Sd.Kfz. 251
| SdKfz 251 | |
|---|---|
 Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. A |
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| Type | Half-track armored personnel carrier |
| Place of origin |  Nazi Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1939 - 1945 |
| Used by | Nazi Germany Kingdom of Romania Hungary |
| Wars | World War II |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 7.81 tonnes (8.61 short tons) |
| Length | 5.80 m (19 ft) |
| Width | 2.10 m (6 ft 10 in) |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Crew | 2 + 10 passengers |
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| Armor | 6-14.5 mm (0.24-0.57 in) |
| Main armament |
MG 34 or MG 42 |
| Secondary armament |
MG 34 or MG 42 |
| Engine | one Maybach HL 42 6-cylinder petrol engine 100 hp (74.6 kW) |
| Power/weight | 12.8 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | Half track |
| Operational range |
300 km (186 mi) |
| Speed | 52.5 km/h (32.5 mph) |
The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was an armored fighting vehicle designed and first built by Hanomag company during World War II. The largest and best armored of the wartime half-tracks, the Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the panzergrenadiers of the German mechanized infantry corps into battle. Sd.Kfz. 251s were the most widely produced German half-tracks of the war, with over 15,252 vehicles and variants produced in total by various manufacturers, and were commonly referred to simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied soldiers.[1]
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[edit] Design
There were four main model modifications (Ausführung A through Ausf. D), which formed the basis for at least 22 variants.[1] The initial idea was for a vehicle that could be used to transport a single squad of panzergrenadiers to the battlefield protected from enemy small arms fire, and with some protection from artillery fire. In addition, the standard mounting of at least one MG 34 or MG 42 machine gun allowed the vehicle to provide support by fire for the infantry squad once they had disembarked in battle.
Positive aspects of the open top included greater situational awareness and faster egress by the infantry, as well as the ability to throw grenades and fire over the top of the fighting compartment as necessary while remaining under good horizontal cover. Downsides to the open top were a major vulnerability to all types of plunging fire; this included indirect fire from mortars and field artillery as well as depressed-trajectory small arms fire from higher elevated positions, lobbed hand grenades, and strafing by Allied aircraft.
The first two models were produced in small numbers from 1939. A and B model can be identified by the structure of the nose armor which comprises two trapezoids. The lower trapezoid has a cooling hatch. Production of the B modification from 1940 eliminated the fighting compartment's side vision slits. The C modification introduced into production in mid-1940 featured a simplified forward armoured plate for the engine. Ausf. A through C had rear doors of the vehicle bulging out. The C variant had a larger production run, but was a quite complex vehicle to build, involving many angled plates that gave reasonable protection from small arms fire. From early 1943, the Ausf D variant was developed with a purpose of reducing the number of angled body plates by 50%, simplifying the design and thus speeding up the production. Ausf D can be easily recognized by its single piece sloping rear (with flat doors).
The standard personnel carrier version was equipped with a 7.92 mm MG 34 or MG 42 machine gun mounted at the front of the open compartment, above and behind the driver. A second machine gun could be mounted at the rear on an anti-aircraft mount.
Variants were produced for specialized purposes, including with anti-aircraft guns, light howitzers, anti-tank guns and mortars or even large unguided artillery rockets, as well as a version with an infrared search light used to spot potential targets for associated Panther tanks equipped with infrared detectors.
Another potentially good design feature of the Sd.Kfz.251 was the large track area, with the characteristic "slack track" design with no return rollers for the upper run of track, and overlapping and interleaved main road wheels common to virtually all German halftracks of the period. This lowered ground pressure and provided better traction, giving the Sd.Kfz.251 better cross country performance than most other nations' half-tracked vehicles. The interleaved and overlapping main road wheels, however, shared a chief problem with the Tiger I and Panther main battle tanks that also used such roadwheel configurations - in muddy or winter weather conditions, such as those during a rasputitsa mud season or the coldest Russian winter conditions, accumulated mud and/or snow could freeze solid between the road wheels, possibly immobilizing the vehicle.
[edit] Use
The early production models of this vehicle were issued to the 1st Panzer Division in 1939.
These vehicles were meant to enable panzergrenadiers to accompany panzers and provide infantry support as required. In practice, there were never enough of them to go around, and most panzergrenadier units had to make do with trucks for transport.
[edit] Variants
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There were 23 official variants, and sundry unofficial variants. Each variant is identified by a suffix to the model number. There was however some overlap in the variant numbers.
- Sdkfz 251/1 - Schützenpanzerwagen. Standard personnel carrier.
- 251/1-I - As above, but with intercom facilities
- 251/1-II - Rocket launcher (called "Stuka zu Fuß" (Walking Stuka) or Wurfrahmen 40) equipped with six side mounted frames for launching 280 mm or 320 mm Wurfkoerper rockets.
- SdKfz 251/1 - Falke Infrared detection equipment, to be used in combination with SdKfz 251/20 Uhu. Mostly Ausf. D variants.
- Sdkfz 251/2 - Schützenpanzerwagen (Granatwerfer). 81 mm Mortar carrier
- Sdkfz 251/3 - mittlere Kommandopanzerwagen (Funkpanzerwagen). Communications vehicle, fitted with extra radio equipment for command use in Ausf. C and Ausf. D versions.[2]
- 251/3 I FuG8 and FuG5 Radios
- 251/3 II FuG8 and FuG5 Radios
- 251/3 III FuG7 and FuG1 Radios
- 251/3 IV FuG11 and FuG12 Radios (with 9 m telescopic mast); Command vehicle variant (Kommandowagen)
- 251/3 V FuG11 Radio
- Sdkfz 251/4 - Schützenpanzerwagen für Munition und Zubehör des leIG18. Gun-towing tractor, initially for use with the 7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18. Later used with the 50 mm Pak 38, 75 mm PaK 40 and 10.5 cm leFH 18 Light Field Howitzer.
