Shortly before the start of the war with the USSR, in 1939, the German company for the production of military heavy equipment and guns "Krupp" received an order from the military command for the production of a self-propelled unit with a large weapon to destroy enemy bunkers and reinforced fortifications. The design and construction of prototypes does not take much time for German specialists; a year and a half later, at the end of March 1941, two copies were demonstrated to the top leadership of Germany. After successful tests, the command of the Wehrmacht, led by Hitler, decided to launch the presented self-propelled guns into mass production. At the same time, a decision was made to design and create self-propelled guns with a large caliber for the alleged fight against Soviet tanks.
Description of the self-propelled gun
The K-18 is a 105 mm self-propelled gun, the full name is "10.5cm K18 auf Panzer Selbstfahrlafette IVa", created as a result of the joint efforts of two manufacturers of military equipment "Rheinmetall" and "Krupp". The self-propelled gun was based on the SK 18 heavy infantry cannon, the barrel of the gun was 52 caliber, and had an improved muzzle brake. The cannon hit armored targets up to 110 mm at a distance of up to 2 kilometers, with a firing angle of 300 and could use a 132-mm projectile for firing.
The consequences of the efforts of the German designers to reduce the mass of the self-propelled gun led to a kind of minimization of free space - the ammunition was not at all "combat", only 25 shells for the gun. The ammunition capacity of the MG34 machine gun was inside the turret and was equal to 600 shots. Lacking a standard installation site, the machine gun was installed during the conduct of hostilities in any place convenient for the personnel; in a normal situation, the machine gun was folded and was in a special stowage.
The K-18 chassis was taken from the Panzer IV medium tank, which was being produced at the same time, and the Panzer IV borrowed it from the Nb. Fz multi-turret heavy tank, produced in 34-35. The chassis has not received any structural changes.
The wheelhouse had an open appearance and was equipped with an armored bow protection of 50 mm, all the rest of the armor of the wheelhouse had a thickness of 10 mm.
Guidance along the horizontal axis was only 80 in both directions from the central position of the gun barrel relative to the chassis.
The engine installed in the K-18 self-propelled gun was the most modern at that time and allowed the K-18 to gain a decent speed of 40 kilometers per hour.
Serial production of the gun was scheduled for the spring of 1942, but by that time, military-technical development, thanks to constant military operations and increased requirements for military vehicles of the military leadership, made a qualitative breakthrough, and vehicles of this class became obsolete in just one year. In addition, Soviet troops practically did not use tanks and large-caliber guns in hostilities, other solutions in this class, guns up to 75 mm in caliber, successfully coped with defensive structures and tanks of Soviet military units.
Combat use
Two self-propelled guns, or rather prototypes "K-18", enter the destroyer battalion of tanks No. 521, the battalion had the main task - the assault on Gibraltar and the establishment of control over the strait. After a while, self-propelled guns fall into the third tank division. The division takes part in hostilities with the armed units of the USSR. One of the self-propelled guns was disabled in the battles on the Soviet front, and, according to unconfirmed information, it fell into the hands of the Soviet troops. The second gun, taking part in hostilities, was able to achieve impressive successes, especially in the confrontation with the Soviet "KV-1" and "T-34". At that time, it was practically the only armored vehicle capable of conducting an open battle with the Russian T-34 and KV-1 tanks.
At the end of 1941, the self-propelled gun was sent home, history is silent about the further fate of the gun.
Main characteristics
- the team of the cannon is 5 people;
- gun weight 25 tons;
- length 7.5 meters;
- width 2.8 meters;
- height 3.2 meters;
- frontal armor 50 mm, main 10 mm;
-engine "Maybach" HL 120 TRM, with a capacity of 300 hp;
- cruising range over 200 kilometers;
- vertical guidance angle ± 150;
Armament:
- gun caliber 105 mm, ammunition 25 rounds;
- 7.92 mm machine gun, 600 rounds of ammunition;
- radio "FuG 5".
Additional Information
Like many other military equipment entering military units, the self-propelled gun gets the nickname - "Fat Max", for its sluggishness and slowness.
