Hummel (artillery)

Hummel
A Hummel on display at the Musée des Blindés in 2013
Type	Self-propelled artillery
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	1943–1945
Wars	World War II
Production history
No. built	714
Specifications
Weight	24 tonnes (52,910 lb)
Length	7.17 m (23 ft 6 in)
Width	2.97 m (9 ft 9 in)
Height	2.81 m (9 ft 3 in)
Crew	6 - Driver and 5 gun crew
Armor	10–30 mm (.39 - 1.18 in)
Main armament	1 × 15 cm sFH 18/1 L/30 18 rounds
Secondary armament	1 × 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 600 rounds
Engine	Maybach HL 120 TRM V-12 Petrol 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight	12.5 PS/tonne
Suspension	Leaf spring
Operational range	215 km (133 mi)
Speed	42 km/h (26 mph)

Hummel (German: "bumblebee") was a self-propelled artillery gun based on the Geschützwagen III/IV chassis and armed with a 15 cm howitzer. It was used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War from early 1943 until the end of the war.

The full name was Panzerfeldhaubitze 18M auf Geschützwagen III/IV (Sf) Hummel, Sd.Kfz. 165. On February 27, 1944, Hitler ordered the name Hummel to be dropped as it was deemed inappropriate for a fighting vehicle.

The Hummel was designed in 1942 out of a need for mobile artillery support for the tank forces, the lack of which had first been felt during the invasion of the USSR. There were some self-propelled artillery vehicles already in service with the Wehrmacht at the time, but most were of limited value.

The first option looked at was mounting a 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer on a Panzer III chassis, but this was rejected in favour of the same howitzer on a Panzer IV chassis. One prototype was built of this design.

This design was again rejected, this time in favour of a more powerful solution: mounting the 15 cm sFH 18 L/30 howitzer on the specially designed Geschützwagen III/IV, which took elements of both the Panzer III (driving and steering system) and Panzer IV chassis (suspension and engine). The same chassis was also used for the Nashorn tank destroyer.

The Hummel had an open-topped lightly armoured fighting compartment at the back of the vehicle, which housed the howitzer and the crew. The engine was moved to the centre of the vehicle to make room for this compartment. Late model Hummels had a slightly redesigned driver compartment and front superstructure, to offer more room to the radio operator and driver.

Because the basic Hummel could carry only a limited amount of ammunition, the Munitionsträger Hummel ("ammunition carrier Hummel") was developed. This was basically a standard production Hummel without the howitzer (a 10 mm armour plate covering the gun mount) and with racks fitted to hold the ammunition. When necessary, these could still be fitted with the 15 cm howitzer of the normal Hummel; this could even be done as a field conversion.