Sturmtiger
Encyclopedia
Sturmtiger is the common name of a World War II
German
assault gun
built on the Tiger I
chassis and armed with a large naval rocket launcher. The official German designation was Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61. Its primary task was to provide heavy fire support for infantry units fighting in urban areas
. The few vehicles produced fought in the Warsaw Uprising
, the Battle of the Bulge
and the Battle of the Reichswald. The fighting vehicle is also known under a large number of informal names, among which the Sturmtiger become the most popular.
in 1942. At the time, the Wehrmacht
had only the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B
available for destroying buildings, a Sturmgeschütz III
variant armed with a 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. Twelve of them were lost in the fighting at Stalingrad.
Its successor, the Sturmpanzer IV/Brummbär
was in production from early 1943, but the Wehrmacht still saw a need for a similar, but heavier armoured and armed vehicle. Therefore a decision was made to create a new vehicle based on the Tiger tank and arm it with a 210 mm howitzer
.
However, this weapon turned out not to be available at the time and was therefore replaced by a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine
depth charge
launcher.
In September 1943 plans were made for Krupp
to fabricate new Tiger I armored hulls for the Sturmtiger. The Tiger I hulls were to be sent to Henschel
for chassis assembly and then to Alkett where the superstructures would be mounted. The first prototype was ready and presented to Adolf Hitler
in October 1943. Delivery of the first hulls would occur in December 1943, with the first three Sturmtigers completed by Alkett by 20 February 1944.
Due to delays, Hitler did not request production of the weapon until 19 April 1944; 12 superstructures and weapons for the Sturmtiger would be prepared and mounted on rebuilt Tiger I chassis. The first three production series Sturmtigers were completed by Alkett in August 1944. Plans to complete an additional seven 38 cm Sturmtigers from 15 to 21 September 1944 were presented to Hitler in a conference on 18–20 August 1944. Ten Sturmtigers were produced in September, along with an additional five in December 1944.
Hitler had laid great importance on the special employment of the Sturmtiger and believed it would be necessary to produce at least 300 rounds of ammunition per month.
-style fighting compartment housing the rocket launcher. This was located directly at the front of the vehicle, giving it a boxy appearance.
Compared to the regular Tiger tank, the Sturmtiger was much shorter, only 6.28 metre compared to the Tiger's 8.45 metre, due largely to the fact that it did not mount the protruding main gun of the latter. It also was slightly lower than the Tiger, 2.85 metre compared to 3 metre.
for use against fortifications, which could penetrate up to 2.5 metres (98.4 in) of reinforced concrete. The stated range of the former was 5650 metres (6,178.9 yd). A normal charge first accelerated the projectile to 45 metres per second (147.6 ft/s), the 40 kilograms (88.2 lb) rocket charge then boosted this to about 250 m/s (820.2 ft/s).
The design of the rocket launcher caused some problems. The hot rocket exhaust could not be vented into the fighting compartment but nor could the barrel withstand the pressure if the gasses were not vented. Therefore a ring of ventilation shafts were put around the barrel which channeled the exhaust and gave the weapon somewhat of a pepperbox appearance.
Due to the bulkiness of the ammunition, only 14 rounds could be carried, of which one was already loaded, with another in the loading tray. The rest were carried in two storage racks. To help with the loading of ammunition into the vehicle, a loading crane was fitted at the rear of the superstructure, next to the loading hatch. Even then, the entire five man crew had to help with the loading.
It was intended that each Sturmtiger would be accompanied by an ammunition carrier built on the same Tiger I chassis, but only one carrier was completed.
At the loading hatch's rear was located a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) grenade launcher, using SMi 35
leaping mines, which was used for close range defence against both armoured vehicles and infantry in a 360 degree circle around the vehicle.
For defence against infantry attacks, there was a mount in the front for a 7.92 x 57 mm MG 34
machine gun
.
The original role of the Sturmtiger was intended to be as a heavy infantry support vehicle, to help with attacks on heavily fortified or built-up areas. By the time the first Sturmtigers were available however, the situation for Germany had changed for the worse, with the Wehrmacht being almost exclusively on the defensive rather than the offensive.
Three new Panzer companies were raised to operate the Sturmtiger: Panzer Sturmmörser Kompanien (PzStuMrKp) (Armored Assault Mortar Company) 1000, 1001 and 1002. These originally were supposed to be equipped with fourteen vehicles, but this figure was later reduced to four each, divided into two platoons.
PzStuMrKp 1000 was raised on 13 August 1944 and fought during the Warsaw Uprising
with two vehicles, as did the prototype in a separate action, which may have been the only time the Sturmtiger was used in its intended role. PzStuMrKp 1001 (commanded by captain von Gottberg) and 1002 (commanded by lieutenant Zippel) followed in September and October. Both PzStuMrKp 1000 and 1001 served during the Ardennes Offensive, with a total of seven Sturmtigers.
