Sturer Emil
| Sturer Emil | |
|---|---|
_chassis.JPG) The only surviving 'Sturer Emil' in Kubinka Tank Museum | |
| Type | heavy tank destroyer |
| Place of origin | Nazi Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1942-1943 |
| Used by | Nazi Germany |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1941 |
| Produced | 1942 |
| No. built | 2 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 35 tonnes (34 long tons; 39 short tons) |
| Length | 9.7 metres (32 ft) |
| Width | 3.16 metres (10.4 ft) |
| Height | 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) |
| Crew | 5 |
|
| |
| Armor | 15 - 50 mm |
Main armament | Rheinmetall 128 mm PaK 40 L/61 |
Secondary armament | MG 34 |
| Engine |
Maybach water-cooled, V-6, HL116 300 horsepower (220 kW) |
| Power/weight | 8.57 hp/tonne |
| Fuel capacity | 450 litres (120 US gal) |
| Speed | 25 kilometres per hour (16 mph) |
The 12.8 cm Selbstfahrlafette auf VK30.01(H) "Sturer Emil" (German for "Stubborn Emil") was an experimental World War II German self-propelled anti-tank gun. It was based on the Henschel VK30.01 chassis and armed with a Rheinmetall 12.8 cm K40 L/61 gun (based on the 12.8 cm FlaK 40). This gun could traverse 7° to each side, elevate 10° and depress -15°. It carried 15 rounds for the main gun.
The chassis was left over from Henschel's submission for the canceled VK30.01 heavy tank program, but the hull was stretched and an extra road wheel added to its overlapped and interleaved Schachtellaufwerk roadwheel-based suspension system, to accommodate the large gun, which was mounted on a pedestal ahead of the engine. A large, open-topped fighting compartment, much like that fitted to the Panzer IV-based Hummel self-propelled 15 cm howitzer, was built where the turret was intended to go in the original design.
Two vehicles (named after Max and Moritz) were built, both of which served on the Eastern Front. One vehicle was destroyed, the other captured at Stalingrad in January 1943, with 31 kill marks painted on the barrel. This captured vehicle is now displayed in the collection on the Kubinka Tank Museum.
References
- 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). ISBN 1-85409-214-6