During its short existence, Nazi Germany managed to show the world what is commonly called the "gloomy Teutonic genius". In addition to advanced systems for the direct destruction of their own kind, German engineers have created many other designs. Military equipment and related systems are worthy of special attention. Usually, the same developments, often too famous to be interesting, are cited as examples of the non-standard approach of German designers. Rarely enough, the attention of the authors is awarded to a technique that was not supposed to go into battle, but work to provide it. For such machines, the Germans had the term "special equipment". But even among non-embodied or not included in a series of projects, there are interesting ideas.
Tractor units
It is difficult to imagine the fields of the Second World War without artillery. However, the "in the shadow" of the instruments themselves remained their, so to speak, means of support. Obviously, a towed gun without a tractor will lose most of its potential. The German leadership was well aware of this and constantly made attempts to do something that was supposed to replace the good old tractors Sd. Kfz.6 and Sd. Kfz.11.
Tractor Sd. Kfz.11
Beginning in 1942, the German Department for the Study of Engineering Equipment led two programs for a promising tractor. It should be noted that some bright minds from this organization came up with an original idea - it is necessary to make not just an artillery tractor, but armored and with the possibility of using it as a repair and recovery vehicle. In this case, in their opinion, the Wehrmacht would have received a universal apparatus "for all occasions." The idea looks rather dubious, because excessive universalization sometimes leads to problems. But that is exactly what the Department decided. The first technical task for a wheeled tractor was received by the Stuttgart company Lauster Wargel. The main requirement for the new machine was high mobility and high power density. To ensure the possibility of towing the destroyed tanks, the tractive effort had to be in the region of 50 tons. Also, the chassis of the tractor had to be adapted to the off-road conditions of the Eastern Front.
Prototype of the LW-5 tractor
In 1943, a prototype of the LW-5 tractor was put on trial. Several original ideas were combined in it. So, instead of the caterpillar chassis usual for such a technique, a wheeled chassis was used. The wheels themselves were made of metal and had a diameter of about three meters. Maneuverability was entrusted to the articulated circuit. For this, the LW-5 consisted of two parts connected by a hinge. Each half had not only its own pair of wheels, but also its own engine. It was a gasoline Maybach HL230 with 235 horsepower. The crew of two and the engine compartment were protected by an armored hull. There is no information regarding the thickness of the sheets and their material. Separately, it is worth noting the fact that in front of each "module" of the LW-5 tractor there were crew jobs. In addition, they were equipped with hitch systems at the front and rear. Thus, as conceived by the designers of Lauster Wargel, several "modules" or tractors could be combined into one long vehicle with the appropriate capabilities. With a traction effort of 53 tons obtained during the tests (one tractor from two blocks), it is easy to guess about the capabilities of a composite "train" of several LW-5s.
Only the capabilities of the car as a tractor could not outweigh the disadvantages. The representatives of the Wehrmacht considered the maximum speed of a little more than 30 kilometers per hour to be insufficient, and the weak armoring of the hull and in fact an unprotected hinge only confirmed doubts about the feasibility of the project. In mid-1944, the LW-5 project was closed. Until the end of the war, all Lauster Wargel developments on articulated technology lay in the archives. They came in handy only a few years later, when some companies began to develop similar civilian vehicles.
Another project of a new multifunctional tractor turned out to be no less unsuccessful. Only in the case of the Auto Union project, which received the name Katzhen, did they try to "cross" the tractor with an armored personnel carrier. The tracked vehicle was supposed to carry up to eight personnel and a towed weapon, as well as accelerate to 50-60 km / h and protect the crew from bullets and shrapnel. The designers of Auto Union made the design of their armored vehicle-tractor from scratch. The five-roller undercarriage was based on the Maybach HL50 engine with 180 hp.
In 1944, two prototypes of the Katzhen machine were manufactured. The armor, which was not bad for such tasks (30 mm forehead and 15 mm sides), attracted representatives of the German army. However, the engine and transmission turned out to be clearly inadequate for the assigned tasks. Because of this, the armored vehicle-tractor could not fulfill even half of the requirements imposed on it. The Auto Union project was closed. A little later, as a replacement for the never-made "Kattskhen", several experimental machines of a similar purpose were assembled. This time, they decided not to be smart with the new suspension and took it from the Pz. Kpfw.38 (t) light tank. The new tractor with the ability to transport "passengers" turned out to be simpler and fulfilled most of the requirements. However, it was already too late and the second version of the Katzhen project was also discontinued for lack of prospects.
