The Most Significant Panzer in the German Army of World War 2

During World War 2 the German Army (Heer) had revolutionized the use of armored warfare by using their "panzers" to concentrate a huge number of units to strike a spearhead through the enemy's defensive lines. Much of armored battle tactics, prior to the invasion of Poland in 1939, had used the tanks sparingly spread out across wide lines making them ineffective. With the added implementation of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) to attack ground based targets and support the German panzers, the "Blitzkrieg" (Lightning War) was conceived. Now having said all that about the "Blitzkrieg", the panzers were of course used in a defensive manner. As the war turned in favor of the Allies, the Germans started defending the territory they had captured, then subsequently lost and eventually had to defend the "Fatherland" of Germany itself.

So, I ask the question...what was the single most valuable panzer tank used by the Germans during World War 2? We all know of the fearsome Tiger 1 and the Panther, but what of the Panzerkampfwagen I, II, III or IV? Let's start with the Pzkpfw VI...the "Tiger".

The Tiger made a psychological impact on the morale of the enemy due to its long range deadly 88mm gun and the heavy frontal armor (120mm), which made it seem indestructible. The Tiger was too heavy at 56 tons and no sloping armor like the Panther tank which allowed the weight to be much lower. Only about 1350 produced, but started in 1942 and the majority late in the war... too late and too long to produce.

The Panther was considered the greatest tank the Germans had by many historians, but the initial action was bogged down by mechanical problems and fires. After those bugs were worked out the Panther went on to have about 6,557 tanks produced. The Panther had better frontal armor than the Tiger, due to the sloping, and was speedier and handled bad terrain better as it was much lighter at 44 tons. The Panther had its debut at the Battle of Kursk in 1943 starting with 84 working Panthers. Within two days, the number of operational Panthers had dropped to 40 due to breakdowns and combat. From then on the Panther was always outnumbered and never had the chance to really make a significant impact.

The Panzer IV production was just under the III's with 13,522, it was the only tank to be manufactured during the entire span of the war. The Panzer IV started off with a 50mm gun, then had to match the Russian threat from the T-34's and KV-1's that were being fought against in 1941 for the first on the Eastern front and had to upgrade to the 75mm gun. The Panzerkampfwagen IV was and all around "workhorse" for the Germans and was in many of the major battles in all theaters of operations.

The Panzer III's had 16,409 produced but were medium tanks that kept getting firepower upgrades to keep up with the Russian tanks like the T-34.

The I and II's had a significant impact in the early stages, but were quickly outclassed by the T-34's.

My vote would go to the Panzerkampfwagen IV for the most important tank to the Germans in World War 2. The Panzer IV was much like the Allies' Sherman or the T-34 tanks, where vast numbers overwhelmed the high quality, low quantity German panzers. The Panzer IV was improved with each version, except near the end of the war, where resources were limiting performance improvements. Had the Germans "cranked" out more of the IV's, they would have had more spare parts, lower costs, higher rate of production and just more tanks to wage war.

About the author:

William Snyder has a passion for World War 2 German panzer tanks...so much so that it inspired him to design and create t shirts based on these armored beasts. To see his designs goto: ACHTUNG T SHIRT and BLOG.