Sturmgeschütz
Encyclopedia
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
word for "assault gun
Assault gun
An assault gun is a gun or howitzer mounted on a motor vehicle or armored chassis, designed for use in the direct fire role in support of infantry when attacking other infantry or fortified positions....
", usually abbreviated StuG. The vehicle was a leading weapon of the Sturmartillerie, a branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry in infantry, panzer
Panzer
A Panzer is a German language word that, when used as a noun, means "tank". When it is used as an adjective, it means either tank or "armoured" .- Etymology :...
, and panzergrenadier
Panzergrenadier
is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry, as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Chile, Germany and Switzerland.-Forerunners:...
units. StuGs were very successful in their intended support role and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes and other defenses. Destruction of enemy tanks eventually became its main priority as the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
(German Defense Force) in the Soviet Union did not have sufficient gun power in many of its 1941–42 era tanks (Czech panzer 38(t)
Panzer 38(t)
The Panzerkampfwagen 38 was originally a Czech tank of pre-World War II design. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland and Russia. Production ended in 1942, when its armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over...
, Panzer III
Panzer III
Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
) to take on the increased numbers of Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. It is estimated that by 1944 StuG battalions had destroyed 20,000 enemy tanks, mostly T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
s.
Development history
After defeat in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, German military commanders required mobile armored artillery units able to provide close infantry support. Colonel Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
recommended the concept of infantry Begleitbatterien (escort batteries) to General Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
, Chief of the General Staff in 1935. He described how it should not be used as one uses a tank, rather as a unit directly involved with infantry advance to destroy fortified objectives through direct fire. Its primary mission is to strike and destroy enemy machine gun nests and tanks and then move out before it can become a target for enemy tanks.
Daimler-Benz AG was given the order to develop and produce just such a weapon on June 15, 1936. They created five prototypes, based on the chassis of the Panzer III
Panzer III
Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
, which were not useful for combat operations but did prove valuable for training.
The first production units, the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf A, arrived in 1940 mounted with the 75 mm StuK 37L/24 gun and increased frontal hull armor (from 30 mm to 50 mm). Most assault guns were mounted on the chassis of a Panzer III or Panzer IV, with the resultant model being called either a StuG III or StuG IV respectively.
Design
The StuG is not generally considered to be a true tank because it lacks a turret. The gun was mounted directly in the hull, in a casemateCasemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
-style fashion, with as low a profile as was possible to reduce vehicle height, and had a limited lateral traverse of a few degrees in either direction. Thus, the entire vehicle had to be turned in order to acquire targets. Omitting the turret made production much simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. The lower vehicle height was meant to give a "StuG" designated vehicle a significantly shorter vertical profile as compared to contemporary tanks, making the StuG more difficult to hit and easier to protect in hull defilade.
Combat Use
In 1942 and 1943, the StuG was one of the most effective tracked vehicles of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in terms of opposition vehicles destroyed, and over 10,000 of them were eventually produced. The Germans were so excited by the initial StuG success that they turned to folly by producing the near useless Elefant
Elefant
The Elefant was a "schwerer Panzerjäger" of the German Wehrmacht used in small numbers in World War II. It was built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche. In 1944, after modification of the existing vehicles, they were renamed Elefant...
"StuG" on obsolescent Porsche tank hulls (the Porsche had been beaten out by the Henschel Tiger I
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
, using the same Krupp-designed turret as the Porsche hull design, for heavy tank production). These Elefants proved completely unwieldy and did not even have the regular StuG III and IV advantage of a low profile.
By late 1943, improved Allied tanks and tank destroyers (US) with improved guns, rotating turrets, and superior mobility (brought on not only by technology, but also improved tactics) forced the StuG III and IVs into the corner of being primarily an ambush weapon. While the ambush tactic still took a steady, but nonetheless sustainable toll of opposition tanks, improved air ground coordination by Allied forces—due to near complete air superiority—led to elevated StuG losses.
In a defensive position, many Soviet T-34/85 tanks, US Sherman, M10 and M18 Tank destroyers and British Cromwell tanks occasionally "impaled" themselves on StuGs while engaging in offensive tactics. Eventually it was the StuGs that were being ambushed, both by aircraft and tanks/tank destroyers that had been warned by aircraft. The inability to traverse the gun became an acute weakness.
Decline of usefulness
The StuGs quickly became more of a liability in terms of resource utilization than an asset as the Germans had initially increased StuG production to replace standard tank losses. Despite this they continued to be used as the German losses of all types of armored vehicles now exceeded production. Having long been used not as originally intended, the StuGs increasingly proved a poor substitute for conventional tanks except in a very narrow envelope that became even smaller as the war progressed. By 1944, Germany was in a downward spiraling arms race with the Allies.Soviet design
The Red Army suffered greatly from the StuGs, more due to crude (but effective) tactics than StuG technical superiority. In response, the Soviets produced their own form of StuGs based on the T-34 tank, the SU-85SU-85
The SU-85 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II, based on the chassis of the T-34 medium tank. Earlier Soviet self-propelled guns were meant to serve as either assault guns, such as the SU-122, or as mobile anti-tank weapons; the SU-85 fell into the latter category...
. These Soviet "StuGs", for a brief time, helped supplement T-34 tanks. T-34s were still armed with 76 mm guns in 1943-1944, a period in which the Germans had a distinct edge in gun power over 76 mm T-34s and KV-1s, and SU-85s were used very aggressively as they were hard to see on the steppe. In 1944 the SU-85 was quickly made obsolete by the arrival of the new T-34/85, but the Soviets, still stung by StuGs and by hard-hitting German tanks, created the SU-100
SU-100
The SU-100 was a Soviet tank destroyer. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world.- Development :...
and ISU-152
ISU-152
ISU-152 was a Soviet multirole fully enclosed and armored self-propelled gun developed and used during World War II, with a subsequent use, mainly in the Soviet military, till the 1970s.-History:...
which offered more firepower to deal with heavier German tanks.
Post-war
A number of captured StuGs were refurbished in the Soviet Union and given to Syria, along with Panzer IVs, which used them briefly against Israel. Both a captured Panzer IV and a StuG III are on display in the Armor Museum in Israel.The Swedes attempted to carry on the StuG concept with their radical "S" tank
Stridsvagn 103
The Stridsvagn 103 , or S-Tank , was a Swedish post-war main battle tank. It was known for its unconventional turret-less design, with a fixed gun traversed by engaging the tracks and elevated by adjusting the hull suspension...
, but it proved a design dead end, although it served the Swedes well in peacetime.