After this offensive, the Sturmtigers were used in the defence of Germany proper, mainly on the Western front.
World 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...
German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
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....
built on the 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...
chassis and armed with a large naval rocket launcher. The official German designation was Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61. Its primary task was to provide heavy fire support for infantry units fighting in urban areas
Urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at both the operational and tactical level...
. The few vehicles produced fought in the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
and the Battle of the Reichswald. The fighting vehicle is also known under a large number of informal names, among which the Sturmtiger become the most popular.
Development
The idea for a heavy infantry support vehicle capable of demolishing heavily defended buildings or fortified areas with a single shot came out of the experiences of the heavy urban fighting in the Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
in 1942. At the time, 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:...
had only the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B
Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B
The Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B was a German self-propelled heavy infantry gun used during World War II. A new, fully enclosed, and heavily armored superstructure was built on the chassis of the Sturmgeschütz III. It mounted the improved sIG 33/1 infantry gun, offset to the right side, for which...
available for destroying buildings, a Sturmgeschütz III
Sturmgeschütz III
The Sturmgeschütz III assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank...
variant armed with a 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. Twelve of them were lost in the fighting at Stalingrad.
Its successor, the Sturmpanzer IV/Brummbär
Brummbär
The Sturmpanzer IV was a German armoured infantry support gun based on the Panzer IV chassis used in the Second World War. It was used at the Battles of Kursk, Anzio, Normandy, and helped to put down the Warsaw Uprising...
was in production from early 1943, but the Wehrmacht still saw a need for a similar, but heavier armoured and armed vehicle. Therefore a decision was made to create a new vehicle based on the Tiger tank and arm it with a 210 mm howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
.
However, this weapon turned out not to be available at the time and was therefore replaced by a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
launcher.
In September 1943 plans were made for Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
to fabricate new Tiger I armored hulls for the Sturmtiger. The Tiger I hulls were to be sent to Henschel
Henschel & Son
Henschel & Son was a German company, situated in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons....
for chassis assembly and then to Alkett where the superstructures would be mounted. The first prototype was ready and presented to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in October 1943. Delivery of the first hulls would occur in December 1943, with the first three Sturmtigers completed by Alkett by 20 February 1944.
Due to delays, Hitler did not request production of the weapon until 19 April 1944; 12 superstructures and weapons for the Sturmtiger would be prepared and mounted on rebuilt Tiger I chassis. The first three production series Sturmtigers were completed by Alkett in August 1944. Plans to complete an additional seven 38 cm Sturmtigers from 15 to 21 September 1944 were presented to Hitler in a conference on 18–20 August 1944. Ten Sturmtigers were produced in September, along with an additional five in December 1944.
Hitler had laid great importance on the special employment of the Sturmtiger and believed it would be necessary to produce at least 300 rounds of ammunition per month.
Design
The Sturmtiger was based on the late model Tiger I, keeping its hull and suspension. The front of the Tiger's superstructure was removed to make room for the new fixed 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 fighting compartment housing the rocket launcher. This was located directly at the front of the vehicle, giving it a boxy appearance.
Compared to the regular Tiger tank, the Sturmtiger was much shorter, only 6.28 metre compared to the Tiger's 8.45 metre, due largely to the fact that it did not mount the protruding main gun of the latter. It also was slightly lower than the Tiger, 2.85 metre compared to 3 metre.
Armour
Since the Sturmtiger was intended for use in urban areas in close range street fighting, it needed to be heavily armoured to survive. Its sloped (at 47° from vertical) frontal armour therefore was 150 millimetres (5.9 in) thick, while its superstructure side and rear plates were some 82 millimetres (3.2 in) thick. The hull front, depending on whether or not it had an additional armor plate, was 150 millimetres (5.9 in) or 100 millimetres (3.9 in). This pushed the weight of the vehicle up from the 57 tonne of the Tiger I to 68 tonne.| Armour thickness | Location | Slope (angle from vertical) |
|---|---|---|
| 150 mm | superstructure front | 47° |
| 150 mm 100 mm |
hull front (with / without the additional armor plate) |
|
| 82 mm | superstructure side and rear & upper hull side and rear |
|
| 70 mm | hull front top | 80° |
| 62 mm | lower hull front | 65° |
| 62 mm | lower hull side and rear |
Weapons
The main armament was the 380 mm Raketen-Werfer 61 L/5.4, a breech-loading rocket launcher, which fired short-range, rocket-propelled projectiles roughly 1.5 metres (59.1 in) long. There were a variety of rounds with a weight of up to 376 kilograms (828.9 lb), and a maximum range of up to 6000 metres, which either contained a high explosive charge of 125 kilograms (275.6 lb) or a shaped chargeShaped charge
A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Various types are used to cut and form metal, to initiate nuclear weapons, to penetrate armor, and in the oil and gas industry...
for use against fortifications, which could penetrate up to 2.5 metres (98.4 in) of reinforced concrete. The stated range of the former was 5650 metres (6,178.9 yd). A normal charge first accelerated the projectile to 45 metres per second (147.6 ft/s), the 40 kilograms (88.2 lb) rocket charge then boosted this to about 250 m/s (820.2 ft/s).
