Sd.Kfz. 251 Explained

Sd.Kfz. 251
Origin:Nazi Germany
Type:Half-track armored personnel carrier
Manufacturer:Hanomag, Adlerwerke, Horch, Škoda, Borgward
Design Date:1937–1938
Service:1939–1945
Number:Approx. 15,252
Designer:Hanomag
Used By:Nazi Germany
Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Hungary
Italian Social Republic
French Army
Independent State of Croatia
Czechoslovak Army
Yugoslav People's Army
Wars:World War II
Is Vehicle:yes
Length:5.8m (19feet)
Width:2.1m (06.9feet)
Height:1.75m (05.74feet)
Weight:7.81t
Suspension:Overlapping torsion bar (track)
Leaf spring (wheels)
Speed:52.5km/h
Vehicle Range:300km (200miles)
Primary Armament:MG 34/42
Armour:NaNmm
Engine:one Maybach HL42 6-cylinder petrol engine
Crew:2 crew+10 passengers
Engine Power:100PS
Pw Ratio:12.8 hp/tonne

The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was a World War II German armored personnel carrier designed by the Hanomag company, based on its earlier, unarmored Sd.Kfz. 11 vehicle. The Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the Panzergrenadier (German mechanized infantry) into battle. Sd.Kfz. 251s were the most widely produced German half-tracks of the war, with at least 15,252 vehicles and variants produced by seven manufacturers. The utility of this vehicle led the German Army to develop the similar looking but shorter and lighter Sd.Kfz. 250 as a supplement.

Some sources state that the Sd.Kfz. 251 was commonly referred to simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied soldiers after the manufacturer of the vehicle;[1] this has been questioned, and may have been only a postwar label.[2] [3] German officers referred to them as SPW (Schützenpanzerwagen, or armored infantry vehicle) in their daily orders and memoirs.

Design

There were four main model modifications (Ausführung A through D), which formed the basis for at least 22 variants.[1] The initial idea was for a vehicle that could be used to transport a single squad of 10 panzergrenadiers to the battlefield protected from enemy small arms fire, and with some protection from artillery fire. In addition, the standard mounting of at least one MG 34 or MG 42 machine gun allowed the vehicle to provide suppressive fire for the rifle squad both while they dismounted and in combat.

The armour plates were designed to provide protection against standard rifle/ machine gun bullets (like the 7.92×57mm Mauser bullet). The front-facing plates were 14.5mm thick; the sides were steeply angled, V-shape 8mm thick plates. This level of armour provided protection against normal (non-tungsten) rifle AP round, which could pierce about 8mm of vertical armour.

Positive aspects of the open top included greater situational awareness and faster egress by the infantry, as well as the ability to throw grenades and fire over the top of the fighting compartment as necessary while remaining under good horizontal cover. The downside, as with all armored personnel carriers of the era, was a major vulnerability to all types of plunging fire; this included indirect fire from mortars and field artillery, as well as small arms fire from higher elevated positions, lobbed hand grenades, Molotov cocktails, and strafing by enemy aircraft.

The first two models (Ausf. A and B) were produced in small numbers from 1939. Ausf. A and B models can be identified by the structure of the nose armor, which comprised two trapezoidal armor panels - the lower of which had an engine cooling vent. The B model, which began production in 1940, eliminated the fighting compartment's side vision slits. The C model, which started production in mid-1942, featured a simplified hexagonal-shaped forward armored plate for the engine. Models A through C had rear doors that bulged out. The C model had a large production run, but was quite complex to build, involving many angled plates. From early 1943, the D model was developed with the purpose of halving the number of angled body plates, simplifying the design and thus speeding up the production. D models can be easily recognized by their single piece sloping rear, with flat doors.

The standard personnel carrier version was equipped with a 7.92 mm MG 34 or MG 42 machine gun mounted at the front of the open compartment, above and behind the driver. A second machine gun could be mounted at the rear on an anti-aircraft mount.

Variants were produced for specialized purposes, including with anti-aircraft guns, light howitzers, anti-tank guns and mortars or even large unguided artillery rockets, as well as a version with an infrared search light used to spot potential targets for associated Panther tanks equipped with infrared detectors.

