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sIG 33 auf Geschutzwagen

1940 SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY WORLD WAR 2

History of Geschutzwagen on sIG 33

The sIG 33 on Geschutzwagen became several mobile howitzer platforms based on main battle tanks for the German army during WWII. The core of the vehicle includes a 150 mm (15 cm) sIG 33 infantry howitzer for long-range fire support. The production line started with the chassis of the light tank No.

1, developed to the light tank of the No. 2, and finally the medium tank of the No. 3. Another modification includes the Czech Panzer 38(t) series.

The original 15cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun was a short-barreled towed gun using a two-wheeled frame that included a small mantlet, a hydropneumatic recoil mechanism and a horizontally sliding breech block. The weapon entered service in 1927 and remained in service with the German Armed Forces until the end of the war in 1945.

The weapons were traditionally manufactured by Rheinmetall, mainly in additional production, but also by other brands - by the end of the war, the total production was around 4,600 pieces.

German actions in the early days of the war showed that speed was necessary due to the development of mechanized warfare - towed artillery systems simply could not keep pace with mobile tank corps, which limited fire support tactics during specific attacks. This would The focus was on making the howitzer more maneuverable and it was decided to retrofit the artillery equipment to the existing, upcoming chassis of the Panzer I Ausf.

B light tank family. The conversion process resulted in a 15cm sIG33(sf) on Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B, also known as Sturmpanzer I.

The end result was a Panzer I hull and chassis (with landing gear) and a sIG 33 series gun (with wheel mounts) mounted above the vehicle - the original tank's turret was removed accordingly. In addition, there is an open-roofed, open-roofed fighting compartment, basically consisting of a front wall and side walls. Only one ramp is found along the front panel for basic ballistic protection. The total weight of the new car is 9.4 tons (short), and its dimensions include a length of 2.7 meters, a width of 2 meters and a height of 2.8 meters. Armor protection along the most critical fairing reaches 13mm, and power is provided by a 100 hp Maybach NL38TR 6-cylinder water-cooled engine.

The engine is connected to a drivetrain that provides five forward gears and one reverse gear. At a top road speed of 25 mph, the range is less than 90 miles. The crew of four consisted of a driver, a commander and two loaders.

Production of Ausf. Only 38 of the Type B were built under the Alkett GmbH umbrella, with examples from as early as 1940. Once in service, the limitations proved to be numerous due to the vehicle's high center of gravity, which made it awkward and unwieldy on the battlefield.

The lack of armor easily exposes the crew to a variety of battlefield hazards as well as inclement weather. Storage space on board is also tight, carrying only three ready-to-fire 150mm rounds.

The latter mass required a trailing SdKfz 10 half-track, which acted as an ammunition carrier, transporting three of the four crew members into battle.

Overall, the vehicle was an overweight design that pushed both the frame and engine to their limits, resulting in frequent mechanical failures. However, the sIG33 150mm gun is as deadly as ever, capable of delivering powerful long-range strikes against soft targets with indirect fire. The weapon has a range of up to 3.5 miles and can fire at a rate of four rounds per minute. The Waffentrager was used in combat service during the Belgian campaign and then in the French campaign (May-June 1940). They then served in the Balkan/Greek invasion (April 1941) and the raid on southern Russia (June-November 1942).

By mid-1943, these vehicles had little battlefield value and were either ultimately abandoned or lost to the general wear and tear of wartime.

Despite the limitations of the early brand, the authorities more or less consider the design of the sIG 33 Waffentrager to be a successful platform for rapid production and efficient mobile support. The 15 cm sIG 33 auf Geschutzenwagen II Ausf C (SdKfz 121) (Sturmpanzer "Bison II"), followed by attaching the howitzer parts to the chassis of the Light Panzer II, which first appeared in 1942. Some modifications were made to accommodate fixed shortcomings of the original design, such as the lower center of gravity - the roofline now matches that of the original Panzer II tank. The 15cm sIG 33 FGST Ausf.

PzKpfW II (sf) "Required" was introduced in 1943, with a longer and wider fuselage for better weight transfer. The Panzer II-based brand is powered by a 155-horsepower, liquid-cooled, Bussing-style GS 8-cylinder engine.

sIG33 Armed Geschutzwagen The most promising form of the vehicle is a model based on the Panzer III - the 15 cm sIG 33 Ausf. PzKpfW III.

The car was considered as early as 1941, and although the medium tank chassis proved to be more than a viable artillery transporter, further work on the production line was required as only 12 prototypes were built and used on the Eastern Front Eventually slowed down.

The most successful sIG 33 mod is based on the Czech PzKpfW 38(t), a design adopted by the conquering Germans. The newly realized 1942 model became the 15 cm sIG 33(sf) Ausf. PzKpfW 38(t) SdKfz 138 "Bison" and SdKfz 138/I "Grill" were their perfect 1943 forms.

Use the sIG 33 mounts standardized in PzKpfW 38(t)-based systems warfare, the largest number.