A recon variant of the Panzer 38(t).
Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) was one of the most important tank designs in German service, seized after the occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Background[]
Originally designed as a replacement for the flawed LT-35 tank, the 38 was a joint creation of Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD) and Škoda Works, intended for domestic use and export. Designed in 1935, the LT-38 was initially an export success. As TNH, it was sold to Iran, Peru, Switzerland, and initial orders were made by Lithuania. In 1937, ČKD and Škoda submitted their proven design in response to the Czechoslovak military contest for a new medium tank. TNH won and the first order of 150 tanks was submitted on July 1, 1938. None entered service by the time of the Nazi occupation, however, Panzerwaffe procurement offices were impressed by the tank and ordered production to continue, under the designation LTM 38, later changed to Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) (tschechisch or Czech). It was a balanced design superior to the Panzer I and Panzer II models that dominated in the Panzerwaffee in 1939, and became an essential element of German armored units.
The tank was a conventional design with riveted armor, limited thickness capped at 25mm from the front (later increased with applique armor bolted on), and a 37mm Skoda A7 gun. The suspension was a standard leaf spring model, and the tank was crewed by three tankers (initially): A driver, radio operator/bow gunner, and the commander/gunner. In German service, a loader was added to the crew complement and a slew of minor adjustments. Its key advantage was the reliability of the chassis and engine, excellent mobility, and ease of repair that would lengthen its lifespan far beyond the original tank's expiration date.
By 1941, the 38(t) was outclassed by Soviet tanks and anti-tank weapons. Czech steel used for its manufacture proved brittle and dangerous to the crew due to spalling, resulting in the tank being pulled from frontline service, with spare models sent to Romanian armored divisions or retasked with anti-partisan or reconnaissance duties. The reliability of the engine and chassis was remembered, however, and many more units were rebuilt as tank destroyers (Marder III and eventually the Jagdpanzer 38(t)), self-propelled gun (Grille) and anti-aircraft gun (sometimes incorrectly called the Gepard).
There were just 1 414 tanks produced for Nazi purposes, with an additional 231 sold to Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria and 226 produced by Sweden after licensing the design. However, the 38(t) chassis proved exceptional and derived designs were produced in much higher numbers: 1 500 Marders, 2 800 Jagdpanzers, and 141 Flakpanzers, for a total of nearly 4 500 vehicles.
Models[]
Light tank[]
A late model tank used as a command vehicle.
The base tank, completely obsolete by 1944, but remaining in limited service as specialized vehicles.
- Variants
- Bef. Panzer 38(t): A command tank based on the 38(t).
Aufklarungspanzer 38(t)[]
A recon 38(t) in the Baltics.
The Aufklarungspanzer 38(t) was an utterly pragmatic attempt to replace the broad variety of armored cars and light tanks used as recon vehicles, using surplus 38(t) tanks. With its industry under constant siege, Nazi engineers experimented with cutting off the top of the tank and replacing the turret with a Hangelafette mount equipped with a 2 cm KwK 38 gun and an MG 42 machine gun side by side. The weapons were intended for self-defense, as the tank's role was to move ahead of armored divisions, seek out targets, gather intelligence, and return home. As a result, the speed, reliability, and range of the base tank were considered more important and outweighed the continued, borderline suicidal use of riveted armor in 1944.
Owing to ever more limited industrial capacity, only about 70 Aufklarungpanzers were produced and sent to the Grossdeutschland division. The project was quickly cancelled and production refocused on the Jagdpanzer.
- Variants
Conversions[]
Marder III[]
A Marder III M with multiple kill rings.
A simple conversion of the Panzer 38(t), the Marder (Marten) was the pinnacle of the improvised tank destroyer series, combining the proven light tank chassis with a high powered gun to create a cheap, effective counter for enemy tanks in the Soviet Union and North Africa. The conversion took place at the Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik, which was the original ČKD factory renamed under Nazi occupation.
The turret of the original tank was removed and replaced with an armored superstructure bolted together from armored plates, providing limited protection from the front and to the sides. The main gun was a captured Soviet F-22 76.2mm divisional gun, with a hull-mounted MG 34 for self-defense. Although it had a high silhouette and was extremely vulnerable to return or artillery fire, the high-powered main gun combined with German optics made them capable fighting vehicles. Improvements to the design focused on lowering the profile, with Ausf. H full utilizing the fighting compartment and providing a purpose-designed open-topped casemate for the gun. A total of 344 early versions were produced, with an additional 275 vehicles and 175 conversions of the Ausf. H variant.
