Specification Crew : 2 Engine power : 100 hp Combat weight :5,890 kg (12,987 lb) Max speed : road , 40 km/h (24.84 mph) Length : 4.44 m (14.57 ft) Range : 145 km (90.05 miles) Width : 2.08 M (6.82 ft) Main gun : 2X7.92 mm (0.31 in)machine guns Height : 1.73 m (5.66 ft) Armour : 5 mm (0.20 in) to 35 mm (1.38 in)

The little Panzer I was supposed to be a training tank for the pre-war Panzer Divisions but it was pressed into use as a light combat tank until at least 1942.The first examples were known as the Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper (La S) or agricultural tractor to hide their true purpose until 1938 when the designation Panzer I (or PzKpfw 1)was applied.The first Panzer I was a two-man light tank weighing only 5.5 tonnes(6.06 US tons)and armed with two 7.92 mm (0.31 in)machine guns in a small turret.A second model,the main production version known as the Ausf B,had a more powerful engine and was slightly longer. The Panzer I first saw action during the German intervention in the Spanish Civil War 1936-38.By 1939 there were still not enough combat-worthy tanks in German Army service so the Panzer 1s were called upon to bulk out the tank units which invaded Poland in 1939 and France in 1940.By 1941 the Panzer I was being withdrawn.Some had already been converted to command vehicles by replacing the turret with a more spacious fixed superstructure while other turret less examples were fitted with a 15 cm (5.91 in)infantry howitzers.In North Africa a few were converted in the field to mount flame-throwers.The most successful conversion was probably the Panzerjager I armed with a 47 mm anti-tank gun.