Minesweepers
From the very beginning of the Second World War, the German military was faced with the issue of making passages in minefields. These actions were charged with the duties of sappers, but over time, mine trawls appeared. In addition, already during the war, several original and interesting self-propelled vehicles of this purpose were created.
The first was Alkett Minenraumer. In 1941, Alkett, with the assistance of Krupp and Mercedes-Benz, began to create a self-propelled minesweeper. As conceived by the engineers, this machine was supposed to independently destroy enemy anti-personnel mines by a banal run over them. For this, the armored vehicle was equipped with three wheels. The front two were leading and had a diameter of about 2.5 meters, and the rear steered one was half as much. So that after each explosion it was not necessary to change the entire wheel, trapezoidal support platforms were placed on the rim, ten on the driving wheels and 11 on the steering wheels. The system operated like this. The platforms mounted on the hinges literally stepped on the mine and activated its push fuse. The anti-personnel mine exploded, but did not damage the vehicle itself, but only deforms the platform. The hull of the Alkett Minenraumer was based on the armored hull of the PzKpfv I tank. The front half of the tank corps was left, and the rest was done anew. Together with the characteristic contours of the forehead of the Minenraumer tank, it also received a turret with two machine guns. In the part of the minesweeper "attached" to the half of the tank hull, an engine-transmission compartment with a Maybach HL120 engine with a power of 300 hp was placed. The crew of the vehicle consisted of a driver-mechanic and a gunner-commander.
In the 42nd year, Alkett Minenraumer went to test. No documents with their results have survived, but the only model built after the war was tested in Kubinka. When leaving on soft ground, the device quickly got stuck and 300 "horses" of the engine could not provide even the calculated 15 km / h. In addition, the very idea of "crushing" mines with wheels raised doubts, because when detonated, the crew is exposed to several adverse effects. Soviet engineers recognized the project as unpromising. Judging by the absence of Minenraumer on the sidelines of WWII, the German officials felt the same way. The only prototype was sent to the far corner of the landfill, where it was discovered by the Red Army.
About a year later, Krupp, taking into account all the shortcomings of a three-wheeled mine action, presented its project. This time the car was a cross between the Alkett Minenraumer and the LW-5 tractor. The 130-ton (design gross weight) four-wheeled monster also had to literally crush mines. The principle of operation was borrowed from the previously described minesweeper, with the difference that the Krupp Raumer-S (as this machine was called) had fixed support platforms. The wonder on 270cm wheels was powered by a 360hp Maybach HL90 engine. Since it was not possible to ensure the normal rotation of the wheels with a mass of 130 tons, the designers of the Krupp company used an articulated scheme. True, unlike the LW-5, there were no nodes for "lengthening" the machine. But, if necessary, the Raumer-S could work as a heavy tractor, for which it had the appropriate equipment. It is noteworthy that the designers immediately understood the low maneuverability of the future machine. Therefore, most likely, for a more convenient and quick return from a minefield, the Raumer-S was equipped with two cabins in the front and rear. Thus, one driver-mechanic made a passage in a minefield, and the second returned the car back without wasting time on turns.
According to available information, Krupp Raumer-S managed to travel around the landfill. However, he was pursued by exactly the same problems as the minesweeper from Alkett. The large mass and low power density made something complex and clumsy out of the original idea. In addition, combat survivability raised questions - it is unlikely that the enemy will calmly look at how an incomprehensible car drives through a minefield in front of his positions. So the Raumer-S would not have been saved even by the second cockpit - it would have “caught” its two or three shells long before the end of mine clearance. At the same time, there were doubts about the preservation of the health of the crew after the explosion of mines. As a result, according to the test results, another minesweeper project was closed. Sometimes there is information that Krupp Raumer-S managed to take part in hostilities on the Western Front, but there is no documentary evidence of this. The only 130-ton giant ever built was an Allied trophy.
