Difference between revisions of "Pz.IV E"

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[[File:GarageImage Pz.IVE.jpg|420px|thumb|left|The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' in the garage.]]
 
[[File:GarageImage Pz.IVE.jpg|420px|thumb|left|The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' in the garage.]]
 
{{break}}
 
{{break}}
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The '''{{specs|name}}''' ('''Panzer IV E''') is a Rank I German medium tank with a battle rating of {{specs|br|ab}} (AB) and {{specs|br|rb}} (RB/SB). It was introduced in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]].
+
The '''{{specs|name}}''' ('''Panzer IV E''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]].
  
−
In game, compared to the previous modification  [[Pz.IV C]], E modification is mostly an armour upgrade - front lower plate is now 50 mm thick, side and rear armour has been increased by 5mm. Plus, the front and side armour have additional armour plates installed on them. Commander's cupola got thicker as well. Gun remains the same, short 7.5cm KwK 37 L/24. Another notable thing is the availability of a new improved Hl.Gr.38C HEAT ammunition, with higher armour penetration.
+
In the game, compared to the previous modification  [[Pz.IV C]], E modification is mostly an armour upgrade - front lower plate is now 50 mm thick, side and rear armour have been increased by 5mm. Plus, the front and side armour have additional armour plates installed on them. Commander's cupola got thicker as well. Gun remains the same, short 7.5cm KwK 37 L/24. Another notable thing is the availability of a new improved Hl.Gr.38C HEAT ammunition, with higher armour penetration.
  
 
Mobility got improved as well - top speed has been raised from 35 kph to 43 kph. Reverse speed has been slightly raised too (from about 6 kph to 8 kph).
 
Mobility got improved as well - top speed has been raised from 35 kph to 43 kph. Reverse speed has been slightly raised too (from about 6 kph to 8 kph).
Line 13: Line 13:
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
−
<!--''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpfull for survival in combat?''
+
<!--''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat?''
  
 
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''-->
 
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''-->
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=== Machine guns ===
 
=== Machine guns ===
−
<!--''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.''-->
+
<!--''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.''-->
 
{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}
 
{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}
  
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== Usage in the battles ==
 
== Usage in the battles ==
 
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
 
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
−
The gun is very powerful, with great rate of fire, and with HEAT shells, can one shot most of it's opponents. While being able to penetrate most of your opponent's frontal armour, you are a lot more effective when the enemy doesn't see you as your armour is not the greatest. Pz.IV E is often capable of annihilating an enemy vehicle with a single AP shell, regardless of the angle of the enemy's armour. It has a fair amount of armour as well, however due to the lack of an actual slope it may seem considerably more fragile than some Soviet vehicles when facing AP shells.
+
The gun is very powerful, with a great rate of fire, and with HEAT shells, can one-shot most of its opponents. While being able to penetrate most of your opponent's frontal armour, you are a lot more effective when the enemy doesn't see you as your armour is not the greatest. Pz.IV E is often capable of annihilating an enemy vehicle with a single AP shell, regardless of the angle of the enemy's armour. It has a fair amount of armour as well, however, due to the lack of an actual slope it may seem considerably more fragile than some Soviet vehicles when facing AP shells.
  
−
Against most threats, it is often wiser to close in with the enemy vehicle, to make targeting the weakest areas possible, increasing the chance of successful penetration. When engaging vehicles at close range, it is for example good idea to count on the slower turret speed of the Soviet machines, allowing the player to circle around them with ease and deliver devastating shots. Bear in mind that while this tank can easily obliterate any vehicle at its own BR, against higher rank enemies the relatively poor penetration of the gun and very slow shell travel speed can become a problem. However take note that your standard AP round can still penetrate most tanks you face at BR 2.0 but take HEAT rounds for the more heavily armoured tanks (Such as the Valentine and Matilda II). An advisable approach to play the Pz.Kpfw Ausf. E is to attack the enemy's flanks and avoid direct encounters with enemy vehicles.
+
Against most threats, it is often wiser to close in with the enemy vehicle, to make targeting the weakest areas possible, increasing the chance of successful penetration. When engaging vehicles at close range, it is, for example, a good idea to count on the slower turret speed of the Soviet machines, allowing the player to circle around them with ease and deliver devastating shots. Bear in mind that while this tank can easily obliterate any vehicle at its own BR, against higher rank enemies the relatively poor penetration of the gun and very slow shell travel speed can become a problem. However, take note that your standard AP round can still penetrate most tanks you face at BR 2.0 but take HEAT rounds for the more heavily armoured tanks (Such as the Valentine and Matilda II). An advisable approach to play the Pz.Kpfw Ausf. E is to attack the enemy's flanks and avoid direct encounters with enemy vehicles.
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
Line 241: Line 241:
 
