The Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. C, also known as its prototype name VK 6.01, was a German light tank from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Although the Panzer I Ausf. C was formally designated as a modification of the

Panzer I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was ''Sd.Kfz. 101'' ...

, it was actually a completely new vehicle. This variant has little similarity with earlier Ausf. A and B variants - one of the main distinctions being the use of the ''Schachtellaufwerk'' inter-leaved track wheels which was used in many later German tanks during the war.

History

Development of Panzer I Ausf. C was started in the autumn of 1939 by Krauss-Maffei and

Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...

on the instructions of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

to create a light airborne tank. From July to December 1942, 40 Panzer I Ausf. C units were produced (serial numbers 150101 - 150140), including 6 prototypes. Two tanks were deployed to the Panzer I Division.

Design

The chassis design was influenced by Krauss Maffei earlier work with halftracks including the 8-ton

Sd.Kfz. 7 The Sd.Kfz. 7 was a half-track military vehicle used by the German Army, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS during the Second World War. Sd.Kfz. is an abbreviation of the German word ''Sonderkraftfahrzeug'', "special purpose vehicle". A longer designati ...

halftrack. The turret armament was the Mauser E.W. 141 semi-automatic gun derived from the MG151 cannon and firing the 7.92 mm ''Patrone'' round as used in German anti-tank rifles such as the ''Panzerbuche'' 38 and ''Panzerbuche'' 39 The gun was unique to this tankJentz 2002, p. 1-148 chosen as it could not carry a 20mm cannon. The gun could fire at up to 100 rounds per minute but lacked in penetration. Although this tank proved to not be effective against similar armored tanks, it was proven to be able to clear small arms and halt defending forces during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

Notes

References

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Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf. C: Kniepkamp's Latecomer
tankarchives.ca {{WWIIGermanAFVs World War II tanks of Germany Light tanks of Germany