Pz.III N

Pz.III N

Pz.III N

Germany

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	3.0	3.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 000

Show in game

Description

The Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N is a premium rank II German medium tank with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

This is a Panzer III, upgraded to carry a short 75 mm KwK37 cannon, which can also be found on a number of Panzer IV variants, as mounting the infamous long variant of the 75 mm gun failed, so a compromise was made. Panzer III N is referred to as the assault variant of the Panzer III family, and it retains a body of the Panzer III L and M variants.

General info

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 helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	60	12	23	465	572	20.22	24.87
Realistic	54	10		265	300	11.52	13.04

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm KwK37					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	64	-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A	13.3	18.4	22.4	24.8	26.4	4.29	3.80	3.50	3.30
Realistic					8.3	9.8	11.9	13.2	14.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
K.Gr.rot Pz.	APCBC	52	50	45	39	34	30
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	80	80	80	80	80	80
Sprgr. 34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
Hl.Gr 38C	HEAT	100	100	100	100	100	100

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
K.Gr.rot Pz.	APCBC	385	6.78	1.2	14	80	48°	63°	71°
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	450	4.57	0	0.1	872.1	62°	69°	73°
Sprgr. 34	HE	420	5.74	0	0.1	686	79°	80°	81°
Hl.Gr 38C	HEAT	450	4.8	0	0.1	875.5	62°	69°	73°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
K.Gr.Rot Nb.	423	6.2	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Pz.III N

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
64	57 (+7)	54 (+10)	46 (+18)	38 (+26)	24 (+40)	10 (+54)	1 (+63)	No

Notes:

• Racks disappear after all shells in the rack have been shot or loaded.
• Turret basket & flanks empty: 38 (+26) shells (racks 1 to 4 emptied).

Machine guns

7.92 mm MG34
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,450 (150)	900	N/A	N/A
Pintle	2,000 (150)	900	-10°/+25°	±180°

Usage in 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 instead 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).

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks	Winterketten	Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Hl.Gr 38B	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Hl.Gr 38C	Elevation Mechanism	Smoke grenade
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support	K.Gr.Rot Nb.
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

• When the Pz.III N is equipped with snow tracks (Winterketten), the side skirts are removed.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Spaced armour covering lots of the tank
• Fast-firing main gun
• Fast automotive characteristics, including acceleration and track traverse
• Tracks cover much of the sides, meaning a little better staying power under artillery barrage

Cons:

• Armour is almost never enough under sustained fire
• M4s, M22s, and M5s love to bounce your shots if not carefully aimed

History

In-game description

The Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N variant was an assault tank. Ausf. L and Ausf. M chassis were used to produce this variant. This variant was produced to meet the need for a stronger tank, one that could more effectively handle the Soviet T-34 and KV-1. A 75 mm long-barreled gun could not be installed in the turret due to the turret box's limited size. The designers decided to use the short-barreled 7.5cm KwK37 L/24 gun along with hollow-charge shells. This explosive projectile packed more punch than the 5 cm KwK39 L/60 gun. To accommodate this change, the gun's mantlet was redesigned. The gun's recoil mechanisms were improved, the single-hinged hatch for the command turret was replaced with a two-hinged hatch, and the thickness of the commander's cupola walls was increased to 100 mm. This variant's operational weight was 23,000 kilograms. Most of the tanks received a 5 mm Schutzen side skirts to protect the tank's hull and turret.

Production of Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N tanks began in June 1942 and lasted until August 1943. A total of 700 of these tanks were built. 3 were built from Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J tanks, 447 from Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. L tanks, 213 from Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. M tanks, and 37 from other variants after they had returned from the front.

This tank variant earned a good reputation with the troops and, by the beginning of the battle at the Kursk Bulge, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS owned 155 vehicles of this type.

Some of the tanks was transferred to Romania, Slovakia, and Croatia. Tanks of this variant were used until the end of the war and were transferred to Allied forces after Germany's surrender.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See 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.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.