The 15 cm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf), sometimes referred to as the Sturmpanzer II

Bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

, was a German

assault gun Assault gun (from german: Sturmgeschütz - "storm gun", as in "storming/assaulting") is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed t ...

used 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The dozen vehicles produced were assigned to the 90th Light Infantry Division in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

during the war.

Development

The sIG 33 gun was used as direct-fire artillery in support of assaulting infantry. To improve its mobility 38 guns were mounted on a

Panzerkampfwagen I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was '' Sd.Kfz. 101' ...

chassis in February 1940. The

15 cm sIG 33 (Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B The 15 cm sIG 33 (Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B, sometimes referred to (unofficially) as the Sturmpanzer I Bison, was a German self-propelled gun used during World War II. Development and history The Invasion of Poland had shown that t ...

that had participated in the

Invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

in 1940 had proven to be too heavy for its

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

as well as being enormously tall.Doyle, Friedli & Jentz, p. 8-1-5 The same gun was mated to the

Panzerkampfwagen II The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' II (abbreviated PzKpfw II). Although the vehicle had originally been designed as a stopgap while ...

chassis in an attempt to drastically lower its height while using a stronger chassis. The prototype used a standard Panzer II Ausf. B chassis when it was built in February 1941, but this was too cramped for use. The chassis was lengthened by , which required adding a sixth roadwheel, and widened by to better accommodate the gun while preserving its low silhouette. plates formed the front and sides of the open-topped fighting compartment, which was also open at the rear. Its sides were notably lower than the front, which made the crew vulnerable to small arms fire and shell fragments. Large hatches were added to the rear deck to better cool the engine.Chamberlain & Doyle, p. 37 The vehicle carried 30 rounds for the gun which could traverse a total of 5° left and right and used a Rblf36 sight.

Combat use

Twelve were built in December 1941 — January 1942. They were shipped to North Africa later that year, where they formed ''schwere Infanteriegeschütz-Kompanien'' (mot.S.) ("Heavy Self-propelled Infantry Gun Companies") 707 and 708. They were used as close support mobile artillery, with the former assigned to ''Schützen-Regiment 155'' and the latter to ''Schützen-Regiment 200'', both part of the 90. ''leichte Afrika-Division''.Trojca & Jaugitz, p. 5 Both companies fought until the Axis surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.

References

Notes

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) *Doyle, Hilary Louis, Friedli, Lukas and Jentz, Thomas. ''Sturmpanzer: Sturminfanteriegeschütz 33, Sturmpanzer and Munitionspanzer Development and Production from 1942 to 1945''. Panzer Tracts No. 8-1. Boyds, Maryland: Panzer Tracts, 2014. *Jentz, Thomas L. ''Rommel's Funnies''. Darlington, Maryland: Darlington Productions, 1997. * Trojca, Waldemar and Jaugitz, Markus. ''Sturmtiger and Sturmpanzer in Combat''. Katowice, Poland: Model Hobby, 2008

External links

Panzers of the Reich

wwiivehicles.com
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" (U.S. World War II intelligence report) {{DEFAULTSORT:15 Cm Sig 33 Auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen Ii (Sf) World War II assault guns 150 mm artillery Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944 World War II self-propelled artillery of Germany zh:SiG33野牛