StuG III - The German Assault Gun That 'Killed' The Most Enemy Tanks In WW2
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- Опубліковано 4 бер 2021
- The Sturmgeschütz III, or Stug 3 assault gun, was the most widely produced German combat vehicle of the Second World War.
Like the Panzer IV, it was the only other German armoured vehicle to be produced continually from 1939 to 1945 with more than 10,000 manufactured.
Initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG 3 was continually modified, and was employed as a tank destroyer.
Instead of being used as an assault gun, circumstances demanded that the StuG III be used as a tank destroyer.
By the time the War ended, the Stug III had destroyed an estimated 30,000 Russian tanks - this was not only more any other German combat vehicle, but also more than any Allied tank type.
Credits:
Illustration used is from Tanks Encyclopedia website.
tanks-encyclopedia.com/sturmg...
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All media used in this video is used for the purpose of education under the terms of fair use.
All footage and images used belong to their copyright holders.
There is also one forgotten world record made with Stug3. In June 1944 during Soviet summer offensive against Finland a Stug3 gunner 18-year-old corporal Olof Lagus made an unofficial world record with his assault gun (rynnäkkötykki in Finnish) called Marjatta in Kuuterselkä, where he destroyed four Soviet T-34 tanks in less than one minute. This happened during a Finnish Armored Division's counterattack that was led by Lagus' father, Major General Ruben Lagus...
That's true
Fun fact: The finnish language takes all the "y", "ä,ö and ü" which are superfluous in the german language and uses them. :D
Shit talking aside: A cool historical fact. :)
Corporal Ville Väisänen destroyed , eight T34 by panzerfaust, in few minute in 28.6-44 in Ihantala.
Sorry I'm replying only now but I find this very interesting that this gunner managed to knock out four T-34 in less than one minute, unofficially or not it is quite an achievement indeed! Impressive...
@@paoloviti6156 If I remember right, hes gun jammed after those four?
The StuG III is a good example of a solid basic design being useful in many different roles.
I think it's even one of the best all-round designs of WW2.
I loved them so much. Games like Company of Heroes &
World of Tanks did them pretty good justice. I have that whole German assault gun line. ❤
One does not choose the StuG life, the StuG life chooses them. And we can all agree that the StuG life had chosen us well.
The StuG Assault Gun was another one of Erich Von Manstein's innovations. Originally designed especially for supporting infantry, it became one of the most effective tank killers of the Second World War.
You forgot to mention that StuG III was the most sexy war vehicle ever up to that time
Yeahh, very cool
you forget tiger 1
Panther is sexy tank
Bob semple tank and ACI Sentinel: Hey
Panzer 4 and Stug III were the most reliable tanks with the Panzer 4 still being in production from the beginning to the very end
The Stug was also very popular because of its good fuel economy and ease of parking.
It also had isofix base for maxi cosi
Yes If I remember correctly it had a 300 hp engine, compared to the 700 CV of the Panther and Konigstiger which was a gas guzzler.
Of course, most tracked armored vehicles have ease of parking. They just roll over a subcompact.
I think my ex-wife would damage even Stug while parking.
You’d certainly get a space in Sainsbury’s , probably two without much argument!
Love all the comments both "for and against" and all the research people are doing! It's a fascinating, highly technical subject!
It more or less served the same role as the jagdpanzer, and hetzer. Ambush assaultgun that fires a few shots off, reverses and gets fck outta there.
Doctrinaire, the other 2 I listed probably did the exact same.
Tanks on the other, while they can kill other tanks, they have more roles beyond that, with that in mind, they might not be suited to a role of only tank killing vs stug iii which is designed around it.
The tiger when it was drawn up, it was gonna be a heavy breakthrough unit, right after it was in production, the war situation had changed dramatically and it was used instead of offensive roles, overall much more defensive, especially after Kursk (that includes small tactical counter attacks though offensive in nature but still part of defensive operations).
When I was a kid I built an Airfix 1/72 scale model of the Stug 3, and have been fascinated by it ever since.
Tamiya had great tank models in the early 1970's . My brother and I built opposing forces
The short chassis made it also extremely mobile.
And had a better suspension than PzIV or JpIV.
