The SdKfz 233 Schwere Panzerspähwagen was designed in 1941, manufactured by Deutsche Werke Schichau based on the existing 8 x 8 drive 8 Wheel Armoured Car and was in use from 1942 to 1945.
General Details
Specifications
Operational Date(s)
1942 - 1945
Ordnance classification
SdKfz 233
Quantity Produced
109
Weight
8.7 tonne
Crew
4
M.G's small
1
M.G's large(>10mm)
n/a
Length
5.85 mtr
Width
2.20 mtr
Height
2.25 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed
50 mph
Max Cross Country Speed
19 mph
Range Road
188 miles
Range Cross Country
84 miles
Fuel Type
Petrol
Fuel Capacity
unknown
Horse Power
150 hp
Power/Weight
17 hp/tonne
General Information
The SdKfz 233 Schwere Panzerspähwagen was designed in 1941, manufactured by Deutsche Werke Schichau based on the existing 8 x 8 drive 8 Wheel Armoured Car and was in use from 1942 to 1945.
The vehicle was powered by Bussing-NAG 'L8V' petrol powerplant producing 150 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 50 mph with a range of about 188 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 19 mph and a range of about 84 miles.
It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of a 7.5cm StuK 37 L/24 which could penetrate 62 mm of flat plate at 400 metres
After experience with the 6 wheeled heavy armoured cars, Germany started the development of the 8 wheeled vehicles in the early 1930s. These vehicles had all wheel drive and steering making them more effective cross country.
The vehicle was armed with a 7.5cm StuK 37 L/24 AP gun to act in the close support role.
Armour Details
Turret
Front
n/a
Side
n/a
Rear
n/a
Top
n/a
Superstructure
Front
15mm
@
30°
(17mm)
Side
8mm
@
35°
(10mm)
Rear
8mm
@
35°
(10mm)
Top
6mm
@
87°
(6mm)
Hull
Front
30mm
@
35°
(37mm)
Side
8mm
@
35°
(10mm)
Rear
10mm
@
25°
(11mm)
Top
5mm
@
90°
(5mm)
Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)
Effective Armour - Maximum 37 mm - Minimum 5 mm
Weapon Details
7.5cm StuK 37 L/24
Calibre
75mm
Length
L/24
Ammunition Details
Name/Id
Calibre Weight MVelocity
Explosive Content
K. Gr. rot Pz(AP)
75mm 6.8Kg 385M/Sec
Quoted Penetration 38mm@500m/30°
Range(Mtr)
100
200
400
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
Flight Time(Secs)
0.26
0.53
1.1
2.33
3.71
5.28
7.09
9.17
Penetration(mm@30°)
63
58
53
46
40
35
30
25
Penetration(mm@0°)
73
68
62
54
47
41
35
29
Hit Probability(%)
98
98
98
54
22
6
2
1
7.5 cm Sprgr.34 - short(HE)
75mm 4.4Kg 385M/Sec
0.454Kg explosive
Maximum Range 6250 Mtr
Range(Mtr)
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Flight Time(Secs)
3
7.09
12.99
22.28
39.01
78.11
275
Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill
3 mtr
Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill
6 mtr
Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill
16 mtr
Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr
1 mm
An explosion within 3 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal.
An explosion within 6 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's.
An explosion within 16 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties.
The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 1 mm of the tank armour including the roof.
Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.
The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive
and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The
information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre,
the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation
originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.
