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Panzer Production

The German army used three types of armored vehicles during the war: tracked, half-tracked and wheeled. Ordinarily only the first type, designated by the term "panzer", was used as a combat vehicle. Half-tracks and armored cars were much less heavily armored and were only lightly armed if at all. Although the German automotive industry, lent itself to the production of all types of military vehicles, as well as to aircraft components and other armaments, production of panzers was usually separate from that of other vehicles. Panzers not only required heavier manufacturing facilities than wheeled or half-tracked carriers but were built for radically different purposes.

There was no geographical concentration of the plants manufacturing finished tanks. Important works were located in Nurnberg, Kassel, Brunswick, Magdeburg, and Berlin. There was, however, some geographical concentration of tank component manufacturers, such as engines and gears in Friedrichshafen, hulls, turrets, and guns in the Ruhr, rubber treads in Hanover, and instruments in Berlin. Thus although the assembly plants were well dispersed, certain main components, especially engines, presented a vulnerable target to air attack.

During the period before the war, all companies with the exception of Alkett (which was under the control of Rhine-Metal Borsig, a subsidiary of the government-controlled Hermann Goering Works) were stock companies with the stock available for purchase by the public and were apparently privately owned concerns. All these companies, with the exception again of Alkett, produced tanks in addition to their normal peacetime manufacture of trucks, locomotives, and other heavy 0equipment. From 1935 onward, the government progressively increased its control over industries engaged in rearmament. By 1938, this control embraced the rationing of essential raw materials, factory inventories, labor hours, rates of pay, working conditions, building and machine tool expansion, plant locations and stock dividends. All companies were forced to join the Economic Board of the tank industry which handled all questions affecting the industry.

Since the production of tanks started from zero in 1934, and since the production of tanks is for the sole purpose of preparing for war, each step taken towards tank production was an expansion of the industry in anticipation of the possibility that the aggressive policies planned would lead to war. The value of tank output was small compared to the total cost of German war mobilization (even at the beginning of 1942 it only amounted to 3.8 per cent of all armament costs), so that the large companies engaged in production had sufficient space available without expanding the floor area of the plants to any appreciable degree. There was, therefore, no excess production capacity available at this time. Also, except for the accumulation by the government of raw materials, there was no evidence of stock piling of finished components.

Tank manufacture was started in the latter part of 1933 and the early part of 1934 with a very light model of 6 1/2 tons. As the industry expanded, the designed weight was increased. There were no subsidies given to the companies for plant machinery and equipment, but the cost of development was borne by the government. There was, of course, close technical contact between the Army and the manufacturers during the period of design development.

The major components of a tank are the hull, turret, guns, motor, transmission, suspension, and tracks. Other components such as controls, electrical system, fuel tanks, optical and other instruments are also required, some of which are standard types. Hulls and turrets were assembled by the steel plants which produced the armor plate. These included some 15 of the largest and best equipped steel producers, among them Krupp, Skoda and Eisenwerke Oberdonau.

Motors for panzer vehicles were produced by only three firms: Maybach at Friedrichshafen, Nordbau at Berlin and BMM in Czechoslovakia. The latter produced motors only for the 38 t vehicles. Transmission and steering units were in some cases produced by the larger tank assembly plants, such as Henschel, Krupp and Daimler-Benz, and in other cases by a number of specialized firms. Gear boxes and other parts of transmission units were ordinarily supplied by firms specializing in these items. Although the number of such firms was generally large, in a few instances one producer accounted for a major part of the production. This was notably the case with gear boxes, which were produced principally by Zahnradfabrik, Friedrichshafen. In the case of suspension and tracks, some of the tank assembly firms produced their own; others were supplied by a fairly large number of subcontractors. Guns were produced by the same firms producing guns for other purposes; as indicated above, many of the guns mounted on panzer vehicles were standard artillery types. Minor components and accessories of panzer vehicles were produced principally by specialized subcontractors.