Following the tradition formed in the early years of the Second World War, which consisted in the use of tanks in service to create self-propelled artillery mounts on their basis by mounting a larger caliber cannon on their chassis, German designers saw in the new PzKpfw VI tank "Tiger II "An excellent base for a super-powerful SPG. Since the heavy tank was armed with an 88-mm long-barreled cannon, the self-propelled gun, logically, had to be armed with a more powerful 128-mm gun, which was also developed on the basis of an anti-aircraft gun. Despite the fact that the 128-mm projectile had a lower muzzle velocity, the armor penetration of the gun at long distances was much higher. The self-propelled guns, armed with this weapon, became the most powerful serial German vehicle, which during the battles was assigned the role of supporting the infantry, as well as fighting armored vehicles at long distances.
Experimental design work on heavy self-propelled artillery mounts has been carried out in Germany since the 1940s. These works had local successes. In the summer of 1942, two 128-mm self-propelled guns based on the VK 3001 (H) were sent to the Eastern Front near Stalingrad. One of these vehicles was lost in battle, the other, along with the remaining equipment of the Five hundred and twenty-first tank destroyer battalions, were abandoned in early 1943 after the defeat of the German group at Stalingrad.
A prototype of a heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtigr" with a chassis designed by F. Porsche during tests at the proving ground. The armament has not yet been installed in the wheelhouse. Spring 1944
Photo on the left of the prototype "Jagdtigra" with a chassis designed by F. Porsche in the assembly shop. The flanges of the suspension bogies are clearly visible. Autumn 1943.
Photo on the right in the assembly shop, a prototype of the Jagdtigra with a Henschel undercarriage borrowed from the Royal Tiger. The holes in the side of the hull are clearly visible, intended for the installation of torsion shafts. Autumn 1943.
At the same time, even the death of Paulus's Sixth Army did not affect the launch of these self-propelled guns in the series. In ruling circles and society, the prevailing idea was that for Germany the war would end in victory. Only after the defeats in North Africa at the Kursk Bulge and the landing of Allied troops in Italy, many, blinded by propaganda, the Germans realized the reality - the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition significantly outnumbered the forces of Japan and Germany, only a "miracle" could save the German state, which was on the verge of death.
At the same time, talk began about the creation of a "miracle weapon" that would change the course of the war. Such rumors became the official propaganda of the country's leadership, which promised the German people a speedy change in the situation on all fronts. At the same time, there were no effective developments globally (for example, nuclear weapons, as well as their analogues) in Germany at the final stage of readiness. In this regard, the leadership of the Reich seized on any significant military-technical projects capable of performing psychological functions with their uniqueness and originality, together with defensive capabilities, that is, inspiring the people with thoughts about the power and strength of a state capable of creating such complex equipment. It was in this situation that the Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer was created and put into production. Jagdtiger became the heaviest mass-produced armored vehicle of the Second World War.
The new self-propelled gun was classified as a 128 mm heavy assault gun. Its main armament was to be the PaK 44 gun of 128 mm caliber, created on the basis of the Flak 40 anti-aircraft gun. The high-explosive fragmentation projectile of this gun had a greater high-explosive effect compared to a similar anti-aircraft gun. A wooden model of the future self-propelled artillery unit was presented to Hitler on 1943-20-10 in East Prussia at the Aris range. "Jagdtiger" made a favorable impression on the Fuhrer, after which he gave the order to begin its serial production in 1944.
Description of construction
The general layout of the Jagdtiger self-propelled artillery system as a whole repeated the "Royal Tiger". At the same time, the load on the chassis increased during the shot, and therefore the chassis was lengthened by 260 millimeters. The control compartment was located in front of the self-propelled gun. Here were the steering mechanism, the main clutch and the gearbox. The driver's seat, respectively, the dashboard and controls were to the left of it. On the right in the hull, the seat of the gunner-radio operator and the course machine gun were placed. There was also a radio station above the right-hand final drive and gearbox.
Six types of armor plates with a thickness of 40 - 150 millimeters were used in the Jagdtigr hull. The thickness of the upper frontal sheet of the hull was 150 millimeters, it was solid. In it, only one embrasure was made for the installation of a course machine gun. In the upper part, a special was made. cutout providing the driver with an improved view of the self-propelled gun. In addition, in the roof of the hull in the front part there were landing hatches for the driver and the gunner-radio operator.
