T-III (USSR)

▂T-III

▂T-III

USSR

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.3	2.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:700

Show in game

Description

The ▂T-III or the captured German Pz.Kpfw.lll is a premium rank I Soviet medium tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB).

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Barrel shroud, Cupola)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	50 mm (12°) Front plate 25 mm (86°), 50 mm (52°) Front glacis 50 mm (23-69°) Lower glacis	30 mm	50 mm (14-46°) Top 50 mm (10-66°) Bottom	15 mm
Turret	50 mm (10-25°) Turret front 50 mm (12-62°) Gun mantlet	30 mm (20-25°)	30 mm (12-15°)	10 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	50 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.

With only an unangled 50mm armour plate at the front, even some rank I guns can penetrate the T-III's armour. Angling will not really help, as you will expose your even thinner side armour. However, the lower glacis is quite angled, and most small-caliber rounds will bounce off harmlessly. The ammunition is stored in the back of the tank, minimizing the threat of being ammo-racked.

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	21.8	465	572	21.33	26.24
Realistic	54	10		265	300	12.16	13.76

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	59	11	21.3	465	572	21.83	26.85
Realistic	53	9		265	300	12.44	14.08

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: KwK 38 (50 mm)

50 mm KwK 38
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
99			-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	5.24	7.25	8.80	9.73	10.35
Realistic	3.27	3.85	4.67	5.17	5.5
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
5.20	4.60	4.24	4.00

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
PzGr 39	APC	71	69	56	44	34	26
PzGr 40/1	APCR	118	117	84	56	37	25
PzGr 40	APCR	132	130	94	63	42	28

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%
PzGr 39	APC	685	2.1	1.2	25	28.9	+4°	48°	63°	71°
PzGr 40/1	APCR	1005	1.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°
PzGr 40	APCR	1050	0.92	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°

Shell Types

• PzGr 39 - Armour Piercing Capped shell - This is your main ammo type, use it whenever you think it has enough penetration to penetrate your target. It deals the most damage because of its explosive filler.
• PzGr 40/1 - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - This shell should be avoided, as it is inferior in most aspects when compared to the PzGr 40.
• PzGr 40 - Armour Piercing Composite Rigid shell - this variation of APCR is lighter, slightly faster and offers the best penetration (up to 132mm). Use it against heavily armoured beasts. However, don't expect it to cause any real damage upon penetration, it is even worse than that of PzGr 40/1. It only deals damage to modules/crew straight in its path, due to the fact that it has no explosive filler.

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
99	75 (+24)	50 (+49)	25 (+74)	1 (+98)	Yes

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
4,350 (150)				900	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Use of this tank is similar to the Pz. III F. While it does have significantly better armour on the front than its predecessor, the higher BR of 2.3 means it faces tougher, more well-armoured opposition in up-tiers to 3.3. The T-34 (1940) is almost impenetrable, except for some weakspots around the turret and flat-on below the tracks. M4A1s are similar in speed to you, have better sloped frontal armour that you cannot penetrate, more powerful guns, and stabilizers. APCR post-penetration damage is not sufficient enough to be counted upon when you need it the most, plus neither PzGr.40/1 or PzGr.40 can frontally penetrate a Sherman or T-34. The best way to attack these tanks is to flank them with your good mobility, or wait for them to overextend, then shoot at their weaker side armour. Furthermore, the high fuse sensitivity makes many lightly-armoured things with strong guns your worst nightmare, since you'll over-penetrate repeatedly in most cases, allowing easy return fire from the enemy. Enemy SPAAG, in particular, is very dangerous because of your 15 mm turret ring weak pot, enabling them to spray all over you to incapacitate your gunner and loader.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Accurate and decently powerful gun
• Great gun depression
• Decent mobility
• APCR ammo has very high speed and good penetration, making shooting at long range easier
• Armour is fairly decent, can protect reliably against lower-ranked tanks

Cons:

• Penetration is lacking, as is post-penetration damage against enemies in up-tiers
• Awful turret traverse speed
• Flat armour with little slope, weak side armour
• Large and weakly armour commander's cupola, often sticks out above the terrain, drawing the enemies' attention
• Has no HE shell

History

The T-III (USSR) is the Russian designation for a captured Panzer III, which saw extensive service during the early phases of Operation Barbarossa. After the battle of Moscow, the Russian army got a hold of lots of German equipment and it was subsequently evaluated. The T-III was mostly issued as a command vehicle due to its increased comfort and reliable radio. Often times captured vehicles would be refitted with Soviet parts for logistical reasons.

It saw combat in the battles of Kursk, Leningrad and Stalingrad, earning themselves a great reputation.

The T-III was operated by the Red Army until late 1943 after which they were dropped out of service in favour of newer Soviet vehicles or newly captured Panther tanks.

In-game description

The designation used for the captured Pz.Kpfw.lll German medium tank in the Red Army arsenal. The tank was an early modification of the Pz.Kpfw.lll Ausf.J that was armed with a short-barrel 50mm KwK.38 L/42. The Ausf.J differed from previous modifications by its enlarged frontal body armor (50 mm) and certain mechanical changes. These tanks were popular with Soviet tank crews due to their excellent scopes, their loadout, and the convenience of the crew.

Media

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See also

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

External links

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