Sturmgeschütz IV Final Production

Sturmgeschütz IV (7.5cm StuK40 L/48) (SdKfz 167) was an armored vehicle (assault gun, AFV or armoured fighting vehicle) in combat use during the Second World War (World War II or WWII) in the European theater. The Sturmgeschütz IV was a fully tracked all-terrain vehicle designed for military operations. Sturmgeschütz IV, abbreviated as the StuG. IV, was produced and deployed by the German Army (Heers) of Nazi Germany (the Third Reich). The technical drawing (plan, layout or profile) shows the general appearance characteristics of the specified model (version) of the Sturmgeschütz IV tank for purposes of identification and reference.

Sturmgeschütz IV Main Production

In November 1943, Alkett, the manufacturer of the StuG III, suffered damage in a bombing raid. Alkett produced 255 StuG III in October 1943, but in December production fell to just 24 vehicles. A conference held December 6–7, 1943, addressed possible solutions to this problem. Hitler welcomed the suggestion of taking the StuG III superstructure and mounting it on a Panzer IV chassis. The StuG IV could be more quickly manufactured than the Jagdpanzer IV at the time. This restarted the Sturmgeschütz IV project. This time, the superstructure of the StuG III Ausf. G was mounted on a Panzer IV chassis 7, with a box compartment for the driver added. Combat weight was 23000 kg, lighter than the 23900 kg for the StuG III Ausf. G. On Dec. 16-17, 1943, Hitler was shown the StuG IV and approved it. To make up for the large deficit in StuG III production StuG IV production was now given full support.

From December 1943 to May 1945, Krupp built 1,108 StuG IVs and converted an additional 31 from battle-damaged Panzer IV hulls. While the number is smaller than the 10,000+ StuG III, the StuG IV supplemented and fought along with StuG III during 1944-45, when they were most needed.

Sturmgeschütz IV First Production

The Pz.Kpfw.IV was also converted to an assault gun (Sd.Kfz.167) after a bombing raid severely damaged the ALKETT plant producing the StuG III. The turret and superstructure from the Pz.Kpfw.IV was replaced by a modified StuG III Ausf.G superstructure. Since the Pz.Kpfw.IV hull was longer than that of the Pz.Kpfw.III, it was necessary to create a new driver's position by extending the left side of the superstructure front forward. This new driver's position was topped by a pair of periscopes and an access hatch. The cast gun mantlet was introduced in February 1944. Later production vehicles were also fitted with the naehverteidigunswaffe close-in defense weapon, and starting in December 1944 some StuG IV were only fitted with three track return rollers per side. Other modifications to the Pz.Kpfw.IV and StuG III Ausf.G were also grafted onto StuG IV, like the Pz.Kpfw.IV's flash suppressing mufflers and the remote-control external machine gun mount.

Sturmpanzer IV Series 1

Production of the first series of 60 vehicles began in April 1943. Fifty-two of these were built using new Panzer IV Ausf. G chassis and the remaining 8 from rebuilt Ausf. E and F chassis. Survivors, about half, were rebuilt beginning in December 1943; they were mostly rebuilt to 2nd series standards.

Sturmpanzer IV Series 2

Production restarted in December 1943 of another 60 vehicles, using only new Ausf. H chassis, and continued until March 1944. The Sturmpanzer's baptism in combat at the Battle of Kursk proved that the driver's compartment was too lightly armored and it was reinforced. The gunner's hatch was removed and a ventilator fan was fitted, much to the relief of the crew. Internally sprung, steel-rimmed road wheels replaced the front two rubber-rimmed road wheels in an effort to reduce the stress on the forward suspension that was only partially successful.

Sturmpanzer IV Series 3

Production of the 3rd series ran from March to June 1944 with few changes from the second series. The Fahrersehklappe 80 was replaced by periscopes and the lighter StuH 43/1 was used.

Sturmpanzer IV Series 4

The superstructure was redesigned in early 1944 for the fourth series, which used the chassis and HL120TRM112 engine of the Ausf. J, and was in production between June 1944 and March 1945. It featured a redesigned gun collar, as well as a general reduction in height of the superstructure. This redesign also introduced a ball mount in the front superstructure for a MG 34 machine gun with 600 rounds. The vehicle commander's position was modified to use the cupola of the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G, which could mount a machine gun for anti-aircraft defense.

