The Battle of Stalingrad, which became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War, clearly showed how difficult it is to conduct hostilities in the city with the help of weapons and equipment designed to work in large open spaces. In addition, the importance of fortified positions, bunkers and long-term firing points was once again confirmed - suffice it to recall the legendary Pavlov House, whose "garrison" successfully defended itself from enemy attacks for two months. To combat such fortifications, and even more so to destroy more serious defensive strongholds, an appropriate weapon was required, capable of firing at targets from closed positions and at the same time covering them with powerful large-caliber shells. Soon after the end of the battle for Stalingrad, General G. Guderian, recently appointed to the post of inspector of tank forces, came up with a proposal to create a large-caliber self-propelled gun.
A prototype based on the PzKpfw is shown. VI Ausf. H to the Fuhrer, Albert Speer and Guderian
Sturmtiger during tests at the Kummersdof test site, 1944
The proposal was approved at the highest level, after which work began on the appearance of a new armored vehicle. At first, the self-propelled gun, codenamed Sturmtiger ("Sturmtiger"), was supposed to look like a heavy tank PzKpfw VI with a wheelhouse and a 210-mm howitzer installed on it. The preliminary design of this self-propelled gun at the "Henschel" company went on for a long time and hard - as they say, the subcontractors let us down. The development of the howitzer took longer than originally planned. Therefore, in the middle of spring of 1943, they remembered an interesting project rejected by the fleet. The Raketenwerfer 61 bomb, also known as the Gerat 562, had a caliber of 380 millimeters and promised a promising self-propelled gun a great future. After being adopted as part of the Sturmtiger self-propelled gun, the bomb launcher received the StuM RM 61 L / 5 index.
The barrel of the Rheinmetall Borsig Raketenwerfer 61 bomb had a length of only 5.4 caliber, which was compensated by the large weight and power of the projectile. In addition, it was assumed that the fire would be carried out along hinged trajectories, for which a large barrel length is not required. The breech of the bomb consisted of a casing, a rack and pinion mechanism and a lock plate 65 millimeters thick. Loading the gun had one original feature: after the projectile was sent into the barrel and the latter was locked between the plate and the rear of the projectile, a small gap of 12-15 millimeters remained. He was needed for the next purpose. In the shells of the bomb there was a solid propellant charge, as well as a sustainer solid-propellant engine. Obviously, throwing a 350-kilogram ammunition will give a tremendous return. Therefore, a gap was made between the projectile and the lock, made connected with the channels of the barrel casing. Between the barrel of the Gerat 562 and its casing, there was a space through which the powder gases escaped outward, towards the muzzle. Thanks to this system, the Sturmtiger did not have to install recoil devices.
Captured Shturmtiger during tests at NIBT Polygon, Kubinka station, 1945
Unlike other barreled artillery systems, the Raketenwerfer 61 was designed to fire solid propellant rocket projectiles. High-explosive ammunition weighing 351 kilograms was equipped with a propellant charge and a solid propellant engine checker. Up to 135 kg of explosives were placed in the front of the shells. The bottom of the ammunition had 32 inclined holes located around the circumference. Thanks to the configuration of these "nozzles", the projectile rotated in flight. Also, a slight rotation was given to it by the rifling of the barrel, which included special pins of the projectile. The active-reactive system led to an interesting firing feature: the muzzle velocity of the projectile did not exceed 40 meters per second. An instant after the release of the missile-projectile from the barrel, the engine checkers ignited. The latter accelerated the projectile to a speed of 250 m / s. The charge of the 380-mm projectile was initiated from the fuse, which could be adjusted to a delay from 0.5 to 12 seconds. According to the instructions that came with the Sturmtiger self-propelled gun, at the maximum elevation of the barrel, the firing range was 4400 meters.
