Difference between revisions of "Pz.IV F1"

From War Thunder Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Visual (beta)Wikitext
m
Line 2: Line 2:
  
 
== Description ==
 
== Description ==
−
''In the description, the first part needs to be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert the screenshot of the vehicle. If the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, they will immediately understand what kind of vehicle it is talking about.''
+
<!--''In the description, the first part needs to be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert the screenshot of the vehicle. If the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, they will immediately understand what kind of vehicle it is talking about.''-->
 +
[[File:GarageImage Pz.IVF1.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
 +
{{break}}
 +
The '''Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F1''' (or '''Panzer IV F1''') is a Rank II German medium tank with a battle rating of 2.3. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.
 +
 
 +
Appearing in 1941 at about the same time as the PzKpfw III, Ausf. J, this model saw substantial changes. The basic armour thickness was increased from 30mm to 50mm on all front faces (hull, superstructure, turret) and to 30mm on the sides.The supplementary bolted armour was dropped. The superstructure front was changed back to a single straight plate, and the hull machine gun was changed from the Gimbal mount to a ball mount, Kugelblende 50.
 +
 
 +
In game, compared to the previous modification [[Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E| Pz.IV E]], F1 offers enhanced armour, mostly on the turret, which used to be a "weakspot" on the E variant.
 +
 
 +
Side & Rear hull armour has been improved to 30 mm, and entire upper front hull is now a single plate of 50mm steel - while some places are actually weaker, there are no longer any "holes" in the armour easily penetrable by any gun.
  
 
== 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 helpfull 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.''-->
 +
'''Armour type:'''
 +
*Rolled homogeneous armour
 +
*Cast homogeneous armour (Cupola)
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Hull || 50 mm (12°) ''Front plate'' <br> 20 mm (73°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 50 mm (13-58°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 mm || 30 mm (4-14°) || 10 mm
 +
|-
 +
| Turret || 50 mm (12°) ''Turret front'' <br> 50 mm (12-29°) ''Gun mantlet''|| 30 mm (23-26°) || 30 mm (14-17°) || 10 mm
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Cupola || 30 mm || 10 mm
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
'''Notes:'''
 +
* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
 +
* The hull underside right above the tracks is 10 mm thick.
  
 
=== Mobility ===
 
=== Mobility ===
−
''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''
+
<!--''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''-->
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
 +
|-
 +
! Weight (tons)
 +
!colspan="1" | Add-on Armour<br>weight (tons)
 +
!colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
 +
|-
 +
|rowspan="2" | 22.3 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 48 (AB)
 +
|-
 +
|43 (RB/SB)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="1" | Mode
 +
!Stock
 +
!Upgraded
 +
|-
 +
|''Arcade''
 +
|465
 +
|572
 +
|-
 +
|''Realistic/Simulator''
 +
|265
 +
|300
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="1" | Mode
 +
!Stock
 +
!Upgraded
 +
|-
 +
|''Arcade''
 +
|20.85
 +
|25.65
 +
|-
 +
|''Realistic/Simulator''
 +
|11.88
 +
|13.45
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
== Armaments ==
 
== Armaments ==
 
=== Main armament ===
 
=== Main armament ===
−
''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibilty of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.''
+
<!--''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibilty of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.''-->
 +
{{main|KwK 37 (75 mm)}}
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | [[KwK 37 (75 mm)|75 mm KwK 37]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="3" | 80 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
 +
|-
 +
! style="width:4em" |Mode
 +
! style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| ''Arcade'' || 8.30 || 11.53 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
 +
|-
 +
| ''Realistic'' || 8.30 || 9.80 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| 4.29 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===== Ammunition =====
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! colspan="6" | '''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
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="11" | Shell details
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! rowspan="2" |Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! rowspan="2" |Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
 +
''in m:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
 +
''in mm:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° <br> from horizontal:''
 +
! colspan="3" | ''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°
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
 +
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
 +
|-
 +
! Ammunition
 +
! Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! ''Screen radius <br /> in m''
 +
! ''Screen time <br /> in s''
 +
! ''Screen hold time <br /> in s:''
 +
! ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
|-
 +
| K.Gr.Rot Nb. || 423 || 6.8 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full<br /> ammo
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |8th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |9th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" width="10%" |Recommendations
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual<br /> discrepancy
 +
|-
 +
|| '''80''' || 72&nbsp;''(+8)'' || 63&nbsp;''(+17)'' || 54&nbsp;''(+26)'' || 45&nbsp;''(+35)'' || 36&nbsp;''(+44)'' || 27&nbsp;''(+53)'' || 18&nbsp;''(+62)'' || 9&nbsp;''(+71)'' || 1&nbsp;''(+79)'' || style="text-align:left" | Yes
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
−
=== Additional armament ===
+
Turret empty: 72&nbsp;''(+8)''
−
''Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.''
 
