| Germany's
Panzerjägers
By Jason Rahman
August 2015
When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, they were
dealt a harsh lesson at the hands of the powerful T-34 and
KV-1 tanks. Tanks with more armor and bigger guns were needed
to counter these Russian beasts, but such new tanks would
not be in production for one to two years. In the meantime,
tanks like the Panzer III and IV would be up-gunned, but what
to do with all the light tanks? These light tanks could not
be re-fitted to mount a bigger gun, but if the turret was
removed then a bigger gun could be mounted in an armored superstructure
built on the hull. In effect, these Panzerjägers (tank
hunters) would be self-propelled anti-tank guns.
The idea of such a weapon was not new to the Germans. In
the mid 1930's, Heinz Guderian, the father of armored warfare,
noted the need for self-propelled artillery and anti-tank
guns for the new Panzer divisions then being formed. Despite
the need for such a weapon, only one such vehicle was produced
before the Germans encountered the T-34, and that was the
weak Panzerjäger I. Here are just a few of the many different
self-propelled anti-tank guns that the Germans deployed in
the early to mid war period.
Panzerjager I
By early 1940, the Germans had finally realized that the
Panzer I was obsolete. Plans were being drawn up to scrap
the Panzer I's, but many ordnance experts didn't want to waste
a perfectly good chassis. They instead wanted to mount a larger
gun, but there was no way to mount a gun in the tiny turret
of the Panzer I. It was decided to mount a 37mm anti-tank
gun in a fixed superstructure.
This was the same gun mounted to early Panzer IIIs, but as
the Panzerjäger I was being designed, it was becoming
clear that the 37mm gun was losing its punch. Instead of that
gun, a more powerful 47mm Czech-designed anti-tank gun was
mounted. The final result was a crude and simple conversion
that consisted of nothing but the removal of the turret, the
addition of a platform for the two gunners, and of course
the fixed superstructure.
The Panzerjager I saw service during the early stages of
the invasion of the Soviet Union where it encountered the
powerful T-34 and KV-1 tanks. It also saw a great deal of
service in North Africa in 1940 to 1941. While it mounted
a powerful gun by 1940 standards, by 1941 the 47mm gun was
losing effectiveness. It also had many other flaws such as
a thin gun shield that only protected the front of the vehicle,
as well as a high silhouette that made it vulnerable to the
enemy.
By 1942 these defects had become intolerable and later that
year the Panzerjäger I was taken out of frontline service.
A total of 132 Panzerjäger I's were produced and many
continued to fight partisans and perform security duties until
late 1944. The Panzerjäger I appears in Panzer Grenadier: Afrika
Korps and Eastern
Front.
Marder II
By 1941 the Panzer II was obsolete and plans to remove the
outdated tank from service were being prepared. Like the Panzer
I before it, nobody wanted to waste a perfectly good tank
chassis. So early that year work began on a self-propelled
anti-tank gun based on the Panzer II chassis. Known as the
Panzerjäger II, it was to be built along the same lines
as the Panzerjäger I. The Panzerjäger II, or Marder
II as the troops called it, originally mounted a 50mm anti-tank
gun.
But after the invasion of Russia, having encountered the
thickly armored T-34 and KV-1, the Germans knew a bigger gun
was needed. So the designers decided to mount the new 75mm
Pak 40 gun; then in hurried development. The Marder II was
a typical Panzerjäger conversion having a 3-sided armored
superstructure, a platform at the back for the gunners and
ammunition storage as well as a few minor engineering modifications.
The result was an effective yet flawed tank destroyer that
gave the troops something with which to counter the ever-increasing
number of T-34s and KV-1s. However, despite its effective
gun and reasonable mobility, it was still poorly protected
and the limited traverse main gun made it vulnerable when
attacked from the side or rear. It also had the high silhouette
that plagued the Panzerjäger I before it and all other
Panzerjägers to follow. Despite these flaws, 1,200 were
made during the course of the war and the anti-tank troops
took full advantage of its mobility and powerful gun. Late
in the war a number of experimental night fighting versions
were produced using infra-red searchlights. The Marder II
has yet to appear in Panzer Grenadier, but should make an
appearance whenever mid-1942 through late-1943 is covered
in detail.