The fighting compartment was located in the middle of the self-propelled gun. There was an armored jacket with a gun. The gunner's seat, periscope sight and guidance mechanisms were to the left of the gun. To the right of the gun was the commander's seat. On the walls of the wheelhouse and the floor of the fighting compartment, there was ammunition for the gun. In the wheelhouse at the rear there were two places for the loaders.
The engine compartment, which is located in the rear of the hull, housed the propulsion system, fans, radiators of the cooling system, and fuel tanks. The engine compartment was separated from the fighting compartment by a partition. The Jagdtigr was equipped with the same engine as the PzKpfw VI Tiger II - a carbureted Maybach HL230P30, V-shaped, 12-cylinder (60-degree camber). Maximum power at 3000 rpm was 700 hp. (the number of revolutions in practice did not exceed 2.5 thousand rpm).
It should be noted that the armored hull "Jagdtigr" in terms of design and armor practically did not undergo changes. The sides of the wheelhouse were one with the sides of the hull, having the same armor thickness - 80 millimeters. The onboard armor plates of the cabin were installed at an inclination of 25 degrees. The stern and frontal sheets of the cabin were connected to each other "in a thorn", reinforced with dowels and scalded. The frontal leaf of the felling was 250 millimeters thick and was installed at an angle of 15 degrees. None of the means of fighting the tanks of the allied forces from a distance of more than 400 meters could penetrate the Jagdtiger self-propelled gun in the forehead. The stern leaf of the felling was 80 millimeters thick. In the stern sheet there was a hatch for evacuating the crew, dismantling the gun and loading ammunition. The hatch was closed with a hinged double-leaf lid.
The roof of the wheelhouse was made of 40 mm armor plate and bolted to the hull. On the right in front was the commander's rotating turret, equipped with a viewing device, which was covered by an armored U-shaped bracket. In the roof of the wheelhouse in front of the turret there was a hatch for installing a stereo tube. The hatch for embarkation and disembarkation of the commander was located behind the commander's cupola, and to the left of the hatch was the embrasure of the periscope sight. In addition, a melee device, a fan and 4 observation devices were installed here.
In the embrasure of the frontal armor plate of the wheelhouse, covered with a massive cast mask, a StuK 44 (Pak 80) 128 mm gun was mounted. The armor-piercing projectile of this gun had an initial velocity of 920 m / s. The length of the gun was 7020 mm (55 calibers). The total weight is 7 thousand kg. The gun had a horizontal, wedge-shaped breechblock, which was automated by ¼. The opening of the bolt, the extraction of the liner was carried out by the gunner, and after the charge and the projectile were sent, the bolt was closed automatically.
The gun was mounted on a special machine installed in the self-propelled unit body. Vertical guidance angles -7 … +15 degrees, horizontal guidance angle in each direction - 10 degrees. Recoil devices were located above the gun barrel. The recoil length was 900 millimeters. The greatest range of fire with a high-explosive fragmentation projectile is 12, 5 thousand meters. The StuK 44 gun differed from the Flak 40 gun by a separate case loading. In the cramped wheelhouse of self-propelled guns with unitary ammunition of a large volume, it would simply not be possible to turn around. To speed up the loading process, the Jagdtiger crew had two loaders. While one loader was sending a projectile into the chamber of the gun, the second was feeding the cartridge case. Despite the presence of 2 loaders, the rate of fire did not exceed 3 rounds per minute. The gun's ammunition consisted of 40 rounds.
The WZF 2/1 periscope sight used on the self-propelled gun had a tenfold magnification and a field of view of 7 degrees. This sight allowed hitting targets at a distance of 4 thousand meters.
Auxiliary armament "Jagdtigr" - course machine gun MG 34, located in the frontal sheet of the hull in a ball special. installation. The machine gun ammunition was 1.5 thousand rounds. Additionally, a melee weapon was installed on the roof of the wheelhouse - a special 92-mm anti-personnel grenade launcher. On machines of a later release, a special was also installed on the roof of the cabin. bracket for mounting the MG 42 machine gun.
Heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtigr" of the first series (chassis N ° 305003) with a Porsche design undercarriage before being sent to the training unit. The car is partially covered with Zimmerite and painted with Dunkel Gelb dark yellow paint. 1944 year.
