15 cm sIG 33

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15 cm sIG 33

Type	Close support infantry gun
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	1933
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Rheinmetall
Designed	1927
Number built	around 4,600
Variants	Many
Specifications
Weight	1,750 kg
Length	4.42 m
Width	2.06 m

Shell	38 kg Infanterie-Granate 38
Elevation	- 4° to + 75°
Traverse	11°
Rate of fire	3 rounds/10 min
Muzzle velocity	240 m/s
Effective range	4,650 m
Feed system	3-round
Sights	None

The sIG 33 (schweres Infanterie Geschütz 33) was a German 150 mm close support infantry gun used in the Second World War. The gun used was the standard German infantry heavy field cannon.

1 Self-propelled mounts
2 Source
3 References

[edit] Self-propelled mounts

sIG 33 I (Sf), sIG 33 gun on Panzer I chassis

The idea for creating the sIG 33 was the realization that one could couple the immense power of artillery and give it a lot more mobility in the form of a motorized chassis. It was first mounted on a Panzer I chassis and given armored side skirts, but this was soon found to be unbalanced and the huge recoil made it very dangerous to fire because the vehicle could flip over on its side. Since the Panzer I chassis was found to be ineffective, production switched to the Panzer II, Panzer 38(t) and later the Panzer III and Panzer IV. The success of the Grille (German: "Cricket") inspired the development of the Wespe ("wasp") and Hummel ("Bumblebee") self propelled artillery vechicles which were however armed with different long barreled guns.

[edit] sIG 33 I (Sf)

38 produced in February 1940 by Alkett. Assigned to the six Panzer Divisions in the Battle of France.

[edit] sIG 33 II (Sf)

12 built at the end of 1941, shipped to North Africa in 1942.

[edit] Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B

24 built by Alkett starting in September 1942.

[edit] sIG 38 (Sf)

Built in two versions

Grille Ausf. H

91 produced in the BMM factory in Prague from February to April 1943.

Grille Ausf. M

282 from April 1943 to September 1944.

[edit] Source

Chamberlain, Peter, and Hilary L. Doyle. Thomas L. Jentz (Technical Editor). Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two: A Complete Illustrated Directory of German Battle Tanks, Armoured Cars, Self-propelled Guns, and Semi-tracked Vehicles, 1933–1945. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1978 (revised edition 2004).