In service 1941–45 | ||
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Used by Nazi GermanyKingdom of Romania | ||
The Sd.Kfz. 250 (German: Sonderkraftfahrzeug 250; 'special motor vehicle') was a light armoured halftrack, very similar in appearance to the larger Hanomag-designed Sd.Kfz. 251, and built by the DEMAG firm, for use by Nazi Germany in World War II. Most variants were open-topped and had a single access door in the rear.
Contents
The Sd. Kfz 250 was adopted in 1939 to supplement the standard halftrack. Production delays meant that the first vehicle did not appear until mid-1941.
Development
In 1939, the Inspectorate for Motorized Troops (AHA/In 6) decided that it would be useful for small armored half-tracks to accompany tanks in the attack. They could satisfy requirements for which a larger vehicle wouldn't be needed, such as headquarters, artillery forward observer, radio, and scout vehicles.
Demag, the designer of the smallest half-track in service, the Sd.Kfz. 10, was selected to develop the "light armored troop carrier" (leichter gepanzerter Mannschafts-Transportwagen) or Sd.Kfz. 250.
To this end, the Sd.Kfz. 10 hull was shortened by one road wheel station, and an armored hull (Panzerwanne) constructed around the truncated running gear.
While intended as a derivative of a standard inventory item, eventually virtually every component was redesigned and specific to the Sd Kfz 250.
Description
Power for the Sd.Kfz. 250 was provided by a Maybach 6-cylinder, water-cooled, 4.17-litre (254 cu in) HL 42 TRKM gasoline engine of 100 horsepower (100 PS). It had a semi-automatic pre-selector transmission with seven forward and three reverse gears: Maybach SRG, type VG 102 128 H, (SRG=Schaltreglergetriebe, VG=Variorex-Getriebe, H=Hohlachse).
Gears were first selected and then the clutch depressed to change the ratio, the next gear could then be selected in advance. In effect, the clutch acted as a gear change 'switch'. It could attain 76 km/h (47 mph), but the driver was cautioned not to exceed 65 km/h (40 mph).
Both tracks and wheels were used for steering. The steering system was set up so that gentle turns used just the steerable front wheels, but brakes would be applied to the tracks the farther the steering wheel was turned. The Sd Kfz 250 also inherited the track-sparing but more complicated rollers in place of the more commonplace toothed sprockets.
The track ran on four double roadwheels overlapping and interleaved in the so-called Schachtellaufwerk design used by nearly all German half-tracked vehicles, mounted on swing arms sprung by torsion bars, track tension being maintained by an idler wheel, mounted at the rear.
The front wheels had transversely mounted leaf springs and shock absorbers (the only ones fitted) to dampen impacts.
The Sd.Kfz. 250 (and its parent, the Sd.Kfz. 10) were unique among German half-track designs as they used a hull rather than a frame or chassis.
Service history
The vehicle was used in a wide variety of roles throughout World War II. The basic troop carrier version was used as an armored personnel carrier for reconnaissance units, carrying scout sections. This basic variant usually mounted one or two MG34 machineguns. Later variants carried 20 mm, 37 mm, and even 75 mm guns to support the more lightly armed versions (see table below).
Several special-purpose variants were seen early in the war. The 250/3 and 250/5 were command variants, with fewer seats but equipped with long-range radio equipment. These were used by battalion and higher commanders as personal command vehicles, most famously the 250/3 used by Erwin Rommel in the North African campaign. Early versions had large 'bedframe' antennas, which were easy to spot at long range, making them more vulnerable to artillery fire. Later variants dispensed with this and instead used the far less conspicuous whip antenna.
The Sd.Kfz. 253 variant was fully enclosed, and was used by artillery forward observers to accompany tank and mechanized infantry units.
The initial design had a multi-facetted armoured body constructed from multiple plates, which gave good protection against small arms fire but was both slow and costly to manufacture, and resulted in a cramped interior.
Production of this early version stopped in October 1943 with some 4,200 built and the complex body-shape dropped in favour of a neue art (new version) with flattened crew compartment sides made from a single piece of armour. This greatly simplified to speed manufacture began but in both variants the level of protection was minimal above rifle-calibre small-arms fire and small artillery fragments: heavy machine guns, anti-tank rifles and virtually any form of artillery could perforate the Sd.Kfz. 250, even at long range.
Variants
Plus numerous field modifications
Such as adding light artillery pieces such as the Pak35/36 to the basic version