Panzer III early J Kwk 39 L60?

[SteveH]

Hi

Has anyone ever seen a Pz III J with the KwK39 5cm L60 barrel fitted and still having a "J" layout on the tracks guards for equipment?

I have searched everywhere, I have found one, but the reference is a late "J" with the turret vision ports filled,
Not an early "J" simply up gunned to the L60.

My references do indicate the early "J"s were up gunned but I can not find any photographic evidence to confirm this!

Thank you for your help, well in advance

regards

Steve H

[Tomcat64]

Not sure if this helps at all Steve but from the Tanks Encyclopaedia (link here):

Panzer III Ausf.J
The Panzer III Ausf.J was very similar to the Panzer.III Ausf.G. It was built with a turret fitted with a 5 cm Kw.K 38 L/42 tank gun. It had similar armor thickness and was powered by the same Maybach HL 120 TRM petrol/gasoline 285 hp engine.

The basic armor thickness at the hull front, upper hull front and rear of the tank was now 50 mm. The front glacis was 25 mm thick. 30 mm armour was used on the hull sides, lower hull rear and front. The armor on the front, sides and rear of the turret was 30 mm thick. The rounded gun mantle was 50 mm thick. In the spring of 1941, additional armor plate was added internally to the front of the turret increasing it to a maximum of 57 mm in places.

The chassis was lengthened to create better engine compartment ventilation and tow eyes. The design of the armored front brake vents was changed. The turret was fitted with an armoured extractor fan on the roof.

The 5 cm KampfwagonKanone (Kw.K – tank gun) had a length of 2100 mm (L/42) from the muzzle to the back of the breech. It had a rate of fire of up to 20 rounds per minute. This was achieved by having a semi-automatic breech which opened before the end of the recoil, ejected the spent casing and allowed for the quick loading of the next shell.

From December 1941 the 5 cm Kw.K L/60 tank gun started to be fitted instead of the 5 cm Kw.K L/42 gun, as stocks arrived in factories. Tanks sent to North Africa had armoured vents fitted on the rear engine deck. In April 1941 stowage bins started to be fitted to the rear of the turret.

Using the appearance of spaced armor on Panzer III tanks is not a reliable way of identifying the different Ausf version. Late production Ausf.J tanks had 20 mm spaced armor fitted to the front of the turret and the hull. Some older tanks had it back fitted later.

So it looks like that confirms that the L/60 was fitted from about mid production - will see if I can find any pics in some of my reference books.

[digger303]

this is from Encyclopedia of German tanks ww2 by P. Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle

Possibly not quiet what you were after, but it says the only difference between the J and L was the main gun.



Images of war on the eastern front book which is a J

[SteveH]

Morning chaps

Thanks for the input, I do have some good reference books, but no real photos of the J with an L60

The CAD drawings of the Pz III with an L60 are the standard rear deck without the tropical upgrade for additional air circulation.

I did track down a PDF of Panzer Tracts 3-3 and it is a real mix up during the mid production with the introduction of the L60, change of track guard tool layout, addition of Vor armour plate, introduction of spare wheels due to increased damage by mines, and then they were re-designated to the Ausf L.

I shall stick with the L42 and build an early DAK, for my Dunkelgelb paint experiment

Thanks for the input, it is much appreciated.

Best regards

Steve H