History: The
Sturmpanzer was developed by Alkett, who designed the superstructure, and
Krupp, who altered the design of their Pz Kpfw IV chassis. On 20 October 1942,
after seeing Alkett's plans, Hitler demanded that forty to sixty Brummbar be
built as soon as possible. On 7 February 1943, it was decided that the forty
must be completed by 12 May 1943, with a following production run of twenty.
After this initial run from April to May 1943, the production of a long-term
series went ahead in November 1943 and continued until the end of the war.
Specific features:
The Brummbar had a box-like superstructure, housing the 15cm StuH43, mounted on
a normal Pz Kpfw IV chassis. The first series was mounted on fifty-two new Pz
Kpfw IV Ausf G chassis plus eight rebuilt Ausf E and F chassis. Instead of the
80mm armour on the hull front, the first sixty had a 50mm armour plate bolted
to the basic 50mm hull front. This first series had a sliding-shutter visor for
the driver, similar to that mounted on the Tiger I. In the later series, the
driver was provided with a periscope and an StuH431 was fitted. The final
series, produced from June 1944, had a redesigned superstructure with a
ball-mounted machine-gun in the top right-hand ture with a ball-mounted
machine-gun in the top right-hand corner of the front plate, and a cupola for
the commander.
Combat service:
Sturmpanzerabteilung 216 was issued with the first Brummbar, and was rushed off
to the Eastern front for the summer offensive at Kursk. This unit was also
active in defensive battles near Zaparozhye up to October 1943. Three
additional Sturmpanzer detachments (217, 218 and 219) were formed during the
war, and fought on the major eastern and western fronts, and also in Italy.
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