Due to the original gun with special ammunition, it was necessary to significantly revise the old views on the procedure for loading a gun. Rocket projectiles were placed in the barrel manually through the breech. For this, the fighting compartment had a special tray with rollers and a small hoist with a manual drive. Before loading, it was required to lower the barrel to a horizontal position, after which the bolt design made it possible to unlock it. Then the projectile was manually sent to the barrel. In case the ammunition did not fall into the rifling of the barrel with its pins, the crew had a special key that could be used to turn it to the desired angle. Ammunition "Sturmtiger" consisted of 12-14 shells. Six of them were placed in holders on the side walls of the fighting compartment. The thirteenth projectile was placed in the barrel, and the 14th was placed on the tray. Due to the large mass and dimensions of the shells, loading the bomb took considerable time. A well-trained crew could make no more than one shot in ten minutes. At the same time, four out of five crew members participated in the loading procedure. The ammunition load was no less laborious. A special crane was installed on the roof of the wheelhouse, with the help of which the shells were transferred from the supply vehicle to the fighting compartment. For these purposes, there was a special hatch above the gun tray. The lowered projectile was transferred to its place with the help of an internal telpher, after which the procedure was repeated.
The absence of any special recoil devices made it possible to install the Raketenwerfer 61 on a relatively simple ball mount. Guidance in the horizontal plane was carried out within ten degrees from the axis, in the vertical plane - from 0 ° to 85 °. The gun was guided using a Pak ZF3x8 telescopic sight with a threefold increase. Other optics "Sturmtiger" consisted of a commander's periscope on the roof and an observation sight at the driver. The additional armament of the self-propelled gun was quite diverse. A ball mount with an MG34 or MG42 machine gun with 600 rounds of ammunition was mounted in the frontal sheet. Instead of a hatch cover for loading a projectile, a module with a 90-mm breech-loading mortar could be installed. In extreme cases, the crew had MP38 / 40 submachine guns.
The undercarriage of all produced "Sturmtigers" was completely similar to the undercarriage of conventional "Tigers". The fact is that the self-propelled mortar bomb was not assembled from scratch, but was altered from ready-made tanks. Therefore, the 12-cylinder gasoline engines HL210P30 or HL230P45, as well as the transmission, remained unchanged. At the same time, the tank's armored hull was significantly redesigned. Part of its roof and two frontal plates were removed. Instead of them, a welded deckhouse was installed from rolled armor plates that had undergone cementation. The front of the cabin had a thickness of 150 millimeters, the sides and stern - 82 each. The roof of the fighting compartment was made of a 40-mm panel. The rest of the elements of the armored corps did not change.
The Sturmtiger self-propelled gun project was ready by early August 1943. The German leadership immediately approved it and began to make plans for mass production. For example, the initial assembly volume was ten cars per month. However, the production of "Sturmtigers" threatened to hit the production of heavy tanks. Therefore, a simple and original decision was made: to alter the tanks that come for overhaul. It was from this PzKpfw VI that the first prototype was assembled. Alkett made it in the fall of 1943, after which testing began. Due to a number of circumstances, the wheelhouse of the first prototype was assembled from ordinary non-armored steel. Trial firing showed the vehicle's high firepower. Not without claims: long and laborious loading limited the capabilities of self-propelled guns. Also, a number of complaints were caused by shells that were not brought to mind. As a result, it turns out that until the very end of the Second World War, the crews of "Sturmtigers" will have to fire exclusively high-explosive shells. The promised cumulative ammunition for the destruction of especially strong structures was never made.
The full prototype test took ten months. Because of this circumstance, "Sturmtiger" went into battle directly from the training ground. On August 12, 1944, a prototype without armor and with only 12 rounds was sent to Warsaw, where it was supposed to be used in suppressing the uprising. The results of firing at the objects of the rebels confirmed all the conclusions of the testers: the projectile is unreliable, but the accuracy still leaves much to be desired. In addition, a new one was added to the old problems. When shooting at the range, the detonation of training targets occurred normally. However, heavy active-reactive ammunition was intended primarily for shelling well-protected concrete targets. In the case of brick houses, the penetrating effect of the shells was excessive - the house literally made its way through, the shell buried itself in the ground and the explosion was partially absorbed by the soil. Five to seven days after the arrival of the first prototype near Warsaw, it was joined by the newly assembled first production copy. The shells that arrived with him had more sensitive fuses, thanks to which the firepower of the bombers was fully restored to range indicators.
