The 15 cm sIG 33 (Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen 38(t), also known as ''Grille'' (German: "

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

") was a series of

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

vehicles used by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The ''Grille'' series was based on the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Panzer 38(t) The 38(t), originally known as the ČKD LT vz. 38, was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia by ČKD, the type was adopted by Nazi Germany following the annexation of Cze ...

tank chassis and used a 15 cm sIG 33 infantry gun.

Development

The original order for 200 units of the ''Grille'', was to be based on the new 38(t) Ausf. M chassis that BMM (''Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik'') was developing, however delays caused production to start on the 38(t) Ausf. H chassis.

Grille Ausf. H

The first variant of the ''Grille'' was based on the Panzer 38(t) Ausf. H chassis, which had its engine in the rear. Instead of a turret the vehicle had a low-slung superstructure and fighting compartment. The 15 cm schweres Infanteriegeschütz 33 (heavy infantry gun) was mounted in the front of this armored compartment. Being built on a tank chassis, its hull armour was 50 mm (front) and its superstructure armour was 25 mm (front) A total of 200 (including one prototype) were produced in the BMM (erstwhile

ČKD ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed i ...

Praga) factory in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

from February to June 1943, further 10 were built in November 1943. The official designation was ''15 cm Schweres Infanteriegeschütz 33 (Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Ausf. H'' (Sd.Kfz. 138/1).

Grille Ausf. K

The second Grille variant was based on the Ausf. M chassis which was specifically designed for self-propelled mounts. The engine was relocated to the center of the vehicle, permitting the gun to be mounted at the rear. The fighting compartment at the rear of the vehicle was somewhat smaller and higher than in the previous version. The main gun was also the 15 cm schweres Infanteriegeschütz 33. From December 1943 to September 1944 a total of 162 vehicles were produced. Further 17 vehicles were built in 1945 for an overall production of 179. The official designation was ''15 cm Schweres Infanteriegeschütz 33/1 auf Selbstfahrlafette 38(t) (Sf) Ausf. M'' (Sd.Kfz. 138/1)

Ammunition carrier

As the Grille had limited ammunition storage, a dedicated variant of the Grille Ausf. K was built as ''Munitionspanzer 38(t) (Sf) Ausf. K'' (Sd.Kfz. 138/1). It carried ammunition racks instead of the main gun but could be converted back to normal configuration in the field by mounting the 15 cm gun onto it. Production totaled 102 vehicles.

Combat history

Both versions were intended to take service in the ''schwere Infanteriegeschütz'' Companies within the

Panzergrenadier ''Panzergrenadier'' (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning '' "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is a German term for mechanized infantry units of armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunc ...

regiments, inside

Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...

and

Divisions, in their

heavy infantry Heavy infantry consisted of heavily armed and armoured infantrymen who were trained to mount frontal assaults and/or anchor the defensive center of a battle line. This differentiated them from light infantry who are relatively mobile and lightly ...

gun units. Each detachment had six available.

Surviving vehicles

* A "Grille" Ausf. K is on display at the

US Army Ordnance Museum The United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (formerly known as the U.S. Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center and U.S. Army Ordnance Museum) artifacts are used to train and educate logistic soldiers. It re-located to Fort Lee, ...

at Aberdeen, USA.

References

Bibliography

* Chamberlain, Peter, and Hilary L. Doyle. Thomas L. Jentz (Technical Editor). ''Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two: A Complete Illustrated Directory of German Battle Tanks, Armoured Cars, Self-propelled Guns, and Semi-tracked Vehicles, 1933–1945.'' London: Arms and Armour Press, 1978 (revised edition 1993). ; rev. ed. .

External links

World War II Vehicles
(Catalogue of Enemy Ordnance, 1945) {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 World War II self-propelled artillery of Germany 150 mm artillery Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944