[烛光生存狂]-德国突击虎简介

The bitter street fighting at Stalingrad showed the Germans that a suitable weapon needed to be had which could conduct operations with the infantry and be able to bring to bear a large amount of high-explosive for the purposes of destroying fortified positions in an urban environment. Tanks, though filling a need of the infantry for street fighting, could not fire the right ammunition needed to bring about the effects of high explosive artillery rounds. Also, towed artillery, in the indirect fire mode, might not be able to meet the "on demand" needs of the infantry commander who is involved in the close combat that is urban fighting nor could the commander count on precision of indirect fire which might endanger his own men. Other factors for the need of a specialized assault gun included the fact that the current crop of assault guns lacked sufficient hitting power to destroy well-protected positions and that the heavy howitzers already on hand would have proved too vulnerable in the urban battle zone. To this end, Alkett & Krupp designed and Deutsche Eisenwerke manufactured the Sturmpanzer IV, nicknamed the "Brummbar" (meaning "Grizzly Bear"). The "Brummbar" was a 15cm StuH43 L/12 howitzer mounted in a ball socket on a box-like superstructure upon a Panzer IV chassis. It was first blooded in battle during the summer offensive at Kursk in 1943. In all, 313 "Brummbars" where rolled off the lines, having various modifications made to them in the course of their life. They proved to be successful weapons though, at times, they were troubled by mechanical problems due to the weight of the armored superstructure and weapon.

As the war progressed, a need was brought up once more to combat heavily fortified and dug-in positions and buildings. As with any evolution in warfare, the positions the Germans were facing in terms of city fighting became more troublesome and were proving to be more and more difficult to destroy with the systems already deployed. On the 5th. of August, 1943, it was suggested to Adolf Hitler that a new naval weapon be mated to a tank chassis which would provide the needed firepower to put the Germans on top. And it was this suggestion which gave birth to the Sturmtiger, or Sturmmorser.

The Sturmtiger

At Generaloberst Heinz Guderain's suggestion, the Alkett firm undertook the design of the Sturmtiger at their Spandau facility. Brandenburg Iron Works provided the armor plate while Krupp modified the Panzer VI chassis. The naval mortar, the 38cm RTg Racketen-Tauchgranate was modified by its manufacturer, Rheinmetall-Borsig, at their Sommerda plant. It all came together when the prototype was rolled out for Hitler on October 20, 1943, at the Arys training camp in East Prussia.

Chassis/Hull

The Sturmtiger was built upon a Panzer VI "Tiger" chassis. For the most part, the hull and the suspension was unchanged from the "Tiger" tank (mostly the Ausf E models). The only difference in terms of the suspension was that the subsequent Sturmtigers had rubber-sprung, steel road wheels to help the vehicle cope with the additional weight which would be placed upon it. This modification also helped ease the strain on the wheel bearings and proved to be less prone to cloggage by mud and ice. The only chassis which could be allocated to the Sturmtiger project were those which were returned from the front for rebuilding. This arose from the fact that production of the "Tiger" tank had fallen below the given quotas and thus were in short supply. This almost proved to be the killing blow for the Sturmtiger project until, in mid-1944, Hitler ordered that returning chassis from the front could be used for the Sturmtiger. The front of the "Tiger" chassis was cut down and a large, armored superstructure fitted. This fighting compartment housed the mortar and protected the crew along with the ammunition. It was to be found that, though the superstructure was large, the sheer size of the mortar's shells ment that only 12 could be stored inside. It was a practice to keep one shell in the mortar tube and one on the shell advance so that a total of 14 rounds could be carried in all. Upon the superstructure's front plate was to be found the hull mounted MG34 (in a Kugelblende gimbal mounting), placed on the lower, right hand side of the front glacis. In the middle was the mortar itself, in a shielded, ball-socket arrangement. To the left of the mortar were three visors, two for the driver, the third for the aiming telescope. The visors, though visible from the outside, had a armored plate which could be removed from the inside by three bolts when needed. Also on the forward side of the hull were two holding bolts which, when removed, would allow the entire superstructure to come up off the chassis with the assistance of a crane and the four eye bolts attached to the corners of the top of the superstructure. One each side of the fighting compartment was one close combat gun port, to allow the crew to bring their small arms into action to repulse infantry attacks. When not in use, it was closed with an armored plug. There was also a similar port on the rear face of the fighting compartment. The roof of the superstructure had two loading hatches in it to allow the shells to be placed into the fighting area for loading and/or storage. This was aided by a crane attached along the right side of the superstructure's rear face. A hatch and a ventilator opening were also to be found on the roof, the latter towards the right front, the former at the right rear. Chassis numbers assigned to the Sturmtiger project range thru 250001 - 251357.

The dimensions of the Sturmtiger are as follows:

Length: 6.28 meters

Width: 3.57 meters

Height: 2.85 meters (with crane, 3.45 meters)

Powerplant

The engine of the Sturmtiger was the Maybach V-12 HL210 P45 motor, developing 650hp. Its also been mentioned that the HL230 was used as well. Since the chassis were all "Tigers" returning from the front, this may be the case, but it would be hard to confirm which "Tigers" came off the line and were put into the Sturmtiger program. The engine used by the Ausf E "Tiger" was the HL210 and it is safe to assume this powered the majority of the Sturmtigers. The Maybach was tied into a 12 speed gearbox with 8 forward gears and 4 reverse gears. The top speed of the Sturmtiger was 40kph, no doubt its road speed. Range was rated at 100km on and 60km off road. Total fuel capacity for the Sturmtiger was 540 liters. The engine drove two sets of 96 link tracks with a total length of 3,605mm and a width of 725mm. Each track was supported by eight, 800mm sized road wheels. Total ground pressure was rated at 1.5kp/cc.

Armor Specifications

The armor of the Sturmtiger is as follows:

Superstructure front: 150mm at a 45 degree angle

Superstructure sides: 80mm at a 30+0 degree angle

Superstructure rear: 80mm at a 0 degree angle

Superstructure top and bottom: 40mm - 25mm at a 90 degree angle

Hull front: 100mm at a 25 degree angle

Hull sides: 60mm at a 0 degree angle

Hull rear: 80mm at a 9 degree angle

Hull top and bottom: 25mm at a 90 degree angle

Other Data

The total crew for the Sturmtiger was five, though it has been written that a sixth or even a seventh may have been carried. The standard five consisted of the driver, the commander, gunner, and two loaders. The Sturmtiger was equipped with a FuG5 radio unit. With its full war load, the Sturmtiger weighed in between 65 to 68 tons. Its ground clearance was 470mm while it could climb a 35 degree gradient and cross a gap 2,300mm wide.

The 38cm RTg Rocket Mortar

The main armament of the Sturmtiger is a very unique one. Initially, the 38cm RTg was developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig for the German Navy, as a sea coast anti-submarine weapon. This weapon didn't garner much favor until it was mentioned that it could fit the requirement by the German Army for a 21cm+ weapon for destroying built-up

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