Following the tradition, which was formed in the early years of World War II and consisted in the use of tanks in service to create on their basis self-propelled guns by mounting a larger-caliber cannon on their chassis, German designers immediately saw in the new heavy tank PzKpfw VI "Tiger II" a good base for heavy-duty self-propelled guns. Since the heavy tank was armed with an 88-mm long-barreled cannon, the self-propelled guns, logically, should have been armed with a more powerful 128-mm cannon, also developed on the basis of an anti-aircraft gun. Despite the fact that the muzzle velocity was lower, the armor penetration of the 128-mm gun was higher at long distances. Armed with this gun, the self-propelled guns became the most powerful German production vehicle, which on the battlefield was assigned the role of supporting the infantry and fighting against allied armored vehicles at long distances.
Experimental design work on the creation of heavy self-propelled guns has been carried out in Germany since the early 1940s and even led to local successes. In the summer of 1942, two 128mm 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 521st tank-destroyer division, was abandoned by the Wehrmacht after the defeat of the Nazi group at Stalingrad in early 1943.
At the same time, even the death of Paulus's 6th Army did not in any way affect the launch of such SPGs into series. In society and the ruling circles, ideas prevailed that the war would end in victory for Germany. Only after the defeat at the Kursk Bulge, in North Africa and the landing of the allies in Italy, many Germans, blinded by propaganda, realized the reality - the combined forces of the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition were many times superior to the forces of Germany and Japan, and only a "miracle" could save the dying German state.
At the same time, talk began about a "miracle weapon" that could change the course of the entire war. Such rumors became officially German propaganda, which promised the German people a speedy change in the situation at the front. At the same time, there were no sufficiently effective globally (nuclear weapons and their analogues) developments in the final stage of readiness in Germany. Therefore, the leadership of the Reich was forced to seize on any significant military-technical projects that were capable of performing psychological functions along with defensive capabilities along with defensive capabilities, inspiring the people with thoughts about the strength and power of the state, which is capable of creating such complex equipment. It was in a similar situation that a heavy tank destroyer, the Jagdtigr self-propelled gun, was created and launched into series. Jagdtiger became the heaviest example of mass-produced armored vehicles produced during the Second World War.
The new SPG was classified as a 128mm heavy assault gun. Its main armament was to be a 128-mm PaK 44 cannon, created on the basis of the Flak 40 anti-aircraft gun. The high-explosive fragmentation ammunition of this weapon had a greater high-explosive effect than a similar anti-aircraft gun. A wooden model of the future self-propelled gun was presented to Hitler on October 20, 1943 at the Aris training ground in East Prussia. The Jagdtiger self-propelled gun made a favorable impression on the Fuhrer, and he ordered the start of its serial production in 1944.
Description of construction
The general layout of the Jagdtiger self-propelled gun was generally the same as the "Royal Tiger" tank. At the same time, the load on the chassis during the shot increased, so the chassis was lengthened by 260 mm. The self-propelled gun control compartment was located in front of the vehicle. The main clutch, steering mechanism and gearbox were located here. To the left of it were the controls, the dashboard and the driver's seat. On the right in the hull, a course machine gun and a radio operator's gunner's seat were installed. There was also a radio station above the gearbox and right-side final drive.
In the body of the self-propelled gun "Jagdtigr" six types of plates with a thickness of 40 to 150 mm were used. The upper frontal sheet of the hull was 150 mm thick, was solid and had only one embrasure for installing a course machine gun. A special cutout was made in the upper part of the frontal sheet of the hull, which provided the driver with a better view from the car. In addition, in front of the hull roof there were landing hatches for the radio operator and the driver.
The fighting compartment was located in the middle of the ACS. There was an armored cabin with a gun. To the left of the gun were guidance mechanisms, a periscope sight, and a gunner's seat. The commander's seat was located to the right of the gun. Ammunition for the gun was located on the floor of the fighting compartment and on the walls of the wheelhouse. In the rear of the wheelhouse there were places for two loaders.
In the engine compartment, located in the rear of the hull, there was a propulsion system, radiators for the cooling system, fans, and fuel tanks. The engine compartment was separated from the fighting compartment by a partition. The Jagditgra was equipped with the same engine as the PzKpfw VI Tiger II tank - a 12-cylinder V-shaped (60-degree camber) carbureted Maybach HL230P30, which developed a maximum power of 700 hp. at 3000 rpm. (in practice, the number of revolutions did not exceed 2,500).
It should be noted that the armored hull of the Jagdtigr self-propelled gun has practically not undergone any changes either in terms of design or in terms of armor. The sides of the cabin were integral with the sides of the hull and had the same 80 mm armor. The sides of the cabin had a slope of armor plates of 25 degrees. The frontal and aft sheets of the felling were connected to each other "in a thorn", additionally reinforced with dowels, and then scalded. The thickness of the frontal felling plate reached 250 mm, the frontal felling plate was located at an angle of 15 degrees. None of the Allied anti-tank weapons could penetrate the self-propelled gun head-on from a distance of more than 400 meters. The stern leaf of the felling was also 80 mm thick. In the aft deckhouse there was a hatch for loading ammunition, dismantling the gun and evacuating the crew, the hatch was closed with a special double-leaf hinged cover.
The roof of the wheelhouse was made of 40-mm armor plate and bolted to the hull. In the front to the right, there was a rotating commander's cupola with a viewing device, which was covered with a U-shaped armored bracket. In front of the turret in the roof of the wheelhouse there was a hatch for installing a stereo tube. Behind the commander's cupola there was a hatch for the commander's embarkation / disembarkation, and to the left of it the embrasure of the gun's periscope sight. In addition, a melee device, 4 observation devices and a fan were mounted here.