The final model, Ausf. M, was redesigned to provide significant improvements. Sacrificing the front machine gun for a sloped glacis plate and moving the engine from the rear to the middle of the vehicle reduced the vehicle's visibility and improved protection, while the enclosed fighting compartment provided decent protection for the gun crew from all sides, except for the top. The number of crew in the rear was also increased by adding the radio operator, who assisted the commander and gunner as a loader. 942 Ausf. M destroyers were produced, serving until the end of the war.
- Variants
Grille[]
A Grille ready for action.
The Grille (cricket) was an effective self-propelled artillery vehicle created at the Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik (CKD before the German occupation) by mating the Panzer 38(t) chassis to a heavy howitzer, the 15 cm schweres Infanteriegeschutz 33. These were created for the infantry gun Companies with 6 Grille each of the Panzergrenadier regiments similar to their counterparts in the Grenadier regiments.
Although in early models the gun was simply placed on top of the stripped-down tank, the Ausf. K model used the Ausf. M chassis, with the engine moved to the center and a dedicated fighting compartment in the rear. A total of 179 vehicles were manufactured, with an additional 102 produced without the main gun to act as ammunition carriers. These could be quickly converted into a fighting vehicle by installing the 15 cm gun.
- Variants
Jagdpanzer 38(t)[]
A Jagdpanzer lying in wait.
Perhaps the ultimate evolution of the LT vz.38, the history of this tank hunter is longer than just the conversion. When its weapons and armor lost competitiveness, it was modified as a self-propelled anti-tank gun, the Marder III, with captured Soviet 76.2mm guns. However, as powerful and reliable as it was, it suffered from a high silhouette and lacking protection. Its successor would be the result of a Waffenamt initiative to create a new, light tank destroyer that would be cheap to produce, reliable to maintain, and offer the same firepower as its bigger brothers derived from medium tank chassis.
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) was the result of this project, developed in parallel with the Romanian Mareșal and sharing many of its design features, most importantly the heavily sloped armor. Inspired by the T-34 encountered in Ukraine, the sloped armor allowed for reducing armor thickness and mass, without sacrificing protection. While the Romanian project failed due to the fall of the fascist government, the German hunter was developed quite rapidly, with the first mock-up created in January 1944 and production vehicles reaching the military in March.
Mounting a 7.5 cm PaK 39 and with 60mm plate on the front (sloped to give an effective 120mm of armor), it was a powerful tank destroyer whose low silhouette and small dimensions made it a superior ambusher and stalker. However, it was hampered by the thin sides and rear, limited visibility, making it reliant on infantry for close protection, and a 160 HP Praga AC/2 engine that struggled with the 15 ton vehicle, giving it limited speed, especially in rough terrain. However, when Nazi commanders used it while mindful of its limitations, it proved to be a lethal adversary and one of the most numerous tank destroyers in Nazi service, at 2 827 produced. Although somewhat flawed, the design was successful enough that it was adopted by the Swiss and remained in service until the 1970s, under the G-13 designation, its original factory code.
- Variants
- Jagdpanzer, the basic German variant.
- Chwat, a single tank destroyer captured by the Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising.
- Jagdpanzer 38(t) in Hungarian service.
- Jagdpanzer 38(t) in Romanian service.
Flakpanzer 38(t)[]
An interim self-propelled anti-aircraft gun using the Ausf. M chassis (also used in the Grille and late Marder III models), Flakpanzer 38(t) was rapidly created at the BMM factory (formerly ČKD) to provide German armored divisions with a counter for enemy warplanes while work continued on Panzer IV anti-aircraft variants. By simply combining the proven self-propelled gun chassis with a 2 cm FlaK 38 encased in folding armor plates, the factory could quickly provide the requisite 141 Flakpanzer 38(t) vehicles, which entered service by spring of 1944 on the Eastern Front, in Italy, and France. By then, the limitations of the 20mm FlaK became apparent and production halted, with ten unfinished chassis sent back for completion as Grilles. The Flakpanzer had a limited impact on the course of the war, primarily due to the underpowered weapons and cumbersome design of the fighting compartment.
- Variants