'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
  
−
* Powerful gun.
+
* Powerful gun
−
* Gun is devastating to lightly armoured vehicles.
+
* Gun is devastating to lightly armoured vehicles
−
* Excellent gun depression.
+
* Excellent gun depression
−
* Access to improved HlGr 38C HEAT ammo, which has enhanced penetration and can hull break most lighter enemies.
+
* Access to improved HlGr 38C HEAT ammo, which has enhanced penetration and can hull break most lighter enemies
−
* Good mobility.
+
* Good mobility
−
* Has access to smoke shells.
+
* Has access to smoke shells
  
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
  
−
* Poor turret armour.
+
* Poor turret armour
−
* The starting shells lack penetration.
+
* The starting shells lack penetration
−
* Gun lacks penetration at longer ranges.
+
* Gun lacks penetration at longer ranges
−
* Low-velocity gun.
+
* Low-velocity gun
−
* Commander's cupola is huge and easy to hit.
+
* Commander's cupola is huge and easy to hit
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
 
<!--''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''-->
 
<!--''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''-->
 
===Development===
 
===Development===
−
The '''Pz.Kpfw. IV's''' creation, like its predecessor the [[Pz.III E|Pz.Kpfw. III]], was devised by Heinz Guderian, where he envisioned a support tank to be used to handle anti-tank guns and fortifications. The Panzer IV was to work alongside the more numerable Panzer III in Panzer Divisions (three company of IIIs and one of IVs) to engage the enemy, giving the role of fighting enemy armoured forces to the Panzer IIIs. As a support tank, the tank was to have the short 75 mm howiter as its main armament and have a weight limit of 24 tons. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig worked on the development of the tanks, but the Krupp's model was selected for further testing.
+
The '''Pz.Kpfw. IV's''' creation, like its predecessor the [[Pz.III E|Pz.Kpfw. III]], was devised by Heinz Guderian, where he envisioned a support tank to be used to handle anti-tank guns and fortifications. The Panzer IV was to work alongside the more numerable Panzer III in Panzer Divisions (three company of IIIs and one of IVs) to engage the enemy, giving the role of fighting enemy armoured forces to the Panzer IIIs. As a support tank, the tank was to have the short 75 mm Howitzer as its main armament and have a weight limit of 24 tons. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig worked on the development of the tanks, but the Krupp's model was selected for further testing.
  
−
The chosen model from Krupp once finished used a leaf-spring double-bogie system for its suspension, doing away the proposed interleaved or torsion bar suspension system earlier devised for the sake of faster production. The vehicle held five crew members, the commander, gunner, loader, radio operator (and hull machine gunner), and driver. Though it looked symmetrical, the Panzer IV turret was actually offset to the left of the chassis center line a bit while the engine was also offset to the right, this was to allow the torque shaft to turn the turret. The offset also meant that most of the ammo is held on the right side of the tank in storage areas. The Panzer IV was then accepted into service and production began in 1936.
+
The chosen model from Krupp once finished used a leaf-spring double-bogie system for its suspension, doing away the proposed interleaved or torsion bar suspension system earlier devised for the sake of faster production. The vehicle held five crew members, the commander, gunner, loader, radio operator (and hull machine gunner), and driver. Though it looked symmetrical, the Panzer IV turret was actually offset to the left of the chassis centre line a bit while the engine was also offset to the right, this was to allow the torque shaft to turn the turret. The offset also meant that most of the ammo is held on the right side of the tank in storage areas. The Panzer IV was then accepted into service and production began in 1936.
  
