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JagdpanzerIV

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JagdpanzerIV
JagdpanzerIV (Sd.Kfz.162) with 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 at theDeutsches Panzermuseum
TypeSelf-propelled anti-tank gun
Place of originNazi Germany
Production history
ProducedDecember 1943 – April 1945
No.builtAbout 2,000
Specifications (Panzer IV/70(V)[1])
Mass25.8tonnes(28.4short tons;25.4long tons)
Length8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
Width3.17 m (10 ft 5 in)
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Crew4 (driver, commander, gunner, loader)
Armor10–80 mm (0.39–3.15 in)
Main
armament
1×7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70
55-60 rounds
Secondary
armament
1×7.92 mmMaschinengewehr42
1,200 rounds
EngineMaybach HL120 TRM
300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight11.6 PS (8.6 kW) / tonne
SuspensionLeaf springs
Operational
range
Road:
210 km (130 mi)
Cross-country:
120 km (75 mi)
Maximum speed35 km/h (22 mph) on road

TheJagdpanzerIV/Sd.Kfz. 162,was aGermantank destroyerbased on thePanzer IVchassis and built in three main variants. As one of thecasemate-style turretlessJagdpanzer(tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank" ) designs, it was developed against the wishes ofHeinz Guderian,the inspector general of thePanzertruppen,as a replacement for theSturmgeschütz III(StuGIII). Guderian objected against the (in his eyes) needless diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the StuG III was still more than adequate for its role.

Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70. In this article, both versions are referred to in general as Jagdpanzer IV, except in the variants and surviving vehicles section.

Development

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Further information:Jagdpanzer

With experience gained during the initial phases of theBattle of Stalingrad,in September 1942 theWehrmacht's arms bureau, theWaffenamt,called for a new standard for heavy assault guns: 100 mm of armor to the front, 40–50 mm on the sides, wider tracks, ground clearance of 50 cm (20 in), top speed of 26 km/h (16 mph) and the lowest possible firing positions. The newPanzerjäger( "tank hunter" ) design would be armed with the same 7.5 cm gun as fitted to thePanther tank:thePak 42 L/70.Initially a new chassis was planned, but that of the Panzer IV had to be used.

Previous efforts to mount bigger guns on smaller chassis resulted in theMarder I,II and III series and theSturmgeschützIII. The Marder series were tall and had open crew compartments. The new design had a low silhouette and completely enclosed,casemate-style fighting compartment.

TheJagdpanzerIV used a modified Panzer IVAusf.H chassis, but the almost-vertical front hull plate was replaced bysloped armorplates. Internally, the layout was changed to accommodate the new superstructure, moving the fuel tanks and ammunition racks. Since theJagdpanzerlacked a turret, the auxiliary engine which powered the Panzer IV's turret traverse mechanism could be eliminated.

The new superstructure had 80 mm thick sloped armour, giving much greater protection than vertical armour of 100 mm. To make the manufacturing process as simple as possible, the superstructure was made from large, interlocking plates that were welded together.

Armament

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Main gun

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Armament consisted of a 7.5 cm main gun firingFixed QF75 × 640mm R ammunition, originally intended to be the Pak 42 L/70. Due to shortages, older guns were initially used, the7.5 cm Pak 39 L/43for pre-production, and the7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48for the initial production variant. These were shorter and less powerful than the Pak 42, and also carried amuzzle brake.

Installing the much heavier Pak 42 meant that theJagdpanzerIV was nose-heavy, especially with the heavy frontal armour. This made them less mobile and more difficult to operate in rough terrain, leading their crews to nickname themGuderian-Ente( "Guderian'sduck"). To prevent the rubber rims of the roadwheels being dislocated by the weight of the vehicle, some later versions had steel roadwheels installed on the front.

The final prototype of theJagdpanzerIV was presented in December 1943 and production started in January 1944, with the Pak 39 L/48 armed variant staying in production until November. Production of the Pak 42 L/70 armed variants started in August and continued until March/April 1945.

