Sd.Kfz. 8
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The '' Sonderkraftfahrzeug'' 8 ("special motorized vehicle 8"), usually abbreviated to Sd.Kfz. 8, was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
half-track designed by
Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
that saw widespread use in
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 ...
. Its main roles were as a prime mover for heavy towed guns such as the
21 cm Mörser 18 The 21 cm Mörser 18 (21 cm Mrs 18), or 21 cm Mörser M 18/L31, was a German heavy howitzer used in the Second World War by Independent artillery battalions and artillery battery, batteries. A number were also used by coastal arti ...
, the
17 cm Kanone 18 The 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette (English: 17 cm Cannon 18 on Mortar Carriage), abbreviated as 17 cm K 18 in MrsLaf was a German heavy gun used during World War II. Design The 17 cm K 18 in MrsLaf was a towed gun with a ...
and the
10.5 cm FlaK 38 The 10.5 cm FlaK 38 was a German anti-aircraft gun used during World War II by the Luftwaffe. An improved version was introduced as the 10.5 cm FlaK 39.Bishop, Chris. The encyclopedia of weapons of world War II. Sterling Publishing Comp ...
, however it was also capable of serving as an infantry transport. Approximately 4,000 were produced between 1938 and 1945. It was used in every campaign fought by the Germans in World War II, notably the
Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, the
Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, the Balkans Campaign, the Eastern Front, the North African Campaign, the Battle of Normandy and the Italian Campaign.


Description

The final version of the ''Sd.Kfz. 8'', the DB 10, was powered by a
Maybach Maybach (, ) is a Automotive industry in Germany, German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Lufts ...
12-cylinder, water-cooled, 8.52-litre (520 cu in) HL85 TUKRM gasoline engine developing at 2,500 rpm. It had a ZF transmission with four forward and one reverse gears in both high and low ratios. It had two fuel tanks, a main one of and a reserve of capacity.Spielberger, p. 164 The driver's seat was mounted on top of the main tank in the cab. Both tracks and wheels were used for steering. The steering system was set up so that shallow turns used only the wheels, but brakes would be applied to the tracks the farther the steering wheel was turned. The drive sprocket had rollers rather than the more common teeth. The rear suspension consisted of six double roadwheels, overlapping and interleaved in the usual ''Schachtellaufwerk'' system used for German half-track vehicles, mounted on swing arms sprung by
torsion bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...
s. The torsion bars were enclosed inside the lateral members of the
ladder frame A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had a ...
chassis. Track idler wheels were used to control track tension via an adjusting mechanism at the rear of the vehicle. The front wheels had leaf springs and shock absorbers. The upper body had a crew compartment with three bench seats, one for the driver and his assistant, and two others for the crew. The rear cargo area contained storage compartments, one on each side and two in the rear. The windshield could fold forward and was also removable. A convertible canvas top was mounted above the rear storage compartments. It fastened to the windshield when erected. The ''Sd.Kfz. 8'' was initially designed to have a towing capacity of , but the wartime ''DB 10'' could tow .Spielberger, p. 85


Design and development

Preliminary design of all the German half-tracks of the early part of the war was done by Dipl.Ing. Ernst Kniepkamp of the "Military Automotive Department" (''Wa Prüf 6'') before the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
took power in 1933. His designs were then turned over to commercial firms for development and testing.
Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
had been working on its own half-track design during 1931–1932, the ''ZD.5''. It weighed , used a twelve-cylinder,
Maybach Maybach (, ) is a Automotive industry in Germany, German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Lufts ...
''DSO 8'' gasoline engine and its upper body had three bench seats behind the driver. Its suspension was based on the
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
-era ''Marienwagen II'' and bore absolutely no relation to the interleaved roadwheels and
torsion bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...
s used by the various models of the ''Sd.Kfz. 8''. Daimler-Benz combined the best of both designs in the ''DB s7'' prototype which appeared in 1934. It used the same engine as the ''ZD.5'', but otherwise bore little resemblance to the older model other than an upper body that had two bench seats for the crew behind the driver's seat. This upper body remained the same over the life of the ''Sd.Kfz. 8''. It weighed and could pull loads of . An improved version was introduced in 1936 as the ''DB s8''. The heavier () ''DB 9'' model appeared in 1938. It used the Maybach HL85 TUKRM engine, could carry an payload and could tow a load. Daimler-Benz tried unsuccessfully to use their
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
''OM 48/1'' engine, but it was repeatedly rejected by the ''Army Weapons Office''. The ''DB 10'' introduced in October 1939 was a refined version of the ''DB 9'' with a new gearbox and transmission: this final version was produced until 1944.


