The Sd.Kfz. 221 model is here

 

History :

During the interwar period,armored vehicles were developed in several directions. Some countries built the cheapest possible armored reconnaissance cars on the chassis of passenger cars. French first put the emphasis on half-track chassis, and later to all-wheel drive. In Germany, the Reichswehr command first saw the optimal armored car as a 4-axle all-wheel drive vehicle (eight wheels) that could also swim. However, later the concept changed. In the early 30s, instead of a heavy all-wheel drive armored car, two appeared – a light 2-axle and a heavy 3-axle. The simplest was the light armored car, which was a passenger car that was partially armored. Since 1933, the Daimler-Benz werk 40 plant began producing light airborne reconnaissance cars Kfz.13 and Kfz.14. They were something like American « scouts », but even more primitive. At the same time, already at the beginning of 1934, the leichter Panzerspähwagen program appeared. It implied the creation of a family of all-wheel drive armored reconnaissance vehicles. At the same time, instead of the Kfz.13, two vehicles were planned. The first was the leichter Panzerspähwagen (MG), known as Sd.Kfz.221. By 1933, the German army, which had previously relied on heavy armored vehicles (8 or 10 wheels), slightly changed the concept. To meet the needs of the armored vehicles companies created at the same time, it was decided to produce light armored vehicles. The Germans did not reinvent the wheel and simply took advantage of the American experience. Taking passenger cars as a basis, they built their own “scouts”. The Kfz.13 machine gun carrier and the Kfz.14 radio gun carrier (all on adler chassis) became the first German large-scale light armored vehicles. However, already at the beginning of 1934, work began on creating a second-generation light armored reconnaissance car. More precisely, a whole family of armored cars. Initially, the most popular of them was supposed to be the Sd.Kfz.221. In the case of the new German armored reconnaissance vehicles, the first step was the creation of a chassis. The experience of developing Kfz.13/Kfz.14 showed that a commercial chassis is a quick, but not at all ideal solution to the problem. In addition, the general concept of German armored vehicles, created from the second half of the 20s, implied the placement of the power plant in the rear of the hull. This solution made it possible to significantly improve the visibility situation, as well as more rationally place the fighting compartment. Another important point was that the special chassis and denser layout made it possible to shorten the base. This saved weight and also reduced the risk of landing the armored car on its belly. The work on the chassis was carried out by Horch. This decision seemed the most logical: Zwickau had just begun work on two types of military all-wheel drive SUVs. One of them was Horch 108, which was created under the program of a single army heavy cross-country vehicle. The chassis carrying capacity was 1.5 tons, and the wheelbase reached 3 meters. Of course, there was no provision for a wooden body with folding sides, but in terms of capabilities the Horch 108 was close to trucks. Work on the chassis for the new armored reconnaissance vehicle was launched in parallel. Moreover, the prototype chassis was completed earlier than a regular car – in July 1934. In a number of elements it overlapped with the Horch 108, but was not a simple conversion of a “single heavy passenger car.” The chassis was designated Horch 801, that is, 108 in reverse. It’s definitely not possible to say that in Zwickau they simply took and turned the chassis of an ordinary car. The frame was entirely its own, and the wheelbase was reduced to 2800 mm. The relocation of the engine forced the cooling system to be redesigned: the radiator was moved forward, and the higher weight of the armored vehicle was also taken into account. True, there was one subtle point. The Horch 108 had rolling wheels that helped when driving off-road. Horch 801 did not have them, which later greatly affected the vehicle’s cross-country ability. Based on the test results, the Horch 801 chassis was approved, and in January 1935 an order was received for 20 chassis, which later increased to 308 chassis. The first 30 chassis were delivered in April 1935, and a total of 332 were delivered by the end of August 1936 (serial numbers 810001-810359). In November 1936, a contract was signed for the second series chassis. This order, which was supplemented several times, turned out to be small – 126 chassis (serial numbers 810360-810485). They were handed over, with long intervals, from January 1937 to March 1938. On June 14, 1938, a contract was signed for the third series of Horch 801. It was completed very quickly – from February to June 1939, a total of 332 chassis (serial numbers 810486-810817). This was the last pre-war contract for the Horch 801 chassis. It should be noted that Horch itself only participated in the production of Einheitsfahrgestell I für s.Pkw (as the Horch 801 chassis was officially called). At the same time, Horch is often indicated as the manufacturer of armored cars. This is because they usually focused on chassis components. Therefore, one should not be surprised that our German armored reconnaissance cars were called “Horch”. The Einheitsfahrgestell I für s.Pkw chassis was called “single” for one reason. It was understood that three armored vehicles would be built on this base. The first type, the leichter Panzerspähwagen (MG), was the direct successor to the Kfz.13. The second type, leichter Panzerspähwagen (2 cm), was intended as a means of reinforcement. Finally, the leichter Panzerspähwagen (Fu) was created as the successor to the Kfz.14. All three types of armored vehicles were supposed to be used together. The armored cars were similar, however, each of them had its own armored hull. This is not surprising, given that the leichter Panzerspähwagen (MG) was intended to be a two-seater vehicle, while the others were three-seaters. The basic, most widespread armored vehicle was supposed to be the leichter Panzerspähwagen (MG), better known as Sd.Kfz.221. The appearance of the car was formed based on the requirements from above, so you should not be surprised at the resulting result. It should also be recalled that the armored vehicle was designed in 1934, when two-seat reconnaissance tanks armed with 1-2 rifle-caliber machine guns were in full swing. The Horch 801 chassis was equipped with an armored hull, which consisted of two parts – bow and stern. This division made it possible, if necessary, to dismantle the rear section, gaining full access to the power plant. A feature of the armored hull was the rational angles of inclination of the sheets. This provided protection against rifle-caliber bullets at a distance of 30 meters and beyond. The thickness of the sheets was 8 mm; in places where large angles of inclination were provided, the thickness was reduced to 5 mm. This was done to save weight. For the same reason, the body was made as narrow as possible. Therefore, the fighting compartment, like the control compartment, was not very spacious. Unfortunately, not a single Sd.Kfz.221 has survived to this day, but there is something to compare with. If you look inside the BA-64, the sensations are approximately the same. From an armored car 4.8 meters long and weighing 4 tons, you expect something a little different. At the same time, the control compartment of Sd.Kfz.221 cannot be called cramped and uncomfortable. From this point of view, the creators of the armored vehicle did a very good job. Especially when it comes to visibility. The driver had 3 inspection hatches at his disposal, which provided quite decent visibility. The fighting compartment was also designed in an original way. Armored vehicles at that time received either turrets, swivels, or turrets. The Germans followed an original path, which had both advantages and disadvantages. A base was screwed to the top of the frame, to which the system was attached. Behind this was the seat of the gunner, who was both commander and loader. In the front part there was a mount for the swivel of the MG 13 machine gun, as well as a box for the machine gun belt. The swivel could be adjusted in height, turning from a means of combating ground targets into an anti-aircraft installation. At three points, the rotating part was attached to the tower, which was open at the top. To protect against enemy grenades there were folding mesh sections. There was also a set of inspection hatches. The resulting design had a lot of pros and cons. On one hand, this installation was convenient from a work point of view. Horizontal aiming was done with the feet, the shooter simply moved them along the floor. On the other hand, the design was cumbersome. One way or another, a similar mixture of a pedestal with a turret open at the top could be observed in a number of German combat vehicles. And later it was copied for the BA-64. It’s difficult to call the resulting armored vehicle light. The English reconnaissance tank weighed the same, and the T-37/T-38 were lighter. At the same time, the choice of the German military at that time seemed rather correct. For 1935, 80 km/h was a very good indicator, and in general the Sd.Kfz.221 looked like a progressive design. Therefore, it is better not to engage in after-knowledge, but to look at what others had at that time. Against this background, the leichter Panzerspähwagen (MG) was an achievement. Unfortunately, detailed statistics on the production of Sd.Kfz.221 in 1935-38 have not been preserved. At the same time, it is known how many were released. As mentioned above, Horch produced only the chassis. Next came the assembly of the armored cars themselves, which was carried out by several factories. In the case of the Sd.Kfz.221 of the first series, this was done by Daimler-Benz werk 40 (suburb of Berlin, 14 pieces), Deutsche Werke AG shipyard in Kiel (60 pieces), as well as Schichau-Werke shipyard in Elbing (69 pieces). Later, Daimler-Benz werk 40 “fell off”; this plant had enough other orders, including tanks. The same thing happened with