The Germans always considered the StuG III and the Pz.Kpfw III had far better automotive capability than the Pz.Kpfw IV but after the battle of Kursk they were quickly relegated to second line duties especially against the partisans and many were modified or produced as Pz.Kpfw III Ausf.N as Infantry support tank, armed with the old short-barrelled 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/2 4 initially supporting the flanks for the Tiger units. They were quite effective in this role.....
Xers
Easiest to get around corners
@@paoloviti6156you were there Paolo?, Ostfront?
StuG III was like the Hellcat; it lacked the history and stories that the Panther and Tiger's had, but it got the job done. The Hellcat took 2nd place in fame to the Mustang and especially the beautiful Corsair, but the Hellcat was the most successful type we had in the Pacific theatre.
Hellcat is the tops I believe in terms of US fighter kills. Not a sexy looking machine, but damn they were great planes and probably very fun to fly!!!
I thought you were talking about M18 hellcat at first, then I realized you were talking about F6F hellcat.
@@safatsadman same lol
@@safatsadman lol me too
@@safatsadman he def used the bait and switch on us haha
Worth to mention that also the success of the StuGs relied on their way of shooting. Other than on tanks, the crews were actually from the artillery(!). They always shot on a three way manner. Often shooting one short, one long and then they calculated where to hit. Especially at start of war that costed them siginficantly less ammo than the tank crews that were used to approach the target with their fire.
Source: "Sonderheft Waffen - Artillerie im zweiten Weltkrieg und danach"
They had over a 3 to 1 kill ratio over the Soviet T34 and KV's, too bad the Jerry's didn't learn early on that this was the way to go with tank production. They wasted far too many resources on the Panther and King Tiger, they should have just had Stug III/IV's and Tiger I's and increased production of their half tracks and mobile artillery pieces.
Fully agree with what you said
No tigers just panzer 4's and stug's. A lack of artillery really helped slow progress on the Eastern front.
And what would do the breakthrough? Where would you get the crews?
People love to bash the tigers nowadays but they were essential. At least that goes for tiger 1.
Whenever they were used they took the bulk of enemy firepower and there were very few times where they didn’t succeed or at least inflict great casualties on the enemy.
„But it wasn’t reliable.“
It was. Pretty much the same as the panzer 4 at the end of the war. Only difference in their readiness rate is that the tiger is more often in the shop as they participate in more heavy fighting and thus take more damage. It was more maintenance heavy but that’s it.
Look at the readiness rate of the panzer 4 and stugs in the west when only very few tigers are around: it sinks drastically as they now have to face most of the enemy firepower and cant really handle it that well.
In 1944 the germans lost 700+ 4‘s in a year alone.
Completely agree, they should of simplified the design even more and produce 30,000 plus.
Maybe the Axis should have been building Tiger 1's, Panzer 4's (even though it was outdated), ironing out Panther imperfections, mobile anti air units, trucks (not half tracks), and focusing less on wonder weapons.
The Germans had too many projects going at once.
Excellent work! Thanks for posting!
Image three of these hidden in some bushes or digged in, supported by infantry with mg42 and panzerschreks, bad day for an entire t34 bataillion
is 2: Am I a joke to you
@@Stevieboy-ne9ll Even an is2 was vulnerable to these vehicles when ambushed from the flanks
@@tobiassteindl2308 how about a IS 4m?
@@tobiassteindl2308 *ALL TANKS*
@Tracchofyre the soviets never did. Their recons were full force ahead, don’t stop until the vehicle is on fire and disabled and crew is dead. If you were captured, you would never be allied back to Russia unless to die.
4:07 i love his youthful smile blissfully unaware of the titanic forces warping and changing his and many other peoples fates
Thank you for a video explaining alot of the reason why the StuG III is one of my favorite tanks
Amazing video, this was on paper the best tank of the war as far as stats, I have seen several top tank videos of world war 2 and tiger or jagdpanther are 1and 2 respectfully.... Well I think maybe the Stug should own top seed for the future.
It was NOT a tank...
@@PauloPereira-jj4jv on paper it's not, but in theory it is
@@PauloPereira-jj4jv The word tank was first used for the British Mk I and Mk IV tanks of WW I which had no turret. Post war the French AMX-13 is called a tank as well. It's true the Germans did not call the StuGs Panzerkampfwagen but I don't see why some people have such a hangup about people calling the StuG a tank.
