Stridsvogn KWIII Ausf.J1 (Late) 50mm L/60

[Til_Dovre_Faller]

STRIDSVOGN KW.III Ausf.J1 (Late) 50mm L/60

INTRODUCTION

I wanted to suggest this vehicle that i have discovered! it’s an ex-German Panzerkampfwagen III that after the German forces surrendered, was captured by Norwegian forces and put into service Whitin the Norwegian army, and were largely used to guard the nations airfields across the land. These were plentiful, and of these were many hybrids both done by the Germans themselves, as well as modifications and improvements done by the Norwegians themselves. I thought this could be a cool vehicle either as a part of a Norwegian subtree within the Swedish techtree, or as a part of an potential Norwegian Danish independent techtree! This suggestion’s specific vehicle is an Ausf.J1 Late with the long 50mm cannon.

HISTORY

The Pz.III came to Norway a little after the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the Germans did not expect there to bee a need for heavier tanks, as Norway did not have any other than a couple armored trucks. Because of this the smaller and less powerful Pz.III and Stug.III were brought to Norway. During the occupation, the tanks Germany used here were sent to Germany and upgraded a number of times, and in a wide variety of variants and mixes, and when the war came to an end, the Germans surrendered all their vehicles to Norwegian and British/American forces that had fought in Norway. The British wanted to sabotage most of these vehicles, and among trying to blow up the barrels of the various tanks, they had driven over and destroyed a whole bunch of surrendered motorcycles. Most of these tanks were later on put in service in the Norwegian Army, and because of the British sabotage, the Norwegians worked on restoring these vehicles until 1948, before they were ready to be used. And because of the vehicles being damaged and parts having to be taken from here and there, those vehicles that already had been upgraded/mixed by the German army during the occupation, were even further mixed by the Norwegians during the restoration, with this vehicle potentially being one example. Then they were taken over by the army, the Panzerkampfwagen III were named and officially given the designation Stridsvogn KWIII, and the Sturmgeschütz III were given the designation Stormkanon KWIII. The majority of these tanks were put in service in so called “Airport Troops” to guard the various airports in the country.

The fate of the StuG.III are unfortunately lesser known, but thankfully the Pz.III is better documented, those remained in service until the mid/early 1950’s when they got replaced by the New M24 Chaffe tanks received tough the weapons aid programme, and lrgely replaced by 1953. After ended service those remaining Pz.III were either dug down and encased in concrete in defensive positions around some airfields in Norway, where they were used in a “Bunker” to shoot at invaders. Those were used until the 1960’s when the tanks were rendered obsolete. After this they were for some reason completely buried along with the bunker/fort they were integrated with, and almost forgotten until these people decided to save them and have them restored.

This is an Ausf.J1 Late, the hull and turret is pure Ausf.J and the L/60 idicates the Late variant, upgrade. It’s spotted during an autumn exercise in Oslo, Norway in the 1950’s, and it’s Definetly used in the platoon at Fornebu airport, one of the country’s most active airports then and today.

I have spent a lot of time, and have tried to identify all the Stridsvogn KWIII and Stormkanon KWIII that was used by the Norwegian army, that i have managed and been able to find pictures of. As none of the books mentioning them, has any sort of descriptions of their modifications or hybrid combinations, i’ve had to do this myselves, so there might be errors. If you see something, let me know!.

DETAILS OF THIS SPECIFIC VEHICLE

Key details of this topic’s specific vehicle
-Iisence numer: 3452-H
-Track add on armor on upper frontal plate, 20mm RHA protection according to WT specs
-Track add on armor on frontal plate between drivers hatch and hull coaxial machinegun, 20mm RHA protection according to WT specs
-7.92mm MG34 hatch mounted Machinegun

Ausf.J Upgrades from earlier variants
-Hull Front and Rear: The flat 30 mm armor of earlier models (Ausf. D through H) was upgraded to a solid 50 mm plate on the front and rear of the hull.
-Turret: The armor on the front, sides, and rear of the turret remained 30 mm, but an additional internal plate was added to the front, increasing local thickness to a maximum of 57 mm in some places.
-Other changes: The design of the armored front brake vents was changed, and an armored extractor fan was added to the turret roof.
-Main Gun upgrad The Ausf. J was equipped with the 5 cm KwK 38 L/42 cannon as standard, which had significantly better penetration and destructive power compared to the earlier 3.7 cm KwK 36 L/45 gun used on models up to the early Ausf. G.
Coaxial Machine Gun: Models from the Ausf. F onwards, when fitted with the 5 cm main gun, had a single coaxial 7.92 mm MG 34, down from the two present in earlier variants.