Serial production of self-propelled guns did not last long. The first of 17 cars was assembled on August 13, 44th, and the last one on September 21. The production cars practically did not differ from the prototype. The most noticeable difference is the different barrel cuts, with 36 cuts instead of nine. In practice, this meant that with an incorrect feed, the projectile had to be rotated at a smaller angle. Only after the assembly of the batch was completed, the Sturmtiger was put into service under the name 38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmörser Tiger. Until the end of autumn 1944, three companies were formed in the Wehrmacht, which were armed with new "Sturmtigers". In addition to serial samples, a prototype was sent to the troops, which was brought to the state of serial machines. It did not serve for a long time - already at the end of 1944 it was written off due to severe wear and tear.
Sturmtiger during tests at the Kummersdof test site. Loading ammunition, 1944
The specific tactical niche of the Sturmtiger ACS, combined with the lack of a large number of well-fortified targets and the constant retreat of German troops, led to the fact that 380-mm shells were sent to a variety of targets. For example, in the report of the 1001st company, which was armed with the "Sturmtigers", it appears that three Sherman tanks were destroyed at once with just one shot. However, this was more of an accidental luck than normal practice. Other notable events from the combat practice of the 1000th, 1001st and 1002nd companies - the only units where there were 38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmörser Tiger -, if they were, were not widely known. But even during the war, self-propelled guns "glorified" to others. Due to their large combat mass of 66 tons, "Sturmtigers" often broke down, and sometimes there was no way to carry out repairs or evacuate them to the rear. It is worth noting that until the early spring of 1945 this was a fairly rare practice - during the winter the Germans wrote off only one car due to a malfunction. The “season of losses” began in March. In just a couple of months of spring, most of the remaining Sturmtigers were abandoned or destroyed by their own crews. The equipment wore out more and more, and there were no opportunities for repair. Therefore, the fighters were forced to retreat without their combat vehicle.
It is worth noting that not all self-propelled guns were destroyed. At least three or four units fell into the hands of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. There is information about the post-war tests of two copies in the United States and Great Britain. Until our time, only two "Sturmtigers" have survived, which are now museum pieces. The first is in the Kubinka tank museum, the second is in the German Tank Museum (Münster). There is a version that the self-propelled gun from Kubinka is the same prototype, modified to complete the production vehicle, although one hundred percent proof of this has not yet been found. In addition, European museums have several active rockets for the 380 mm StuM RM 61 L / 5 bomb.
The 38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmörser Tiger project turned out to be ambiguous. The excellent firepower of the self-propelled gun and remarkable booking were more than offset by low running data and a not very reliable transmission. In relation to the latter, the same can be said as about the power units of any later modifications of the Tiger tank. The engine and transmission did not always cope with the increased combat weight, which in some cases led to the loss of the vehicle. At the same time, apparently, the shortcomings of the "Sturmtiger" were not limited only to the problems of the transmission and chassis. Large-caliber barreled artillery with active-rocket ammunition turned out to be not the best type of military equipment. Low accuracy, an ultra-low rate of fire for the ground forces and a very narrow tactical niche led to the fact that not a single country in the world began to seriously tackle this direction. "Sturmtiger" remained the first and last mass-produced rocket-propelled bomb launcher.
Sturmtiger. Captured by 3A units of the 1st Belorussian Front. Elba river, 1945
US 9th Army personnel inspect a German Sturmtiger self-propelled gun captured near Minden, Germany.
In the foreground, the destroyed hull of a 380-mm high-explosive rocket.
German heavy self-propelled gun "Sturmtiger" (Sturmtiger) from the 1002nd separate company of self-propelled mortars, captured by the US military in Drolshagen (Drolshagen). The self-propelled guns are armed with a 380-mm shipborne rocket launcher (rocket launcher) designed to destroy barricades, houses and fortifications in street battles
The British drive through an M4 ARV armored recovery vehicle (based on the M4 Sherman tank) past a heavy German self-propelled guns Sturmtiger, abandoned by the crew due to a breakdown and captured by the Americans
Tank Museum in Kubinka 38 cm RW61 auf Sturmmörser Tiger
