Hitlers Tank Killer

Product Description

Sturmgeschutz III was originally designed as an assault weapon but as war progressed it was increasingly used in a defensive role & evolved into an assault gun & tank destroyer. By 1943 its main role was providing anti-tank support to the units in its area of operation. This consequently led to many Stu Gs being destroyed in battle. Nonetheless they were very successful as tank killers & destroyed among others many bunkers pillboxes & other defences. The Stu G was not considered to be a true tank because it lacked a turret. The gun was mounded directly in the hull in a casemate-style fashion with a low profile to reduce vehicle heights & had a limited lateral traverse of a few degrees in either direction. Thus the entire vehicle had to be turned in order to acquire targets. Omitting the turret made production much simpler & less costly enabling greater numbers to be built. Its significantly shorter vertical profile as compared to contemporary tanks made the Stu G more difficult to hit. Most assault guns were mounted on the chassis of a Panzer III or Panzer IV with the resultant model being called either a Stu G III or Stu G IV respectively. The Stu G was one of the most effective tracked vehicles of World War II & over 10 000 of them were eventually produced. During the course of the war Stu G III assault guns were issued to Sturmartillerie Batteries Sturmgeschutz Abteilungen Sturmgeschutz Brigades Sturmartillerie Batteries Ersatz (Reserve) Abteilungen & Funklenk (Remote Control) Companies. Stu G III assault guns served on all fronts of WWII until the end of the war.