The Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B ("Assault Infantry Gun 33B"), was a German self-propelled heavy
assault gun
An assault gun (from , , meaning "assault gun") is a type of armored infantry support vehicle and self-propelled artillery, mounting an infantry support gun on a protected self-propelled chassis, intended for providing infantry with heavy di ...
used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Design and development
A new, fully enclosed, and heavily armored boxy
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
superstructure was built on the chassis of the
Sturmgeschütz III
The ''Sturmgeschütz'' III (StuG III) was an assault gun produced by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the most-produced German Continuous track, fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle, and second-most produced German armored combat ve ...
. It mounted the improved
sIG 33/1 infantry gun, offset to the right side, for which 30 rounds were carried. It could only traverse 3° left and right, elevate 25°, and depress 6°. A
MG 34
The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely ...
machine-gun was fitted in a ball mount to the right of the main gun with 600 rounds. Its traverse limits were 15° left and 20° right, and it could elevate 20° and depress 10°.
Sources differ as to the development history. Chamberlain and Doyle say that
Alkett
Alkett () was a major manufacturer of armored vehicles for the Wehrmacht during World War II. The main factory was located in Berlin-Borsigwalde on the Breitenbachstraße. As more sites were added, the name changed to Altmärkische Kettenwerke.
...
was ordered in July 1941 to convert a dozen Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. E chassis and that these were finished in December 1941 and January 1942 - but not issued. On 20 September 1942, another dozen Sturmgeschutz IIIs were ordered to be converted, and the existing vehicles were rebuilt. Trojca and Jaugitz contend that all twenty-four were built by Alkett starting in September 1942 from repaired Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. B, C, D and E chassis.
Combat history
The first dozen were delivered by the end of October 1942 and assigned to Sturmgeschütz-Abteilungen (Assault Gun Battalions) 177 and 244, then fighting in
Stalingrad
Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...
. The remaining dozen vehicles could not be delivered to Sturmgeschütz-Abteilungen 243 and 245, also fighting in Stalingrad, after the Soviets surrounded the German
6th Army on 21 November. Instead, the vehicles were formed into Sturm-Infanterie-Geschütz-Batterie/Lehr-Bataillon (Assault Infantry Gun Batterie/Demonstration Battalion) XVII. The battalion was assigned to the
22nd Panzer Division as the Germans attempted to relieve the trapped 6th Army. The division was virtually wiped out in the fighting and the battery was assigned to the
23rd Panzer Division where it became the Sturm-Infanterie-Geschütz-Batterie/Panzer-Regiment 201 (also known as 9. Kompanie/Panzer-Regiment 201) for the rest of the war. The last strength report to mention them lists five remaining in September 1944.
Surviving vehicles
Of the five remaining in September 1944, a single vehicle survives at the
Kubinka NIIBT Research Collection near Moscow.
[Trojca & Jaugitz, p. 10]
References
Sources
* 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).
* Trojca, Waldemar and Jaugitz, Markus. ''Sturmtiger and Sturmpanzer in Combat''. Katowice, Poland: Model Hobby, 2008
External links
Achtung Panzerwwiivehicles.comStuIG 33B in Kubinka tank museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm-Infanteriegeschutz 33b
World War II self-propelled artillery of Germany
150 mm artillery
World War II assault guns
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944