Although quite underrated by Allied intelligence during WW2 and still somewhat underestimated today, the Stu. G III was, nonetheless, the most produced tracked German AFV during the conflict. Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact Many Flee Homes to Escape 'Gas Raid From Mars'—Phone Calls Swamp Police at Broadcast of Wells Fantasy. Enemy at the Gates movie reviews & Metacritic score: While the Nazi and Russian armies hurl rank after rank of soldiers at each other and the world fearfully. At first glance, it appears rather straightforward and benign, but we were immediately struck when we reached Mahoney’s last two lines about Robert Doggart as a. You will now be able to understand how Hitler gained power in Germany one step at a time up until becoming F Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. ON PROTRACTED WAR May 1938 The 1938 Yellow River flood (Chinese: The German Volksempfaenger VE 301 radio was introduced in 1933. More properly spelled Volksempf Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism. On this day in History, The Great New England Hurricane on Sep 21, 1938. Learn more about what happened today on History. Its evolution mirrored that of the more famous Panzer IV. At first, the Stu. G was a simple derivative of the Panzer III for infantry support only, but ended as one of the most important German vehicles of the war. With its low- profile and low- cost, it was the real battlehorse of the Wehrmacht, shifting from a close support vehicle to a tank- hunter of first magnitude, soldiering without interruption anywhere from North Africa to Europe and Russia. The crews loved it because of its low profile and good armor, and the infantry it was supporting was grateful for its firepower and availability. Genesis & development of the Stu. G IIIRoots in WWIThe very roots of the Sturmgesch. It had been already found, back in World War One, that the Sturmtr. There was no way at the time to bring to bear a standard howitzer or artillery piece for direct fire, but by 1. This is a translation of an original German document that started the development of Stu. G IIIs, as an assault artillery infantry support weapon (Stumartillerie). Notice that their main role was to take out enemy machine gun posts. They were not to be used as normal artillery. Their ability to fire indirectly at targets was removed. They were restricted to fire in direct line of sight at targets within 4 km using high explosive shells. This task will be performed within the scope of the infantry attack and at firing ranges of maximum 4km. Thus it is a weapon of the infantry and does not have to perform artillery duties. Therefore, there is no need for shooting ranges of 7 km or being fitted with indirect sighting devices. At the same time, the Stumartillerie has to totally fulfill the tasks for which it is currently under development. Thus double development work will be avoided. In June 1. 93. 6, the Inspektorate des Artillerie authorized the Heeres Waffenamt to design a vehicle in accordance with the following specifications. Mount a 7. 5 mm (2. Provide a traverse of less than 3. DB was to provide the hull and chassis and Krupp the detailed equipment, including the main gun, the 7. Gesch. The original contract of 2. DM was signed for the gun, as well as four wooden mock- ups to be used on prototypes. By 1. 5 December 1. Pak(Sfl.), then Pz. Sfl. III (S. Pack) in 1. Daimler AG used the recent Panzer III Ausf. B as a basis, and delivered five chassis to Alkett for completion. These five prototypes had soft steel superstructures with wooden mock- up guns, and were evaluated by the Artillerie Lehr Rgt. Consequently after, Krupp was ordered to build four more guns to be delivered in 1. These five pre- series prototypes, delivered by the fall of 1. In short, they were not fit for combat. They saw service for further testing with the Panzer Regiment 1 in Erfurt, and were kept for training well until 1. The original design omitted any roof, as this open- top configuration was to provide a significant advantage for target spotting. However, in 1. 93. Therefore, thin roof plates were mounted, which only protected against 8. However, further reports from troops dictated some early production modifications. A hatch was cut into the roof, so that an artillery panoramic sight could be mounted for indirect fire. Early production: The s. Pak to the Stu. G IIIIn January 1. The name was altered on 7 February to “7. Kanone (Pz. Sfl)” and on 2. March to Sturmgesch. The full Waffenamt designation was painted on the serial number plates as “Gepanzerte Selbfahrlafette f. K. Design of the Stu. G IIIHull protection. The first production version was based on the Panzer III Ausf. F chassis, and had the frontal armor raised to 5. In detail, the 5. The superstructure and hull sides were 3. The roof was almost horizontal, 1. The rear engine deck was 1. The gun mantlet and recuperator were 5. Later, the superstructures sides received 8 mm (0. There was a large opening on the front, for the bulky main gun mounting. The frontal double slope was heavily armored, up to 5. Ausf. A. There were two small two- piece hatches for the driver at the front, two larger two- pieces hatches for the crew on the casemate rear, and open space at the left for the commander’s periscope. The engine could be accessed through two large two- piece and two smaller one- piece hatches on the rear deck. The driver had a reinforced vision slit and a binocular sight. Throughout the evolution of the Stu. G, this frontal part was