Post by Diarist on Feb 5, 2015 7:39:08 GMT 1
Panzer I
The Panzer I is a light tank produced in Germany since 1934. The name is short for the German Panzerkampfwagen I ("armoured fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated PzKpfw I. The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation is SdKfz 101 ("special purpose vehicle 101").
Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production began in 1934. Intended only as a training tank to introduce the concept of armoured warfare to the German Army.
Development history
The post-war Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr. Paragraph Twenty-four of the treaty provided for a 100,000-mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months for anybody who "[manufactured] armoured vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use".
Despite the manpower and technical limitations imposed on the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine General Staff to study the Great War and develop future strategies and tactics. Although at first the concept of the tank as a mobile weapon of war met with apathy, German industry was silently encouraged to look into tank design, while quiet cooperation was undertaken with the Soviet Union. There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden, including the extraction of technical data that proved invaluable to early German tank design. As early as 1926 various German companies, including Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz, produced a single prototype armed with a large 75-millimeter cannon (the Großtraktor, "large tractor", was so codenamed to veil the true purpose of the vehicle). Only two years later, German companies produced prototypes of the new Leichttraktor ("light tractor"), which were armed with 37-millimeter KwK L/45 guns. The Großtraktor was later put into service for a brief period with the 1 Panzer Division; the Leichttraktor remained in testing until 1935.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, German tank theory was pioneered by two figures: General Oswald Lutz and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian. Guderian has become the more influential of the two and his ideas are widely publicized. Like his British contemporary Percy Hobart, Guderian initially envisioned an armoured corps (panzerkorps) composed of several types of tanks. This included a slow infantry tank, armed with a small-caliber cannon and several machine guns. The infantry tank, according to Guderian, was to be heavily armoured to defend against enemy anti-tank guns and artillery. He also envisioned a fast breakthrough tank, similar to the British cruiser tank, which was to be armoured against enemy anti-tank weapons and have a large 75-millimeter (2.95 in) main gun. Lastly, Germany would need a heavy tank, armed with a massive 150-millimeter (5.9 in) cannon to defeat enemy fortifications, and even stronger armour. Such a tank would require a weight of 70 to 100 tonnes and was completely impractical given the manufacturing capabilities of the day.
Soon after rising to power in Germany, Adolf Hitler approved the creation of Germany's first panzer divisions. Simplifying his earlier proposal, Guderian suggested the design of a main combat vehicle, which would be developed into the Panzer III, and a breakthrough tank, the Panzer IV. No existing design appealed to Guderian. As a stopgap, the German Army ordered a preliminary vehicle to train German tank crews. This became the Panzer I.
The Panzer I's design history can be traced to 1932's Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper (La S) (Agricultural Tractor) armoured fighting vehicle. The La S was intended not just to train Germany's panzer troops, but to prepare Germany's industry for the mass production of tanks in the near future; a difficult engineering feat for the time. In July 1932, Krupp revealed a prototype of the Landswerk Krupp A, or LKA, with a sloped front glacis plate and large central casemate, a design heavily influenced by the British Carden Loyd tankette. The tank was armed with two obsolescent 7.92-millimeter (.312 in) MG-13 Dreyse machine guns. Machine guns were known to be largely useless against even the lightest tank armour of the time, restricting the Panzer I to a training and anti-infantry role by design.
A mass-produced version of the LKA was designed by a collaborative team from Daimler-Benz, Henschel, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall, exchanging the casemate for a rotating turret. This version was accepted into service after testing in 1934. Although these tanks were referred to as the La S and LKA well beyond the start of production, its official designation is Panzerkampfwagen I Ausführung. A ('model A' or, more accurately, 'batch A'). The first 15 tanks, produced between February and March 1934, did not include the rotating turret and are used for crew training. Following these, production was switched to the combat version of the tank. The Ausf. A is under-armoured, with steel plate of only 13 millimetres (0.51 in) at its thickest. The tank has several design flaws, including suspension problems, which makes the vehicle pitch at high velocities, and engine overheating. The driver is positioned inside the chassis and uses conventional steering levers to control the tank, while the commander is positioned in the turret where he also acts as gunner. The two crewmen can communicate by means of a voice tube. Machine gun ammunition is stowed in five bins, containing various numbers of 25-round magazines.