  
 
=== 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)}}
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate <br> (shots/minute)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="4" | 2,700 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
== 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).''-->
 +
Any veteran of the Ausf. C and E should feel right at home in this vehicle. Usage is the same, players should only be careful of some possible new opponents, coming from higher Tiers. In general, it is still an excellent short range corner-cleaner.
 +
 
 +
The gun is very powerful, with great rate of fire, but it suffers from low penetration. HEAT shells can be used to solve this issue, but they do a lot less post-penetration damage. The Pz.IV F1 is often capable of annihilating an enemy vehicle with a single AP shell. 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 tier enemies the relatively poor penetration of the gun and very slow shell travel speed can become a problem. Avoiding direct encounters, and using flanking maneuvers is advisable.
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
−
''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''
+
<!--''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''-->
−
 
 
 
'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
−
*
+
*Fast reload speed for short 75 mm (Great when using HEAT rounds).
−
 
+
*Decent mix of protection and mobility.
 +
*Good traverse rate.
 +
*Excellent gun depression.
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
−
*
+
*Poor AP penetration at range.
 +
*Weak side armour.
 +
*Huge and weak commander cupola.
 +
*Frail engine and ammo rack.
 +
*Narrow tracks -> poor performance in soft/sandy terrain (most notable in realistic modes).
 +
*F1 is a bit heavier and slower than previous Pz.IV tanks.
  
 
== 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 ===
 +
The '''Pz.Kpfw. IV's''' creation, like its predecessor the [[Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. 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, which was chosen instead of both a proposed interleaved suspension and the earlier devised torsion bar suspension system 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.
 +
 
 +
===Panzer IV Ausf. F1===
 +
After the Battle of Poland and France, the deficiencies of the [[Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. C|Ausf. C]] variant saw it being upgraded on October 1940 to the [[Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E|Ausf. E]]. Despite the new upgrades, the Panzer IV was upgraded again to refine its detail with the '''Panzer IV Ausf. F''' in April 1941.  Still retaining the KwK 37 L/24 75 mm howitzer gun, but with now a full 50 mm thick glacis plate and an increase of side armour to 30 mm. The tracks is also widened from 380 to 400 mm to balance the increased weight from the Ausf. C's 18 tons to the Ausf. F 22 tons.
 +
 
 +
The Ausf. F was the main Panzer IV variant during the start of 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. The short 75 mm howitzer was inadequate to deal with these new tanks at all. All was not lost though, as in the weeks before Barbarossa, a proposal was made to upgrade the Panzer IV with a new gun to increase its firepower, with the new 75 mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. The resulting gun was the KwK 40 L/43 and upgunned the Panzer IV Ausf. F. The Ausf. F was then renamed to '''F1''' for the variants retaining the shorter 75 mm howitzer, and [[Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2|Panzer IV Ausf. F2]] for the variants with the more lethal 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 gun.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==
−
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
+
[https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23pz_iv_f1 '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the "Panzer IV F1" from live.warthunder.com.]
 +
 
 +
===Sights===
 +
* [https://live.warthunder.com/post/675135/en/ RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI]
  
 
== Read also ==
 
== Read also ==
Line 51: Line 281:
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''other literature.''
 
