What does 'Tauch' mean regarding a panzer III?

Its just a panzer that could cross rivers underwater , they had special snorkel attachments so the engine could breath , I don't believe they were used in north africa , mainly russia . How common were they , well probably not too common , but they were used for certain applications. That dragon kit was one of my favorites to date , went together pretty well , and looks pretty kool too .

Tauchpanzer is a submersible tank. Originaly developed by the germans for use in operation sealion, (amphib. invasion of Britain.) A total of 168 vehicles were converted to Tauchpanzers. These were PzrIII F's, G's and H'swith some PzBefWg III command tanks. Conversion program was completed by late fall of 1940 and the vehicles were assigned to Panzerabteilung A. It was designed to operate in water up to 15 meters deep and was sealed with gaskets, one way valves and locking covers. Air was supplied by a flexible snorkel. The covers and inflatable rubber gaskets had detonating cord embedded in them so as they rolled up on the beach they could blow off the covers from inside the tank. The snorkel also carried a radio antennae that would allow radio communication. It had pumps installed to remove any water that may seep in and a gyroscopic compass to help navigate to shore.

Once the operation was canceled, most of the heavy mods were simplified and the vehicles were converted for river crossings. The flexible snorkel leading from the back deck was replaced with a rigid 10 foot steel tube from the turret.
The newer modified versions were issued to 18pz div. and pz reg. 6 of 3rd pzr div. and were successfully used in operation Barbarossa crossing the river Bug. After the crossing they were used as standard combat tanks.

ref: PzKpfw III in action by squadron.

SOme of these tauchpanzer modifications wee also made to Panzer IV's and also used in Operation Barbarossa.

As far as I know, I have seen no reference to their use in Africa.

If you were looking for a panzer III for african service, you could use the Tauchpanzer, just leave off the snorkel mods. The DML kit is a nice kit and the detail is pretty sharp. Beware though, indy tracks.

Thanks for the education, guys. If I get hol of some good reference images of a 'Tauch' and a non-'Tauch' and if the external differences aren't to great, maybe I'll try a conversion.

The most significant difference is the frames around the mantlet plate and the mg ports. This was the seal or frame to hold the seals on. You'd have to remove those for a regular pzr3 or pzr4. Other than that the differences are negligible.