Source: Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_I
The Panzer I is a light tank produced in Germany since 1934. The name is short for the German Panzerkampfwagen I ("armoured fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated PzKpfw I. The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation is SdKfz 101 ("special purpose vehicle 101").
Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production began in 1934. Intended only as a training tank to introduce the concept of armoured warfare to the German Army.
Development history
The post-war Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr. Paragraph Twenty-four of the treaty provided for a 100,000-mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months for anybody who "[manufactured] armoured vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use".
Despite the manpower and technical limitations imposed on the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine General Staff to study the Great War and develop future strategies and tactics. Although at first the concept of the tank as a mobile weapon of war met with apathy, German industry was silently encouraged to look into tank design, while quiet cooperation was undertaken with the Soviet Union. There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden, including the extraction of technical data that proved invaluable to early German tank design. As early as 1926 various German companies, including Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz, produced a single prototype armed with a large 75-millimeter cannon (the Großtraktor, "large tractor", was so codenamed to veil the true purpose of the vehicle). Only two years later, German companies produced prototypes of the new Leichttraktor ("light tractor"), which were armed with 37-millimeter KwK L/45 guns. The Großtraktor was later put into service for a brief period with the 1 Panzer Division; the Leichttraktor remained in testing until 1935.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, German tank theory was pioneered by two figures: General Oswald Lutz and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian. Guderian has become the more influential of the two and his ideas are widely publicized. Like his British contemporary Percy Hobart, Guderian initially envisioned an armoured corps (panzerkorps) composed of several types of tanks. This included a slow infantry tank, armed with a small-caliber cannon and several machine guns. The infantry tank, according to Guderian, was to be heavily armoured to defend against enemy anti-tank guns and artillery. He also envisioned a fast breakthrough tank, similar to the British cruiser tank, which was to be armoured against enemy anti-tank weapons and have a large 75-millimeter (2.95 in) main gun. Lastly, Germany would need a heavy tank, armed with a massive 150-millimeter (5.9 in) cannon to defeat enemy fortifications, and even stronger armour. Such a tank would require a weight of 70 to 100 tonnes and was completely impractical given the manufacturing capabilities of the day.
Soon after rising to power in Germany, Adolf Hitler approved the creation of Germany's first panzer divisions. Simplifying his earlier proposal, Guderian suggested the design of a main combat vehicle, which would be developed into the Panzer III, and a breakthrough tank, the Panzer IV. No existing design appealed to Guderian. As a stopgap, the German Army ordered a preliminary vehicle to train German tank crews. This became the Panzer I.
The Panzer I's design history can be traced to 1932's Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper (La S) (Agricultural Tractor) armoured fighting vehicle. The La S was intended not just to train Germany's panzer troops, but to prepare Germany's industry for the mass production of tanks in the near future; a difficult engineering feat for the time. In July 1932, Krupp revealed a prototype of the Landswerk Krupp A, or LKA, with a sloped front glacis plate and large central casemate, a design heavily influenced by the British Carden Loyd tankette. The tank was armed with two obsolescent 7.92-millimeter (.312 in) MG-13 Dreyse machine guns. Machine guns were known to be largely useless against even the lightest tank armour of the time, restricting the Panzer I to a training and anti-infantry role by design.
A mass-produced version of the LKA was designed by a collaborative team from Daimler-Benz, Henschel, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall, exchanging the casemate for a rotating turret. This version was accepted into service after testing in 1934. Although these tanks were referred to as the La S and LKA well beyond the start of production, its official designation is Panzerkampfwagen I Ausführung. A ('model A' or, more accurately, 'batch A'). The first 15 tanks, produced between February and March 1934, did not include the rotating turret and are used for crew training. Following these, production was switched to the combat version of the tank. The Ausf. A is under-armoured, with steel plate of only 13 millimetres (0.51 in) at its thickest. The tank has several design flaws, including suspension problems, which makes the vehicle pitch at high velocities, and engine overheating. The driver is positioned inside the chassis and uses conventional steering levers to control the tank, while the commander is positioned in the turret where he also acts as gunner. The two crewmen can communicate by means of a voice tube. Machine gun ammunition is stowed in five bins, containing various numbers of 25-round magazines.
Source: Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_I