Self-propelled tank destroyers constituted an essential component of the Third Reich’s armoured arm. Vehicles, which were especially useful in defensive warfare, in which the German army found itself after losing strategic initiative on the Eastern Front in the summer 1943 and following the Allied landing in Italy and France, with time began to effectively compete in armoured sub-units with classic tanks. One of the largest vehicles of that type was Jagdpanther Sd.Kfz. 173, based on the chassis of the famous Panther tank.
Origins of the design
The need of adopting a tracked chassis for the battle-proven 88mm anti-armour gun was first signalled in Germany in mid 1942. On August 3, the work on a new tracked tank destroyer with enclosed crew compartment started at Heeres Waffenamt Waffenprüfung 6. The task of preparing design sketches was entrusted to engineers of the Fried-Krupp Grusonwerk AG company in Essen. Shortly, the concept of mounting a long-barrelled 8.8cm Panzerabwehrkanone on a specially prepared chassis of a standard Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tank emerged. It was designated Panzerselbstfahrlafette IVc.
Analysis of the armament as well as the suspension and steering of the aforementioned vehicle resulted in a conclusion that the resulting design of the fighting vehicle could be mechanically ineffective on the battlefield. It was caused mainly by the substantial weight of the main armament and the suggested thickness of the superstructure armour, which came up to 100mm. Therefore, it was necessary to find another kind of chassis. Finally, the one of the new German medium tank Panzerkampfwagen V Panther was selected, as it was considered more durable. On September 15, 1942, during the meeting at the head office of the Reich’s Ministry of Armaments and War Production (Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion) the technical documentation was handed over by the engineers from Essen to the team of Stuttgart based company Daimler-Benz AG. Its engineers undertook to continue further development of the design.
On October 2, 1942, an official directive was issued concerning the construction of the tank destroyer based on the chassis of the Pz.Kpfw. V. The design was to be completed within less than 3 months, and the series production was scheduled to begin in July of the following year. Although the designers managed to fulfil the first condition, the work on actual design of the base tank was delayed and so was the analysis of the blueprints, which took place in Berlin on March 6, 1943. All that caused the date of the assembly to be postponed. On May 1, the outline of the specifications was published, which presented basic features of the vehicle: armour of up to 100mm (three days later the figure was adjusted to 80mm), main armament composed of an 88mm gun, supplemented by 7.92mm machine gun.
A wooden mock-up of the new machine was ready in October. On the twentieth day of the month, it was presented to Adolf Hitler along with the mock-ups of the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II and the Jagdpanzer VI. On November 15, Führer received first photographs of the first prototype, which, according to Walter Spielberger, caused a burst of enthusiasm. The vehicle, in its full glory, was presented to him on December 16. Shortly, it received two designations: Sturmgeschütz für 8,8 cm StuK 43 auf Fahrgestell Panther I and Panzerjäger für 8,8 cm StuK 43 auf Fahrgestell Panther I. The name under which the vehicle is well-known nowadays – Jagdpanther, was officially given by Hitler on February 27, 1944.
Production
Initially, the fighting vehicles were to be assembled at factory No. 40 in Berlin-Marienfelde, which belonged to the Daimler-Benz AG company. As the production of the Jagdpanther was being implemented, the other vehicles for the Panzerwaffe had already been manufactured there. Already on April 25, 1944, a decision was made to move the production of the tank destroyer to Mühlenbau und Industrie AG (MIAG) in Braunschweig. It was there that the first prototypes (serial numbers: V101 and V102) were built in October and November on the chassis delivered by the Brandenburgische Eisenwerk Kirchmörser steelworks in Brandenburg on Havel armed with a 8,8 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 43/3 manufactured by the factory in Lippstadt, which was part of the Dortmund-Hörder Hüttenverein company.
The production started in January 1944. In November, due to the fact that since the summer Braunschweig was under the ever-increasing threat of Allied aerial bombardments (between June and October the work was repeatedly disrupted due to air raid threats), the Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover (MNH) in Hannover began completing the vehicles, and a month later the same task was also given to the Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf AG (MBA) factory in Potsdam. The assembly lasted until the beginning of April 1945 and a total of 419 vehicles were manufactured: 270 in Braunschewig, 112 in Hannover and 37 in Potsdam. The production reached its apogee shortly before the Wehrmacht launched its offensive in the Ardennes.
