(Syrian Panzer IV Ausf H captured by Israel. A snubnose 92mm barrel in the roof allowed the firing of smoke grenades or signal flares. The electrically-traversed turret was offset about 2½” to the left to counteract a slight rightwards orientation of the engine. The armor varied, being 3″ on the glacis and turret face, 1¼” on the sides, and ¾” over the engine compartment’s rear. IV weighed 27 ½ tons and was 19’5″ long (23′ including the gun barrel). A few links were carried on the right side, and more on the front glacis.) The spare tread links were both a breakdown recovery item, and added a bit of extra armor for the crew. There were two secondary machine guns, either MG-34s or MG-42s, one coaxial and one in a ball mount in the tank’s nose. The WWII-era TZF.5f gunsight was retained by the Syrians. The Panzer IVs Syria operated were of the late four versions.Īll of the Panzer IVs Syria used had the “long-barrel version” of the Rheinmetall KwK 40 gun which could penetrate a M4 Sherman’s armor at ranges up to 1,000 yards under ideal circumstances. It underwent great evolution during it’s production run, being made in ten main versions. It served the entire conflict from start to finish. This was the most common German tank during WWII. Quite improbably, Syria had assembled it’s collection of ex-Wehrmacht vehicles from a half-dozen sources over a decade and a half timeframe. The last appearance by WWII German tanks on the world’s battlefields came in 1967, when Syria’s panzer force faced off against modern Israeli armor.
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