited the tank's capabilities, since off-road the vehicle's transmission was overloaded and quickly failed.

The tank was expensive and difficult to manufacture and had low repairability of the chassis. Due to its heavy weight, the tank was difficult to transport by rail, as there were fears of damage to the bridges on which the cars moved.

There were no worthy opponents among the Pz.Kpfw.VI tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. In firepower and protection it was superior to the Soviet KV-1, and in mobility they were approximately equal. Only at the end of 1943, with the adoption of the IS-2, an equal rival appeared. In general, while inferior to the IS-2 in terms of protection and firepower, the Pz.Kpfw.VI outperformed it in technical rate of fire at minimum combat distances.

Heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger II "Royal Tiger"

The Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger II tank was developed in 1943 as a tank destroyer and entered service in January 1944.
It was the most powerful tank to take part in World War II. In total, 487 such tanks were produced before the end of the war. Tiger II retained the layout of the Tiger I tank with all its pros and cons. The crew also remained at five people. The hull design was changed; an inclined armor arrangement was used, like on the Panther tank.

The weight of the tank increased to 69.8 tons, while the tank had excellent protection, the armor thickness of the hull front was 150 mm, top 120 mm, sides 80 mm, turret forehead 180 mm, turret sides 80 mm, turret roof 40 mm, bottom 25- 40 mm, body roof 40 mm.

Heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger II "Royal Tiger"

The tank's armament consisted of a new long-barreled 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 cannon and two 7.92 mm MG-34 machine guns.

The power plant was borrowed from the Tiger I tank. A 700 hp Maybach engine was installed, providing a highway speed of 38 km/h and a cruising range of 170 km.

The chassis was also borrowed from the Tiger I tank, only one more road wheel was added and the track width was increased to 818mm.

The armor penetration of the 88 mm KwK 43 gun ensured that the Tiger II could defeat any tank in the battles of World War II. Even the armor of the most protected tanks, such as the American M26, the British Churchill and the Soviet IS-2, did not provide them with virtually any protection at real combat distances.

The frontal projection of the tank, despite the significant thickness of the armor plates and their inclined location, was by no means invulnerable. This was due to a decrease in alloying additives in the material of armor plates due to the loss by Germany of a number of deposits of non-ferrous metals, especially nickel. The sides of the tank were even more vulnerable; the 85-mm Soviet D-5T and S-53 cannons penetrated them from a distance of 1000–1500 m, the American 76-mm M1 cannon hit the side from a distance of 1000–1700 m, and the Soviet 76.2- mm ZIS-3 and F-34 cannons hit him on the side at best from 200 meters.

Tiger II in a duel battle was superior to all tanks both in armor and in the accuracy and armor penetration of its guns. However, such head-on collisions were very rare and Soviet tank crews tried to conduct maneuverable combat, for which the Tiger II was least suitable. Acting on the defensive, from ambushes, as a tank destroyer, it was extremely dangerous for Soviet tank crews and could destroy several tanks before it was discovered and neutralized. As for the Allied armored vehicles, American and British tanks could not effectively resist the Tiger II and the Allies most often used aircraft against it.

The increase in the weight of the tank led to extreme overload of the power plant and chassis and a sharp decrease in their reliability. Constant failures led to the fact that about a third of the tanks broke down while still on the march. The poor performance and unreliability of the Tiger II almost completely neutralized its advantages in firepower and armor.

In terms of firepower and protection, the Tiger II was one of the strongest tanks of the Second World War. However, numerous shortcomings of its design, especially in the power plant and chassis, enormous weight, low reliability, as well as the operational-tactical situation, which did not allow full use of the tank’s advantages, determined the overall rather low potential of the vehicle.

Super-heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VIII "Maus"

On Hitler's initiative, in 1943 the development of a super-heavy breakthrough tank with the highest possible protection began. At the end of 1943, the first copy of the tank would have been manufactured. which, surprisingly, when running around the factory yard, showed good handling and the fundamental possibility of creating such a supertank. Due to the lack of production capacity, its mass production did not begin; only two copies of the tank were manufactured.

Super-heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VIII "Maus"

The tank had a classic layout weighing 188 tons with a crew of 6 people, armed with two twin cannons in the turret - 128 mm KwK-44 L/55 and 75 mm KwK-40 L/36.6 and one 7.92 mm MG- machine gun 34.

The tank had powerful armor, the thickness of the armor on the front of the hull was 200 mm, the sides of the hull were 105 mm, the top was 185 mm, the front of the turret was 220 mm, the sides and rear of the turret were 210 mm, the roof and bottom were 50-105 mm.

The power plant consisted of a Daimler-Benz MV 509 aircraft engine with a power of 1250 hp. and an electric transmission with two generators and two electric motors, providing a highway speed of 20 km/h and a range of 160 km. Tracks with a width of 1100 mm provided the tank with a completely acceptable specific ground pressure of 1.6 kg/sq. cm.

The Pz.Kpfw.VIII "Maus" tank was not tested in battle. When the army of the Soviet Union approached in April 1945, two samples of the tank were blown up; one of the two samples was assembled and is now on display in the Armored Museum in Kubinka.

During World War II, German designers were able to develop, and German industry to organize mass production of, a line of medium and heavy tanks whose characteristics were not inferior to, and in many ways superior to, tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. On the fronts of this war, German tanks confronted the tanks of their opponents on equal terms, and German tank crews often won battles when using tanks with worse characteristics due to more advanced tactics of their use.

Coloring

Beginning in 1939, German tanks were painted in a dark blue-gray, the so-called ball color. It completely covered all the outer parts and inner sides of the hatches opening outwards. Light cream paint was used on the inside.

The disdain for camouflage is explained by the dominance of German troops at that time and their use in blitzkrieg tactics, which involved rapid attacks.

Camouflage

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Having attacked the USSR, German troops already realized during the first winter that the lack of camouflage was fatal. Solutions of lime and chalk were used as improvised camouflage.

On February 18, 1943, a new standard for painting armored vehicles appeared in German factories. It was painted dark yellow, after which it was equipped with two sets of paints, supplied in cans. These were olive green and red-brown colors, which were applied to the tank by the crew, depending on the location of use.

Later, precise paint application schemes appeared, including camouflage small-spotted and deforming large-spotted camouflages. The first was applied to light and medium armored vehicles, the second to heavy Tiger and Panther tanks.

In 1944, a three-color deforming ambush camouflage appeared, combining the advantages of the two previous colors.

At the end of 1944, a paint shortage began, which led to incorrect application of camouflages in order to save money. Soon the supply of paint finally stopped to all units except the elite SS.

It is worth mentioning Zimmerit, which was used to coat German armored vehicles starting in 1943. This light gray material protected against magnetic mines and was hidden under the paint, making it slightly darker.

Wehrmacht strength

• By the beginning of World War II, 12 army corps of 38 divisions were formed, with a total strength of 582,000 people. The total strength of the Wehrmacht was 4.6 million people (the total strength of the Wehrmacht is also given - 3,214,000 people).
• At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the total strength of the Wehrmacht was 7,234,000 people. The Ground Forces had 103 divisions, including 43 infantry divisions, including 21 that were not fully equipped on the western border. In the east there were 55 large military formations and several smaller ones.
• In 1943, the strength of the Wehrmacht reached 11,000,000 people.
• Beginning in the winter of 1941, the size of the army began to decline due to the fact that reinforcements did not compensate for the losses. For example, in June 1941 there were 3 million people on the Eastern Front, but at the end of the Second World War only 1.5 million remained here.
• In total, 21,107,000 people were drafted into the German armed forces between 1939 and 1945.