WW2 Panzer IV Ausf.G - H - J footage - Panzerkampfwagen IV. pt6.

WW2 Panzer IV Ausf.G - H - J footage - Panzerkampfwagen IV. pt6.

The Panzerkampfwagen IV was designed as the Versuchs-Kraftfahrzeug 622 in 1934 and went into production in 1937, and would fit the the short barrel 75 mm gun, and this would stay the same for the Ausf. A to F.

It would be a a support tank to be used to handle anti-tank guns and fortifications, it would work alongside the more numerable Panzer III in Panzer Divisions, but would changes it's roll in the later part of the war.

The Panzer IV Ausf.A production started in 1937 and ended in June 1938, it was similar to the B.W.I Prototype and production would stop after 35 vehicles had been completed, the Ausf.B went into production 1938 which had several changes to the A, with more frontal armour without a ball mount for the MG-34 machine gun, a new 300hp Maybach HL-120TR engine, transmission, single-piece hatches and commander’s cupola.

The A and B almost didn't have any external differences and it only had a improved modified engine, engine mounts, new turret ring and armored sleeve mount around the machine gun barrel.

The Ausf.D had numerous changes made to the front hull armour, and looked more like the Ausf.A, the ball mounted MG-34 machine gun was reintroduced and the driver’s front was fitted forwards again.

The Ausf.F or F1, first called the F at an early stage, was the last of the Panzer IV that fitted the short 75 mm gun, it would again see changes in it's suspension, with larger track links, with new idler wheels and front drive sprockets to reduce ground pressure, this was done because of the new additional armour increase.

The Ausf.F2 or the early Ausf.G started it's production in February 1942, after development started in 1941 to mount the Pak 38 L/60 into the turret of the Panzer IV, and a prototype was ready in November, but with new Russian tanks like KV-1s and T-34s, the 38 was dropped in favor of the new Pak 40 L/46 and a new gun was produced, the KwK 40 L/43 was fitted with a muzzle-brake and the first prototype was ready in 1942.
But in June 1942, the F2 was renamed Ausf.G, and this would pretty much make every long barreled Panzer IV, the Ausf.G.

The Ausf.G had numerous changes, like the elimination of the turret vision ports, the cupola was up-armored and modified, additional racks and brackets for spare road wheels and track links were added, the engine ventilation was improved. and some changes made to the armour, with an additional 30 mm to the frontal-glacis and changes to the armour to make the tank lighter, but it wasn't enough for the limited capacity of the chassis and transmission.

The late production introduced in March-April 1943, had the new side skirt armor fitted (Schürzen) to the sides and turret, and would also receive the new KwK 40 L/48, and smoke grenade launchers to the side of the turret.

From 1942 until 1943 1275 early Ausf.G tanks were produced and 412 later types.

The Ausf.H had the biggest production of the all, with a total of 3774 produced by June of 1944.
big changes made to the H were the new KwK 40 L/48, which the Late G already had, and the removal of the hull side vision ports, with factory-mounted Side and turret spaced armor (Schürzen) and Zimmerit paste. ( watch my Zimmerit video for more on Zimmerit. Video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9bCMG9fPo ),
new air filters were fitted, along with a modified cupola, with turret anti-aircraft mount for an extra MG 34.

The Ausf.J was a retrograde from the H, it addressed the mobility problems the Panzer IV had with the G and H and was simplify to make production of the tank easier, and make it more suitable for mass-production.

The electric generator that powered the tank’s turret traverse was removed so the turret had to be rotated manually. The electric turret traverse was sacrificed for an additional 200 liters of fuel capacity, remaining pistol and vision ports on the turret side hatches were removed and the engine’s radiator housing was simplified and Zimmerit and the Schurzen would not be applied anymore, and the side armour would be replaced by Thoma type wire-mesh panels.

Armour quality was also decreased, because of Allied bombings and plates which should have been face-hardened for the Panzer IV were instead made with rolled homogeneous armour plating.
A total of 1,700 to 2900 Panzer IV Ausf J were produced before the war ended.

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■ Information obtained from several sites.
■ Wikipedia
■ tanks-encyclopedia
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Panzers
■ preservedtanks
■ pantser.net
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Tanks_in_France

■ Some music is from the YouTube Audio Library.

■ Music used:
EpidemicSound.com

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