@@PauloPereira-jj4jv Correct, it was mobile, fully-enclosed artillery.
@@SerialChiller1000 ....which is also what a tank is.
The Stug was brilliant in its ability to support infantry directly as a multi-purpose vehicle, infantry squad hauler, artillery piece and tank killer. I am sure the infantry appreciated the presence of the Stug. In some ways it was like the IFV of today akin to a BMP-3
Nearly 3 stugs for the price of 2 panzer 4s. And 4 stugs for the price of a single tiger. That’s incredible value.
cost wasn't an issue....
Nazi Germany never had enough fuel for that comparatively few tanks they had. Where would the fuel come from for all those StuG's?
@@HiTechOilCo That is simply wrong..... they conquered Ukraine where they hat some Oil as well as their Allies (Romania and Hungary) The real shortage came after Romania switched sides and the Wehrmacht was pushed back from Ukraine. Not to mention the losses during transport and in the rafineries during the bombing campaigne of the allied forces.
@@failtolawl But maybe the time to produce was.
That low profile and agility of the tank overcame the fixed gun , it was still a tank Hunter/killer..
The Stug was the original Thug.
😄👍
Stug Life 😎
@@stefan5566 you mean thug file...those lyrics that are evidence
@@elizabethdiane3679 he was making a joke
@@dallasn5040 I wasn't joking.
The Real Badass of the battlefield.
The Long 75mm L/48 High Velocity gun,an slight upgrade of the AT 75mm Pak 40, was able to knock out any allied Tank at 500 Meters.
The 75mm Pak 40 was the most Successfull AT gun of WW2.
PS:The StugIII didin't destroyed only Soviet Tanks like you say,but also Destroyed lots and lots of American and British Tanks and Armor.
Outstanding video and presentation.
Thank you for this video..appreciated !
Two of my fav WWII German ATV's. The Stug III and Panzer III.
Without any hesitation I will say that the StuG III was the most successful tank of the war, relatively cheap and reliable, good optics and had the best trained crew, a combination that made the difference. No other tanks on both sides had achieved so much....
Tanks have turrets, the stugs were technically considered assault guns or tank destroyers depending on the gun.
@@stephenbrand5661 you may call it anyway you like but it was of course born as an assault gun with the short-barrelled, 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 cannon (the same as the Pz.Kpfw IV) then it was upgraded first with the longer 7,5 cm StuK 40 L/43 then the 7,5 cm StuK 40 L/48gun. Effectively transformed this AFV as a tank destroyer and because of increased shortage of tanks as a substitute for tank...
@@stephenbrand5661 indeed, but a type of tank, never the less, to your average Lehman!.
@@stephenbrand5661 I would say so, but the Brits invented it and the first things they called tank did not had a turret either.
I'd say the M4 "Sherman" is very close to the Stug III in terms of success. As a full-on tank (turret) I'd say the M4 was "the" best tank of the war. But if we want to define "tank" as an armored vehicle with a gun that can destroy other tanks, it might be a toss-up.
At 5:04, that looks to be an anti grenade structure around the Commanders cupola. I had never seen that before.
Fun fact: Famous Tiger Ace Michael Whittman or "The Black Baron" started in a stug III from 42' to 43.' It was in this vehicle that he earned his renown and a rightful position in the coveted Tiger I during its release.
He started on the smaller 2-3 crew panzers 1 and 2
@@The.Original.PotatocakesNo, he started his career commanding 6-wheel armoured cars in Poland before moving to moving to Assault Guns on the Eastern Front.
@@simonxmathews read his book 🤦♂️
Sir,
You mentioned that magical word: "STUG".
An amazing piece of equipment and have to say my No: 1.
I absolutely love the Stug and everything it and never forget "it's Crews" did.
Oh and something you didnt mention was that the crews were "Volunteers" so to say.
Please look into it and you will understand where i am coming from.
Your presentation is very much appreciated.
THANK YOU.
thanks for this content you're awesome!
thanks for the great video !👍👍
Excellent video with good direct-to-the -fact narration and no political bias whatsoever.INFORMATIVE
Stug 3 wasn't the most produced German vehicle of the war,not even close.It was the most produced full tracked German vehicle of the war.
