Speedbump Posted March 15, 2001 Share Posted March 15, 2001 I understand the crew arrangements in a turreted vehicle, but am somewhat unclear about the arrangements within a non-turreted AFV (ie. STUG). Where does the vehicle commander sit and what kind of visibility does he have to fight the vehicle? Speedbump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mace Posted March 15, 2001 Share Posted March 15, 2001 The late war Stug III Ausf G and Stug IV had a commander's cupola towards the rear, left hand side of the fighting compartment. This gave the commander 360 degrees observation through observation slits. Jagdpanzers had a similar arrangement, but without the cupola. Mace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
:USERNAME: Posted March 15, 2001 Share Posted March 15, 2001 The stug commander, gunner and driver are all on the right side of the vehicle (lets say you are facing the vehicle). His visability is then better on one side of the vehicle than the other (when buttoned up). Being lower to the ground than a tank offsets this a little. A big advantage is the proximity of all these three elements. They were within arms reach and could interact better than a compartmented vehicle (The gunner could kick the driver to face a certain way). The elevation difference in their LOS was smaller than a turreted tank and this allowed the vehicle to use terrain better. As soon as the gunner could see a target, he could tap the driver. In my opinion, the teamwork was magnified. This isnt easily translated into CM modeling. The vehicle proved itself from 1942-1944 and it wasnt luck. Its role as a TD was well known but it was also an integral part of any infantry attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncawley@ameritech.net Posted March 15, 2001 Share Posted March 15, 2001 The Hetzer did have problems in this respect, however. A much smaller compartment, and not as well laid out. The gun was designed to be loaded from one side, but the loader was on the other because the gun took up so much of the vehicle. The gun was not mounted along the vehicle center-line in the Hetzer, but off to the right side. As a result, the Hetzer had a lower rate of fire than the StuG or Jadgpanzer. They were still made because they used the Czech-built Pz-38 chassis, and the alternative use of those would have been just poorly armored Marder IIIs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts