Sd.Kfz. 251

SdKfz 251
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-801-0664-37, Berlin, Unter den Linden, Schützenpanzer.jpg
Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. A or B
Type Half-track armored personnel carrier
Place of origin  Nazi Germany
Service history
In service 1939 - 1945
Used by  Nazi Germany
 Kingdom of Romania
Wars World War II
Specifications
Weight 7.81 tonnes (8.61 short tons)
Length 5.80 m (19 ft 0.3 in)
Width 2.10 m (6 ft 10.7 in)
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 8.9 in)
Crew 12 (including passengers)

Armor 6-14.5 mm (0.24-0.57 in)
Primary
armament
various (see text)
Secondary
armament
various (see text)
Engine one Maybach HL 42 6-cylinder petrol engine
100 hp (74.6 kW)
Power/weight 12.8 hp/tonne
Suspension Half track
Operational
range
300 km (186 mi)
Speed 52.5 km/h (32.5 mph)

The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was an armored fighting vehicle designed and first built by Nazi Germany's Hanomag company during World War II. The largest, most common, and best armored of the wartime half-tracks, the Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the panzergrenadiers of the German mechanized infantry corps into battle. Widely known simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied forces, they were widely produced throughout the war, with over 15,252 vehicles and variants produced in total by various manufacturers.[1]

Contents

Design

There were four main models (Ausf. A through Ausf. 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 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 support by fire for the infantry squad once they had disembarked in battle.

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. Downsides to the open top were a major vulnerability to all types of plunging fire; this included indirect fire from mortars and field artillery as well as depressed-trajectory small arms fire from higher elevated positions, lobbed hand grenades, and strafing by Allied aircraft.

The first two models were produced in small numbers. A and B model can be identified by the structure of the nose armor which comprises two trapezoids. The lower trapezoid has a cooling hatch. The C and D models had a single hexagonal front armor panel. Ausf. A through C had rear doors of the vehicle bulging out. The C variant had a larger production run, but was a quite complex vehicle to build, involving many angled plates that gave reasonable protection from small arms fire. From early 1943, the Ausf D variant was developed with a purpose of reducing the number of angled body plates down to 50%, simplifying the design and thus speeding up the production. Ausf D can be easily recognized by its 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 infra-red search light used to spot potential targets for associated Panther tanks equipped with infrared detectors.

Another good 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, and overlapping and interleaved main road wheels common to virtually all German halftracks of the period. This lowered ground pressure and provided better traction, giving the Sd.Kfz.251 better cross country performance than most other nations' half-tracked vehicles.

Use

The early production models of this vehicle were issued to the 1st Panzer Division in 1939.

These vehicles were meant to enable panzergrenadiers to accompany panzers and provide infantry support as required. In practice, there were never enough of them to go around, and many panzergrenadier units had to make do with trucks for transport.

Variants

Sd.Kfz. 251/7 "Pionierpanzerwagen"
Sd.Kfz. 251/9 "Stummel"
Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D captured by the Polish Home Army during theWarsaw Uprising in 1944

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

References

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Green, Michael. Anderson, Thomas. Schulz, Frank. German Tanks of World War II. Zenith Imprint, 2000.ISBN 978-0-7603-0671-0
  2. Sdkfz 251/3 was produced after Sdkfz 251/6, and changed designations in the process
  3. http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/half-tracks/sdKfz-251.asp

Bibliography

  • Culver, Bruce; Laurier, Jim (Illustrator) (November 1998), SdKfz 251 Half-Track 1939-45, New Vanguard #25 (2nd ed.), Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1855328461 
  • Kliment, Charles; Greer, Don (March 1981), SdKfz 251 in action, Armor No.21 (1st ed.), Squadron/Signal Publications, ISBN 0897471245 

See also

External links