The Hummel was a self-propelled artillery piece, which was used by the German Army between 1943 and 1945. Basically, it was a German 150mm field howitzer mounted on the chassis of the Panzer IV tank. It was developed using also components of the Panzer III. Designed in 1942, it entered service with the Wehrmacht in early 1943, with more than 700 pieces being built by the end of World War II. Its official name written in the German Army inventory list was "Panzerfeldhaubitze 18M auf GW III/IV. It was fielded on the Eastern and Western Front and it was used to provide fire support to both armored and infantry units.
Technical Characteristics
The Hummel (which is German for 'bumblebee') was a self-propelled howitzer. To make room for the crew at the rear of the lengthened Panzer IV chassis, its Maybach V-12 gasoline engine was moved to the center of the vehicle hull. This engine could develop almost 270 HP, with a maximum speed of 42 km/hour. The Hummel could only carry 18 rounds of ammunition; therefore more shells had to be carried by an addition vehicle, such as a truck. The howitzer it carried had entered service in 1934 as the 15-cm sFH 18, a heavy field artillery piece, which was towed by trucks on a split trail carriage. It fired 43.5-kg shells to a maximum distance of 14 km.
Specifications
Type: self-propelled howitzer
Weight: 24 tons
Chassis Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 6.3 in)
Width: 2.87 m (9 ft 5 in)
Height: 2.81 m (9 ft 2.6 in)
Armament: one 15-cm (150-mm) caliber howitzer (sFH 18M); one 7.92-mm MG-42 machine gun.
Crew: 5 men
Below, an old, color photo of the Hummel on the Eastern Front in 1943.
Below, the Hummel on the Western Front, in France, in late May, 1944.