Realizing the futility of a once-promising idea, Krupp returned to the project of another minesweeper, a simpler and more familiar design by today's standards. Back in 1941, it was proposed to take a serial tank and make a trawl for it. Then the project was considered unnecessary and was frozen, but after the failures of Raumer-S, they had to return to it. The trawl itself was extremely simple - a few metal rollers and a frame. All this had to be attached to the tank and the passage was done without much risk to the armored vehicle. At the same time, I still remembered the peculiarities of the combat work of the Raumer-S crew, which every now and then risked injury. Therefore, it was decided to take the PzKpfw III tank as a basis and make a vehicle more adapted to mine clearance from it. To this end, the chassis of the original tank was significantly redesigned, which made it possible to increase the ground clearance by almost three times. In addition to the benefits in preserving the health of the crew, this solution gave the finished minesweeper Minenraumpanzer III a characteristic appearance.
In 1943, the Minenraumpanzer III was brought to the test site and began to be tested. The trawl worked excellently. Almost all types of mines with pressure fuses that existed at that time were destroyed. But questions arose to the "carrier" of the trawl. So, the high center of gravity made us doubt the stability of the armored vehicle on turns, and the trawl discs tended to collapse after several destroyed mines. Fragments of disks under an unfavorable combination of circumstances could penetrate the frontal armor of the Minenraumpanzer III and lead to sad consequences. One way or another, according to the totality of the results of the field tests, the new minesweeper was also not put into series.
Remote controlled technology
The third direction of technical "exoticism", which is worth paying attention to, concerns remote controlled devices. At the beginning of the war, "ground tracked torpedoes" of the Goliath family were created. A relatively small tracked vehicle, controlled by wires, was originally intended to destroy enemy tanks. However, over time, it began to be used as an engineering tool, for example, to destroy any obstacles.
Based on a single layout, several versions of the Goliath were created. All of them were united by a caterpillar propeller that wrapped around the body like the first British tanks, a low-power engine (electric or gasoline), as well as control by wire. The practical use of self-propelled anti-tank "mines" showed their unsuitability for such purposes. The Goliath did not have enough speed to arrive at the meeting point with the tank in time. As for the destruction of fortifications, the charge of 60-75 kilograms of explosive was clearly insufficient.
Simultaneously with the Goliaths, Bogward was developing another similar tool. The B-IV project involved the creation of a remotely controlled tankette. The tracked vehicle could be used for a variety of purposes: from destroying obstacles to towing mine trawls. The tracked vehicle was driven by a 50-horsepower gasoline engine. The maximum speed of a 3.5-ton vehicle at the same time reached 35-37 kilometers per hour. The radio control system allowed the Sd. Kfz.301 (army designation B-IV) to operate at a distance of up to two kilometers from the operator. At the same time, the fuel supply was enough to overcome 150 kilometers. Interestingly, in the initial iterations of the project, the radio-controlled tankette instead of steel armor had a concrete top of the hull. Before being put into production, the concrete "architectural refinement" was replaced with normal steel bulletproof armor. The carrying capacity of the Sd. Kfz.301 allowed towing a mine sweep or transporting up to half a ton of cargo. Most often, this cargo was explosives. Half a ton of ammotol was a solid means of fighting the enemy, but the operator was far from always able to bring his tankette to the target.
On the left is the Pz-III control tank and the B-IV Sd. Kfz.301 teletankets controlled by it. Eastern front; on the right - the order of moving a company armed with radio-controlled tankettes on the march
The fine-tuning of a number of systems, primarily radio control, led to the fact that the project started in 1939 reached the front only in 1943. By that time, the radio-controlled tankette could hardly have caused problems to the enemy. In addition, the Sd. Kfz.301 was expensive enough to be used massively against tank formations. Nevertheless, two modifications of the tankette were subsequently created for different purposes. Among others, it is worth noting an impromptu tank destroyer armed with six anti-tank grenade launchers - Panzerfaust or Panzerschreck. Obviously, there could be no question of any normal aiming of this weapon when using radio control. Therefore, the Sd. Kfz.301 Ausf. B modification was already equipped with more than just radio control. In the middle part of the car, a workplace was made for a driver, who at the same time played the role of a gunner and a shooter. On the march, a tankette operator could work as a driver. There is no information about the combat effectiveness of such a system. In the same way, there is almost no information about the combat successes of other vehicles of the B-IV family. Due to their rather large size, most of the radio-controlled tankettes became victims of the anti-tank artillery of the Red Army. Naturally, these funds could not exert any influence on the course of the war.