Marder III
The Marder III, officially known as Panzerjäger 38(t)
für 76.2 Pak 36(r), was yet another conversion of a light
tank made obsolete by the T-34. This time it was the Czech-designed
Panzer 38(t) tank being converted. Design began in late 1941
when plans for all of Germany's tanks to be up-armed were
being drawn up. The designers originally wanted to mount the
75mm Pak 40 just like the Marder II, but due to the great
demand for this gun the designers instead had to use the 76.2mm
Pak 36. This gun was actually an ex-Soviet field piece captured
in great enough numbers that the Germans modified it for service
against their former owners. The conversion of the Marder
III was very much like the conversion on the Marder II, both
having a 3-sided shield and a gun platform in the center.
It began production early in 1942, and later that year the
75mm gun took place of the 76.2mm gun as supplies of the captured
weapon were running low. Of these two models approximately
600 were built between early 1942 and early 1943. Both of
these early models had the problem of a large gun and superstructure
mounted on a small diminutive tank, which caused the Marder
III to be front-heavy and under-powered. In mid-1943 a new
model was issued to the troops that had the gun moved to the
back and the engine moved to the front. These two changes
fixed the previously mentioned problems and improved its poor
mobility. Around 800 of this improved Marder III were produced
between mid-1943 and early 1944.
The Marder III, like all other Panzerjägers, had a high
silhouette, thin armor and a limited traverse gun; the early
models also had poor mobility. But the Marder III, like the
Marder II, gave both a light tank chassis new life and the
German Panzer troops an effective self-propelled anti-tank
gun right when they needed it. The Marder III appears in Beyond
Normandy and should show up in any future game set
in the mid-war period.
Nashorn
The Nashorn, also known as the Hornisse, was a standard Panzerjäger
mounting an 88mm main gun, the same one mounted to the King
Tiger. Unlike the other Panzerjägers, it was not a hastily
converted light tank chassis. Instead it used a hybrid chassis
using the hull of the Panzer IV with drive components of the
Panzer III. The Hummel self-propelled howitzer also used this
same chassis.
The Nashorn's powerful gun gave it the ability to kill all
but the heaviest Allied tanks at ranges of 2000 meters or
greater. On the flip side the Nashorn had an extremely high
silhouette, poor mobility and a thinly armored superstructure
which was open-sided and -topped. It was also a maintenance
nightmare, needing to be overhauled every 850 miles. It still
was an effective Panzerjäger despite these flaws as its
crews used its main gun to take a severe toll on enemy tanks
before the enemy could even get within effective range.
In addition to its tank killer duties, the Nashorn could
be used as a self-propelled field gun, but it wasn't deployed
in this role very often. A total of 475 were built between
1943 and 1944 and saw service with independent Panzerjäger
battalions. This was unusual because most other Panzerjägers
were issued to Panzer and Panzer Grenadier divisions, not
to independent battalions. Like several other Panzerjägers,
it has not yet appeared in Panzer Grenadier, but hopefully
will when mid-1943 through mid-1944 period is covered in detail.
Panzerjäger Tactics
Because Panzerjägers were not to be used as tanks due
to their limited traverse gun and near-total lack of protection,
they could not be deployed in the attack, at least without
disastrous results. So the Germans formulated a novel tactical
doctrine for Panzerjägers. Under this theory the Panzerjägers
were to be held behind the lines in a single group. Once the
enemy tanks appeared and made for a specific location, then
the Panzerjägers would rush forward to counter them.
They would then take up hidden pre-scouted firing positions
and wait to fire until the enemy tanks had come within range.
Once they did, the Panzerjägers would fire a few shots
each, then retreat to avoid retaliatory fire. This tactical
doctrine was similar to NATO's 1980s war plans to counter
Soviet armor in Western Europe if WW III broke out.
One major problem with this theory was that the Panzerjägers
could not get up to the front before the enemy tanks had overrun
it, due to the fact that Soviet tanks often just overran any
German position encountered. Because of this they got caught
advancing to their hidden firing positions and they were destroyed
in the ensuing 360-degree combat, for which they were not
suited due to their lack of main gun traverse. Even if they
made it to the front line they were often unable to hide and
wait for the enemy due to their high silhouette. Despite the
failure of the theoretical use of Panzerjägers, they
were still effective in defense and in support of true tanks,
and from 1943 on the Germans were perpetually on the defense.
In another article we'll discuss the well-designed late war
Jadgpanzer.
Take these tanks into action. Order Burning Tigers right now. Yes, now.
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