Lümmel's World War 2 museum!

Kleines Kettenkraftrad Typ HK 101 axis

Production: 1941-1947
Number Built: 8,000
Crew: N/A
Weight: 1.28 t
Engine Output: 36 hp
Speed on Roads: 80 km/h

The Kettenkrad was one of the most characteristic vehicles of the Wehrmacht.



Its front wheel with the handlebar gives the Kettenkrad front part a motocycle-like appearance. But most of the time it was steered like a tank: By using the tracks.

The Kettenkrad was a light tractor and transport vehicle. It could be employed in complex terrain and still had a speed of 80 km/h on roads. At the same time, it was easy to ride and the level of maintenance effort was acceptable. The Kettenkrad was built by NSU; the engine was supplied by Opel.



After the war, the vehicles were continued to be used in agriculture and forestry.

The Kettenkrad is a characteristic vehicle of the Wehrmacht and has been immortalised in countless pictures. As there was no equivalent on other armies, it became a symbol of the Wehrmacht.

Looks like I just found a new favourite thread.
For the love of God Lümmel, never stop posting more pictures here

This is Awesome! Any chance we could get one on the KT or Strumtiger?

38-cm-Sturmmörser Tiger "Sturmtiger" axis

Production: 1944-1945
Number Built: 18
Crew: 5
Weight: 65 t
Engine Output: 650 hp
Speed on Roads: 40 km/h
Armament: 380 mm RW 61 L/5.4 rocket launcher
7.92 mm machine gun

The Sturmtiger was a heavy assault gun vehicle intended for urban warfare.







The Sturmtiger was based on damaged Tiger models that were reused for this purpose. The turret and upper part of the hull were replaced by a fixed superstructure with 150 mm front armour. This design allowed the vehicle to be fitted with a Raketenwerfer 61 rocket launcher, which had a range of up to 5,700 metres. This was a variant of the Wurfgerät 38 cm, a depth charge launcher from the Kriegmarine, which had been modified for the Army. The weapon's original had been to sink submarines.

The official designation "assault mortar" (Sturmmörser) was chosen because of the weapon's resemblance to the very heavy mortars of World War 1, even though their technical priciple had been completely different.







The rockets were hugely destructive but at the time sxtremely heavy which made the weapon very slow to employ. The noticeable holes around the barrel (see previous pictures) vented the gases of a fired rocket in order to prevent the barrel from bursting. The rockets were used to destroy buildings and fortifications.

The Sturmtiger was employed for the first time in 1944 during the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. More than 200,000 civilians were killed in that operation.

Wow awesome thread.
I thought the London Imperial War Museum had lots of stuff but this certainly blows it away.
Will have to try and get down to this one.

Raupenschlepper OST "RSO PaK 40" axis

Production: 1943
Number Built: 60
Crew: 2
Weight: 5.2 t
Engine Output: 85 hp
Armament: 75 mm PaK L/46 40/1 gun

The RSO PaK 40 has become a symbol of the improvisation of the Wehrmacht.



The Raupenschlepper Ost, abbreviated to RSO (literally "Caterpillar Tractor East") was a slow vehicle, which nevertheless provided great off-road capabilities, and which had been originally intended as a prime mover in rough terrain. The poor road conditions during the winter at the Eastern Front made redeploying large antitank guns particularly difficult.

The were exactly the tasks that the RSO had originally been developed for. During the summer of 1943, however, emerged the idea to not only have the RSO tow the PaK antitank gun, but to fit the gun directly on top of an RSO chassis. But even Hitler wanted the vehicle to be produced in larger quantities, corresponding test were soon interrupted.



Its combination of slowness, a high silhouette and lacking armour made it an easy prey for the opponent.

Our image of the Wehrmacht os predominantly shaped by technologically impressive vehicles, such as the Jagdpanther. The fact, though, that the Pak RSO had seriously been considered shows very clearly with what little ressources and how improvised the Wehrmacht had actually been working.

Looks like I just found a new favourite thread.
For the love of God Lümmel, never stop posting more pictures here

As you can see in the first post, my "reservoir" will soon lack new content.
When i get the chance to visit another german history museum, there will be new stuff to come.
Glad you like it!

This is Awesome! Any chance we could get one on the KT or Strumtiger?

There you go ;-) King Tiger is coming soon.

Wow awesome thread.
I thought the London Imperial War Museum had lots of stuff but this certainly blows it away.
Will have to try and get down to this one.

Definitly worth a visit!

Wow awesome thread.
I thought the London Imperial War Museum had lots of stuff but this certainly blows it away.
Will have to try and get down to this one.

+1

Awesome! Thanks a lot Lummel..

Very nice

Thank you for the effort of doing this

Jagdpanzer 5 "Jagdpanther" axis

Production 1944-1945
Number Built: 384
Crew: 5
Weight: 45.5 t
Engine Ouput: 700 hp
Speed on Roads: 46 km/h (quite a number for a beast like this!)
Armament: 88 mm PaK 43/3 L/71 gun
7.92 mm machine gun

The Jagdpanther is regarded as one of the most efficient tank destroyers of World War 2!



The Wehrmacht wanted to incorporate its effective 88 mm antitank gun in a casemate tank destroyer. The decision was made to use the chassis of the Panther for this, which is where the name Jagdpanther was derived from. Compared to the original Panther tank, which was equipped with a 75 mm gun, the firepower was once more conciderably increased.

The Panther's hull had already been exceptionally large and high. Now, aditionally equipped with a large gun, it made the Jagdpanther an extremely large vehicle. And since tank destroyers were often used in defence operations where they had to use any cover offered by the terrain, their size often was a problem.