What struck me was reliably.
Tigers lost tracks too often, and wore fast too, especially in dry dusty weather..
You could rely on this weapon to arrive to help you.!!
@@blindmelonstubbly for your info the Tiger had a fuel capacity of 540 lt giving a range of about 195 km on the road and cross country about 110 km. Believe me that the Sherman and the Meteor powered tanks like the Cromwell didn't fare better at all under this issue. During the 2nd WW only the diesel powered tanks like the T-34 or the Italian tanks fared much better. Of course the allies had almost unlimited supply of fuel...
@@paoloviti6156 almost all Soviet tanks were gasoline and most large german tanks were diesel the sherman had multiple engine options including twin diesel
@tl6gc tl6gc saw it on inside chieftains hatch video twin inline 6 diesel's mainly for British did the same on later tanks such as the patton.
@@davidshue9348 Yeah no, you got the sides mixed up. Soviet tanks ran on diesel while Germans used petrol as most of the diesel went to navy. I'm kind of interested where this mixup stems from.
@@vesardi2479 have you ever seen what happens to a diesel in really cold weather well the Nazi's did.
That was what happened to the to the german advance come winter the diesel gelled and they didn't have glowplugs.
Far better content than the History Channel keep it up.
At the University library, they maintained oral histories and one of them was with a tank commander who was on the Russian front and he said "it was hopeless, as efficient as we were as a war machine with a killing ratio of 10 to 1 in our favor we were still losing, there was just too many of them"
Its called weight of numbers.
no wonder he said that. The soviets produced ~55 000 T34, while Germans only managed to build ~8500 Pz4s, 6000 Pz5s, 11400 stug 4 and 3s and 2000 tigers 1 and 2. Not to mention German tanks were distrubuted among Italy and Africa korps, Western front and finally the Eastern one
The Germans didnt achieve a K/L ratio of 10:1.
Great video!
A well-researched, informative and nuanced video.
10/10
Excellent presentation
Great presentation.
It's such a cool looking machine, along with pretty much any German tank, but the Stug has little extra cool aspect to it, and the Hetzer as well
Is this the old documentary which had very loud music over the top of it, cheers to the person who did it
The lowrider of tanks. What a beauty!
First off the video cover is of the highest order! Back at it once again is Fact Bytes with Stug3 highlights, I haven't even watched the video yet and I got goose bumps in anticipation. Had to kick it off with much respect in the comment box, let's get this channel swollen!
I greatly appreciate your support. Gives me energy to put in more effort at work☺️
Great presentation. Simple is better.
Michael Wittmann first made a name for himself and his crew in a Stug in Russia, the rest is history as they say.
Great Video !!! 🙂🙂👍👍
The BEST GUN is the smallest gun sufficient to kill the enemy tank before it kills you.
The BEST TANK is the lightest and most compact sufficiently protected from enemy fire.
The perfect mobile infantry support weapon.
I love the tank with the short gun.
5:28 1 StuG III = 70.000 RM
1 PzIV = 100.000 RM
1 Tiger I = 300.000 RM
Wow! Any info on the other panzers?
The Later l43 and l48 equipped stugs did a lot of work, but the l24 (short barrel) ones did a good job, but weren't in high numbers
Great video for a history nerd. Subbed.
Love the STUG!
If you love it so much why don't you marry it.
@@TDL-xg5nn because that's gay
Excellent documentary! Never knew this about von Manstein! Wonder how ordanance my Opa delivered for this vehicle or the 88mm since he was a Corporal delivering supplies. Oh yes, my Opa was in one of the Battles of Kharkov!
Interesting to note the Assault Guns were under the authority of the artillery arm and not the panzer arm. Some had the opinion that this command arrangement may have had some problems with operational coordination and logistics.
Man, they should bring some of these back as light tanks. I know having full traverse is nice. But the amount of armor slope+thickness you can put on the front is insane. Especially on smaller lighter tanks vs turret design. Basically a wheeled shield with a couple guns on it.
Its wouldn't hold up against modern armor. If it ever was able to get close enough to get a shot off (which it wouldn't) its gun wouldn't do much.
The StuG-III was also used after the war until the 1960s by Finnish Army and the Arabians armoured forces during the 6days war 1967.
