Panzer I

Panzerkampfwagen I Panzer I at the El Goloso Museum of Armored Vehicles, in Spain Type Light tank Place of origin Nazi Germany Service history In service 1934–1954 Used by Nazi Germany Bulgaria Republic of China Hungary Spain Wars Spanish Civil War, Second World War, Second Sino-Japanese War Production history Designed 1934 Manufacturer Henschel, MAN, Krupp, Daimler Produced 1934–1936 Number built 833 Specifications Weight 5.4 tonnes Length 4.02 m Width 2.06 m Height 1.72 m Crew 2; Commander and Driver Armor Between 7 and 13 mm Primary armament Two 7.92 mm MG13 machine guns Engine Krupp M 305 four cylinder air cooled gasoline engine. 60 PS (59 hp, 44 kW) Power/weight 11.1 PS/t Suspension Quarter-elliptical leaf spring suspension. Operational range 200 km on-road; 175 km off-road. Speed 50 km/h on-road; 37 km/h off-road.

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The Panzer I is a light tank which was produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German Panzerkampfwagen I (armored fighting vehicle mark I), abbreviated PzKpfw I. The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101 (special purpose vehicle 101).^[1]

Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production in 1934. Although intended only as a training tank to introduce the concept of armored warfare to the German Army, the Panzer I saw combat in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, in Poland, France, Soviet Union and North Africa during the Second World War, and even in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Based on experience gathered during the Spanish Civil War, the Panzer I helped shape the German armored corps used to invade Poland in 1939 and France in 1940. By 1941, Panzer I chassis were being reused for production of tank destroyers and assault guns. There were attempts to upgrade the Panzer I throughout its service history, including by foreign nations to increase its lifespan. It continued to serve in the armed forces of Spain until 1954.

Ultimately, the Panzer I's performance in combat was limited by its thin armor and light armament, consisting of only two general purpose machine guns. Because it was designed solely for training, the Panzer I was not as capable as other light tanks of the era, such as the T-26. Although weak in combat, it formed a large proportion of Germany's tank strength on paper and was used in all major campaigns between September 1939 and December 1941. Inevitably, the small, vulnerable light tank would be overshadowed in importance by better-known German tanks such as the Panzer IV, Panther, and Tiger, but its contribution to the early victories of Nazi Germany during the Second World War was significant.

Development history

The post-World War I Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr. According to paragraph twenty-four of the treaty, a 100,000-mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months would be imposed on anybody who "[manufactured] armoured vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use".^[2]

Despite the manpower and technical limitations imposed upon the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine General Staff to study World War I 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.^[3] There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden, including the extraction of technical data that proved invaluable to early German tank design.^[4] 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).^[5] Only two years later prototypes of the new Leichttraktor ("light tractor"), were produced by German companies, armed with 37-millimeter KwK L/45 guns.^[6] The Großtraktor was later put into service for a brief period with the 1 Panzer Division; the Leichttraktor remained in testing until 1935.^[5]

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 became the more influential of the two and his ideas were widely publicized.^[7] Like his contemporary Sir Percy Hobart, Guderian initially envisioned an armored 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 armored 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 armored against enemy anti-tank weapons and have a large 75-millimeter (2.95 in) cannon. Lastly, Germany would need a heavy tank, armed with a massive 150-millimeter (5.9 in) cannon to defeat enemy fortifications, and even stronger armor. Such a tank would require a weight of 70 to 100 tonnes and was completely impractical given the manufacturing capabilities of the day.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

The Panzer I's design history can be traced to 1932's Landswirtschaftlicher Schlepper (La S) armored 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.^[11] 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.^[12] Machine guns were known to be largely useless against even the lightest tank armor of the time, restricting the Panzer I to a training and anti-infantry role by design.^[13]