(Not gonna penetrate this time, mate)



But the Jagdpanther's design had other advantages to compensate for this weakness: First of all, it had excellent armour. Moreover, its armour was sloped in a way which made it extremely hard to penetrate. Its gun was very accurate and powerful, the engine and transmission provided outstanding off-road mobility. That is why, despite its large silhouette, the Jagdpanther continues to be considered as one of the best designed tank destroyers ever.





But as with many late German armoured vehicles: The overall number of manufactured vehicles was far too small to have any lasting impact on the outcome of the war.

EPIC THREAD! Thanks so much for sharing this with us. The Panzermuseum in Munster has been on my wish-list ever since I arrived in Germany 10 years ago. Would you be interested in making this thread into a blog piece for the portal?

Sweet Jezus a Jagdpanther... So much win here!

Great thread! Love the effort put in just wish CoH2 had all these lovelies on one German faction, especially the Jagdpanther!

EPIC THREAD! Thanks so much for sharing this with us. The Panzermuseum in Munster has been on my wish-list ever since I arrived in Germany 10 years ago. Would you be interested in making this thread into a blog piece for the portal?

Of course I'm interested! I just don't know to what extend? If you could pm me of something, that would be great.
Im currently on vacation but I'm gonna continue in the near future ;-)

Medium Tank M4A1 Sherman usf

Production: 1942-1944
Number Built: 55,000 (all variants)
Crew: 5
Weight: 33.5 t
Engine Output: 350 hp
Speed on Roads: 40 km/h
Armament: 76.2 mm M1 L/52.8 gun
12.7 mm machine gun
2x7.62 mm machine guns

The Sherman is one of the most produced tanks in the world!




(12.7 mm machine gun)

Development of the Sherman started in 1940 in response to the German Panzers 3 and 4 that were serving in France. The Sherman's armour and armament were to equalise it with the German tanks. And when it first encountered the German tanks in North Africa in 1942/43, the match indeed was about even. But when it was employed in Europe by 1944, its gun had already become outdated as the German tanks' armour had been increased in the meantime. But new guns and improved ammunition ammunition (I'm thinking of COH2 armour piercing rounds :-)) enabled the Sherman to again compete with the German tanks - including the Panther and the Tiger.





The Sherman was the first series produced tank featuring a single-axis stabilised gun. This enabled it, to a certain degree, to fire on the move. This was a capability that other tanks did not have; all tanks of WW2, without exception, had to stop to deliver precision fire.
COH2 is not being very realistic at this point, although i completely understand why.


(Giggled a little seeing this.)

Its characteristic design had technical reasons: The first Sherman tanks had been equipped with aircraft engines that were very high. At the same time, a certain width could not be exceeded to allow the tank to be transported by rail and, especially by sea.

The model you can see here is a combination of the hull of a M4A1 and the turret of the "Easy Eight".

awsesome post!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can also highly recommend this Museum! But it is closed in the winter.

Show Spoiler

That fucking caliber of the ammo is huge.

This reference picture shows why you should've been afraid of facing a sturmtiger.



I have more pictures from there too in case you lack in some, in order to completen the thread.

8,8 cm PaK 43/41 axis

The 8.8 cm PaK was an antitank gun that pushed new frontiers in terms of both technology and tactics.



Rheinmetall-Borsig had been awarded a contract to build an 8.8 cm antiaircraft gun. Krupp had had applied for the same contract with an own version but was declined. When it became clear that there was a demand for ever heavier antitank guns, Krupp converted its antiaircraft gun into an antitank gun (Panzerabwehrkanone - PaK). The design was accepted and production started in 1943.



The 8.8 cm PaK was very accurate and extremely powerful. But the gun's advantages were brought at the price of an enormous weight and a very big silhouette. The gun could hardly be concealed and if there was no artillery tractor available, moving it was almost impossible. The common method of fighting with antitank guns was to fire the gun from a concealed position and to then change to another position.



This could no longer be done with the 8.8 cm PaK. This was a weapon designed for slow dogged trench warfare as it became more and more typical for the Wehrmacht from 1943. The gun in the pictures is missing its gun shield. This measured almost 2 m in height.
Because of its size, the gun was popularly refered to as the "barn door" (German: Scheunentor).

Panzerkampfwagen 6 Ausführung B "Tiger 2" "Königstiger" axis

Production; 1944-1945
Number Built: 489 (I actually thought there would have been less)
Crew: 5
Weight: 69,8 t
Engine Output: 700 hp
Speed on Roads: 38 km/h
Armament: 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 gun
2x7.92 mm machine guns

The Königstiger was the last main battle tank built by the Wehrmacht.



The Tiger 2 was intended to combine the advantages of the Panther and the Tiger: The Panthers sloped armour and the Tiger's 8.8 cm gun. The Königstiger excelled in both aspects: Its armour was thicker, and the barrel was longer. The Königstiger could almost not be defeated when it was engaged from head on. Its gun had an extremely long range and its armour was tremendously strong.

The engine, transmission, and chassis of this huge tank, however, were prone to failure. The Tiger 2 was totally underpowered, its production and maintenance were complicated. It took 14 day to build one Tiger 2; the consumption of raw materials was enormous. Fuel became extremely scarce during the final phase of World War 2, and the Königstiger was particularly petrol-thirsty.





The combination of its advantages and disadvantages made the Tiger 2 a slow rolling fortress with great firepower, yet no longer suited for mobile combat.

Until today, the Tiger 2, also known under its informal name Königstiger (King Tiger/Royal Tiger), has remained the stuff of legends. Despite its minimal influence on WW2, it is still often glorified as a "super weapon" because of its size, armour and armament. But the Königstiger was far from being invincible. The allied heavy tanks were indeed a match for it and some Königstigers were destroyed even by significantly lighter tanks such as the T-34/85.