The design of the rocket launcher caused some problems. The hot rocket exhaust could not be vented into the fighting compartment but nor could the barrel withstand the pressure if the gasses were not vented. Therefore a ring of ventilation shafts were put around the barrel which channeled the exhaust and gave the weapon somewhat of a pepperbox appearance.
Due to the bulkiness of the ammunition, only 14 rounds could be carried, of which one was already loaded, with another in the loading tray. The rest were carried in two storage racks. To help with the loading of ammunition into the vehicle, a loading crane was fitted at the rear of the superstructure, next to the loading hatch. Even then, the entire five man crew had to help with the loading.
It was intended that each Sturmtiger would be accompanied by an ammunition carrier built on the same Tiger I chassis, but only one carrier was completed.
At the loading hatch's rear was located a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) grenade launcher, using SMi 35
S-mine
The German S-mine , also known as the "Bouncing Betty," is the best-known version of a class of mines known as bounding mines. When triggered, these mines launch into the air and then detonate at about . The explosion projects a lethal spray of steel balls and fragments in all directions...
leaping mines, which was used for close range defence against both armoured vehicles and infantry in a 360 degree circle around the vehicle.
For defence against infantry attacks, there was a mount in the front for a 7.92 x 57 mm MG 34
MG 34
The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG 34, is a German air-cooled machine gun that was first produced and accepted into service in 1934, and first issued to units in 1935. It accepts the 8x57mm IS cartridge....
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
.
Combat service
Three new Panzer companies were raised to operate the Sturmtiger: Panzer Sturmmörser Kompanien (PzStuMrKp) (Armored Assault Mortar Company) 1000, 1001 and 1002. These originally were supposed to be equipped with fourteen vehicles, but this figure was later reduced to four each, divided into two platoons.
PzStuMrKp 1000 was raised on 13 August 1944 and fought during the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
with two vehicles, as did the prototype in a separate action, which may have been the only time the Sturmtiger was used in its intended role. PzStuMrKp 1001 (commanded by captain von Gottberg) and 1002 (commanded by lieutenant Zippel) followed in September and October. Both PzStuMrKp 1000 and 1001 served during the Ardennes Offensive, with a total of seven Sturmtigers.
After this offensive, the Sturmtigers were used in the defence of Germany proper, mainly on the Western front.
Survivors
- Sturmtiger #250174 is on display at the Deutsches PanzermuseumDeutsches PanzermuseumThe German Tank Museum is an armoured fighting vehicle museum in Munster, Germany, the location of the Munster Training Area camp. Its main aim is the documentation of the history of German armoured troops since 1917....
at MunsterMunster, Lower SaxonyMunster, also called Munster , is a small town in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany almost equidistant from Hamburg and Hanover. The town is home to the German Army's largest garrison and is situated between the two training areas of Munster North and Munster South. It is also...
. This vehicle is currently on loan from the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung in KoblenzKoblenzKoblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
. - A Sturmtiger is on display at the Kubinka Tank MuseumKubinka Tank MuseumThe Kubinka Tank Museum is a large museum of armoured fighting vehicles in Kubinka, just outside Moscow. It has many famous tanks from World War I, World War II and the Cold War. The museum also houses many unique vehicles, such as the Panzer VIII Maus, Troyanov super-heavy tank and a Karl-Gerät...
in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. This vehicle is believed to have been captured by advancing Red Army units in the Elbe area in April 1945. - A 380 mm Raketen-Werfer is in the collection of the Bovington Tank MuseumBovington Tank MuseumThe Tank Museum is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles in the United Kingdom that traces the history of the tank. With almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the second-largest collection of tanks and armoured fighting vehicles in the world.The Musée des Blindés in France...
.
External links
- "Sturmmörser: 38 cm Rocket Projector on Tiger Chassis", U.S. Ordnance Report, 1945.
- Information about the Panzersturmmörser (also known as Sturmtiger) at Panzerworld
- Sturmmörser Tiger at Achtung Panzer!
- OnWar
- WWII Vehicles
- Surviving Tiger tanks - A PDF file presenting photos of the Tiger tanks (Tiger I, Kingtiger, Jagdtiger and Sturmtiger) still existing in the world