The Most Important Panzer Tank in the German Wehrmacht of WWII

During WWII the German Army (Heer) had revolutionized the use of armored warfare by using their "panzers" to concentrate a large number of units to strike a spearhead through the enemy's defensive lines. Much of armored warfare tactics, prior to the invasion of Poland in 1939, had used the tanks sparingly spread out across wide lines making them ineffective. With the added use of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) to attack ground based targets and support the German panzers, the "Blitzkrieg" (Lightning War) was conceived.

Now having said all that about the "Blitzkrieg", the panzers were of course used in a defensive manner. As the war turned in favor of the Allies, the Germans started defending the territory they had gained, then subsequently lost and eventually had to fight for the "Fatherland" of Germany itself. So, I ask the question. What was the single most significant panzer tank used by the Germans during WWII? We all know of the fearsome Tiger 1 and the Panther, but what of the Panzer I, II, III or IV? Let's start with the Panzer VI. the "Tiger".

The Tiger made a psychological impact on the morale of the enemy due to its long range lethal 88mm gun and the heavy frontal armor (120mm), which made it seem indestructible. The Tiger was too massive at 56 tons and no sloping armor like the Panther tank which allowed the weight to be much lighter. Only about 1350 produced, but started in 1942 and the majority late in the war... too late and too expensive. The Panther was considered the best tank the Germans had by many military experts, but the initial action was bogged down by mechanical problems and fires. After those bugs were worked out the Panther went on to have about 6,557 units produced. The Panther had better frontal armor than the Tiger, due to the sloping, and was speedier and handled rough terrain better as it was much lighter at 44 tons. The Panther had its debut at the Battle of Kursk in 1943 starting with 84 operational Panthers. Within two days, the number of working P!

Anthers had dropped to 40 due to breakdowns and enemy engagements. From then on the Panther was always outnumbered and never had the chance to really make a large impact. The Panzerkampfwagen IV production was just under the III's with 13,522, it was the only tank to be manufactured during the entire span of the war. The Panzer IV started off with a 50mm gun, then had to match the Soviet threat from the T-34's and KV-1's that were being fought against in 1941 for the first on the Eastern front and had to upgrade to the 75mm gun.

The Pzkpfw IV was and all around "workhorse" for the Germans and was in many of the major battles in all theaters of operations.

The Pzkpfw III's had 16,409 produced but were medium tanks that kept getting firepower upgrades to keep up with the Russian tanks like the T-34. The I and II's had a valuable impact in the early stages, but were quickly over-matched by the T-34's. My vote would go to the Pzkpfw IV for the most important tank to the Germans in WWII. The Panzerkampfwagen IV was much like the Allies' Sherman or the T-3 tanks, where large numbers overwhelmed the high quality, low quantity German panzers. The Panzer IV was improved with each version, except near the end of the war, where resources were limiting performance improvements. Had the Germans "cranked" out more of the IV's, they would have had more spare parts, lower costs, higher rate of production and just more tanks to wage war.