 
===Panzer IV Ausf. E===
 
===Panzer IV Ausf. E===
−
After the Battle of Poland and France, the deficiencies of the [[Pz.IV C|Panzer IV Ausf. C]] saw it being upgraded on October 1940 to the '''Panzer IV Ausf. E'''. Still retaining the KwK 37 L/24 75 mm howitzer gun, but with an upgrade to 50 mm thick, with the original 20 mm glacis plus a 30 mm steel plate bolted onto the glacis as an improvised protection. The commander cupola was moved slightly forward to accommodate the new storage bin on the back of the turrets from that model on.
+
After the Battle of Poland and France, the deficiencies of the [[Pz.IV C|Panzer IV Ausf. C]] saw it being upgraded on October 1940 to the '''Panzer IV Ausf. E'''. Still retaining the KwK 37 L/24 75 mm howitzer gun, but with an upgrade to 50 mm thick, with the original 20 mm glacis plus a 30 mm steel plate bolted onto the glacis as improvised protection. The commander cupola was moved slightly forward to accommodate the new storage bin on the back of the turrets from that model on.
  
 
Despite that, the Ausf. E was soon taken over by a new variant in production in April 1941, the [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IV Ausf. F]]. Though, the Ausf. E saw service alongside it in Operation Barbarossa, but was soon found to be terribly outgunned by the appearance of the Soviet [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks. It was replaced from front-line service with the Ausf. F variant.
 
Despite that, the Ausf. E was soon taken over by a new variant in production in April 1941, the [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IV Ausf. F]]. Though, the Ausf. E saw service alongside it in Operation Barbarossa, but was soon found to be terribly outgunned by the appearance of the Soviet [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks. It was replaced from front-line service with the Ausf. F variant.
 +
 +
=== In-game description ===
 +
A modification of the Pz.Kpfw IV medium tank that took into account all the flaws that had previously come to light. The armor plating was enhanced, the front of the body was now covered by additional 30 mm plates, and the sides — by 20 mm plates. The tank now weighed 21 tons. A new model of tracks was also used that had a width of 400 mm rather than the old 360 mm tracks. 
 +
The tanks of this series were released between September, 1940 and April, 1941. 223 tanks were produced.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==

Revision as of 16:30, 22 May 2019

Rank 7 USA
F-5C Pack
Pz.IV E
germ_pzkpfw_iv_ausf_e.png
Pz.IV E
Germany flag.png Germany
I Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
2.3 2.0 2.0
Class:
Research:5 900 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:6 300 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

The Pz.IV E in the garage.


The Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E (Panzer IV E) is a rank I German medium tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB) and 2.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals".

In the game, compared to the previous modification Pz.IV C, E modification is mostly an armour upgrade - front lower plate is now 50 mm thick, side and rear armour have been increased by 5mm. Plus, the front and side armour have additional armour plates installed on them. Commander's cupola got thicker as well. Gun remains the same, short 7.5cm KwK 37 L/24. Another notable thing is the availability of a new improved Hl.Gr.38C HEAT ammunition, with higher armour penetration.

Mobility got improved as well - top speed has been raised from 35 kph to 43 kph. Reverse speed has been slightly raised too (from about 6 kph to 8 kph).