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.^[14] Although these tanks were referred to as the La S and LKA well beyond the start of production, its official designation, assigned in 1938, was Panzerkampfwagen I Ausführung. A ('model A' or, more accurately, 'batch A').^[15] The first fifteen tanks, produced between February and March 1934, did not include the rotating turret and were used for crew training.^[16] Following these, production was switched to the combat version of the tank. The Ausf. A was under-armored, with steel plate of only 13 millimeters (0.51 in) at its thickest. The tank had several design flaws, including suspension problems which made the vehicle pitch at high velocities, and engine overheating.^[17] The driver was positioned inside the chassis and used conventional steering levers to control the tank, while the commander was positioned in the turret where he also acted as gunner. The two crew members could communicate by means of voice tube.^[18] Machine gun ammunition was stowed in five bins, containing various numbers of 25-round magazines.^[19] Author Lucas Molina Franco suggests that 833 Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A tanks were built in total,^[20] while authors Bryan Perrett offers the number of 300^[21] and Terry Gander 818 units.^[22]

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A on display at the Musée des Blindés in Saumur, France

Many of the problems in the Ausf. A were corrected with the introduction of the Ausf. B. The engine was replaced by the water-cooled, six-cylinder Maybach NL 38 TR, developing 98 horsepower (73 kW), and the gearbox was changed to a more reliable model. The larger engine required the extension of the vehicle's chassis by 40 cm (16 in), and this allowed the improvement of the tank's suspension, adding an additional bogie wheel and raising the tensioner.^[23] The tank's weight increased by 0.4 tons. Production of the Ausf. B began in August 1935 and finished in early 1937—Franco writes 840 were constructed,^[24] but notes that only 675 of these were combat models,^[25] while Perrett suggests a total number of 1,500 (offsetting the low number of Ausf. A he proposes)^[21] and Gander a total of 675.^[22]

Sister tanks

Two more combat versions of the Panzer I were designed and produced between 1939 and 1942. By this stage the design concept had been superseded by medium and heavy tanks and neither variant was produced in sufficient numbers to have a real impact on the progress of the war. These new tanks had nothing in common with either the Ausf. A or B except name.^[26] One of these, the Panzer I Ausf. C, was designed jointly between Krauss-Maffei and Daimler-Benz in 1939 to provide an amply armored and armed reconnaissance light tank.^[21] The Ausf. C boasted a completely new chassis and turret, a modern torsion-bar suspension and five interleaved roadwheels.^[27] It also had a maximum armor thickness of 30 millimeters (1.18 in), over twice that of either the Ausf. A or B, and was armed with a 20-millimeter (0.78 in) EW 141 autocannon.^[28] Forty of these tanks were produced,^[29] along with six prototypes.^[26] Two tanks were deployed to 1 Panzer Division in 1943, and the other thirty-eight were deployed to the LVIII Panzer Reserve Corps during the Normandy landings.^[30]

PzKpfw I Ausf. F on display in a museum in Belgrade

The second vehicle, the Ausf. F, was as different from the Ausf. C as it was from the Ausf. A and B.^[31] Intended as an infantry support tank, the Panzer I Ausf. F had a maximum armour thickness of 80 millimeters (3.15 in) and weighed between 18 and 21 tonnes.^[32] The Ausf. F was armed with two 7.92-millimeter MG-34s.^[33] Thirty were produced in 1940, and a second order of 100 was later canceled. In order to compensate for the increased weight, a new 150 horsepower (110 kW) Maybach HL45 Otto engine was used, allowing a maximum road speed of 25 kilometers per hour (15.5 mph). Eight of the thirty tanks produced were sent to the 1 Panzer Division in 1943 and saw combat at the Battle of Kursk. The rest were given to several army schools for training and evaluation purposes.^[34]

Combat history

Spanish Civil War

On 18 July 1936, war broke out on the Iberian peninsula as Spain dissolved into a state of civil war. After the chaos of the initial uprising, two sides coalesced and began to consolidate their position—the Popular front (the Republicans) and the Spanish Nationalist front. In an early example of a proxy war, both sides quickly received support from other countries, most notably the Soviet Union and Germany, who wanted to test their tactics and equipment.^[35] The first shipment of foreign tanks, fifty Soviet T-26's, arrived on 15 October.^[36] The shipment was under the surveillance of the German Navy and Germany immediately responded by sending forty-one Panzer I's to Spain a few days later.^[37] This first shipment was followed by four more shipments of Panzer I Ausf. B,^[38] with a total of 122 vehicles.^[39]