Ausf.J 1Upgrades from early to late
-5 cm KwK 39 L/60 gun (a longer barrel)
-50 mm base armor plus additional 20 mm spaced armor plates on hull and turret front
-Longer main gun barrel, additional bolt-on armor plates visible
-It has the more powerful L/60 50mm cannon installed, this was added mid-production and it was given the designation J1 to avoid comfusion

ARMAMENT

Spoiler

• 1x 5cm KwK 39 L/60 cannon
  Pipe length: 3000 mm
  Caliber: 5 cm
  Caliber length: L/60
  Firerate: 13 shots/min
  Elevation range: −10° to +20° angle
  lateral alignment area: 360°

• 1x 7.92x57mm Mg34
  -Placement: Hatch mounted MG
  -Cartridge: 7.92x57mm Mauser
  -Ammunition capacity: 600 rounds
  -Mass: 12.1 kg
  -Length: 1,219 mm
  -Barrel length: 627 mm
  -Action: Recoil-operated, opened rotating bolt
  -Rate of fire: 800–900 rounds/min
  -Muzzle velocity: 765 m/s
  -Effective firing range: 3,500 m with tripod and telescopic sight
  -Maximum firing range: 4,700 m

• 1x 7.92x57mm Mg34
  -Placement: Turret coaxial, right side of cannon
  -Cartridge: 7.92x57mm Mauser
  -Ammunition capacity: 600 rounds
  -Mass: 12.1 kg
  -Length: 1,219 mm
  -Barrel length: 627 mm
  -Action: Recoil-operated, opened rotating bolt
  -Rate of fire: 800–900 rounds/min
  -Muzzle velocity: 765 m/s
  -Effective firing range: 3,500 m with tripod and telescopic sight
  -Maximum firing range: 4,700 m

• 1x 7.92x57mm Mg34
  -Placement: coaxial hull MG, right side
  -Cartridge: 7.92x57mm Mauser
  -Ammunition capacity: 600 rounds
  -Mass: 12.1 kg
  -Length: 1,219 mm
  -Barrel length: 627 mm
  -Action: Recoil-operated, opened rotating bolt
  -Rate of fire: 800–900 rounds/min
  -Muzzle velocity: 765 m/s
  -Effective firing range: 3,500 m with tripod and telescopic sight
  -Maximum firing range: 4,700 m

• 6x smoke grenade launchers of unknown caliber
  -Placement: 3x on each side of the turret

TECHNICAL DATA Ausf.J1 (Late)

Spoiler

Weight: 25 tonnes
Length (overall): 7.02 m (including main gun)
Width: 2.88 m
Height: 2.68 m
Crew: 5 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver, Radio Operator)
Propulsion: Maybach HL 120 TRM V12 gasoline engine, 265 hp (earlier models had 320 hp)
Top Speed: 38 km/h (road)
Operational Range: Increased to 320 km (road) due to an auxiliary fuel tank, which replaced the electric turret traverse motor.

ARMOR
Front (upper & lower glacis): 80 mm
Sides (upper & lower): 30 mm
Rear (upper & lower): 20 mm
Top and Floor: 10 mm

Misc
Return Rollers: The number of return rollers on each side was reduced from four to three to save material and time.
Towing Eyes: Later Ausf. J/J1 models featured a redesigned lower hull (Wanne) with built-in towing eyes, eliminating the need for separate bolted-on brackets.
Vision Ports: Pistol and vision ports were removed from the hull sides.
Hatches: The driver’s and radio operator’s hatches were modified to a simpler, rounded edge style with a new locking mechanism.
Air Intakes: Later models had simpler handles on the transmission/brake inspection hatches instead of original cast air intakes.

SOURCES

Spoiler

Where i found and screenshotted the images
At 11:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqOIYPmoPZE

Information and specs about various Pz.III variants
https://fox3000.com/pz3.htm

Images and some information
Redirecting...

Background and service history
Book: Motoriserte Militærkjøretøy i Norge
Copyright 2005 by Forsvarsmuseet/HMK All rights reserved
Billedbehandling/Grafisk produksjon: Mikro Marketing, Asker
Press: Gan Grafisk, Oslo
Motoriserte Militærkjøretøy i Norge Bind 1
ISBN 82-91218-43-9
The book is printed in 3,000 copies, 100 of which are leatherbound
front cover/back cover: The wheel rider squadron at Trandum 1953
Defense publications No. 3 Oslo 2005
Stridsvogn & Stormkanon KW-III (Panzer III & StuG III in Norwegian Service) - Tank Encyclopedia

POLL

Would you like to see this in-game?

• Yes
• No

This post was made by

Til_Dovre_Faller