Deutsche Werke AG. But Schichau-Werke further worked on other armored cars of the leichter Panzerspähwagen family. As for the further production of Sd.Kfz.221, it continued at the Weserhütte plant in Bad Oeynhausen. It was here that 46 armored cars of the second series were built; this happened between April and November 1938. They were distinguished by the presence of turn signal guards, additional inspection hatches and other small details. Also, from June 1939 to August 1940, 150 armored cars of the third series were built in Bad Oeynhausen. They were distinguished by a new design of viewing devices, increased thickness of the frontal armor to 14.5 mm, installation of MG 34 machine guns, Notek escort lights and a number of other improvements. A total of 339 armored cars were produced. Then production stopped, as the first months of the war showing that the armored vehicle was outdated. The designation leichter Panzerspähwagen quite clearly showed the purpose of the Sd.Kfz.221. These armored cars were first mentioned in the staff of K.St.N.1135 (platoon of light armored reconnaissance cars) on October 1, 1936. Their role was described in more detail in the staff of K.St.N.1162 (a company of armored reconnaissance cars) dated October 1, 1938. According to this staff, the second platoon was supposed to have 6 Sd.Kfz.221, and the second – 4 (plus 4 Sd.Kfz.222). Total 10 pieces per company. A special feature of the leichter Panzerspähwagen family was that the three armored vehicles (Sd.Kfz.221, Sd.Kfz.222 and Sd.Kfz.223) were somewhat reminiscent of the notorious three monkeys. Of the three types of armored cars, only Sd.Kfz.223 had a radio station. The Sd.Kfz.222 had more powerful weapons. As a result, the most popular light armored car could see, but could not hear or shoot at targets that had bulletproof armor. To be fair, in the interwar period the same could be said about other armored reconnaissance vehicles, and two-seat reconnaissance tanks rarely boasted radio stations. The first armored cars of this type to smell gunpowder were the 10 Sd.Kfz.221, built in 1936 by order of China. However, there was no particular benefit from Chinese supplies. Firstly, the number was too limited. Secondly, the too specific theater of operations and limited feedback capabilities greatly hindered the assessment of application experience. One way or another, the only thing that can be said is that the debut of armored cars took place in China. They fought as part of the 200th mechanized division. They were used for their intended purpose, that is, for reconnaissance and communications. The intensity of their use was unlikely to be high, since they survived at least until 1944. As a result, the German army did not have any serious data on the combat capabilities of machine-gun armored reconnaissance vehicles until the beginning of World War II. And then what should have happened happened. It turned out that an armored car that does not have communications and any decent weapons has extremely low combat capabilities. In addition, a two-seater vehicle turned out to be a bad idea due to the commander being overloaded with responsibilities. This caused great discontent at the top. It is no coincidence that requirements for a reconnaissance tank with a two-man turret appeared precisely in September 1939, during the Polish campaign. The first months of the war most directly influenced the future fate of Sd.Kfz.221. They did not stop the production of armored cars of the third series, but they were no longer ordered. Meanwhile, no one refused to use armored vehicles of this type. The battles in France once again showed that the Sd.Kfz.221 is extremely vulnerable. Therefore, the first attempts to strengthen weapons appeared. In addition to the MG 34 machine gun, the Pz.B.39 anti-tank rifle was also adopted. In 1941, radio stations finally began to be installed. But there was a small problem. Fu.Spr.Ger.a had an extremely limited range, especially while on the move. If the car was driving, voice communication was available at a distance of a kilometer. Experiments also began to strengthen weapons, the final result of which was the installation of a “heavy anti-tank rifle” 2.8 cm s.Pz.B.41. A light anti-tank gun with a conical barrel appeared on the Sd.Kfz.221 in 1942. However, by that time there were few of them left. Moreover, in the updated staff of K.St.N.1162 dated November 1, 1941, Sd.Kfz.221 was no longer present. Their place was taken by Sd.Kfz.222. The remaining Sd.Kfz.221 continued to fight in 1942-43, but their fate was long ago predetermined. However, the situation with Sd.Kfz.222/223 was not much better. On the Soviet-German front, it turned out that the cross-country ability of armored cars was insufficient. This later led to the replacement by the Sd.Kfz.250 half-track armored personnel carrier with corresponding versions. The only difference is that Sd.Kfz.221 was asked to leave first. The armored car became hostage to the requirements for a purely machine-gun « reconnaissance vehicle », dating back to the first half of the 30s.

Text from Yury pasholok