Pz.III N

This page is about the premium German medium tank Pz.III N. For other versions, see Panzer III (Family).

Pz.III N

Pz.III N

Germany

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	3.0	3.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 000

Description

The Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N (Sd.Kfz. Index: Sd.Kfz. 141/2) is a premium rank II German medium tank with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

This is a Panzer III, upgraded to carry a short 75 mm KwK37 cannon, which can also be found on a number of Panzer IV variants, as mounting the infamous long variant of the 75 mm gun failed, so a compromise was made. Panzer III N is referred to as the assault variant of the Panzer III (Family), and it retains a body of the Panzer III L and M variants.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull53 / 30 / 53

Turret50 / 30 / 30

Crew5 people

Visibility88 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret, cupola roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (cupola, gun mantlet)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	20 + 50 mm Upper plate 50 mm (53°) Upper glacis 53 mm (22°) Lower plate 30 mm (74°) Lower glacis	30 mm	32 mm (44°) Upper glacis 53 mm (16°) Upper plate 53 mm (10°) Lower plate 30 mm (65°) Lower glacis	26 mm (6°) Front 18 mm Centre 15-17 mm (2-11°) Rear
Turret	50 mm (cylindrical) Turret front 50 mm Gun mantlet	30 mm (17-25°)	30 mm (conical)	10 mm (7°)
Cupola	50 + 30 mm (cylindrical)			10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and torsion bars are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
• Track links used as add-on armour are 20 mm thick.
• The turret sides and rear are protected by 8 mm skirts which provide protection against HEAT and HE shells

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB60 / 12 km/h

RB and SB54 / 10 km/h

Number of gears6 forward

1 back

Weight23.0 t

Engine power

AB572 hp

RB and SB300 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB24.9 hp/t

RB and SB13.0 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	60	12	23	465	572	20.22	24.87
Realistic	54	10		265	300	11.52	13.04

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB745

RB574

SB1 071

Crew training4 800

Experts32 000

Aces210

Research Aces440 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 50 / 70 / 80 %

2 × 124 / 124 / 124 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Winterketten Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive 75mm_kwk_37_40_HEAT_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire 75mm_ger_kwk37_Hl_C_HEAT_ammo_pack Elevation Mechanism Smoke grenade Artillery Support 75mm_ger_Smoke_ammo_pack

• When the Pz.III N is equipped with snow tracks (Winterketten), the side skirts are removed.

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm KwK37 cannon

Ammunition64 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

4.3 → 3.3 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

75 mm KwK37					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	64	-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A	13.3	18.4	22.4	24.8	26.4	4.29	3.80	3.50	3.30
Realistic					8.3	9.8	11.9	13.2	14.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
K.Gr.rot Pz.	APCBC	52	51	45	39	34	30
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	80	80	80	80	80	80
Sprgr. 34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
Hl.Gr 38C	HEAT	115	115	115	115	115	115

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
K.Gr.rot Pz.	APCBC	385	6.8	1.2	14	102.4	48°	63°	71°
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	450	4.57	0.05	0.1	872.1	62°	69°	73°
Sprgr. 34	HE	420	5.74	0.2	0.1	686	79°	80°	81°
Hl.Gr 38C	HEAT	450	4.8	0.05	0.1	875.5	62°	69°	73°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
K.Gr.Rot Nb.	423	6.2	9	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Pz.III N

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
64	57 (+7)	54 (+10)	46 (+18)	38 (+26)	24 (+40)	10 (+54)	1 (+63)	No

Notes:

• Racks disappear after all shells in the rack have been shot or loaded.
• Turret basket & flanks empty: 38 (+26) shells (racks 1 to 4 emptied).

Machine guns

7.92 mm MG34 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 450 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate900 shots/min

7.92 mm MG34 machine gun

Ammunition2 100 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate900 shots/min

7.92 mm MG34
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,450 (150)	900	N/A	N/A
Pintle	2,100 (150)	900	-10°/+25°	±180°

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Spaced armour covering a lot of the tank
• Frontal armour is great
• Angling the hull increases your changes of bouncing a shell
• Fast automotive characteristics, including acceleration and track traverse
• Fast-firing main gun
• The HEAT shell has a great penetration regardless of shooting distance
• Equipped with 2 machine guns, great for dealing with open-topped vehicles which are common at the BR

Cons:

• Armour is almost never enough under sustained fire
• Enemy tanks with sloped armour easily bounce your shots if not carefully aimed
• Slow muzzle velocity
• HEAT shells detonate on obstacles

History

Archive of the in-game description

The Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N variant was an assault tank. Ausf. L and Ausf. M chassis were used to produce this variant. This variant was produced to meet the need for a stronger tank, one that could more effectively handle the Soviet T-34 and KV-1. A 75 mm long-barreled gun could not be installed in the turret due to the turret box's limited size. The designers decided to use the short-barreled 7.5cm KwK37 L/24 gun along with hollow-charge shells. This explosive projectile packed more punch than the 5 cm KwK39 L/60 gun. To accommodate this change, the gun's mantlet was redesigned. The gun's recoil mechanisms were improved, the single-hinged hatch for the command turret was replaced with a two-hinged hatch, and the thickness of the commander's cupola walls was increased to 100 mm. This variant's operational weight was 23,000 kg. Most of the tanks received a 5 mm Schürzen side skirts to protect the tank's hull and turret. Production of Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N tanks began in June 1942 and lasted until August 1943. A total of 700 of these tanks were built. 3 were built from Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J tanks, 447 from Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. L tanks, 213 from Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. M tanks, and 37 from other variants after they had returned from the front. This tank variant earned a good reputation with the troops and, by the beginning of the battle at the Kursk Bulge, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS owned 155 vehicles of this type. Some of the tanks was transferred to Romania, Slovakia, and Croatia. Tanks of this variant were used until the end of the war and were transferred to Allied forces after Germany's surrender.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Pz.III N from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Pz.III N (Italy)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.