A 128-mm StuK 44 (or Pak 80) cannon was mounted in the embrasure of the frontal sheet of the wheelhouse, covered with a massive cast mask. The initial velocity of the armor-piercing projectile of this gun was 920 m / s. The length of the gun was 55 calibers and was (7,020 mm). The total weight is 7,000 kg. The gun had a wedge-shaped, horizontal breechblock, which was automated. The opening of the bolt and the extraction of the sleeve was carried out by the gunner, and after the projectile and charge were sent, the bolt closed automatically.
The gun was mounted on a special machine, which was installed in the self-propelled gun body. The vertical guidance angles ranged from -7 to +15 degrees, horizontal - 10 degrees in each direction. The recoil devices were located above the gun barrel. The maximum recoil length was 900 mm. The greatest firing range of high-explosive fragmentation projectiles was 12, 5 km. The StuK 44 gun differed from its progenitor, the Flak 40 anti-aircraft gun, by a separate-case loading. In a rather cramped cabin of an ACS with bulky unitary ammunition, it would simply not be possible to turn around. To speed up the loading process, the Jagdtiger ACS crew had 2 loaders. While one of them was sending a projectile into the chamber of the gun, the second was feeding a cartridge case with a charge. Despite the presence of two loaders, the rate of fire of the gun was at the level of 2-3 rounds per minute. The gun's ammunition consisted of 40 rounds.
The WZF 2/1 periscope sight, used on a self-propelled gun, had a 10x magnification and a field of view of 7 degrees, with this sight it was possible to hit targets at a distance of 4 km.
Auxiliary armament "Jagdtigr" consisted of a course MG 34 machine gun, which was located in a special ball mount in the frontal sheet of the hull. Machine gun ammunition was 1,500 rounds. Additionally, a special 92-mm anti-personnel grenade launcher was installed on the roof of the wheelhouse - a melee weapon. On machines of late production, a special bracket was also installed on the roof of the wheelhouse for installing the MG 42 anti-aircraft machine gun.
Epic with a suspension
The assembly of the Jagdtiger chassis (like the Tiger II tank itself) was the most time-consuming operation, which significantly delayed the production process. That is why the design bureau of Ferdinand Porsche, as a private initiative, made a proposal to use a suspension on this ACS, similar to that installed on the Ferdinand tank destroyer.
Its peculiarity was that the torsion bars were not inside the body, but outside, inside special carts. Each of these longitudinally located torsion bars served 2 road wheels. The weight gain with this suspension was 2,680 kg. In addition, the installation and tightening of the torsion bars of the standard Henschel suspension was possible only in the assembled body, in strict sequence using a special winch. Replacing the balancers of the suspension and torsion bars could only be carried out in the factory. The assembly of the suspension of the Porsche design could be carried out separately from the body, and the installation was carried out without the use of special equipment. The repair and replacement of suspension units could be carried out in front-line conditions and did not present any particular difficulties.
In total, 7 cars were manufactured with a Porsche design (5 production samples and 2 prototypes), the first Jagdtiger with a Porsche suspension went out for testing even earlier than the ACS with a Henschel suspension. Nevertheless, despite all the advantages of the Porsche suspension, another car went into production on the recommendation of the Arms Directorate. The main reason was the more than strained relationship between the famous designer and ministry officials, as well as the breakdown of one of the bogies during the tests, which, by the way, was the fault of the manufacturer. It is also impossible to disregard the fact that the Armaments Directorate wanted to achieve maximum unification between the self-propelled guns and the Royal Tiger tank.
Jagdtiger with Porsche suspension on a railway platform
As a result, the chassis of the serial "Jagdtigra" consisted of 9 all-metal double road wheels with internal depreciation (on each side). The skating rinks were staggered (5 in the outer row and 4 in the inner row). The dimensions of the rollers were 800x95 mm. Their suspension was individual torsion bar. The balancers of the front and rear rollers were equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers, which were located inside the body.
In total, from July to April 1945, from 70 to 79 such self-propelled guns were collected in Germany, so there was no question of any mass use of them. Most often, the Jagdtiger self-propelled guns entered the battle by platoon, or individually, being part of hastily formed battle groups. The undercarriage of the car was too overloaded, which led to low mobility and frequent breakdowns. For this reason, the design of the ACS provided for the installation of two stationary explosive charges. One was under the breech of the cannon, the second under the engine. Most of the self-propelled guns were destroyed by their own crews, if it was impossible to tow the car to the rear. The use of "Jagdtigers" was of an episodic nature, but any of their appearance in battle was a big headache for the allies. The cannon installed on the self-propelled guns made it possible to easily hit any Allied tank from a prohibitive distance of 2.5 km.
Performance characteristics: Jagdtiger
Weight: 75, 2 tons.
Dimensions:
Length 10, 654 m., Width 3, 625 m., Height 2, 945 m.
Crew: 6 people.
Reservation: from 40 to 250 mm.
Armament: 128-mm cannon StuK44 L / 55, 7, 92-mm MG-34 machine gun
Ammunition: 40 rounds, 1500 rounds.
Engine: 12-cylinder liquid-cooled gasoline engine "Maybach" HL HL230P30, 700 hp
Maximum speed: on the highway - 36 km / h, on rough terrain - 17 km / h
Progress in store: on the highway - 170 km., On rough terrain - 120 km.