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Cupola)
Armour Front Sides Rear Roof
Hull 30 + 30 mm (11°) Front plate
20 mm (72°) Front glacis
50 mm (14°) Bottom glacis 		20 + 20 mm 20 mm 10 mm
Turret 30 mm Turret front
35 mm Gun mantlet 		20 mm 20 mm 10 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 30 mm 10 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
  • Upper front armour (30 mm) is enhanced by added 30 mm plate, making it 60 mm thick total, with small areas with only 30 mm.
  • Side armour is also enhanced by added armour plates as well, 40 mm thick total.
  • Belly armour is 10 mm thick.
  • Hull underside right above tracks is only 10 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armour
weight (tons) 		Max speed (km/h)
21.0 N/A 48 (AB)
43 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 465 572
Realistic/Simulator 265 300
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 22.14 27.24
Realistic/Simulator 12.62 14.28

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: KwK 37 (75 mm)
75 mm KwK 37
Capacity Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance 		Stabilizer
80 -10°/+20° ±180° N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 8.30 11.53 _.__ _.__ _.__
Realistic 8.30 9.80 _.__ _.__ _.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
4.29 _.__ _.__ _.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
K.Gr.rot Pz. APCBC 56 54 50 46 42 38
Hl.Gr. 38B HEAT 80 80 80 80 80 80
Hl.Gr. 38C HEAT 100 100 100 100 100 100
Sprgr. 34 HE 10 10 10 10 10 10
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Velocity
in m/s 		Projectile
Mass in kg 		Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent): 		Normalization At 30°
from horizontal: 		Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
K.Gr.rot Pz. APCBC 385 6.8 1.3 15.0 80 +4° 48° 63° 71°
Hl.Gr. 38B HEAT 450 4.6 0.0 0.1 872.1 +0° 62° 69° 73°
Hl.Gr. 38C HEAT 450 4.8 0.0 0.1 875.5 +0° 62° 69° 73°
Sprgr. 34 HE 420 5.7 0.1 0.1 686 +0° 79° 80° 81°
Smoke characteristic
Ammunition Velocity
in m/s 		Projectile
Mass in kg 		Screen radius
in m 		Screen time
in s 		Screen hold time
in s: 		Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
K.Gr.Rot Nb. 423 6.8 13 5 20 50
Ammo racks
Full
ammo 		1st
rack empty 		2nd
rack empty 		3rd
rack empty 		4th
rack empty 		5th
rack empty 		6th
rack empty 		7th
rack empty 		8th
rack empty 		9th
rack empty 		Visual
discrepancy
80 72 (+8) 63 (+17) 54 (+26) 45 (+35) 36 (+44) 27 (+53) 18 (+62) 9 (+71) 1 (+79) no

Machine guns

Main article: MG 34 (7.92 mm)
7.92 mm MG 34
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute) 		Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
2,700 (150) 900 N/A N/A

Usage in the battles

The gun is very powerful, with a great rate of fire, and with HEAT shells, can one-shot most of its opponents. While being able to penetrate most of your opponent's frontal armour, you are a lot more effective when the enemy doesn't see you as your armour is not the greatest. Pz.IV E is often capable of annihilating an enemy vehicle with a single AP shell, regardless of the angle of the enemy's armour. It has a fair amount of armour as well, however, due to the lack of an actual slope it may seem considerably more fragile than some Soviet vehicles when facing AP shells.

Against most threats, it is often wiser to close in with the enemy vehicle, to make targeting the weakest areas possible, increasing the chance of successful penetration. When engaging vehicles at close range, it is, for example, a good idea to count on the slower turret speed of the Soviet machines, allowing the player to circle around them with ease and deliver devastating shots. Bear in mind that while this tank can easily obliterate any vehicle at its own BR, against higher rank enemies the relatively poor penetration of the gun and very slow shell travel speed can become a problem. However, take note that your standard AP round can still penetrate most tanks you face at BR 2.0 but take HEAT rounds for the more heavily armoured tanks (Such as the Valentine and Matilda II). An advisable approach to play the Pz.Kpfw Ausf. E is to attack the enemy's flanks and avoid direct encounters with enemy vehicles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Powerful gun
  • Gun is devastating to lightly armoured vehicles
  • Excellent gun depression
  • Access to improved HlGr 38C HEAT ammo, which has enhanced penetration and can hull break most lighter enemies
  • Good mobility
  • Has access to smoke shells

Cons:

