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Grosstraktor (Großtraktor) | |
---|---|
Type | Medium tank |
Place of origin | Weimar Republic |
Service history | |
In service | 1935 |
Used by | Weimar Republic Nazi Germany |
Production history | |
Designed | 1926-1928 |
Manufacturer | Rheinmetall, Krupp, Daimler |
Produced | 1928 |
No. built | 6 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 16 tonnes (18 short tons) (Daimler-Benz, Rheinmetall) 16.4 tonnes (18.1 short tons) (Krupp) |
Length | 6.65 m (21 ft 10 in) (Daimler-Benz) 6.42 m (21 ft 1 in) (Krupp) 6.50 m (21 ft 4 in) (Rheinmetall) |
Width | 2.78 m (9 ft 1 in) (Daimler-Benz) 2.76 m (9 ft 1 in) (Krupp) 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in) (Rheinmetall) |
Height | 2.45 m (8 ft 0 in) (Daimler-Benz) 2.47 m (8 ft 1 in) (Krupp) 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) (Rheinmetall) |
Crew | 6 |
Armor | 6-14 mm mild steel |
Main armament | 75 mm KwK |
Secondary armament | 3× 7.92 mm MG (coaxial, hull and sub-turret) |
Engine | 290 hp BMW Va |
Transmission | ZF SSG 280 |
Suspension | coil-spring suspension (Krupp) leaf springs suspension (Daimler-Benz) hydraulic (Rheinmetall) |
Fuel capacity | 400 liters (Daimler-Benz) 370 liters (Krupp) 480 liters (Rheinmetall) |
Operational range | 150 km (93 mi) on-road |
Maximum speed | maximum: 40 km/h (25 mph) (Daimler-Benz, Rheinmetall) maximum: 44 km/h (27 mph) (Krupp) sustained: 25 km/h (16 mph) |
Grosstraktor (German: "large tractor") was the codename given to six prototype medium tanks built (two each) by Rheinmetall-Borsig, Krupp, and Daimler-Benz, for the Weimar Republic, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Constructed in secret, they were tested by Reichswehr units at the Kama tank school in the Soviet Union. They were used for training and retired as monuments after the Nazi party came to power. [1]
After the first World War, Germany realized the value of tanks in warfare. In 1925, plans to design tanks for the Reichswehr were secretly initiated. The Grosstraktor was the first of the tank designs for the Reichswehr.
The Grosstraktor began life when design specifications for a tank known as the "Armeewagen 20" were created in 1926. It was to be a 15 tonne tank armed with a 7.5 cm gun in a fully rotating turret and having a length of 6 meters and a width of 2.4 meters. Contracts to design and build two chassis in soft steel were given to Daimler-Benz, Krupp, and Rheinmetall in March 1927. Krupp designed a turret for their own vehicle, while Rheinmetall designed a turret for both their own and Daimler-Benz's tanks. [2]
Construction of the six Grosstraktor was started at a Rheinmetall shop in Unterlüß in August 1928, and was completed by the end of June 1929. They were then shipped to a secret testing ground near Kazan, Russia for trials, arriving in July 1929. There, Mk 6/380/160 track links replaced the originals. [2]
The Tiger II was a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182.. It was also known informally as the Königstiger. Contemporaneous Allied soldiers often called it the King Tiger or Royal Tiger.
The Panzer I was a light tank produced by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for Panzerkampfwagen I, abbreviated as Pz.Kpfw. I. The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 101.
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.
The Panzerkampfwagen IV, commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.
Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus is a German World War II super-heavy tank completed in July of 1944. It is the heaviest fully enclosed armored fighting vehicle ever built. Five were ordered, but only two hulls and one turret were completed, the turret being attached before the testing grounds were captured by advancing Soviet military forces.
The Panther tank, officially Panzerkampfwagen V Panther with ordnance inventory designation: Sd.Kfz. 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used in most European theatres of World War II from mid-1943 to the end of the war in May 1945.
Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks.
The German Panzerkampfwagen Neubaufahrzeug, abbreviated as PzKpfw Nb.Fz, series of tank prototypes were a first attempt to create a medium tank for the Wehrmacht after Adolf Hitler had come to power. Multi-turreted, heavy and slow, they were not considered successful, which led to only five being produced. These were primarily used for propaganda purposes and training, though three took part in the Battle of Norway in 1940. Pictures of the Neubaufahrzeuge were displayed with different turret models and orientations to fool allied spies; American and Soviet agents independently reported that the Germans had two new heavy tanks, the Panzer V and VI. In reality, these tanks were far from the Panzer V Panther and the Panzer VI Tiger.
The Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (Lion), initially known as project VK 70.01, was a series of designs for a super-heavy tank developed by Krupp from 1941 to 1942. The project would be cancelled in favour of even heavier tanks such as the Maus.
The Spähpanzer Luchs is a German 8x8 amphibious reconnaissance armoured fighting vehicle (Spähpanzer) that was in service from 1975 to 2009 with the German Army, who used 408 in their armoured reconnaissance battalions. It was developed by Daimler-Benz between 1968 and 1975, replacing the M41 and the Schützenpanzer SPz 11-2 Kurz.
The Heuschrecke 10 was a German prototype self-propelled gun and Waffenträger developed by Krupp-Gruson between 1943 and 1944. The official designation of the vehicle was 105 mm leichte Feldhaubitze 18/1 L/28 auf Waffenträger Geschützwagen IVb and was to be built in Magdeburg, Germany. The Heuschrecke featured a removable turret which could be deployed as a pillbox or towed behind the vehicle as an artillery piece.
This article deals with the tanks serving in the German Army 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, the Cold War tanks of the West German and East German Armies, all the way to the present day tanks of the Bundeswehr.
The 3.7 cm Flakzwilling auf Panther Fahrgestell or Flakpanzer 341 was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun designed by Rheinmetall during World War II. It was intended to be armed with two 3.7 cm Flak 341 gun in a fully enclosed, rotating turret on the hull of a Panther medium tank. In the end, only a wooden mock-up of the turret on a Panther chassis was built.
The VK 30.01 (P) was the official designation for a heavy tank prototype proposed in Germany. Only two prototype chassis were built. The tank never entered serial production, but was further developed into the VK 45.01 Tiger (P). Porsche called it the Typ (Type) 100.
The Kama tank school was a secret training school for tank commanders operated by the German Reichswehr near Kazan, Soviet Union. It operated from 1929 to 1933. The school was established in order to allow the German military to circumvent the military restrictions on tank research spelled out in the Treaty of Versailles. Apart from Kama, for the same reason Germany also operated the Lipetsk fighter-pilot school (1926–33) and a gas warfare facility, Gas-Testgelände Tomka (1928–31).
The Leichttraktor (Vs.Kfz.31) was a German experimental tank designed during the Interwar Period.
The VK 45.01 (P), also informally known as Tiger (P) or Porsche Tiger, was a heavy tank prototype designed by Porsche in Germany. With a dual engine gasoline-electric drive that was complex and requiring significant amounts of copper, it lost out to its Henschel competitor on trials, it was not selected for mass production and the Henschel design was produced as the Tiger I. Most of the already produced chassis were rebuilt as Elefant Panzerjäger tank destroyers.
The VK 20 series were the proposed replacements of the Panzer IV and Panzer III tanks with entries by MAN, Krupp and Daimler Benz. It was initially projected to weigh 20 tonnes, but grew to 24 tonnes. By November 1941, the designs almost reached completion but against the professional judgement of Wa Pruef 6, political interference in December 1941 led to all of the designs being dropped. The root of this adverse decision came from encounters with increasing numbers of T-34 and KV-1 tanks. Reichsminister Fritz Todt declared that a new tank, 30 tons in weight should be designed and produced. Oberst Fichtner argued that time would be lost developing this new 30 ton tank, the number produced would be reduced and engineer bridges could not support such a tank. This new tank chosen from the VK 30 series would become the Panther, replacing the VK 20 series. This decision would place the rushed MAN Panther into production as Germany's new standard medium tank, which was plagued with issues never fully addressed especially those caused by MAN's final drive. It would also arrive too late, with Germany's position in a steep decline, having lost the initiative.
The Schmalturm was a tank turret designed for use on the Panther Ausf. F medium tank. There was a Krupp proposal to fit it onto the Panzer IV medium tank as well. It featured a narrow front to maximize protection while minimizing weight. It was both lighter and easier to manufacture than the standard Panther turret. The turret had a stereoscopic rangefinder with lenses on either side of the turret, located in spherical bulges. No Schmalturms entered series production.