VK 20.01 (D)

Since 1938, there has been an effort to replace medium tanks Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.IV new type. The development program of the tank of the weight category 20 tons bore the designation VK 20.XX (VK - Vollketten - tracked vehicle, 20 - category 20 tons, XX - model number, the abbreviation of the manufacturer was given in parentheses).


The company Daimler Benz gradually created projects VK 20.01 (III) and later ZW40, but not accepted. These failures associated with the technical problems of the then standard tank Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf.E (falling into the weight category of 20 tons), which appeared during the haul in Poland, led to a new tank project on the basis of a general power of attorney (Generalbevollmächtigen) from the power of attorney to introduce standardization for automotive designs. The independent project was created without the intervention of WaPrüf 6, which usually submitted proposals for new projects. The new tank bore the company designation Kampfwagen des Generalbevollmächtigen (GBK), later received the designation VK 20.01 (D).


On November 15, 1939, representatives of the company Daimler Benz met and set specifications for the new project. They summarized the problems that Pz.Kpfw had. III Ausf.E and who wanted to eliminate. It was interesting to evaluate the modern suspension by means of torsion bars, the disadvantage of which was the complexity of repairs when damaged, occupying the interior of the vehicle and instability of the vehicle during shooting caused by the absence of shock absorbers. Therefore, it was decided to use leaf springs. Engineers Daimler-Benz should have developed their own transmission. The tank had seven overlapping 700 mm diameter wheels on each side. Design work was completed in 12/1940, in 2/1941 the MB 809 engine was to be delivered and then the prototype was to be completed (serial number - Fgst.Nr.30009). However, there were problems with its dimensions, which had to be changed in order to place the engine in the hull of the planned tank. Design work on the engine was completed in 6/1940 and the first prototype was ready for testing in 2/1941. Acceptance was granted on March 12, 1941 and March 21, 1941 was sent for installation in a tank to the company Daimler-Benz in Berlin -Marienfelde. After assembling the platform (the machine did not have a tower, sooner or later it only got a box superstructure protecting the crew from bad weather). The prototype was tested in the factory and at the test site in Kummersdorf and in 1/1942 it passed the winter tests in St.Johan.


The prototype was declared obsolete in a report of 22.12.1941. The reason was the experience with more modern Soviet constructions encountered by German troops after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Priority was given to tank projects with thicker armor and stronger armament. The prototype had driven 6163 km in 1/1945 and there is a photograph of the prototype, which reached the end of the war at the factory yard of the company Daimler Benz in Berlin-Marienfelde. The photo captures an unfinished prototype VK 30.01 (D) and on the right is a prototype tank VK 20.01 (D).
VK 20.01 (D) was the first German tank powered by a diesel engine.

Thomas L. Jentz - Germany's Panther Tank: The Quest for Combat Supremacy, ISBN 10: 0887408125/0-88740-812-5, ISBN 13: 9780887408120, year of publication 1995
Thomas L. Jentz & Hilary Louis Doyle - PANZER TRACTS No.20-1 Paper Panzers Panzerkampfwagen, Sturmgeschuetz, and Jagdpanzer, ISBN-10: 097084073X ISBN-13: 978-0970840738, Panzer Tracts 2001
Thomas L.Jentz, Hilary Louise Doile - Panzerkampfwagen III Umbau "Conversions to ZW40, Pz.Kpfw.III (T), Pz.Kpfw.III (Funk), Pz.Kpfw.III (Fl), Pz.Beob.Wg .III, SK 1, Brueckenmaterialtraeger, and Munitionspanzer ", Panzer Tracts No.3-5, year of publication 2011, ISBN:?[/Sources]

I've been trying to identify the machine in the photos for quite some time, because the caption in the source mislabels VK 13.01. It is a prototype VK 20.01 (D) (identical to the machine in the photo in the previous post). The photo is localized to St. Johan, Tyrol (early 1942), where the winter tests took place.

Bundesarchiv via Michael Sawodny - German armored rarities 1939-1945, Shiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998, ISBN: 0-7643-0396-1