Main gun on the Pz-IV

Guys, I need help with something. I've got a ~300 freakin' volume library on WW2, which does me absolutely no good if I can't find what I'm looking for.

I remember reading at some point that Hitler had specifically instructed the Army Ordnance Office to install a longer-barrel 75mm on the Pzkw-IV than the L/24 they initially went with. When he attended a demonstration of the Pz-IV-- I think it was on his birthday in '41-- he saw it still had the 75mm-L/24 & he was furious.

I know about the conference in May 1941 when he told 'em to install a 50mm-L/60. This would have been before that-- probably shortly after France & still in time to build a few before Barbarossa.

Speer refers to this order in Ch. 17 of his book, but he's short on specifics. I'm trying to figure out precisely what calibre Hitler ordered & when he ordered it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thegn.
 
You should PM Blairwitch he's mentioned this exact thing on a couple of threads here. I'm sure he could give you the inf. that you need.
 
If I remember right Land Power has a chapter by Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis which is on German armored vehicles and it covers the Pz-IV in some detail.
 
i think you have the pz mark IV confused with the mark III . the pz IV was a fire support vehicle . it was ment to support infantry not fight other tanks . the pz mark III was ment to have the high velocity cannon .
I am also pretty sure the PZ III got the 50 mm l 42 then the l60 due to hitlers insistence . however the PZ IV had the L24 7.5cm then the L43 7.5cm and finnaly the L48 7.5 cm . it never got a 50 mm . the pz III had a 3.7 cm followed by the L42 5 cm followed by the L60 5 cm and last it recieved the 7.5 cm l 24 from old pz IV to give HE fire support to tiger battalions .
 
i think you have the pz mark IV confused with the mark III . the pz IV was a fire support vehicle . it was ment to support infantry not fight other tanks .
I'm well aware of the original purpose of the Pzkw-IV, & of course you are correct in its original purpose. However, Albert Speer says in Ch. 17 of 'Inside the Third Reich', "When the Russian T-34 appeared, Hitler was triumphant, for he could then point out that he had earlier demanded the same kind of long-barreled gun it had. ...I heard Hitler in the Chancellery garden, after a demonstration of the Pz-IV, inveighing against the obstinancy of the Army Ordnance Office which had turned down his idea..."

So while you are right that the Pzkw-IV was originally built as an infantry support tank, even prior to the Russian Campaign Hitler had decided to turn it into an anti-tank vehicle.

I am also pretty sure the PZ III got the 50 mm l 42 then the l60 due to hitlers insistence . ...however the PZ IV...never got a 50 mm .
Once again you are partly correct. The Pzkw-IV never received the 50mm. However at a meeting in May 1941, shortly before Barbarossa, Hitler had ordered it to be refitted with the high-velocity 50mm PaK 38, which had superior armor penetration at all ranges compared to the 75mm-L/24, & the Army Ordnance Office actually began work on this project. The 50mm was abandoned after the appearance of the T-34 a month & a half later. The 75mm-L/43 was substituted because the recoil of the intended L/48 was too long for the turret of the Pzkw-IV. The L/43 then became a stopgap 'til the recoil problem was fixed.
Thegn.
 
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