page 2
|
page 2 |
| SdKfz 162 Jagdpanzer IV |
| The modified chassis of the PzKpfw IV Ausf. F was utilized for the Jagdpanzer IV, a fully enclosed tank destroyer vehicle built by Vomag of Plauen. The Jagdpanzer IV, nicknamed Guderian Ente (Guderian's Duck), was the first of the second-generation tank destroyers and replaced the Marders in the tank-destroyer battalions. It used the same motor and chassis as the PzKpfw IV, but with sloped plates to deflect shots and armed with a 75mm L/48 gun with limited traverse. |
 |
| The vehicle entered troop service towards the end of 1943 under the designation Jagdpanzer IV Ausf. F, and when the L/70 KwK 42 gun became available in 1944 it was renamed as SdKfz 162/1 Jagdpanzer IV/70.Late models of the Jagdpanzer IV had no port on the left hand side of the front plate and no muzzle brake. Also the number of return rollers was reduced from four to three. Other modifications included first two bogie wheels steel-tyred instead of rubber-tyred because of heavy gun weight. Around 1500 Jagdpanzer IV and 300 Jagdpanzer IV/70 were built. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| SdKfz 186 Jagdtiger |
| Following the Heereswaffenamt policy of the time, a limited traverse tank destroyer version of the Tiger II was also produced. A needless outgrowth of the same idea as the Jagdpanther, this vehicle, the heaviest armored fighting vehicle to go into service, was designated Jagdpanzer VI, Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B or Jagdtiger. The Jagdtiger was first shown as a full scale iron model in October 1943 and a total of 150 vehicles was ordered, but due to shortages of components and disruption by bombing only 70 machines were built, 48 of them in 1944. Through very heavy, and limited by its requirements for good roads and bridges, the Jagdtiger was a very effective tank destroyer, able to knock out virtually any Allied tank at very long range. |
 |
 |
| The 128mm Pak 80 (L/55), the most powerful anti-tank gun to be used during the war, was mounted centrally in the front plate within a cast bell-shaped gun shield similar in design to that of the Tiger II. The heavy rounds were split for ease of handling by the loader, with the disadvantage that it made for a lower rate of fire than other tank-destroyers which employed fixed ammunition. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| The front plate of the fixed turret was 250mm thick and sloped back at 15 degrees; it was made of one piece of solid cast steel. The sides of the hull were combined into one piece with the sides of the turret and like the Tiger II were 80mm thick and sloped at 25 degrees. Not all produced vehicles mounted the 128mm gun due to shortage, and some early Jagdtigers were armed with the 88mm Pak 43. One of the Jagdtigers was experimentally equipped with the torsion bar suspension designed by Dr Porsche, having eight axles each side as against nine in the Henschel design. |
The Porsche Jagdtiger on trials |
 |
| Like the Tiger II, Jagdtigers were allocated to schwere Panzerjäger Abteilungen. Jagdtiger Abteilung 512 was formed in the late fall of 1944 and was equipped with 20 Jagdtigers (instead of 48 ordered). There were two companies, each with 10 vehicles. Two Jagdtigers were in each HQ section, and four more were in each platoon. The two companies, named "(Otto) Carius" and "(Albert) Ernst", fought as separate units in Germany's last battles. The first action of sPzAbt 512 was against the new American bridgehead in Remagen, where the Allied forces had been able to cross the Rhine. The action failed, and during their retreat the Jagdtigers could destroy following Sherman tanks at a distance of two kilometers and more. After fighting in the Ruhr area, the battalions surrendered to American forces. The Jagdtigers of sPzAbt 512 were overall dark yellow, and no numbering system is known. |
with thanks to Didier for providing some of these pictures
| Back to page 1 |
