the Panzerkampfwagen III it was the backbone of german armor in the first half of world war ii
an excellent early war tank that influenced german tank doctrine and late war tank design on film
the tank shows up as numerous mock-ups in many American and soviet films and yes even Japanese
animation so let's take a look at this famous tank and some of the movies it's been featured in
a vast majority of panzer 3s found on film are mock-ups several of which are made on swiss
panzer 61 chassis that have a similar road wheel configuration to the panzer 3. the majority of
mock-ups on film are armed with 7.5 centimeter infantry support or longer 50 millimeter cannon
designed to take on small and medium tanks panzer 3's further had two to three mg-34 machine guns
today less than 30 panzer threes in various condition are in existence with only a small
fraction of that number and running condition so the use of mockups and cgi is understandable and
for the most part this is done fairly well the most numerous use of panzer 3 mockups appear in
russian world war ii cinema they are featured in films such as the battle for sevastopol russian
cinema does a good job at placing the panzer 3 in historically appropriate battles mostly in early
and mid-war engagements on soviet territory where the panzer iii was prolific after the battle of
kursk mid 1943 panzer 3s were largely relegated to the role of support tank used for a variety
of different tasks that kept them relevant such as recovering vehicles or carrying ammunition
in american cinema there are several films that feature the panzer iii
it was generally not a common tank to engage with by the time allied forces landed in normandy
as by mid-1943 it was being replaced by tanks such as the panther but the panzer iii certainly
was still being used and a well-trained crew remained a threat to allied tanks
so if you know how to drive a tank i know how to drive a tractor sir that'll work soldier war pigs
from 2015 features extensive use of a panzer 3 including both cockpit scenes and the replica
knocking out a railway gun watch this at best as a fun but low budget production let's make it count
then there is saints and soldiers airborne creed which has a relatively lengthy scene
involving infantry versus a panzer iii again a low budget production but has some decent
combat scenes including this one highlighting the vulnerability of tanks without infantry protection
saints and soldiers the void from 2014 is probably the most interesting movie out
of the american selection as it has lengthy combat scenes between two real m18 hellcats
and three panzer threes the panzer 3 used in the movie is overall an excellent reproduction
they also weave into the story of the panzer 3s being pulled from training
explaining their involvement in this period of the war which is a nice touch
using m18 hellcats against panzer 3s makes for an interesting scenario as even though the m18s
outgun the panzer 3s with their 76 millimeter cannon they are relatively thin armored so the
tanks do have the ability to knock each other out for any tank enthusiast it's well worth a watch
despite the panzer 3 being relatively obsolete by mid and late world war ii
this was a great early war tank the panzer 3 was designed in the early 1930s
and production began in 1937. the tank saw action in every german theater of war
the panzer iii remained in production until 1943 and 5774 were produced not counting
the excellence duke 3 built on the panzer 3's chassis you're going to get me killed lieutenant
i knew you're getting killed
the panzer 3 had a significant number of models including various suspension types cannons and
armor german industry breathed new life into this tank time and time again during the war
most models had a top speed of 40 kilometers an hour and a range of around 160 kilometers
during the invasion of poland and france germany only had a few hundred panzer 3's
model a through f most armed with the mediocre 37 millimeter main gun they were the best tank
available to germany during this time period and though they were a great tank their success
was in no small part due to the blitzkrieg strategy used by panzer division commanders
the panzer division being formed in 1935. the success of the tank and blitzkrieg surprised
hitler who was quick to take credit for it and tank development and funding within germany
would increase which had been massively overshadowed by the Luftwaffe
in the summer of 1941 during operation Barbarossa the invasion of the soviet union the panzer iii
was numerically the most important tank on the front lines and would be up gunned to the 50
millimeter kwk 38 cannon which when facing older soviet tanks was more than adequate
panzer iii crew training and german tank tactics were also considered vastly
superior at this time in the war many german tanks are also outfitted with two-way radios
giving them a significant advantage over russian tanks of this time period
however when facing t-34s and kv tanks the panzer 3 was outclassed the introduction
of the long-barrelled 50 millimeter kwk 39 helped the panzer 3 remain competitive with
the heavier soviet tanks particularly if using high velocity tungsten armor-piercing rounds
which were effective but rare it's a three is it an h maybe a j i'm not sure for one of the
most action intensive movies to feature panzer threes check out the russian movie t-34 it has
some heavy cgi but it's a well-funded production some of the scenes are pretty over the top
but they include highlighting the spalling and fragmentation effect on a crew being hit
by even relatively small rounds from a panzer 3's 50 millimeter cannon
losses against heavy soviet armor and anti-tank guns on the eastern front would also expedite
the panzer 3 to being up-armored for what their engines and suspension would allow
front armor grew from 30 millimeters to 50.
in 1943 onwards many panzer 3s use spaced armored side skirts
these help protect the vulnerable hull sides and turret against weapons such
as russian anti-tank rifles as well as shaped charged anti-tank weapons
ultimately the panzer iv which originally supported the panzer iii with a low velocity
gun took over tank engagement roles the four was larger and could accommodate thicker armor
and most importantly had a larger turret ring allowing for a bigger turret
and subsequently the bigger gun needed to engage t-34s and kv ones at range
the panzer 3 was a great early war tank one of its biggest contributions was easily its
durable and reliable chassis which would be used in the turretless doomkas3 which would
become one of germany's most successful armored vehicles of the entire war
alright i'm johnny thanks for watching this brief on z panzer 3.
if you want to add any knowledge you might have on the tank please
do so in the comments section below and we'll see you in the next video
you