Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien
Encyclopedia
The was a German tank
project of the First World War. It was a radical design for a fast-moving, lightly armored assault tank.
The Oberschlesien included a track which was placed under the tank and only wrapped around half of it. The design sacrificed armor for the sake of speed and only required a 180 hp engine for the 19 ton body, giving it a projected ground speed of 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph).
The tank featured such advanced features as a main cannon mounted on top of the tank in a central revolving turret, separate fighting and engine compartments, a rear-mounted engine and a low track run.
was too expensive to produce and had a too large crew. Therefore it was decided that a lighter tank was required which could spearhead assaults and which could be mass-produced.
Thirteen companies bid for the contract and in the middle of 1918 construction of a design by Captain Müller was assigned to the Oberschlesien Eisenwerk of Gleiwitz, which had partially completed two prototypes by October. The project received the pseudonym Oberschlesien (Upper Silesia
).
Neither the ordered test models, nor the improved "Oberschlesien II" already planned were finished before the end of the war.
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
project of the First World War. It was a radical design for a fast-moving, lightly armored assault tank.
The Oberschlesien included a track which was placed under the tank and only wrapped around half of it. The design sacrificed armor for the sake of speed and only required a 180 hp engine for the 19 ton body, giving it a projected ground speed of 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph).
The tank featured such advanced features as a main cannon mounted on top of the tank in a central revolving turret, separate fighting and engine compartments, a rear-mounted engine and a low track run.
History
Towards the end of the First World War it was clear that the only operational German tank, the A7VA7V
The A7V was a tank introduced by Germany in 1918, near the end of World War I. One hundred vehicles were ordered during the spring of 1918, but only 21 were delivered. It was nicknamed "The Moving Fortress" by the British because of the shape of the hull...
was too expensive to produce and had a too large crew. Therefore it was decided that a lighter tank was required which could spearhead assaults and which could be mass-produced.
Thirteen companies bid for the contract and in the middle of 1918 construction of a design by Captain Müller was assigned to the Oberschlesien Eisenwerk of Gleiwitz, which had partially completed two prototypes by October. The project received the pseudonym Oberschlesien (Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
).
Neither the ordered test models, nor the improved "Oberschlesien II" already planned were finished before the end of the war.