  • Poor turret armour
  • The starting shells lack penetration
  • Gun lacks penetration at longer ranges
  • Low-velocity gun
  • Commander's cupola is huge and easy to hit

History

Development

The Pz.Kpfw. IV's creation, like its predecessor the Pz.Kpfw. III, was devised by Heinz Guderian, where he envisioned a support tank to be used to handle anti-tank guns and fortifications. The Panzer IV was to work alongside the more numerable Panzer III in Panzer Divisions (three company of IIIs and one of IVs) to engage the enemy, giving the role of fighting enemy armoured forces to the Panzer IIIs. As a support tank, the tank was to have the short 75 mm Howitzer as its main armament and have a weight limit of 24 tons. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig worked on the development of the tanks, but the Krupp's model was selected for further testing.

The chosen model from Krupp once finished used a leaf-spring double-bogie system for its suspension, doing away the proposed interleaved or torsion bar suspension system earlier devised for the sake of faster production. The vehicle held five crew members, the commander, gunner, loader, radio operator (and hull machine gunner), and driver. Though it looked symmetrical, the Panzer IV turret was actually offset to the left of the chassis centre line a bit while the engine was also offset to the right, this was to allow the torque shaft to turn the turret. The offset also meant that most of the ammo is held on the right side of the tank in storage areas. The Panzer IV was then accepted into service and production began in 1936.

Panzer IV Ausf. E

After the Battle of Poland and France, the deficiencies of the Panzer IV Ausf. C saw it being upgraded on October 1940 to the Panzer IV Ausf. E. Still retaining the KwK 37 L/24 75 mm howitzer gun, but with an upgrade to 50 mm thick, with the original 20 mm glacis plus a 30 mm steel plate bolted onto the glacis as improvised protection. The commander cupola was moved slightly forward to accommodate the new storage bin on the back of the turrets from that model on.

Despite that, the Ausf. E was soon taken over by a new variant in production in April 1941, the Panzer IV Ausf. F. Though, the Ausf. E saw service alongside it in Operation Barbarossa, but was soon found to be terribly outgunned by the appearance of the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. It was replaced from front-line service with the Ausf. F variant.

In-game description

A modification of the Pz.Kpfw IV medium tank that took into account all the flaws that had previously come to light. The armor plating was enhanced, the front of the body was now covered by additional 30 mm plates, and the sides — by 20 mm plates. The tank now weighed 21 tons. A new model of tracks was also used that had a width of 400 mm rather than the old 360 mm tracks. The tanks of this series were released between September, 1940 and April, 1941. 223 tanks were produced.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Skins and camouflages

Links for custom camouflages:

Top six downloaded skins from live.warthunder.com

Sights

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

  • reference to the series of the vehicles;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

ETC.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


Germany medium tanks
Pz.III  Pz.III B · Pz.III E · Pz.III F · Pz.III J · Pz.III J1 · Pz.III J1 TD · Pz.III L · Pz.III M · Pz.III N
Pz.IV  Pz.IV C · Pz.IV E · Pz.IV F1 · Pz.IV F2 · Pz.IV G · Pz.IV H · Pz.IV J · Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J
Pz.V  VK 3002 (M) · Panther A · Panther D · Panther F · Panther G · Ersatz M10 · Panther II
M48 upgrades  M48A2 G A2 · M48 Super
Leopard 1  Leopard I · Leopard A1A1 · Leopard A1A1 (L/44) · Leopard 1A5 · C2A1 · Turm III
Leopard 2  PT-16/T14 mod. · Leopard 2K · Leopard 2AV
  Leopard 2A4 · Leopard 2 (PzBtl 123) · Leopard 2A4M · Leopard 2 PL · Leopard 2A5 · Leopard 2 PSO · Leopard 2A6 · Leopard 2A7V
Trophies  ▀M4 748 (a) · ▀T 34 747 (r)
Other  Nb.Fz. · KPz-70
USA  mKPz M47 G · M48A2 C
USSR  ◊T-72M1

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