Panzer.IV by Italeri

 
STURMPANZER IV BRUMMBAR SD.KFZ.166
The Sturmpanzer Brummbar was based on a variation of the hull of the Panzer IV armoured tank and devised for the infantry to reduce need for bunkers and fortified resistance centres. This vehicle was fitted with a heavy 15 cm howitzer with shortened mine-launching barrel, fully capable of completing its task. 306 models were built from early 1943 when the vehicle was first introduced.

Panzer IV Ausf H

Designed as support tank, the Panzer IV was not originally intended to engage enemy armor. However, with the flaws of pre-war design becoming apparent and in the face of Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks, the Panzer IV assumed the tank-fighting role instead of PzIII . The most widely manufactured and deployed German tank of the Second World War, the Panzer IV was the “work horse”of German tank’s regiments, used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including tank destroyers, self-propelled artillery and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. Robust and reliable, it saw service in all combat theaters, and has the distinction of being the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the war, with over 8,500 produced between 1936 and 1945. 

Upgrades and design modifications, often made in response to the appearance of new Allied tanks, extended its service life. Generally these involved increasing the Panzer IV's armor protection or upgrading its weapons. The Ausf. H version, began production in April 1943 and received the designation Sd. Kfz. 161/2. This variant saw the integrity of the glacis armor improved by manufacturing it as a single 80-millimetre plate The 75mm KwK 40 L/43 gun was replaced by the longer KwK 40 L/48 . The vehicle's side and turret were further protected by the addition of 5-millimetre side-skirts and a turret skirt. During the Ausf. H's production run its rubber-tired return rollers were replaced with cast steel. The Panzer IVH was the most widely produced variant with over 3000 tanks assembled in Nibelungenwerke and Vomag plants.

JAGDPANZER IV AUSF.F SD.KFZ.162
The JAGDPANZER IV self-propelled tank-killer was built on the chassis of the Pz.Kpw. IV, one of the most efficient and widely used German tanks of the Second World War. Characterised by a low profile, the JAGDPANZER IVs were produced in their hundreds, steadily being improved and fitted with better weaponry such as the long-barrelled 7.5 cm gun that made it a match for any Allied tank.

Pz. Kpfw. IV Ausf. F1/F2 early G

The Panzer IV was the most extensively used German tank during the Second World War. It represented the “backbone” of the German Panzer Divisions on all operational theaters. The production of Panzer IV Ausf. F, started in 1941, marked a decisive boost in the evolution of the tank. It featured an improved armor on the turret and hull. The first version of Panzer IV F,  featuring the traditional 7.5 cm. KwK 37 short-barreled cannon,  were not able to fight successfully against the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 heavy armored tank.  The adoption of the anti-tank design KwK 40 long-barreled cannon, on the Ausf. F2 version, has decisively increased the Panzer IV effectiveness against enemy tanks. Thanks to its new high velocity and high penetration gun, the Panzer IV became, once again, “lethal” on the battlefields.

Sd. Kfz. 167 Sturmgeschütz IV
Sturmgeschütz, abbreviated StuG, was the weapon of the Sturmartillerie, the branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry. StuGs were very successful in their intended support role and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes and other defences. The StuG is not generally considered to be a true tank because it lacks a turret. The gun was mounted directly in a casemate-style fashion, with as low a profile as was possible to reduce vehicle height, and had a limited lateral traverse. Omitting the turret made production simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. By late 1943 improved Allied tanks and tank destroyers  with improved guns, rotating turrets, and superior mobility, forced the StuG of being primarily an ambush weapon. 

The StuGs quickly became more of a liability in terms of resource utilization than an asset (the German's had initially increased StuG production to replace standard tank losses), but they continued to be used as the German losses of all types of armored vehicles now exceeded production. Long since not used as originally intended, the Stug's increasingly proved a poor substitute for conventional tanks except in rare war’s envelope. By 1943 Germany was in a downward spiraling arms race with the Allies and the production switched from StuG.III  to StuG.IV. Using the Pz.IV’s chassis, the StuG.IV was the simple combination between Ausf.H and Ausf.J Pz.IV’s versions with StuG.III casemate, in an elongated version. From December of 1943 to March of 1945, 1139 were produced by Krupp at Magdeburg. Stug IV (Sd.Kfz.167) was armed with 75mm StuK 40L/48 gun mounted in cast version of "saukopf" mantlet. Majority was issued in armoured companies to infantry and Panzer Grenadier divisions with few exceptions.

Sturmpanzer IV (Sd Kfz 166)

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.