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Guide to Late Sturmpanzer Chassis Features
(Series 4) |
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Base Chassis
172 Ausf. J chassis were delivered from Nibelungenwerk (NiWerk) for Sturmpanzer
production, since 166 Series 4 were produced and produced in a different
facility than previous versions it would seem reasonable, since no previous
version chassis would have been around to use instead, that all series 4 were
built on Ausf. J chassis.
Return Rollers
Because of what I mentioned above all Series 4 Sturmpanzer would likely have had
steel return rolls (all J’s had steel return rollers). Having 3 return rollers
is however another matter. The 3 return rollers per side was introduced into
PzKpfw IV chassis production in December 1944, since the last shipment of
chassis from NiWerk were received in November it seems improbable that any
Sturmpanzer had 3 return rollers per side and I am not aware of any photo
evidence to the contrary.
Extended side hull
I would like to see and example of a Sturmpanzer with extended hull sides but
also think this is unlikely. Extended hull sides were introduced into
production in October 1944, again final deliveries of chassis occurred in
November 1944. Although I do not know the time it takes run a panzer IV hull
through the production it seems that the hull sides would be required at the
very beginning of the assembly and this change would not be visible on chassis
leaving the factory in October and possibly November. I am not convinced that
this feature was ever featured on the Sturmpanzer. Actung Panzer #4 shows a
drawing of a Sturmpanzer with extended hull sides but I am skeptical that this
is based in fact. They also show the rear coupling for tow bars on another
drawing but that feature was not introduced until December 1944. The tow bar
was an item to be back fitted but I have found no evidence of any Sturmpanzer
with it in place.
Exhaust
Flammentoeter mufflers where introduced in August 1944, so it would seem likely
that some of the Sturmpanzers would have this feature. I know of only one photo
where Flammentoeter are visible on a Sturmpanzer though and this is a example
photographed in the Ardennes, December 1944. There are later models that do not
posses this exhaust type, it would be interesting to know how prevalent this
feature was.
Shurzen
All Series 4 Sturmpanzers should have left the factory with solid shurzen in
place, even very late Strumpanzers show evidence of shurzen. There is nothing
that I have seen or read that would indicate that the practice of installing
shurzen was ever discontinued once started.
Steel Wheels
Steel wheels it appears were introduced with the Series 4 production; they do
not however follow a consistent and discernable pattern. One of the first
Series 4 produced that can be seen in factory photos shows an all steel wheel
setup but there are also instances of all rubber wheels and then some very late
Sturmpanzer with only 4 steel wheels per side. It seems to me that they began
with the idea of all steels wheels and then shortages (or maybe weight issues)
caused them to rethink the strategy and reduce this to 4 per side. The
occasional instances of no steel wheels being available could have caused the
odd no steel wheel sample.
Sturmpanzer Befehlswagen
I have no data on these other than photo evidence shows that both Series 3 and
Series 4 Sturmpanzer had a befehlswagen version.
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