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page 2 of 3
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| By the end of 1941 it became obvious that the infantry needed better
guns than the short-barreled L/42 to defend themselves against enemy tanks.
The Russian T34 and KV1 were superior to any German tank, but due to the
low silhouette and thick frontal armor the StuG turned out to be an effective
tank destroyer. The superior enemy tanks made it necessary to replace the
gun of the PzKpfw IV by the 75mm KwK 40 L/43. Like the PzKpfw IV, the short-barreled
75mm of the StuG was also replaced by a similar long-barreled 75mm L/43.
The fast battles on the Russian front, with their gradual shift to the
defensive, eventually led to the development of the StuG as an effective
antitank weapon. Its role was no longer attacking to rapidly advance, bur
rather defence through counter-attacks. The main battle tank lost out in
favor of the Sturmgeschütz as tank destroyer, which became also displayed
in the production numbers.
The Ausf. F had a raised centre roof at the rear with an electronic ventilator fan, and the initial vehicles were armed with the L/43 gun. A change in the chassis design resulted in an altered engine deck, and a larger gun was fitted, the 75mm L/48. These vehicles were designated ausf. F/8 as their chassis was based on the PzKpfw III Ausf. J (8/ZW). Aditional armor was added to the front, and protection was often improved in the field by filling the frontal roof sections on both sides of the gun. The folding radio antennas were replaced with antennas with fixed mounts, The StuG did not originally have a machine gun to defend against infantry, but from F/8 vehicles onward a MG 34 or 42 in front of the loader's hatch was installed. |
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mounted behind a folding protective shield |
| Combat experience led to the final version of the StuG III, the Ausf.
G, which appeared early in 1943. Front plates of the superstructure and
the chassis increased to 80mm, often by addition of bolted 30mm plates.
A cupola was installed for the commander, including 8 episcopes and a smaller
hatch for the binocular scopes. The ventilator fan moved to the centre
of the rear vertical wall of the fighting compartment. The Ausf. G underwent
many modifications in the field, including the addition of side skirts
for protection against antitank rifles and high explosive shells, and the
addition of the antimagnetic cement or Zimmerit to sloped and vertical
armored surfaces. Often a "waffle" pattern was applied in contrast to the
vertical line pattern used by the PzKpfw IV and VI.
The raised commander's cupola turned out to be a weak spot, and the crew increased protection by adding track sections around the cupola. Later versions of the Ausf. G had a sloping shot deflector welded in front of the cupola. In 1944 a new gun mantlet was fitted, known as the "Saukopf" (pig head) to the soldiers due to the shot-deflecting gun mantlet's form. The loader's roof hatches opened now to the sides, and a remote controlled mount for the roof machinegun was installed. |
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with a framework for spare tracks on the rear deck |
has been disabled by an antitank mine |
| Sturmgeschütz units were organic to the Artillery, and were not organized in compagnies, but into separate abteilungen (battalions). Many of these battalions were integrated into Panzer Divisions and into Panzer grenadier Divisions. In some cases StuGs equipped the divisional tank battalions because tanks were not available for every unit. Since the StuG was considered as artillery, they were not under the direct command of the Panzertruppe, even though the StuG III was one of the most heavily armored vehicles available. Only Waffen SS and elite Wehrmacht divisions had StuG brigades as permanent part of their divisions. In 1943, the assault gun battalions were redesigned as assault gun brigades (StuG Brigade). |
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| To StuH and StuG IV (page III) |