Variants

Ten '' 8.8 cm Flak 18''
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
guns were mounted on pedestals on ''DB s8'' and ''DB 9'' chassis in 1939 as the ''8.8 cm Flak 18 (Sfl.) auf Zugkraftwagen 12t (Sd.Kfz. 8)'' — also known as the ''Bunkerflak'' or ''Bufla'' — for
anti-tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...
duties. A
gun shield A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery piece ...
was provided for the 88, but the gun crew had no other protection. The driver's cab was replaced by a lower, armored cupola and the engine compartment was lightly () armored. The vehicle weighed , was long, tall and wide. The gun could fire directly ahead without any problem, but traverse was limited to 151° to each side by the gun shield. Elevation was between -3° and +15°. All ten were assigned to the first company of the anti-tank battalion ''Panzerjäger-Abteilung 8'' which participated in the
Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
in 1939, the
Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
in 1940 and
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
in 1941. The company was redesignated as ''Panzerjäger-Kompanie'' ("Anti-Tank Company") 601 in January 1942 and then as the third company of Anti-Tank Battalion 559 the following April. It reported that the last three vehicles had been lost by March 1943.Jentz & Doyle, pp. 28–31


Production and use

Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
and
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
were the main builders of the ''Sd.Kfz. 8'' during the war, with Krauss-Maffei producing 315 in 1940–1941;
Škoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
joined in the last years of the war making vehicles under the S10 designation. Total production numbers are: 780 were built from 1934 to 1939; 516 in 1940; 828 in 1941; 840 in 1942; 507 in 1943; and 602 in 1944, for a total of 4070 vehicles of all variants.Hettler, p. 6 1615 were on hand on 20 December 1942. The ''Sd.Kfz. 8'' was used by
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
after the war, but it is not known if production continued at
Škoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
or when they were finally discarded.Spielberger, p. 85 The ''Sd.Kfz. 8'' was also used by
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
during the war. Unlike most of the other German half-tracks, the ''Sd.Kfz. 8'' was mostly used as a tractor for heavy artillery pieces and was generally not modified for other roles (apart from the few anti-tank conversions mentioned above). The intended towed guns were the
15 cm Kanone 16 The 15 cm Kanone 16 (15 cm K 16) was a heavy field gun used by Germany in World War I and World War II. Guns turned over to Belgium as reparations after World War I were taken into Wehrmacht service after the conquest of Belgium as ...
; the 15 cm Kanone 18; the
10.5 cm FlaK 38 The 10.5 cm FlaK 38 was a German anti-aircraft gun used during World War II by the Luftwaffe. An improved version was introduced as the 10.5 cm FlaK 39.Bishop, Chris. The encyclopedia of weapons of world War II. Sterling Publishing Comp ...
, and the
21 cm Mörser 16 The 21 cm Mörser 16 (21 cm Mrs 16), or 21 cm Lange Mörser M 16/L14.5, was a heavy howitzer used by Germany in World War I and World War II (although classified as a mortar (Mörser) by the German military). History It was based ...
. It was also capable of towing other artillery pieces such as the Škoda 30.5 cm Mörser, various models of the 8.8 cm Flak, and the
15 cm sFH 18 The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 or sFH 18 (German: "heavy field howitzer, model 18"), nicknamed ''Immergrün'' ("Evergreen"), was the basic German division-level heavy howitzer of 149mm during the Second World War, serving alongside the sma ...
, The heavier guns were usually towed on two limbers, or three in the case of the Škoda 30.5 cn mortar. Apart from towing artillery, the ''Sd.Kfz'' 8 was also used as recovery vehicle by tank maintenance crews and as a general heavy transport. For example, it was capable of towing a disabled
Sd.Kfz. 6 The Sd.Kfz. 6 (''Sonderkraftfahrzeug'' 6) was a half-track military vehicle used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was designed to be used as the main towing vehicle for the 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer. Development Develop ...
/2 in a straight pull and hauling a
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 ...
on a steerable Sd. Ah. 116 tank transporter trailer. In 1942 five ''Sd.Kfz. 8'' connected together were used to pull a trailer carrying a 30.5 cm gun barrel for
Batterie Mirus The Batterie Mirus is located in Saint Peter and Saint Saviour, Guernsey. Originally called Batterie Nina, it comprised four 30.5 cm guns. The battery was constructed from November 1941 and through the first half of 1942, and was the largest ...
on Guernsey.News Report transporting barrel and operating gun
/ref>


Notes


See also

*
List of Sd.Kfz. designations ''Sonderkraftfahrzeug'' (abbreviated ''Sd.Kfz.'', German for "special purpose vehicle") was the ordnance inventory designation used by Nazi Germany during World War II for military vehicles; for example ''Sd.Kfz.'' 101 for the Panzer I. Sd.Kfz. n ...


References

* 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). * Frank, Reinhardt. Don Cox (translator).''German Heavy Half-Tracked Prime Movers 1934–1945''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1996 (first published in German in 1994). * Granillo, Manuel.
''Legiunea Romana: Romanian General's Handbook''
Lulu Press, 2013 * Hettler, Nicolaus, et al. ''Schwerer Zugkraftwagen 12 to and variants (Daimler-Benz) (Sd.Kfz. 8)''. Nuts & Bolts, Vol. 16. Nuts & Bolts, 2002. * Jentz, Thomas L., and Hilary L. Doyle. ''Panzerjaeger (3.7 cm Tak to Sfl. Ic): Development and Employment from 1927 to 1941'' Panzer Tracts vol. 7-1. Boyds, MD: Panzer Tracts, 2004. * Spielberger, Walter J. ''Halftracked Vehicles of the German Army 1909-1945''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2008


External links


Sd.Kfz. 8 on wwiivehicles.com


(in German) {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 World War II half-tracks Half-tracks of Germany Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s