Sturmtiger

Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61
Captured Sturmtiger, April 1945
Type	Heavy assault gun
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	August 1944 - 1945
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Alkett
Designed	1943–1944
Manufacturer	Alkett
Produced	October 1943 – January 1945
No. built	19 (1 prototype and 18 production)
Specifications
Weight	68 tonnes (75 short tons; 67 long tons)
Length	6.28 m (20 ft 7 in)
Width	3.57 m (11 ft 9 in)
Height	2.85 m (9 ft 4 in)
Crew	5 driver machine gunner / radio operator loader 2nd loader commander / gunner
Armor	max. 150 mm (superstructure front, at 47° from vertical) min. 62 mm
Main armament	380 mm RW 61 rocket launcher L/5.4 (14 rounds)
Secondary armament	100 mm grenade launcher (using SMi 35 leaping mines) 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 34 machine gun
Engine	V-12, water-cooled Maybach HL230P45 engine 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
Power/weight	10.77 PS/tonne
Suspension	torsion-bar
Operational range	120 km (75 mi)
Speed	40 km/h (25 mph)

Sturmtiger (German: "Assault Tiger") was a World War II German assault gun built on the Tiger I chassis and armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled round. The official German designation was Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61. Its primary task was to provide heavy fire support for infantry units fighting in urban areas. The few vehicles produced fought in the Warsaw Uprising, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Reichswald. The fighting vehicle is also known under a large number of informal names, among which the Sturmtiger became the most popular.

The idea for a heavy infantry support vehicle capable of demolishing heavily defended buildings or fortified areas with a single shot came out of the experiences of the heavy urban fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. At the time, the Wehrmacht had only the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B available for destroying buildings, a Sturmgeschütz III variant armed with a 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. Twelve of them were lost in the fighting at Stalingrad. Its successor, the Sturmpanzer IV, also known as Brummbär, was in production from early 1943. This was essentially an improved version of the earlier design, mounting the same gun on the Panzer IV chassis with greatly improved armour protection.

While greatly improved compared to the earlier models, by this time infantry anti-tank weapons were improving dramatically, and the Wehrmacht still saw a need for a similar, but heavier armoured and armed vehicle. Therefore, a decision was made to create a new vehicle based on the Tiger tank and arm it with a 210 mm howitzer. However, this weapon turned out not to be available at the time and was therefore replaced by a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth charge launcher.