German Heavy Tank Destroyer — 8.8 cm Pak 43/1 auf Fahrgestell III/IV

Origins and Development

The vehicle originally designated Hornisse was conceived in mid-1942 as a stopgap platform to field the new 8.8 cm Pak 43 long-barreled anti-tank gun before a dedicated chassis (like the Ferdinand or Jagdpanther) would be ready. As a Zwischenlösung (interim solution), Alkett was tasked with designing a self-propelled gun using a hybrid chassis built from components of the Panzer III and IV (Jentz and Doyle, Panzer Tracts 7-1, 2004, p. 183).

The result was a lightly armored, open-topped vehicle capable of carrying the powerful gun in a mobile platform suitable for rapid fielding. Hitler officially changed the name from Hornisse to Nashorn on 27 January 1944 (Greenland et al., Nuts & Bolts 14, 2001, p. 6).

Design Features

The Nashorn was built on a purpose-designed chassis using:

• Pz.III components: final drives, sprockets, steering unit, SSG 77 gearbox
• Pz.IV components: suspension (leaf-spring bogies), roadwheels, HL 120 TRM engine, mufflers, radiators
  (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 183)

The open-topped superstructure had 10 mm armor, with a gun shield later reinforced to 15 mm from May 1943 onward (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 212). Some late vehicles featured supplementary armor plates around the gun mount for added frontal protection (Greenland et al., 2001, p. 32).

The vehicle retained the full-length 8.8 cm Pak 43/1 L/71, with a 30° traverse, elevation from -5° to +20°, and both direct and indirect fire capability (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 212; Greenland et al., 2001, p. 7).

Ammunition Capacity and Types

• 16 rounds stored in side bins (8 per side)
• Up to 40 additional rounds carried loose on the floor
• Rounds included:
• Pzgr.39-1 (APCBC, 1000 m/s)
• Pzgr.40/43 (APCR, 1130 m/s)
• Sprgr. L/4.7 (HE, 750 m/s)
• Gr.Patr.39 HL (HEAT, 600 m/s)
  (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 184; Greenland et al., 2001, p. 25)

Gun sighting systems evolved from Z.E.34 + Rbl.F.32 to the Z.E.37 with Sfl.Z.F.1a periscope, capable of indirect fire up to 10,000 m (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 188; Greenland et al., 2001, p. 7).

Combat History

The Nashorn was first delivered in February 1943, with frontline use starting by June. Units were organized as independent schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilungen, operating under army/corps command (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, pp. 189–197; Greenland et al., 2001, p. 6).

Notable combat events include:

• A T-34 knocked out at 4200 meters by 1./s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 525 (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 198)
• 57 Soviet tanks destroyed in 17 days by s.Pz.Jg.Kp. 521 (p. 202)
• 112 Soviet tanks destroyed in a week by s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519 during Operation Bagration (Greenland et al., 2001, p. 16)
• First confirmed JS-2 kill in May 1944 by s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 88 (p. 17)
• Final confirmed victory: an M26 Pershing destroyed at 500 m in March 1945 near Siehl (p. 17)

Units included: s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 560, 525, 655, 93, 88, 519, 664, and others. By December 1944, at least 165 Nashorns were still operational, representing nearly 30% of total production (Greenland et al., 2001, p. 17).

Tactical Assessment

British Army reports (W.O. W.I.R. 60, Oct. 1944) emphasized that the Nashorn:

• Should be held back and used en masse at the breakthrough point
• Was not suitable for static or forward assault roles
• Required well-trained crews and close support for recovery/logistics
• Was extremely effective in its role if deployed properly
  (Greenland et al., 2001, pp. 6–7)

Production

• 1943: 345 vehicles
• 1944: 133 vehicles
• 1945: 16 vehicles
  → Total: 494 produced
  (Jentz and Doyle, 2004, p. 186; confirmed by Greenland et al., 2001, p. 6)
• Chassis by Deutsche Eisenwerke AG (Duisburg)
• Final assembly by Deutsche Eisenwerke, Teplitz-Schönau
• Armor supplied by Witkowitzer Bergbau & Eisenhütten-Gewerkschaft
  (Greenland et al., 2001, p. 6)

Variants and Features

No official model designations exist, but production types can be grouped:

• Early: Hummel-style barrel clamp, rear muffler, twin Bosch headlamps, Pz.III Ausf. E sprockets
• Standard: New clamp, side exhausts, single left Bosch light, no rear muffler, Pz.III Ausf. J sprockets
  (Greenland et al., 2001, pp. 5–6)

Vehicles were sometimes field-modified with:

• Supplementary armor
• Spare roadwheels as glacis protection
• Camouflage net hooks, track lengths
• Painted names: Puma, Tannenberg, Erika (p. 20–21)

Camouflage and Markings

• Delivered in Dunkelgelb base with Olivgrün + Rotbraun camo applied at unit level
• From March 1945, some received factory-applied Buntfarbenanstrich (hard-edge 3-tone camo)
• Balkenkreuz usually placed above rear roadwheel on side
• Tactical numbers typically stenciled high on side plate or curved gun shield
• Unit symbols common: e.g. s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519 used animals, s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 525 used shield insignia
  (Greenland et al., 2001, pp. 20–21)

Performance Evaluation

The Nashorn combined:

• Outstanding firepower from the 8.8 cm Pak 43 — lethal at 2000+ meters
• Strategic mobility, though tactically limited by silhouette and armor
• Extremely high crew training requirements
  (Greenland et al., 2001, pp. 6–7)

Despite mechanical fragility and minimal protection, it remained in frontline service until 1945. Evaluators consistently emphasized it was effective if used correctly, and catastrophic if misused.

Technical Specifications

Feature	Specification
Crew	5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio)
Main Armament	8.8 cm Pak 43/1 L/71
Secondary Armament	MG34 (loose) + 2× MP40
Armor (superstructure)	10 mm; gun shield: 15 mm (from May 1943)
Engine	Maybach HL 120 TRM, 265 hp
Transmission	ZF SSG 77, 6-speed
Suspension	Leaf spring, 8×2 roadwheels
Speed (road)	40 km/h (avg. 25 km/h)
Range (road/cross)	260 km / 130 km
Fuel capacity	600 liters
Weight	24 tons
Ground pressure	0.85 kg/cm²
Trench crossing	2.2 m
Fording depth	1.0 m

Sources

• Jentz, Thomas L., and Hilary Louis Doyle. Panzer Tracts No. 7-1: Panzerjäger – 7.5 cm Pak 40/4 to 8.8 cm Waffenträger. Boyds, MD: Panzer Tracts, 2004.
• Greenland, Tony, Detlev Terlisten, Heiner F. Duske, and Frank Schulz. Nuts & Bolts Vol. 14: 8.8 cm Pak 43/1 L/71 auf Pz.Kpfw. III/IV (Sf) — Nashorn (Sd.Kfz. 164). Dülmen: Nuts & Bolts, 2001.