A strong design feature of the Sd.Kfz. 251 was the large track area, with the characteristic "slack track" design with no return rollers for the upper run of track. The Sd.Kfz. 251 also had the Schachtellaufwerk system of overlapping and interleaved main road wheels common to virtually all German halftracks of the period. This lowered the ground pressure and provided better traction, at the cost of much greater complexity in maintenance. The Sd.Kfz. 251 also had tank steering, whereby the normal steering wheel moved the front wheels, but after more turning of the steering wheel, the tracks are braked to cause turning, like on a tank. However, the interleaved and overlapping main road wheels shared a major problem with the Tiger I and Panther tanks that also used such roadwheel configurations - in muddy or winter weather conditions, such as those during a mud season (rasputitsa) or the winter conditions, accumulated mud and snow could freeze solid between the road wheels, immobilizing the vehicle.

Use

The early production models of this vehicle were issued to the 1st Panzer Division in 1939 as the 'Ausf.A' or 'A-version'. There were 232 estimated Ausf.A units produced, which took place in Hannover's Hanomag, Büssing-NAG of Berlin-Oberschöneweide, Weserhütte of Bad Oeynhausen, Wumag of Görlitz, and F. Schichau shipyard of Elbing facilities.[4]

These vehicles were meant to enable Panzergrenadiere to accompany panzers and provide infantry support as required. In practice, there were never enough of them to go around, and most Panzergrenadier units had to make do with trucks for transport.[5]

In August 1943, Romania acquired a total of 27 armored half-tracks, of both the 251 and 250 types[6] followed in 1944 by 251 type and other types of armored cars to convert two cavalry divisions into armored or mechanized divisions.[7] Sd.Kfz. 251s were known as SPW mijlociu ("medium SPW") in Romanian service, while Sd.Kfz. 250s were referred to as SPW ușor ("light SPW").

The Army of the Independent State of Croatia received 15 Sd.Kfz. 251 in spring 1944 and the Ustashe Militia received 12 in autumn 1944.[8]

Variants

There were 23 official variants, and sundry unofficial variants. Each variant is identified by a suffix to the model number; however, there was some overlap in the variant numbers.

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Green, Michael. Anderson, Thomas. Schulz, Frank. German Tanks of World War II. Zenith Imprint, 2000.
  2. Jentz, Thomas. Doyle, Hilary. Panzer Tracts, # 15-2: Mittlere Schuetzenpanzerwagen (Sd.Kfz.251). Panzer Tracts, 2005.
  3. Web site: Origin of "Hanomag" for SdKfz 251: wartime evidence or not?. Missing-Lynx. 26 October 2018 .
  4. Web site: David.B . 2014-12-01 . Sd.Kfz.251 . 2022-12-03 . Tank Encyclopedia . en-US.
  5. Roger Edwards, Panzer, A Revolution in Warfare, 1939-1945, Brockhampton Press, London, UK, 1998, p. 87
  6. Book: Tarnstrom, Ronald L.. Balkan Battles. July 2, 1998. Trogen Books. 9780922037148. Google Books.
  7. Web site: ARMATA ROMÂNĂ ŞI EVOLUŢIA ARMEI TANCURI. DOCUMENTE (1919 – 1945), Colonel dr. Petrişor FLOREA, Dr. Cornel ŢUCĂ, Dr. George UNGUREANU, 1998, p. 407 . 2018-07-28 . 2018-07-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180729081402/http://smap.mapn.ro/AMNR/20_Armata_evolutia_armei_tancuri.pdf . dead .
  8. fr. Le Blindorama : La Croatie, 1941 - 1945. Batailles & Blindés. 42. April 2011. Caraktère. 1765-0828. Yann. Mahé. 4–7.
  9. Sd.Kfz. 251/3 was produced after Sd.Kfz. 251/6, and changed designations in the process
  10. Web site: Germany's SDKFZ 251 mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen Halftracks - World War II Vehicles. wwiivehicles.com. dead. 2009-07-04. 2009-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20090305043838/http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/half-tracks/sdKfz-251.asp.
  11. Book: Tanks and armored fighting vehicles : visual encyclopedia. Chartwell Books. 2012. 9780785829263. New York, N.Y.. 300. 785874088.
  12. Web site: SdKfz 251. www.panzernet.net.

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