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Concept
Hummel (vehicle)
Summary
Hummel (German: "bumblebee") was a German self-propelled gun used by the Wehrmacht during the World War II. Based on the Geschützwagen III/IV chassis and armed with the 15 cm sFH 18/1 L/30 howitzer, it saw action from early 1943 until the end of the war. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 165.
The full name was Panzerfeldhaubitze 18M auf Geschützwagen III/IV (Sf) Hummel, Sd.Kfz. 165. On February 27, 1944, Hitler ordered the name Hummel to be dropped as it was deemed inappropriate for a fighting vehicle.
The Hummel was designed in 1942 after the invasion of the USSR had demonstrated the need for more capable self-propelled artillery support for Wehrmacht tank forces than that then available.
The first option considered was mounting a 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer on a Panzer III chassis, rejected in favour of the same gun on a Panzer IV chassis. One prototype was built.
This design was rejected in favour of mounting the more powerful 15 cm sFH 18 L/30 howitzer on the specially designed Geschützwagen III/IV, which combined the driving and steering system) of the Panzer III with the chassis, suspension, and engine of the Panzer IV. The same platform was also used for the Nashorn tank destroyer.
The engine was moved to the centre of the vehicle to make room for an open-topped lightly armoured fighting compartment at the rear housing the gun breech and crew. Late models had a slightly redesigned driver compartment and front superstructure offering more room to the radio operator and driver. In all, some 700 Hummel were built.
Because the basic Hummel could carry only a limited amount of ammunition, the Munitionsträger Hummel ("ammunition carrier Hummel") was developed. This was basically a standard production Hummel without the howitzer (a 10 mm armour plate covering the gun mount) and with racks fitted to hold the ammunition. When necessary, these could still be fitted with the 15 cm howitzer of the normal Hummel; this could even be done as a field conversion.
By the end of the war 157 Munitionsträger Hummel were built.
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