The Most Badass Looking War Machine of World War II,Truly an intimidating sight to behold, the Sturm

The Most Badass Looking War Machine of World War II,Truly an intimidating sight to behold, the Sturmtiger was a heavy assault gun tasked with providing fire support for infantry.  During close quarters urban combat situations such as those experienced by Germans soldiers at Stalingrad, it was found that it was much easier to demolish a heavily fortified building rather than storm and capture it with infantry.  The Sturmtiger ( Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61) was a heavily armored assault gun designed to do just that.  It was also designed to destroy other heavily defended structures such as bunkers and pillboxes, clearing the way for an infantry assault.The Sturmtiger was built on the chassis of a regular German Tiger tank (Panzer VI) using it’s hull and suspension.  The main armaments of the Sturmtiger was its 380mm (15 inch) gun, a gun that didn’t fire conventional shells but instead was a launcher for massive 829 lb rockets, either high explosive or shaped charges for fortifications.  Ideally, the rockets could penetrate 2.5 meters of reinforced concrete and had a range of over 6,000 meters.  To supplement the main gun, the Sturmtiger was also armed with a nasty 100mm grenade launcher and a 7.92mm MG-34 machine gun.  Since the Sturmtiger was designed to be used in close quarters urban combat, it was armored to take one hell of a beating.  Side armor was 62mm thick as was also rear armor. Frontal armor was 100mm thick, but could be supplemented with a 50mm plate, thus totaling 150mm.  Altogether this massive steel beast weighed 68 tons.The first Sturmtigers were deployed in August of 1944, a time when Germany was no longer on the offensive but desperately trying to hold ground on all fronts.  Thus, the Sturmtiger had little practical use due to its offensive nature.  However they were used extensively during the Warsaw Uprising, which involved much of the close quarters urban combat that it was designed for.  They were also used during the Battle of the Bulge, and in some battles in the last months of the war.  Between 1944 and 1945, only 19 were produced. -- source link

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