The first shipment of Panzer I's was brought under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm, Ritter von Thoma in Gruppe Thoma (also referred to as Panzergruppe Drohne). Gruppe Thoma formed part of Gruppe Imker the ground formations of the German Condor Legion, who fought on the side of Franco's Nationalists.^[40] Between July and October, a rapid Nationalist advance from Sevilla to Toledo placed them in position to take Madrid, the Spanish capital.^[41] The Nationalist advance and the fall of the town of Illescas to Nationalist armies on 18 October 1936 caused the government of the Popular Front's Second Republic, including President Manuel Azaña, to flee to Barcelona and Valencia.^[42] In an attempt to stem the Nationalist tide and gain crucial time for Madrid's defence, Soviet armor was deployed south of the city under the command of Colonel Krivoshein before the end of October.^[43] At this time, several T-26 tanks under the command of Captain Paul Arman were thrown into a Republican counterattack directed towards the town of Torrejon de Velasco in an attempt to cut off the Nationalist advance north. This was the first tank battle in the Spanish Civil War. Despite initial success, poor communication between the Soviet Republican armor and Spanish Republican infantry caused the isolation of Captain Arman's force and the subsequent destruction of a number of tanks. This battle also marked the first use of the molotov cocktail against tanks.^[44] Ritter von Thoma's Panzer Is fought for the Nationalists only days later on 30 October, and immediately experienced problems. As the Nationalist armor advanced, it was engaged by the Commune de Paris battalion, equipped with Soviet BA-10 armored cars. The 45-millimeter (1.7 in) gun in the BA-10 was more than sufficient to knock out the poorly armored Panzer I at ranges of over 500 meter (550 yd).^[45] Although the Panzer I was initially able to knock out the T-26 at close range—150 meters (165 yd) or less—using an armor-piercing 7.92 millimeter bullet, the Republican tanks began to engage at ranges where they were immune to the machine guns of the Panzer I.^[46]

Although the Panzer I would participate in almost every major Nationalist offensive of the war, the Nationalist army began to deploy more and more captured T-26 tanks to offset their disadvantage in protection and firepower.^[50] At one point, von Thoma offered up to 500 pesetas for each T-26 captured.^[51]

The Panzer I was upgraded in order to increase its lethality. On 8 August, 1937, Major General García Pallasar received a note from Generalísimo Francisco Franco which expressed the need for a Panzer I (or negrillo, as their Spanish crews called them) with a 20-millimeter gun. Ultimately, the piece chosen was the Breda Model 1935, due to the simplicity of the design over competitors such as the German Flak 30. Furthermore, the 20mm Breda was capable of perforating 40 millimeters of armor at 250 meters (1.57 in at 275 yd), which was more than sufficient to penetrate the frontal armor of the T-26. Although originally forty Italian CV.35 light tanks were ordered with the Breda in place of their original armament, this order was subsequently canceled after it was thought adaptation of the same gun to the Panzer I would yield better results. Prototypes were ready by September 1937 and an order was placed after successful results. The mounting of the Breda in the Panzer I required the original turret to be opened at the top and then extended by a vertical supplement. Four of these tanks were finished at the Armament Factory of Sevilla, but further production was canceled as it was decided sufficient numbers of Republican T-26 tanks had been captured to fulfill the Nationalist leadership's request for more lethal tanks. The Breda modification was not particularly liked by German crews, as the unprotected gap in the turret, designed to allow the tank's commander to aim, was found to be a dangerous weak point.^[52]

In late 1938, another Panzer I was sent to the Armament Factory of Sevilla in order to mount a 45 mm gun, captured from a Soviet tank (a T-26 or BT-5). A second was sent sometime later in order to exchange the original armament for a 37-millimeter Maklen anti-tank gun, which had been deployed to Asturias in late 1936 on the Soviet ship A. Andreiev. It remains unknown to what extend these trials and adaptations were completed, although it is safe to assume neither adaptation was successful beyond the drawing board.^[53]

