sdKfz251 varients

[Andras]

I found a few of my sourcebooks last night and decided to post up some info, this post will be a listing of SdKfz-251 varients

-251 Ausf A-D were simply production variations as the war progressed to make it easier to manufacture. Most infantry carriers had 2 MGs.

-251/1- Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen mit Wurfrahmen was a -251 with external racks for heavy, short range rockets. Two projectiles were available, a 28cm rocket with a TNT warhead and a 32cm rocket with jellied gasoline. The rockets were fired straight ahead to a range of upto 2300meters. They proved very useful in street fighting. 1MG

-251/2- Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen Grenatewerfer held a 8cm morter facing forward in the troop area, the mortar could be dismounted and fired outside the vehicle. Max range 2600m w a 7.6lb projectile

-251/3- radio command vehicle, 1MG
-251/4- artillery tow vehicle, 1MG
-251/5- combat engineers, 1MG
-251/6- high command vehicle with decoders and radios, 1MG
-251/7- later version of the engineers vehicle, could carry a small assault bridge to cross ditches and trenches, 1MG
-251/8- ambulance, no MG

-251/9- Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen fur 7.5cm KwK 37/24 developed for Panzergrenadier units in need of greater close support firepower. Short 7.5cm tank guns made available by upgunning PzIVs were mounted in the troop section. 52 rounds were carried. No MG

-251/10- Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen fur 3.7cm PAK first version to mount a support weapon. Issued in the early 1940s to platoon leaders, 168 rounds were carried. Effective range was 600m for the L50 weapon. No MG

-251/11- telephone cable laying vehicle, 1MG
251/12-15- artillery survey vehicles, with eithe rradio, sound ranging or flash spotting equipment. 1MG

-251/16- Mittlerer Flammpanzerwagen, a 251 with 2 flame projectors, one on each side of the troop compartment, and a MG34 on the front. Some versions had an additional handheld flamethrower attached to a 10m long hose. The vehicle carried two 700l fuel tanks. :eek:

-251/17 Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen wit 2cm FLAK 38 mounted a single 20mm FLAK cannon. accepted into production in 1944 for Luftwaffe troops, carried 600 rounds of ammo. No MG

-251/18 Observation vehicle with radio and map table, used by higher level unit headquarters, No MG
-251/19 Mobile telephone exchange for forward areas, 1MG
-251/20 Mounted a massive 60cm Infrared searchlight with a range of 1000m. Accompanied Panzer units with IR passive telescopes introduced inlate '44. No MG

-251/21 Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen Drilling MG 151 had a pedestal mounting three MG151/15 15mm machineguns left over from the Luftwaffe uparming planes to 30mm cannon. each gun had a ROF of 700 rpm, 3000 rounds of ammo were carried. Later versions mounted MG151/20 20mm cannon. No MG

-251/22 7.5cm PAK 40 L46 auf Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagen, introduced in December '44, carried 22 rounds. No MG

-251/23 Mittlerer Schutzenpanzerwagenwit 2cm KwK was the last wartime varient, fitted with the same 20mm antiaircraft turret as on the SdKfz234/1 or Aufklarungspanzer 38(t), No MG

[Remember-OWS-]

What would be your choice?

I would go with the the

-251/2
-251/22

[Lynx7725]

I found a few of my sourcebooks last night and decided to post up some info, this post will be a listing of SdKfz-251 varients
A few things to clarify.

All the variants were had the different marks, i.e. you can have a Sd. Kfz 251/10 Ausf. C as well as an 251/1 Ausf. D. This can be very confusing.

The sources I have cite 251/1 as the basic model. No rockets. Those with rocket racks installed are simply Stuka en Fuss -- my spelling might be off there -- but the basic infantry transport is 251/1.

Also, as far as I can tell, 251/1 carried one MG, with the rear MG mount being present for the squad's MG.

The 251/9 came in two variety; the early type with a low mount which is less visible (lower), and a "universal mount" which is noticably higher. I'm not too sure if the higher mount was the 251/22, but I can check it up.

The 251/10 was the basic command vehicle, meaning, every PzGr platoon would have its CO in the 251/10. The 37mm was meant to provide infantry gun support -- considering that the Germans recognized the weakness of the gun (even nicknaming it the Doorknocker...), it's not really reasonable to expect it to do anything remotely anti-tank.

The 251/16 apparently had a four flamethrower, a big one in the MG mount and an additional small one elsewhere, along with the two side ones. But the small one was apparently removed after some time. I'll double check on this, but I'm fairly sure of the big MG mount flamethrower.

The 251/20 was apparently created to help Panthers with special IR sights fight. It would illum the target, and the Panthers would kill it.

I was not aware that there is a 251/23, but weirder things have happened. :)

Trivia: The art on the 251 card is that of Ausf. C, but the model itself is a Ausf. D.

[Andras]

The picture of the /16 shows 2 sidemounted and one handheld flamethrowers. No front mount flamethroer. The aft mounted hand held unit was discontinued on later models

I could have made clearer that the Ausf a-d was the base hull and the /XX was how that hull was equipped. The base hull depended on when it was manufactured.

Information from SdKfz 251 in Action

[Lynx7725]

Yes, I checked my sources and the /16 had two side mounted and one forward MG. My mistake.

As for the /9 and the /22, I found the difference. The /9 mounted the 75mm KwK Kurtz from the Panzer IV A through F1 (after they upgraded to F2 standards), while the /22 put a whole 75mm PAK with limited travese on the 251. Honestly though, I've only ever seen an illustration of the /22, and never an actual photo, but photos of the /9 was plentiful.

Source is from Concord Publications' German Half-track of World War II by Frank V. De Sisto, ISBN 962-361-09-2

[Andras]

there was a /22 at the Aberdeen Ordnance museum, and the source I listed above has a few pictures of /22s.