In 1942 though there were no tank chassis immediately available to carry it. This gun would naturally serve well in the anti-tank role, so Krupp designed a ground-based version, known as the PaK 43/41, and mounted it on a carriage made from ones used on other large guns. As a result, it could fire projectiles further at a higher velocity. The Flak 36 had been developed before the war, and a derivative, the KwK 36, was used in the Tiger I.Ĭompared to the Flak 36, the Flak 41 had a longer barrel and much larger ammunition cases that held more propellant. The Flak 41 was the “successor” to the better-known 8.8 cm gun, the Flak 36/37. In mid-1942, Hitler requested an anti-tank version of the powerful 8.8 cm Flak 41. Towed guns were still used in large numbers, but the Panzerjägers proved valuable, with their ability to fire and relocate much quicker than towed units. The chassis used included Panzer IIs, Panzer 38(t)s, and captured Lorraine 37L supply vehicles. Later came the Marders, which mounted either the 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun or modified 76.2 mm Soviet field guns. The first Panzerjäger, the Panzerjäger I. Also, the process of transport to firing took up valuable time, and the gun crews were exposed to projectiles and shrapnel.
Their towed nature was a serious handicap, as the vehicles pulling them lacked the mobility of tanks and were vulnerable to damage. These guns were pulled by wheeled and half-tracked vehicles, and the smaller types could be maneuvered by their crews. When the war began, Germany’s counter to enemy armor was with anti-tank (AT) battalions attached to divisions of the German Army. This idea was an attempt to solve problems Germany quickly ran into at the start of the Second World War. The Nashorn was part of Germany’s Panzerjäger concept. This terrific gun made the vehicle capable of killing every Allied tank fielded during the war from long range.īut balancing out its firepower was its armor, which… um, wasn’t great.įind out about this well known, but rarely discussed German tank destroyer. The Nashorn tank destroyer was an example of this, as it carried the formidable PaK 43 8.8 cm anti-tank gun on a hull made from Panzer III and Panzer IV parts. During the Second World War Germany modified many smaller hulls to carry disproportionately large guns.
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