Panzer

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Panzer refers to an armoured tank or other vehicle, usually a Second World War German model. The term is rarely, if ever, used outside this context. Panzer also describes armoured forces, as in "panzer division".

Panzer is a loanword from German. The German noun Panzer (plural: Panzer) means armour in the sense of protective equipment such as Plattenpanzer (plate armour) or Schutzpanzer (protective armour), or armoured forces (today, tank organizations and the tanks themselves). The term gained infamy in English during Germany's successful Blitzkrieg armoured advances of World War II. It is derived from the French pancier ("breastplate", compare English paunch). German pronunciation [ˈpanʦer] (listen (help·info)), English [ˈpænzɝ]. The word has been calqued in many languages, such as Swedish "pansarvagn" or Finnish "panssarivaunu" for any tracked armoured fighting vehicle.

1 German panzers
2 See also
3 Other uses
4 External links

[edit] German panzers

Panzer is also an abbreviation of the WWII German designation for tanks, Panzerkampfwagen ("armoured combat vehicle", abbreviated PzKpfw), used by the German Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht. German panzer models were given designations like Panzer I, or Panzer VI Tiger. For a list, see German armoured fighting vehicles of World War II. "PzKpfW" means literally the same as AFV (armoured fighting vehicle).

Individual variations of these basic marks were given an Ausführung (version) letter, and consequently the field of Panzer recognition is extremely complex. Great lengths have been gone to explain the differences between a Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. E(U) and a Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. F(U), for example. The word panzer is occasionally confused with the name of the Pzkpfw V Panther tank.

Tank destroyers were Panzerjäger or Jagdpanzer ("hunting tanks"), self-propelled infantry guns were Sturmgeschütze ("assault guns"), while self-propelled artillery pieces were usually referred to as Panzerfeldhaubitze.

[edit] See also

[edit] Other uses

In some forms of coalminers' jargon, a panzer is a type of underground conveyor belt for carrying coal, made entirely out of metal.
Erik "Panzer" Hagen
In sweden the official name for a tank is pansarvagn or stridsvagn (stridsvagn litterely meaning combat wagon), and a tank regiment is called Pansarregemente

[edit] External links

Detailed information about every aspect of the Panzerkampfwagen VI at the Tiger I Information Center

German armored fighting vehicles of World War II
Tanks
Panzer I \| Panzer II \| Panzer III \| Panzer IV \| Panther \| Tiger I, II \| Panzer 35(t) \| Panzer 38(t)
Self-propelled artillery
Wespe \| Hummel \| Grille \| Panzerwerfer \| sIG 33 \| Wurfrahmen 40
Assault guns
StuG III \| StuG IV \| StuH 42 \| Brummbär \| Sturmtiger
Tank destroyers
Panzerjäger I \| Marder I , II , III \| Hetzer \| Jagdpanzer IV \| Jagdpanther \| Nashorn \| Jagdtiger \| Elefant
Half-tracks	Armored cars
SdKfz 4 \| 6 \| 7 \| 10 \| 11 \| 250 \| 251 \| 252 \| 253 \| 254	Sdkfz 221/22/23 \| Sdkfz 231/32/34/63
Self propelled anti-aircraft
Flakpanzer IV: Möbelwagen, Wirbelwind, Ostwind, Kugelblitz \| Gepard
Prototypes
Maus \| E- series \| Panther II \| Waffenträger \| Neubaufahrzeug
Proposed designs
Panzer VII 'Löwe'
German armored fighting vehicle production during World War II