Panzerjäger I

The Panzerjäger I was the first German tank hunter to enter service in the Second World War. It put the Czech 4.7 cm anti-tank gun, known to the Germans as the 4.7 cm Pak(t), on a Panzer I Ausf. B hull whose turret had been removed, with a fixed open-topped shield around the gun and crew. It was meant to answer heavy French tanks such as the Char B1 bis, which the 3.7 cm Pak 36 could not stop, and it gave a second life to an obsolete chassis. In 1940 and 1941, 202 Panzer I hulls were converted. The Berlin firm Alkett built the first series of 132 in 1940 and assembled ten of the second series of 70, and Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz assembled the rest. The vehicles fought in the Battle of France, in North Africa and on the Eastern Front, where thin armour and a tall silhouette made them vulnerable.