Technical description
Panzerjäger für 8,8 cm StuK 43 auf Fahrgestell Panther I was based on the chassis of the medium tank Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. A and Ausf. G with characteristic interleaved suspension system formed by eight pairs of double, large-diameter wheels on each side, suspended on torque shafts. It was powered by V-12 Maybach HL230 P30 petrol engine with the power output of 700 hp at 3,000 rpm. Reinforced Zahnradfabrik AK 7-200 transmission had seven gears forward and one reverse. It is worthy of mention that there were also attempts to adapt the Maybach Olvar transmission, which was a standard in heavy Panzerkampfwagen VI tanks. The top speed was 46 km/h, while the range was 160 km.
The armour was formed by plates ranging in thickness from 16 (hull bottom) to 80mm (glacis plate), but at the same time, the large mantlet shield (Saukopfsblende – the so-called boar’s head) was 100mm thick. The glacis of the superstructure was angled at 55°, the rear plate at 40°, while the side ones at 60°.
The element which would give the vehicle its advantage over the vehicles of the Panzerwaffe‘s enemies was its main armament in form of the 8,8 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 43/3 anti-tank gun with a 71-calibre-long barrel (almost 6.3 m long) with twin-buffle muzzle break. There were plans to remove that feature in August 1944, to facilitate production, as had been done two months earlier in the case of 75mm guns by Altmärkische Kettenfabrik GmBH at Berlinie-Spandau. Finally, the idea was dropped, but it returned briefly in mid February 1945, this time in co-operation with the Stahlwerk Mark factory in Wengern. The gun was trained manually. Its horizontal field of fire was 26°, while the elevation was between -8° to 14°. Targeting was facilitated by SflZF 5 sight (in the final months of the war there were plans to incorporate a night-vision equipment). The 88mm ammunition storage contained 80 rounds.
Protection of the Jagdpanther’s five-person complement against infantry attacks was provided by the 7,92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 machine gun equipped with KgZF 2 sight and 1,200 rounds of ammunition in 50-round belts installed in characteristic ball mount on the right side of the glacis plate. Apart from that, since 1944, the Nahvereteidigungsgerät direct defence weapon system was also being installed. Its launchers were mounted at the left edge of the superstructure’s top plate. It could fire various ammunition assortment and signal rounds. Additionally, there were two 9 mm Maschinenpistole 40 machine guns carried inside and personal handguns carried by each crewman. The vehicle could be entered by one of the two two-part hatches in the roof or by large escape/loading hatch located in the middle of the superstructure’s back plate (the spent case ejector’s hatch was on its right side).
The vehicle’s standard radio equipment comprised the Funkgeräsatz 5 and the Funkgerätsatz 2 with a single rod antenna (Stabantenne) installed in a socket located in the rear right side corner of the superstructure (in the first few vehicles it was mounted on the engine compartment plate). In the battery command vehicles the long range Funkgerätsatz 8 radio station was installed with additional star antenna (Sternantenne) installed on the other side of the rear plate. Its base was additionally protected by a metal flange.
Essential engineering equipment including shovel, axe, heavy clamps, etc. was carried outside on frames made of metal flats attached to the armour plates. The steel towing cable was also there, along with folding ramrod stored in a characteristic metal tube container. That piece of equipment was initially mounted on the left side of the armour, but in the late production Jagdpanther vehicles it was moved to the top of the engine plate (it had already been done in spring of 1944, at the workshops of the 654. Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion). Apart from that, in the rear section of the chassis there were two containers for additional equipment.
During the 15-month-long production, the machine was modified numerous times. Although the vehicles are usually divided into the early (produced until autumn 1944) and late variants, the changes in their appearance were introduced almost every few weeks. Detail range of those modifications along with the estimated timeframe in which they were being made is presented in Table No. 1. It must be stressed that the most important ones were: removal of the pistol portholes in the sides of the superstructure (initially five, later only two) in the preliminary stage of production, replacement of the dual driver-mechanic periscope with a single one (equipped with a rain screen for a few months), replacement of one-piece barrel characteristic of 8,8 cm PaK 43/2 with two-piece one (8,8 cm PaK 43/3) or the installation of gun mantlet collar fastened with 8 large hexagonal bolts (4 at the top and 4 at the bottom) instead of the entirely welded, more rounded one. Apart from that, there were visible alterations of the exhaust system covers – the late version exhaust pipes were fitted with large metal flame traps – Flammvernichter.
Read more…
Recommended - Armour
