German WW2 tank transporters.

[MilitantGraham]

There have been pictures posted on here recently of Diamond Ts and Rogers trailers overloaded with German tanks. I've also seen pictures of Diamond Ts double heading King Tigers and the like.

The pictures usually attract comments about how good Diamond Ts are to cope with these overweight loads, but I can't help wondering how the German Army used to move these tanks around themselves.

Surely with the number of 50+ tonne tanks they had in service, transporting them from one place to another must have been a matter of routine, not the one off exception that it was for the Allies.

So how did they do it ?

I have never seen pictures of a German equivalent of a Diamond T or Pacific.

Was there such a truck or did they use rail transport then track the tanks all the way to battle from the station ?

[AlienFTM]

Surely with the number of 50+ tonne tanks they had in service, transporting them from one place to another must have been a matter of routine, not the one off exception that it was for the Allies.

So how did they do it ?

I have never seen pictures of a German equivalent of a Diamond T or Pacific.

Was there such a truck or did they use rail transport then track the tanks all the way to battle from the station ?

 

In the early days they had trucks and half-tracks to tow dead tanks, but that was all. When heavies came in, they needed better.

 

When they introduced Panther, they developed a recovery version thereof, known as a Bergepanther, essentially a gun tank without turret and with winches etc added.

 

However, when Panther and Tiger became the norm, it often took two Bergepanthers to shift one gun tank.

 

If you find a copy of The History of German Heavy Anti-Tank Unit 653 (sic) you will see pictures and descriptions of the recovery of the Tiger (P) Elefants and Jagdtigers that equipped this unit between 1943 and the war's end.

 

One unusual picture is a Bergepanther with a late-model PzKpfw4 turret welded in place of the Panther turret. It looks remarkably right. This being a tank-hunter battalion, the crews were familiar with the idea of pointing the whole tank at the target.

 

There are also pictures of the only Tiger (P) gun tank (as opposed to the Tiger (P) Elefant tank destroyer) to go into service, as a Befehlspanzer (command tank) with this battalion.

[MilitantGraham]

Thanks for the info. I guessed they would have recovery versions of battle tanks.

I was thinking more of everyday transport, getting tanks from one battlefield to another.

I've seen pictures of Pioneers and Diamond Ts moving tanks by road to keep up with an advancing army. How did the Germans do the same ?

[Snapper]

The Famo Sdkfz 9 18 ton prime mover did a bit of this. Mr Wheatcroft has one - a truly stunning thing to see. I don't think they managed anything heavier once they got past the Panzer III stage of things. Mr Alien is correct on the recovery tank front. I think the Germans were happier letting the train take the strain for journies to the front etc, which explains why we made such a mess of SNCF.

 

MB

[Mark]

Of all the books that I have read, it seems that they transported the tanks by rail as close as they could to the front and then drove them in coloumns to battle or reserve, no mention of prime movers etc.

[Snapper]

Thanks friend. Sums it up nicely. MB

[Enigma]

Take a look at this one.

Photo from my personal collection.

 

Doesn't look big enough for a tank.

 

Also what is odd about it?

 

[Degsy]

They did indeed use the railways for movement but to put Tigers onto rail trucks they had to remove the normal tracks and fit narrow tracks before loading and then reverse the process on reaching their destination.

[Runflat]

Some typical Famo / transporter combinations:

 

http://www.afrikakorps.org/_photos/FAMO/FAMOsArch.jpg

http://www.afrikakorps.org/_photos/FAMO/FAMOwithSdAnh116PIII.jpg

[AlienFTM]

In Panzer Commander, Hans von Luck describes how his 21 Panzerdivision Battlegroup gets an Independent SS Heavy Tank Battalion (503 sSSPzAbt IIRC) under command.

 

503 come off the railhead with 45 Tiger1s. By the time they reach the battlegroup they have been effectively wiped out by Cab Rank.