"Arabians" . . . ummm. . last time I checked "Arabians"come from saudi arabia. Saudi's are allied with zionist Israelis. Not sure which war of 1967 you're referring to. Saudi's have never been in an official war. Unless you count ISIS. Which can't seem to find Israel on the map.
the arabs, especially Syria, used Panzer IV too in 6 days war 1967
The footage with the Hetzer appears to be the Czech uprising.
There's actually very little difference between the Panzer III and IV, the latter is a bit bigger. The Panzer IV is not an improved III, they were developed almost at the same time for different roles. Anti-tank (III) and infantry support (IV). So a StuG IV is pretty much the same as a StuG III.
Okay, the Nazis had some troubles naming things, because the Panzer Divisions fought the Infantry, and Artillery divisions over who got pretty much everything. The Germans literally named the Assault Gun (SturmGeshütz) like they named the Assault Rifle (SturmGewehr.) However, the Panzer divisions wanted more Tank Hunters (JagdPanzers, or PanzerJagers used pretty interchangeably) So, they continued to use the term StuG, even when up-gunned versions were issued with AP for the Panzer Divisions. Likewise, the StG43 was renamed MP43 to appease Hitler, who decided "We don't need AssaultRifles, we need MachinePistols!" Then again with the JagdPanther, which Hitler named himself. So the name stuck, because nobody wanted to argue with him, and the Panzer Divisions finally got their dedicated tank destroyer. So, while it's true that the original StuG III was designed as an Assault Gun, they were also re-designed as Tank Destroyers, without renaming them as such, to hide the fact that some of them were going to the Panzer Divisions from the Infantry, and Artillery divisions. I know it's confusing, in some ways it was intentionally, to confuse the internal warring factions of the Nazi War Machine. One hand didn't know what the other was doing, so they didn't get jealous, and go bother Hitler, again.
That's why they made so many StuG IIIs, and so many different versions of it. They couldn't decide whether it was an Infantry Support vehicle (Assault Gun) Mobile Artillery, or Tank Destroyer. So, they made them for everyone in the land forces. Also, they were cheap, and easy to mass produce. So, they could make a lot of them.
I use to compare the Stug to a car, a very nice convertible sport car. Fast, agile, with a unique and sophisticated design. A typical example of the magistral German engineering.
The, "German engineering", that led to their nation being totally destroyed and defeated.
@@HiTechOilCo And also the same engineering that made Germany the largest economy in Europe for last decades.
The comment here is about talent and capabilities in engineering, not related to politic preferences or decisions.
Just seen one in the metal at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, awesome machine🇬🇧🤘🤘
You *saw* one?
@@HiTechOilCo yes I did, awesome machine, saw it last year
Handy to remember with that statistic that it spent much of the war on the defensive!
You cant hit, what you cant see. Michael Wittman honed his skills on a Stug, and went on to become an excellent Tiger commander.
Great footage n a beautiful fighting machine. 30000 destroyed tanks!!
Thank you!
Germans put a gun and some armor on anything that runs. The STUG was a stopgap solution otherwise the P3 would've been obsolete because the turret ring was too small to upgun. Did you ever see photos of I's and II's with howitzers bolted to the hull deck and steel welded around the front?
Great armor vehicles Very effective against opponents tank's on East and West front Specially in Normandy Just like Hetzer knocked out plenty enemy's Tank Force's Some historian believe more than Tiger or Panter tank Thanks for posting this great video Utube
UA-cam didn't post the video. The UA-cam Creator that operates this channel did; FactBytes.
Hate to think how even worse it would have been for Germany without the StuG III and Panzer IV
Almost the same like russia without t-34
@@derregler7738 You mean lend-lease.
@@beefy1212 still the same for russia
We can only imagine what the outcome would have been had Germany focused mainly on the Stugs instead of too many heavier vehicles
My friend who was a Lt. Colonel on the Russian front didn't like them. He was in love with the Panthers. Lt. Colonel Alfred Habsburg.
Damn you must be ancient.
Panther is certainly a Supermodel. A 9'10" Supermodel. Talk about high profile!
The StuG were used somewhat like US tank doctrine used the M18 Hellcat and earlier.
Not really, the U.S. TDs were high speed with almost no armor. Stugs rely on armor and ambush.
