German
Armour production during World War II
This article lists German tank production during World
War II. AFVs on a tank chassis are also included. Where
figures for production in 1939 are given, they refer to
September 1939 onwards; that is, they only count wartime
production.
The Panzer I wasn't intended as
a combat vehicle, but more to familiarize industry and
the army with tanks. By the time production had ended in
1937, a total of 1867 Pz I hulls had been produced, of
which 1493 were fitted with turrets, and the rest used as
command or training vehicles.
The Panzer II was a heavier
vehicle, designed to replace the Panzer I. It was armed
with a 20 mm cannon which had some anti-armour
capability. Before the war started, 1223 had been built.
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
Pz II 15 9 223 322
Pz II (f) - 84
Marder II - - - 372
Wespe - - - - 514 162
Note:
- Pz II (f) = flamethrower tank
- Marder II = 75 mm Pak 40 gun on Pz II chassis
(SdKfz 131)
- Wespe = 105 mm light field howitzer on Pz II
chassis (SdKfz 124)
In March 1939 Germany occupied Bohemia
and Moravia and took over the Czech arms manufacturing
industries. The LT-38 tank, then in production, was
renamed Panzer 38(t)
("t" standing for Tschechisch, German
for Czech). Prior to the start of the war, 78 Pz 38(t)
tanks had been produced.
Germany continued producing the Pz 38(t) during the
war. By early 1942, it was clearly obsolete. However, the
production lines were already running, the vehicle was
mechanically reliable, and the factory would have had
difficulty moving over to larger tanks. So it was decided
to find other uses for the Pz 38(t) chassis.
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
Pz 38(t) 153 367 678 198
Marder 138 - - - 110 783 323
Marder 139 - - - 344
Grille - - - - 225 346
Hetzer - - - - - 1687 1335
Notes:
- Marder 138 = Marder SdKfz 138, 75 mm Pak 40 gun
on Pz 38(t) chassis
- Marder 139 = Marder SdKfz 139, captured Russian
76.2 mm gun on Pz 38(t) chassis
- Grille = SdKfz 138/1, 150 mm heavy infantry gun
on Pz 38(t) chassis (figures include
munition-carrying versions of the Grille)
- Hetzer = Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer, 75 mm
L/48 Pak39 gun on a widened Pz 38(t) chassis
The Panzer III was designed
as a medium tank, with a high-velocity 37 mm gun. Pre-war
production was 98 vehicles. During the war, the Pz III
was upgunned to a 50 mm gun, then to an even higher
velocity 50 mm gun, in order to improve its anti-tank
performance. A low-velocity 75 mm gun was also fitted,
but since the tank wasn't big enough to fit a
high-velocity 75 mm gun, production was halted mid-war,
although the chassis continued to be used to build
assault guns.
The Panzer III was the first tank to have a 3-man
turret: the commander didn't have to double up as a
loader or a gunner, so he could concentrate on commanding
the tank.
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
Pz III 157 396
Pz III (50) - 466 1673 251
Pz III (50L) - - - 64 1906
Pz III (75) - - - 450 213
Pz III (f) - - - - 100
StuG III - 184 540 90
StuG III (l) - - - 702 3011 3850 863
Notes:
- Pz III = Panzer III with 37 mm gun
- Pz III (50) = Panzer III with 50 mm L/42 gun
- Pz III (50L)= Panzer III with 50 mm L/60 gun
- Pz III (75) = Panzer III with 75 mm L/24 gun
- Pz III (f) = Panzer III with flamethrower
- StuG III = Sturmgeschutz 40, 75 mm L/24
assault gun on Pz III chassis, SdKfz 142
- StuG III (l) = Sturmgeschutz 40, 75 mm
L/43 or L/48 assault gun on Pz III chassis, SdKfz
142/1
The Panzer IV was designed
alongside the Panzer III. The Pz IV was a slightly larger
and heavier tank, and with its large calibre low velocity
gun, it was designed to break through enemy positions.
Pre-war production was 211 tanks.
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
Pz IV (short) 45 268 467 124
Pz IV (long) - - - 870 3013 3126 385
StuG IV - - - - 30 1006 105
Jagd IV - - - - - 769
Jagd IV/70 - - - - - 767 441
Sturm IV - - - - 66 215 17
Hummel - - - - 368 289 57
Hornisse - - - - 345 133 16
Mobelwagen - - - - - 205 35
Wirbelwind - - - - - 100 5
Ostwind - - - - - 15 28
Notes:
- Pz IV (short) = Panzer IV with short 75 mm gun
- Pz IV (long) = Panzer IV with long 75 mm gun
- StuG IV = Sturmgeschutz IV (SdKfz 167),
superstructure of StuG III on Pz IV hull; armed
with 75 mm L/42 or L/48 gun
- Jagd IV = Jagdpanzer IV (SdKfz 162) with 75 mm
L/48 gun
- Jagd IV/70 = Jagdpanzer IV with 75 mm L/70 gun
- Sturm IV = Sturmpanzer IV (Sdkfz 166) Brummbaer
with 150 mm gun
- Hummel = 150 mm field howitzer on Pz IV
(sometimes Pz III) chassis (SdKfz 165)
- Hornisse = 88 mm Pak43 auf PzKw IV,
known as Hornisse, later known as Nashorn.
Note: some Hummels/Hornisses used the Pz III
hull instead of the Pz IV hull, but I don't know
how many.
- Mobelwagen = 37 mm AA on Pz IV chassis
- Wirbelwind = quad 20 mm AA on Pz IV chassis, with
armoured turret
- Ostwind = 37 mm Flak43 AA on Pz IV chassis, with
armoured turret
The Panzer IV was originally armed with a low-velocity
75 mm L/24 gun. In 1942 this was upgraded to a 75 mm L/43
gun, and later to a 75 mm L/48 gun; both these guns are
classed as "long" in the table.
The Elefant (SdKfz 184)
used the chassis of Porsche's losing entry for the Tiger
competition. On top of this chassis, a forward-facing 88
mm L/71 gun was mounted. A total of 90 Elefants were
produced, all in 1943.
The Elefant was also known as the Ferdinand,
after its designer, Dr Ferdinand Porsche.
1943 1944 1945
Panther 1768 3777 439
Jagdpanther - 226 198
Notes:
- Panther had a 75mm L/70 gun
- Jagdpanther (SdKfz 173) had an 88 mm L/71 Pak43
gun
On May 26, 1941 Hitler
ordered the Henschel and Porsche firms to design a new
heavy tank. Franz Xaver Reimspiess developed the Panzer
Tiger. Reimspiess was the leader of the Nibelungen Panzer
factory in Upper Austria. The Henschel design won the
competition and became the Tiger; the Porsche
design became the Elefant.
1942 1943 1944 1945
Tiger I 78 649 623
Tiger II - 3 377 100
Jagdtiger - - 61 16
Notes:
- Tiger I (Panzer VIE) was armed with an 88mm L/56
gun
- Tiger II (Panzer VIB, also known as K?nigstiger)
was armed with an 88 mm L/71 gun
- Jagdtiger (SdKfz 186) was armed with a 128 mm
L/55 Pak44 gun
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