- Sdkfz 251/5 - Schützenpanzerwagen für Pionierzug. Assault Engineer vehicle with inflatable boats, assault bridges. Command Vehicle for Pioneer platoons (Pionierzug).
- Sdkfz 251/6 - mittlere Funkpanzerwagen (Kommandopanzerwagen). Command version equipped with map boards, cipher and encoding machines in versions Ausf. A and Ausf. B.
- Sdkfz 251/7-I - Pionierpanzerwagen. Another assault engineer vehicle with fittings to carry assault bridge ramps on the sides.
- 251/7-II - As above but with different radio.
- Sdkfz 251/8-I - Krankenpanzerwagen. Armoured ambulance capable of carrying up to 8 seated casualties or 4 seated casualties and 2 stetcher cases.
- 251/8-II - As above but fitted with FuG5 radio and 2m rod antenna. Assigned to HQ and Panzer units.
- Sdkfz 251/9 - Schützenpanzerwagen (7.5 cm KwK37). Equipped with a 75 mm L/24 low velocity gun, nicknamed "Stummel" ("stump").
- Sdkfz 251/10 - Schützenpanzerwagen (3.7 cm PaK). Equipped with a 37 mm Pak 36 anti-tank gun mount. Issued to platoon leaders as a fire support vehicle.
- Sdkfz 251/11 - Fernsprechpanzerwagen. Telephone line layer.
- Sdkfz 251/12 - Messtrupp und Gerätpanzerwagen. Survey and instrument carrier for artillery units.
- Sdkfz 251/13 - Schallaufnahmepanzerwagen. Sound recording carrier for artillery units.
- Sdkfz 251/14 - Schallaufnahmepanzerwagen. Sound recording carrier for artillery units.
- Sdkfz 251/15 - Lichtauswertepanzerwagen. Flash spotting carrier for artillery units.
- Sdkfz 251/16 - Flammpanzerwagen. Fitted with two flame projectors and initially a rear mounted flamethrower, detachable but still connected to the vehicle, to be operated by dismounted infantry. This was in addition to the standard MG34 machine gun and mount. Six Sd.Kfz. 251/16 Flammpanzerwagens were authorised for issue to each Panzergrenadier regiment.
- Sdkfz 251/17 - Schützenpanzerwagen (2 cm). Anti-aircraft vehicle armed with a 2 cm KwK38 on a pedestal mounting with a small armoured turret to protect the gunner. Late war, it was issued as a platoon commander's vehicle to replace the SdKfz 251/10.
- Sdkfz 251/18-I - Beobachtungspanzerwagen. Artillery observation vehicle.
- 251/18-Ia - Differences unknown, likely different radio fit.
- 251/18-II - Armored observation vehicle.
- 251/18-IIa - Different radio.
- Sdkfz 251/19 - Fernsprechbetriebspanzerwagen. Telephone exchange vehicle.
- Sdkfz 251/20 - Schützenpanzerwagen (Infrarotscheinwerfer) Introduced in late 1944 and mounted a 60 cm infrared searchlight with a range of 1.5 km for illuminating targets at night. Known as "Uhu" (Eagle Owl), they guided IR sight-equipped Panther tanks to targets that were out of range of their own smaller infrared searchlights.
- Sdkfz 251/21 - Schützenpanzerwagen (Drilling MG151s). Equipped with a triple-mount ("Drilling" in German means "triple") of MG151 autocannon; early version being MG151/15 mm cannon, later being MG151/20 mm Luftwaffe cannon.
- Sdkfz 251/22 - 7.5 cm PaK40 L/46 auf Mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen. Fitted with a 75 mm PaK 40 anti-tank gun.
- Sdkfz 251/23 - 2 cm Hängelafette 38 auf Mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen. Recconnaisance variant intended to replace the SdKfz 250/9 and fitted with the same turret mounting as the SdKfz 234/1 armoured car.[3]
- OT-810 - Czechoslovakian produced version, made by Praga and Tatra. This version had an air cooled diesel engine, and an armored roof over the troop compartment. The vehicle was not liked by those who used it and was nicknamed "Hitler's revenge".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ a b Green, Michael. Anderson, Thomas. Schulz, Frank. German Tanks of World War II. Zenith Imprint, 2000.ISBN 978-0-7603-0671-0
- ^ Sdkfz 251/3 was produced after Sdkfz 251/6, and changed designations in the process
- ^ http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/half-tracks/sdKfz-251.asp
- Bibliography
- Culver, Bruce; Laurier, Jim (Illustrator) (November 1998), SdKfz 251 Half-Track 1939-45, New Vanguard #25 (2nd ed.), Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1855328461
- Kliment, Charles; Greer, Don (March 1981), SdKfz 251 in action, Armor No.21 (1st ed.), Squadron/Signal Publications, ISBN 0897471245
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 |
- Information about the mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (Sd.Kfz.251) at Panzerworld
- SdKfz 251
- photos of SdKfz 251 and czech post war OT-810
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