Secondary armament

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Jagdpanzer IV0-Seriepreproduction vehicle with 2 opened front facingfiring portsnext to the main gun

Early versions of the Jagdpanzer IV carried two standard (no modification made)MG 42machine guns on both sides of the main gun mantlet/glacis, firing7.92×57mm Mauserrifle ammunition through afiring portwhich was protected by an armored cover plate (with the MG 42 retracted) when not in use. As the main gun was located between these machine guns one machine gun could be operated from the left side only, which is impractical fornon-left-handedoperators, and the other one from the right side only. Later version Jagdpanzer IVs carried only one MG 42 as internal secondary armament with about 1,200 rounds of ammunition.[2]The Jagdpanzer IV secondary armament was exceptional, as other World War II era German tanks or other armored vehicles used theMG 34for internal secondary or co-axial armament.

Production

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On 19–22 August 1943, after theBattle of Kursk,Hitler received reports that StuG IIIs performed better than the Panzer IV within the constraints of how they were deployed. It was thus intended to stop production of the Panzer IV itself at the end of 1944 to concentrate solely on production of theJagdpanzerIV, but the Panzer IV continued to be produced until the end of the conflict along withJagdpanzerIV. VoMAG in Plauen switched completely from Panzer IV production to Jagdpanzer IV in Spring 1944, Krupp-Grusonwerk in Magdeburg switched toStuG IVin early 1944, and only theNibelungenwerkinSt. Valentincontinued with Panzer IV production.

Variants

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The0-Seriepreproduction vehicle atDeutsches Panzermuseum
Panzer IV/70 (V) atKubinka Tank Museum
  • JagdpanzerIV0-Serie
with 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/43: a small number of these were built as the preproduction (0-Serie) probably in December 1943.[1]
  • JagdpanzerIV (Sd.Kfz.162[1])
with 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48, developed under the nameSturmgeschütz neuer Art mit 7.5 cm Pak L/48 auf Fahrgestell PzKpfw IV,with 769–784 produced in January 1944 - November 1944.[1]
  • PanzerIV/70 (V) (Sd.Kfz.162/1[1])
was one of two variants armed with the same Pak 42 L/70 gun. The (V) stands for the designer,Vomag.The most produced version, with 930–940 built in August 1944 - April 1945.[1]Equipped with a long, powerful L/70 7.5cm anti-tank gun that could outrange opposing Allied tank weapons, the Panzer IV/70(V) Lang proved a formidable foe. The "Lang" (German for "long" ) in its name was added to distinguish it from its predecessor with a shorter L/48 7.5cm gun.
  • PanzerIV/70 (A) (Sd.Kfz.162/1[1])
the other Pak 42 L/70 armedJagdpanzerIV. In order to send Pak 42 L/70 armed vehicles to the front as soon as possible, in July 1944 Hitler ordered an interim solution to speed up Nibelungenwerke's transition from Panzer IV production to Panzer IV/70 production. "A" stands forAlkett,a manufacturer of the StuG III, that was ordered to redesign theJagdpanzerIV superstructure to be mounted onto a standard Panzer IV chassis. The Vomag design used a modified chassis permitting a very low silhouette. Mounting the superstructure onto the original Panzer IV chassis required additional vertical steel plates mounted onto the chassis to counter height differences. The resulting vehicle was about 40 cm taller and lacked the sharp edged nose of the Vomag variant. Only 278 were built by Nibelungenwerke from August 1944 to March 1945.

Minor modifications and improvements were made throughout the production runs of all variants, as well as several field improvements, the most common being the addition of armour sideskirts (or in German,Schürzen).

Originally theJagdpanzerIV's gun had a muzzle brake installed, but because the gun was so close to the ground, each time it was fired, huge dust clouds would betray the vehicle's position, leading many crews to remove the muzzle brake in the field.[citation needed]Later variants dispensed with the muzzle brake.

Early vehicles hadzimmeritapplied to the hull to protect against magnetic mines, but this was discontinued after about September 1944. Later vehicles had three return rollers rather than the original four, and adopted the twin vertical exhausts typical of the late Panzer IV series.