Second World War

During the initial campaigns of the Second World War, Germany's light tanks, including the Panzer I, formed the bulk of its armored strength.^[55] In March 1938, the German Army marched into Austria, experiencing a mechanical breakdown rate of up to thirty percent.^[56] However, the experience revealed to Guderian several faults within the German Panzerkorps and he subsequently improved logistical support.^[57] In October 1938, Germany occupied Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, and the remainder of the country in March 1939. The capture of Czechoslovakia allowed several Czech tank designs, such as the Panzer 38(t), and their subsequent variants and production, to be incorporated into the German Army's strength. It also prepared German forces for the invasion of Poland.^[58]

Poland and the campaign in the West

Panzer I Ausf. A in combat during the German invasion of Norway.

On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland using seventy-two divisions (including 16 reserve infantry divisions in OKH reserves), including seven panzer divisions (1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 10., "Kempf") and four light divisions (1., 2., 3., 4.). Three days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany. The seven panzer and four light divisions were arrayed in five armies, forming two army groups.^[55] The battalion strength of the 1 Panzer Division included no less than fourteen Panzer I's, while the other six divisions included thirty-four Panzer I's.^[59] A total of about 2,700 tanks were available for the invasion of Poland, but only 310 of the heavier Panzer IIIs and IVs were available. Furthermore, 350 were of Czech design—the rest were either Panzer I's or Panzer II's.^[60] The invasion was swift and the last Polish pockets of resistance surrendered on 6 October.^[61] The entire campaign had lasted five weeks (with help of the Soviet forces which attacked on 17th of September), and the success of Germany's tanks in the campaign was summed up in response to Hitler on 5 September: when asked if it had been the dive bombers who destroyed a Polish artillery regiment, Guderian replied, "No, our panzers!"^[62]

A Panzer I on the streets of Calais, France in May 1940, while rounding up British prisoners of war

The Poles suffered almost 190,000 casualties (including around 66,300 killed) in the campaign, the Germans around 55,000 (including around 35,000 wounded) ^[63]. However, some 832 tanks (including 320 PzI, 259 PzII, 40 Pz III, 76 PzIV, 77 Pz35(t), 13 PzBef III, 7 PzBef 38(t), 34 other PzBef and some Pz38(t))^[64] were lost during the campaign, approximately 341 of which were never to return to service. This represented about a third of Germany's armor deployed for in the Polish campaign.^[64] During the campaign no less than a half of Germany's tanks were unavailable due to maintenance issues or enemy action, and of all tanks, the Panzer I proved the most vulnerable to Polish anti-tank weapons.^[65] Furthermore, it was found handling of armored forces during the campaign left much to be desired. During the beginning of Guderian's attack in northern Poland, his corps was held back to coordinate with infantry for quite a while, preventing a faster advance. It was only after Army Group South had its attention taken from Warsaw at the Battle of Bzura that Guderian's armor was fully unleashed. There were still lingering tendencies to reserve Germany's armor, even if in independent divisions, to cover an infantry advance or the flanks of advancing infantry armies.^[66] Although tank production was increased to 125 tanks per month after the Polish Campaign, losses forced the Germans to draw further strength from Czech tank designs, and light tanks continued to form the majority of Germany's armored strength.^[67]

Months later, Panzer Is participated in Operation Weserübung—the invasion of Denmark and Norway.^[68] Despite its obsolescence, the Panzer I was also used in the invasion of France in May 1940. Of 2,574 tanks available for the campaign, no fewer than 523 were Panzer Is. Furthermore, there were only 627 Panzer III's and IV's. At least a fifth of Germany's armor was composed of Panzer I's, while almost four-fifths was light tanks of one type or another, including 955 Panzer II, 106 Czech Panzer 35(t), and 228 Panzer 38(t).^[69] For their defense, the French boasted up to 4,000 tanks, including 300 Char B1, armed with a 47-millimeter (1.7 in) gun in the turret and a larger 75-millimeter (2.95 in) low-velocity gun in the hull. The French also had around 250 Somua S-35, widely regarded as one of the best tanks of the period, armed with the same 47millimeter main gun and protected by almost 55 millimeter (2.17 in) of armor at its thickest point. Nevertheless, the French also deployed over 3,000 light tanks, including about 500 World War One-vintage FT-17s.^[70] The two main advantages German armor enjoyed were radios allowing them to coordinate faster than their British or French counterparts^[71] and superior tactical doctrine.^[72]

