The 7.5 cm PaK 41 was one of the last German anti-tank guns brought into service and used in World War II and notable for being one of the largest anti-tank guns to rely on the Gerlich principle (pioneered by German gun-designer Hermann Gerlich who developed the principle in the 1920s, reportedly for a hunting rifle) to deliver a higher muzzle velocity and therefore greater penetration in relation to its size.