Combat history

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JagdpanzerIV with infantry support, Hungary, 1944

TheJagdpanzerIV served in theanti-tanksections of Panzer and SS Panzer divisions. The vehicle fought against Western Allied forces inNormandyand theBattle of the Bulge,and Soviet tanks and troops on theEastern Front.It was very successful as a tank destroyer due to its low profile, accurate gun and good armour protection, but performed poorly when used out of role as a substitute for tanks or assault guns to support infantry. This was increasingly necessary in the later stages of the war from late 1944 to 1945, because there was often nothing else available to the badly depleted German armoured units.

Romaniareceived severalJagdpanzerIV/70 from theRed Armyafter the war ended. They were officially known as TAs T4 in their army's inventory and were used until 1950 when they were phased out. German armour in Romanian service, including the Jagdpanzer IV, was replaced entirely with Soviet vehicles in 1954. Bulgaria also received Jagdpanzer IVs from both Germany and the Soviet Union (most coming from the latter post-war), and they saw limited service in the postwar Bulgarian military before being stripped of all engine components, dug in and turned into fixed gun emplacements on its border with neighbouring Turkey, as part of theKrali Marko Line(now fallen into disrepair). Most of these ex-German vehicles have been dug up recently, with some scrapped while others await restoration locally or abroad.

JagdpanzerIV aces includeSS-Oberscharführer(Senior squad leader)Rudolf Royfrom the 12th SSPanzerjägerBattalion of12th SS Panzer Division,who was awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Crossfor battlefield bravery and credited with 36 tank kills. He was killed by an American sniper while looking out of the hatch of hisJagdpanzerIV on December 17 in 1944 during theArdennes OffensiveinBelgium,the last major German offensive on the Western Front.[3][4][5]

After the war, West Germany continued theJagdpanzerconcept with theKanonenjagdpanzer,but few other fixed-casemate self-propelled guns were built in the postwar era. An innovative exception was the SwedishStridsvagn 103,more widely known as the "S-Tank".

Along withPanzer IVsandSturmgeschütz IIIs,Syria acquired in the 1950s six Jagdpanzer IV L/48s.[6]These were used in the conflicts with Israel up until 1967 when most were either destroyed, abandoned on the Golan Heights overlooking Israel, or scrapped.

Comparable vehicles

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TheKanonenjagdpanzer(also known as "Jagdpanzer Kanone 90mm", or "tank destroyer, gun" ) was a GermanCold Wartank destroyerequipped with a 90mmanti-tank gunfrom obsoleteM47 Pattontanks. Its design was very similar to that of theWorld War IIJagdpanzer IV.

Survivors

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JagdpanzerIV0-Serie
JagdpanzerIV L/48
PanzerIV L/70 (V)
PanzerIV L/70 late (A)
  • Musée des BlindésinSaumur, France.The vehicle was used in 1944-45 by Free French forces. The vehicle is displayed with damage resulting from a direct hit by an armor-piercing shell.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^abcdefg"Jagdpanzer IV and IV/70",Achtung Panzer!,archived fromthe originalon 2009-07-21,retrieved2011-07-27
  2. ^Jagdpanzer IV at Tank Encyclopedia
  3. ^Fellgiebel 1986,p. 366.
  4. ^Számvéber 2018,p. 168.
  5. ^Bergström 2014,p. 172.
  6. ^Naud, Phillipe (2011), "Les Blindes de Damas 1948-1967", in Steel Masters nº105, May–June, 2011

Bibliography

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  • Bergström, Christer (2014).The Ardennes, 1944-1945: Hitler's Winter Offensive.Casemate Publishers.ISBN978-1-61200-277-4.
  • Számvéber, Norbert (2018).Waffen-SS Armour in Normandy: The Combat History of SS Panzer Regiment 12 and SS Panzerjager Abteilung 12, Normandy 1944, based on their original war diaries.Helion and Company.ISBN978-1-912174-80-5.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (1986).Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile.Podzun-Pallas.ISBN978-3-7909-0284-6.
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