North Africa and campaigns in the East

Panzer I Ausf. A during the campaign in the West

Italian setbacks in Egypt and their colony of Libya caused Hitler to dispatch aircraft to Sicily, and a blocking force to North Africa. This blocking force was put under the command of Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel and included the motorized 5th Light Division and the 15th Panzer Division. This force landed at Tunis on 12 February 1941.^[73] Upon arrival, Rommel had around 150 tanks, about half Panzer III and IV.^[74] The rest were Panzer I and II, although the Panzer I were soon replaced.^[75] On 6 April 1941, Germany attacked both Yugoslavia and Greece, with fourteen divisions invading Greece from neighboring Bulgaria, which by then had joined the Tripartite Pact.^[76] The invasion of Yugoslavia included no less than six panzer divisions,^[77] which still fielded the Panzer I.^[78] Yugoslavia surrendered 17 April 1941, and Greece fell on 30 April 1941.^[79]

The final major campaign in which the Panzer I formed a large portion of the armored strength was Operation Barbarossa, 22 June, 1941. The 3,300 German tanks included about 410 Panzer I.^[80] By the end of the month, a large portion of the Red Army found itself trapped in the Minsk pocket,^[81] and by 21 September Kiev had fallen, thereby allowing the Germans to concentrate on their ultimate objective, Moscow.^[82] Despite the success of Germany's armor in the Soviet Union, between June and September most German officers were shocked to find their tanks were inferior to newer Soviet models, the T-34 and KV series.^[81] Army Group North very quickly realized that none of the tank guns currently in use by German armor could penetrate the thick armor of the KV-1.^[83] The performance of the Red Army during the Battle of Moscow and the growing numbers of new Soviet tanks made it obvious that the Panzer I was no longer suitable for combat.^[84] The Panzer Is were instead tasked with towing trains through thick mud to alleviate logistics problems at the front.^[84]

Foreign service

After Germany, Spain fielded the largest number of Panzer I tanks. A total of 122 were exported to Spain during the Spanish Civil War,^[85] and as late as 1945, Spain's Brunete Armored Division counted 93 on strength. The Panzer I remained in use in Spain until aid arrived from the United States of America in 1954, when they were replaced by the relatively modern M47 Patton main battle tank.^[86] Between 1935 and 1936, an export version of the Panzer I Ausf. B, named the L.K.B. (Leichte Kampfwagen B), was designed for export to Bulgaria. Modifications included up-gunning to a 20-millimeter gun and fitting a Krupp M 311 V-8 gasoline engine. Although three examples were built, none were exported to Bulgaria, although a single Panzer I Ausf. A had previously been sold. In 1937, around ten Ausf. As were sold to China during a period of Sino-German cooperation, which were used in the Battle of Nanjing by the 3rd Armored Battalion. A final order was supplied to Hungary in 1942, totalling eight Ausf. B's and six command versions. These were incorporated into the 1st Armored Division and saw combat in late 1942.^[87]

Variants

Main article: Panzer I variants

Between 1934 and the mid 1940s several variants of the Panzer I were designed, especially during the later years of its combat history. Because they were obsolescent from their introduction, incapable of defeating foreign armor, and outclassed by newer German tanks, the Panzer I chassis were increasingly repurposed as tank destroyers, anti-aircraft vehicles, and other variants.^[88] One of the most well known variants was the Panzerbefehlswagen ("small armored command vehicle"), built on the Ausf. A and Ausf. B chassis—200 of these were manufactured. The Panzer I Ausf. B chassis was also used to build the German Army's first tracked tank destroyer, the Panzerjäger I. This vehicle was armed with a Czech 47-millimeter (1.85 in) anti-tank gun.^[89]

Notes

References