up- armored, while the up- gunned version had two kind of mountings, the regular one on the Ausf. F and the “pig nose” for the largely overhauled Ausf. G, which helps distinguish between the two models. Crew positions & equipment. Because of its small height, access was easy through the roof’s hatches. Three were posted directly above the driver (left), gunner (right) and commander’s (left) seats. In addition, if the tank toppled over or if the hatch was obstructed, the driver could still escape through the steering brake inspection hatch in the glacis plate. The driver was given a visor mounted in the front plate and could use the KFF2 periscopes in fully protected mode. He had a fixed sight slit in the superstructure left wall, but was blind on the right. The commander and gunner’s hatches were of equal size, and hinged to the sides. The gunner had a Sfl. ZF periscopic gun sight at his disposal, with an aperture on the superstructure front. The commander had a SF. Z scissors periscope that protruded from the opened hatch in raised position. Otherwise it was folded down, the binocular being strapped on the left wall. His seat was spring loaded and could be raised while buttoned up, and was adjustable in height, locked into position with a foot pedal. This allowed a fully raised position for direct observation, or with the periscopes. The seat was hinged on the left wall and could be folded out of the way. However, the gunner’s seat was fixed to the gun mount, a common artillery practice. Armament. The main gun was the Krupp 7,5 cm Kanone L/2. This was basically a short barrel gun tailored to fire HE rounds at fortifications and enemy positions. It was an adaptation of the 7,5 cm Kw. K L/2. 4 tank gun originally designed for the Panzer IV. It was well capable of destroying blockhauses and pillboxes at short, medium or even long ranges when in maximal elevation. The 7. 5 cm Kampfwagenkanone- 3. L/2. 4 was given several types of ammunition during the war. Last but not least was the standard HE round, the 7. Sprgr. 3. 4, which was the heaviest of all (7- 8 kg). The HEAT rounds, especially useful due to the gun’s low velocity (3. Normal provision was 5. With the arrival of the longer Stu. K. L/4. 0, penetrating ability of the rounds was improved, and a battery of tests followed. As a result, the total load was reduced to 4. K. Gr. rot. Pz (armor piercing, capped, with tracer and explosive filler), 6. HE rounds, or Sprenggranaten, and 2. Nebelgranaten. Eventually, a fourth type was introduced, with increased efficiency against armor, thanks to the shaped charge principle. This was the HEAT or Gr. HL round. It was designed for excellent fragmentation performance, but was still very effective against softskin targets. The initial design was less successful than the K. Gr. rot. But, after the introduction of the HL/A & B, the numbers supplied to frontline units steadily grew. As an indication, an Ausf. D was captured in North Africa crammed with 8. HL/As and 3. 5 K. Gr. rot., signalling an increase in tank to tank use. Initially, there was no secondary machine- gun, the tank relying solely on accompanying infantry for close quarter defense, which made sense when its tactical use was first envisioned. By the time of the up- gunned G version, however (December 1. Maschinengewehr 3. Personal weapons included, generally, a MP 3. P 3. 8 automatic pistols. For maximal “safe” fire, indirect targeting was used, but at the expense of accuracy. Better accuracy was reached at short range (less than 5. In this matter, the quality of optical instrumentation was paramount. With the Ausf. C, D and E, a new ZF1 targeting sight was introduced, with a reticle pattern including seven triangles separated by four mils. The distances between triangles was used for aiming at moving targets. Their separation and height helped the gunner to estimate the range, marked by 1. Due to the limited arc of 2. The wheeltrain comprised six paired rubberized roadwheels mated on torsion arms, and three double return rollers per side. The drive sprockets were at the front, whereas the idlers were at the rear. The tracks were made of mild steel and identical to the Panzer III model. Performances, facts & figures. Here are the extended specs for the Ausf. D (1. 94. 1). Top speed: 4. Maximal sustained top speed on road: 2. Cross- country speed: 1. Range (roads): 1. Range (cross country): 9. Trench crossing: 2. Fording: 0. 8 m (2ft. Step climbing: 0. Gradient climbing: 3. The first were delivered in September 1. April 1. 94. 0. The last six were based on the Panzer III Ausf. G chassis. However, due to numerous production faults, only four batteries (1. France by May 1. 94. The Ausf. B saw a much larger production (3. Alkett, between June 1. May 1. 94. 1. They were nearly identical to the Ausf. A, if not for the slightly larger tracks (3. Standard roadwheels were interlocked with external 5. The early 1. 0- speed transmission, which proved troublesome, was replaced by a 6- speed one. To reduce chances of the tracks being thrown off during tight turns, the forward return rollers were re- positioned even further forward.- The Ausf. C was only produced for a single month, in April 1. Nearly identical to previous versions, they had the main gunner’s forward view port eliminated (it was seen as a shot trap) and replaced by a relocated periscope in the front left of the casemate. The idler was also new. The campaign of France had shown the value of the Stu. G, and 1. 50 Ausf.
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