The Sturmgeschütz
III (StuG III) assault gun was one of
Germany's most produced Armored fighting
vehicle during World War II. It was built
on the chassis of the Panzer III tank.
Initially intended as a mobile, armoured
light gun for infantry support, the StuG
was continually modified until, by 1942,
it was widely employed as a tank destroyer.
The Sturmgeschütz series is probably
best known for its excellent price-to-performance
ratio. By the end of the war, over 10,500
had been built.
The Sturmgeschütz III originated
from an initial proposal that Colonel
Erich von Manstein submitted to General
Beck in 1935 in which he suggested that
Sturmartillerie (Assault Artillery)
units should be used in a direct-fire
support role for infantry divisions.
To that end, on June 15, 1936, Daimler-Benz
AG received an order to develop an armoured
infantry support vehicle capable of
mounting a 75 mm (2.95 in) artillery
piece. The gun was to have a limited
traverse of a minimum of 25 degrees
and be mounted in a fully enclosed superstructure
that provided overhead protection for
the crew. The height of the vehicle
was not to exceed that of the average
man.
Daimler-Benz AG used the chassis and
running gear of its recently designed
Panzerkampfwagen III medium tank as
a basis for the new vehicle. Prototype
manufacture was passed over to Alkett,
which produced five examples in 1937
of the experimental 0-series StuG based
upon the PzKpfw III Ausf. B. These prototypes
featured a mild steel superstructure
and Krupp’s short-barreled 75 mm
Sturmkanone 37 L/24.
As the StuG III was intended to fill
an anti-infantry close support combat
role, early models were fitted with
a low-velocity 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 gun,
firing high explosive shells. After
the Germans encountered the Soviet T-34,
the StuG III were armed with the high-velocity
75 mm StuK 40 L/43 (Spring 1942) or
75 mm L/48 (Autumn 1942) anti-tank gun.
Later models of the StuG III had a
7.92mm MG34 mounted on the hull for
added anti-infantry protection.
After the Second World War, the Soviet
Union gave some of the captured German
vehicles to Syria, which continued to
use them at least until the Six Days
War (1967).