Most beautiful and deadly assault gun ever.
The Schiffer Press book “Panzer Aces” has a lot of good personal stories from German tankers, most of whom got the majority of their kills in Stugs. Even the short barreled main gun was a capable tank killer and was nicknamed “the stump”.
The Stug. Was almost like the Germans Sherman tank ,but they just didn't have the amount if them..the Stug was a very versatile machine though ..
They did have a ton of STUGs, all coming from converted Panzer IIIs or just being newly built.
So the Stug was not made for the blitzkreig and was made for defensive action
The StuG was made for Blitzkrieg. Its initial design with a short 75mm gun was made to support fast infantry movement for Blitzkrieg campaigns. And it did this pretty well. Its name "Sturmgeschütz" translates into "storm artillery gun" or "storm gun" and the storm part was meant quite literary. It was later changed into a tank destroyer with upgrading its gun to a long 75mm anti-tank gun and along with it changed into being more successful in a defensive position. So you didn't watch the video? It was somewhat well explained.
These are now banned in WA along with a long list of rifles. The Garand though is perfectly fine...Patton commented that it is the greatest battle implement ever devised
Good video
Excellent work Gentlemen
What an extremely well balanced and designed weapon system. A absolute gem of WW2, talking design ofcourse not where it was used for in the end
Because it was the most produced german tank. Upgraded to the long 75mm guns. And was suitable as an ambusher
StugIII with KWK37 is just so adorable
Love holding a defensive line with a bunch of Stugs in Steel Division 2.
StuG crews like to say they lived short but interesting lives
Imagine there is smoke screens low to the ground and 50 of these rolling towards you, and all you can hear is the sound. SS squads and fast assault guns rolling up on your position, the soviets must have had a pretty hard time until they got the SU-85.
I would not want to have served in one of those. The cramped conditions inside a StuG would have sucked bigtime.
Welcome too most tanks.
El mejor carro blindado alemán..pequeño, barato y poderoso.
Amazing the Stug III destroyed more allied tanks and tank destroyers than the Tiger-1/ Tiger II/ Panther/ Jagdpanther/Panzer IV/Elephant/88mm gun/ Jagdtiger/ smaller tank destroyers Hetzers.
yeah but has you heard there were 10000 produced. Tiger 1 around 1300 and Tiger 2 around 500
With about 9,400 StuG's built, one would hope they knocked out a lot of tanks.
The narrator forget about Michael Witmann Stug lll His first command on the East Front His tank destroyer with Short 75mm main gun knocked out six Bolsheviks T-34 After getting Knight Cross for that brave actions He is sending for training to become Tiger Commander 🐯
Hello man @FactBytes I don't want to do any criticising, but It is in place when talking about stug and Its short gun developement to mention HEAT (Hl.) rounds. It was their first, though not very succesfull, historical operational usage.
This tank was literally perfect for WW2
The Black Baron, Michael Whitman, started out in a Stug III!!
Here is an account of Whittmann's action in his Stug III.
ua-cam.com/video/WQf1a_mNq5Q/v-deo.html
"WW1 showed the Germans that the artillery could not keep up with the pace of the infantry". Not something I would thought they learned, but it worked I guess.
how you didnt think so ? cause your rabbi said so ?
@@soundofeighthooves A trench war, not much movement.
@@gummansgubbe6225 i understand you only have a limited knowledge of ww1-. just a little hint there was a eastern front aswell
My favorite track vehicles…StuG III and IV.
What about Stuh 42?
@@jaggerfoxland8103l Wrong vehicle..Wrong war...Wrong everything!!!
that is a fine looking machine
i love the word. I find myself saying it randomly with emphasis
Mi caza carros preferido ......es muy hermoso
StuG best tank of all times
Hell of a vehicle, just like its compatriot.
I wonder since it has fixed turrets, could the cannon traverse side to side to adjust aiming point?
Yes. It had about 15 degrees of traverse, on either side.
Doctrine was to rotate the whole vehicle for rough aiming estimates and then make fine adjustments with the gun traverse.
There was no turret.
Brilliant weapon !!
Que bonito el Stug III..
Any other sources for these kills other than the tank crews?
All the destroyed enemy tanks that were everywehr were the Stug wen't they didn't get destroyed out of nowehr