* ''other literature.''
 +
 +
{{Germany medium tanks}}

Revision as of 01:21, 17 November 2018

Rank 7 USA
F-5C Pack
Pz.IV F1
germ_pzkpfw_iv_ausf_f.png
Pz.IV F1
Germany flag.png Germany
I Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
2.3 2.0 2.0
Class:
Research:3 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:6 300 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage Pz.IV F1.jpg


The Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F1 (or Panzer IV F1) is a Rank II German medium tank with a battle rating of 2.3. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

Appearing in 1941 at about the same time as the PzKpfw III, Ausf. J, this model saw substantial changes. The basic armour thickness was increased from 30mm to 50mm on all front faces (hull, superstructure, turret) and to 30mm on the sides.The supplementary bolted armour was dropped. The superstructure front was changed back to a single straight plate, and the hull machine gun was changed from the Gimbal mount to a ball mount, Kugelblende 50.

In game, compared to the previous modification Pz.IV E, F1 offers enhanced armour, mostly on the turret, which used to be a "weakspot" on the E variant.

Side & Rear hull armour has been improved to 30 mm, and entire upper front hull is now a single plate of 50mm steel - while some places are actually weaker, there are no longer any "holes" in the armour easily penetrable by any gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Cupola)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 50 mm (12°) Front plate
20 mm (73°) Front glacis
50 mm (13-58°) Lower glacis 		30 mm 30 mm (4-14°) 10 mm
Turret 50 mm (12°) Turret front
50 mm (12-29°) Gun mantlet		 30 mm (23-26°) 30 mm (14-17°) 10 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 30 mm 10 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
  • The hull underside right above the tracks is 10 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armour
weight (tons) 		Max speed (km/h)
22.3 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 20.85 25.65
Realistic/Simulator 11.88 13.45

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 		Recommendations Visual
discrepancy
80 72 (+8) 63 (+17) 54 (+26) 45 (+35) 36 (+44) 27 (+53) 18 (+62) 9 (+71) 1 (+79) Yes

Turret empty: 72 (+8)

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

Any veteran of the Ausf. C and E should feel right at home in this vehicle. Usage is the same, players should only be careful of some possible new opponents, coming from higher Tiers. In general, it is still an excellent short range corner-cleaner.

The gun is very powerful, with great rate of fire, but it suffers from low penetration. HEAT shells can be used to solve this issue, but they do a lot less post-penetration damage. The Pz.IV F1 is often capable of annihilating an enemy vehicle with a single AP shell. 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 tier enemies the relatively poor penetration of the gun and very slow shell travel speed can become a problem. Avoiding direct encounters, and using flanking maneuvers is advisable.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Fast reload speed for short 75 mm (Great when using HEAT rounds).
  • Decent mix of protection and mobility.
  • Good traverse rate.
  • Excellent gun depression.

Cons:

  • Poor AP penetration at range.
  • Weak side armour.
  • Huge and weak commander cupola.
  • Frail engine and ammo rack.
  • Narrow tracks -> poor performance in soft/sandy terrain (most notable in realistic modes).
  • F1 is a bit heavier and slower than previous Pz.IV tanks.

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, which was chosen instead of both a proposed interleaved suspension and the earlier devised torsion bar suspension system 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.

Panzer IV Ausf. F1

After the Battle of Poland and France, the deficiencies of the Ausf. C variant saw it being upgraded on October 1940 to the Ausf. E. Despite the new upgrades, the Panzer IV was upgraded again to refine its detail with the Panzer IV Ausf. F in April 1941. Still retaining the KwK 37 L/24 75 mm howitzer gun, but with now a full 50 mm thick glacis plate and an increase of side armour to 30 mm. The tracks is also widened from 380 to 400 mm to balance the increased weight from the Ausf. C's 18 tons to the Ausf. F 22 tons.

The Ausf. F was the main Panzer IV variant during the start of Operation Barbarossa, but was soon found to be terribly outgunned by the appearance of the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. The short 75 mm howitzer was inadequate to deal with these new tanks at all. All was not lost though, as in the weeks before Barbarossa, a proposal was made to upgrade the Panzer IV with a new gun to increase its firepower, with the new 75 mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. The resulting gun was the KwK 40 L/43 and upgunned the Panzer IV Ausf. F. The Ausf. F was then renamed to F1 for the variants retaining the shorter 75 mm howitzer, and Panzer IV Ausf. F2 for the variants with the more lethal 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 gun.

Media

Skins and camouflages for the "Panzer IV F1" 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

Retrieved from "https://wiki.warthunder.com/index.php?title=Pz.IV_F1&oldid=8580"