Last of its kind

Historical Overview:

By the time the Panzer IV Ausf.E was entering production, it was noted that it had a number of deficiencies, noticeably its lack of armour. Though it was planned to have 50mm of frontal protection, this would not be implemented during production. By April 1941 though, it was possible to use thicker, single-piece armour plates instead of two weaker ones. Aside from changes to the structure and chassis, the Ausf.F would be virtually identical to previous versions, and would serve the same role as a support tank, armed with the 75mm KwK.37 L/24 and two 7.92mm MG-34s.

Early on, the 75mm gun could fire HE, Smoke and APHE, but experience in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa showed that the APHE was not enough to deal with Soviet T-34s and KV-1s, thus in 1941, German High Command ordered that production of the 7.5 cm GrPatr 38 (HEAT) begin as soon as possible, though production did’nt start until early 1942.

Source(s):

TE - Panzer IV Ausf.F