Epic with a suspension
The assembly of the Jagdtiger self-propelled chassis (like the Tiger II tank) was the most time-consuming operation, significantly delaying the production process of the vehicles. That is why the F. Porsche Design Bureau, as a private initiative, made an offer to use a suspension on this self-propelled gun, similar to that installed on the Ferdinand anti-tank self-propelled gun.
The peculiarity of this suspension was that its torsion bars were installed inside special bogies outside the body, and not inside the body. Each such longitudinal torsion bar served 2 road wheels. When using this suspension, the weight was reduced by 2680 kg. In addition, the installation and tightening of the suspension torsion bars from the Henschel company was carried out only in the assembled case, in a certain sequence when using special. winches. The replacement of torsion bars and suspension balancers could only be performed in the factory. At the same time, the assembly of the Porsche suspension could be carried out separately from the body, and the installation was carried out without the use of special equipment. The replacement and repair of suspension assemblies was carried out in front-line conditions and did not cause any particular difficulties.
A total of seven cars with a Porsche suspension were manufactured (2 prototypes and 5 production samples), the first "Jagdtiger" with this suspension went out for testing earlier than a self-propelled gun with a Henschel suspension. However, despite the advantages of the Porsche suspension, a completely different car went into production on the recommendation of the Arms Directorate. The main reason was the strained relationship between the officials of the ministry and the famous designer, as well as a breakdown during testing of one of the bogies. It should be noted that this breakdown occurred through the fault of the manufacturer. One cannot discount the fact that the Armaments Directorate wanted to achieve maximum unification between the Royal Tiger tank and the SPG.
As a result, the chassis of the serial "Jagdtigra" consisted of 9 double all-metal road wheels, which had internal depreciation (on each side). The skating rinks were staggered (4 in the inner row and 5 in the outer). The size of the rollers is 800x95 mm. Their suspension was individual torsion bar. The balancers of the rear and front rollers were equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers located inside the body.
In total, 70-79 such self-propelled guns were assembled in Germany in the period from July to April 1945, in this regard, there was no question of any massive use of Jagdtiger. SAU "Jagdtigr" most often entered the battle by platoon or individually as part of hastily formed groups. An overloaded undercarriage caused frequent breakdowns and low mobility. In this regard, the design of the self-propelled gun provided for the installation of a pair of stationary explosive charges. The first was located under the engine, the second under the breech of the gun. Most of the self-propelled guns were destroyed by their own crews due to the inability to tow the car for repair. The use of "Jagdtigers" was of an episodic nature, but any appearance of these machines in battle was a big headache for the allied forces. The cannon mounted on the self-propelled guns made it possible to easily hit any of the allied tanks from a distance of 2,500 meters.
The performance characteristics of the Jagdtiger anti-tank self-propelled guns:
Weight - 75.2 thousand kg;
Dimensions:
length - 10654 mm;
width - 3625 mm;
height - 2945 mm;
Crew - 6 people;
Reservation - 40 - 250 mm;
Armament:
cannon StuK44 L / 55, caliber 128 mm;
machine gun MG-34 caliber 7, 92 mm;
Ammunition: 1500 rounds and 40 rounds;
Engine: "Maybach" HL HL230P30, gasoline, 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 700 hp;
Maximum travel speed:
cross country - 17 km / h;
on the highway - 36 km / h;
Power reserve:
cross country - 120 km;
on the highway - 170 km.
Destroyed German heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtiger". The vehicle was created on the basis of the Tiger II tank and is the heaviest mass-produced armored vehicle (weight - 75 tons)
A view of the workshop of the Nibelungwerke tank-building plant in the city of Sant Valentin, Austria, after the bombing of the Allied aviation on October 16, 1944. 143 tons of bombs were dropped on the territory of the plant. In the foreground is the photo of the destroyed hull of the heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtigr" [/center]
German heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtigr" from the 653rd battalion of tank destroyers, abandoned by the Germans in Neustadt (Neustadt an der Weinstraße)
Heavy tank destroyer "Jagdtiger" ("Panzerjager Tiger") (chassis # 305058), belonging to the 1st company of the 512th heavy anti-tank destroyer battalion, captured by American troops
