This vehicle was the only one of the series
to enter production. On 27th July 1942 Hitler issued an order for the
cancellation of the 5-ton Sd.Kfz.6 vehicle and for the turning over of
production facilities for this vehicle to the output of the sWS. The sWS was a
new, simplified, low-speed tractor designed primarily for use by infantry units
as a supply vehicle in adverse conditions. The parent firm was Bussing NAG of
Berlin Oberschönweide, and Ringhöfer-Tatra assisted in production. On 27th July 1942 the OKH
presented WaPruf.6 with a requirement for 7,484 of these vehicles to be
completed within the next two years. Production was scheduled to begin during
the spring of 1943 with a monthly output of 150; but the first vehicles did not
enter service until December 1943, when only five were completed. The firms
assigned to producing these vehicles were Bussing NAG and Tatra in
Czechoslovakia (the latter continuing production for some years after the war
for the Czech Army). By September 1944 only 381 sWS had been delivered to the
army, and total production by 1945 amounted to 1,000. The Tatra version
employed the air-cooled Tatra 111 engine.
The vehicle had a greatly simplified
suspension and dry-pin tracks. It was mainly intended as a supply vehicle,
although versions existed which had heavy bows for canvas covers and could
carry wounded men (four stretchers, six minor casualties and two orderlies).
There was also a version with an armoured cab which, apart from its role as a
normal tractor, was used as a platform for various weapons. It was originally
intended that the sWS should replace the Maultier hybrid semitracks which had
been produced as an expedient prior to its introduction; but as production
never reached a satisfactory level, the Maultier remained in service for the
remainder of the war.
The tractor was normally provided with an
open lorry body. The engine was a 6·cylinder Maybach HL42 TRKMS, basically
similar to and of the same rating as the engines used in the 1- and 3-ton
tractors, and it had dry-sump forced lubrication, using a gear-type pump. The
dry double-disc clutch, type PF220K, was the same as that used in the 1- and
3-ton tractors. The main gearbox, type Kb40D , gave four forward speeds and one
reverse speed and was of sliding-mesh, non-synchromesh type. The auxiliary
gearbox was connected to the main one by a short propeller shaft. Two ratios
were provided. The vehicle had a conventional controlled differential. The
steering brakes were mounted co-axially with the half-shafts and were pneumatically
operated. Here the road brakes were not integral with the driving sprockets.
The half-shafts drove the driving sprockets through final reduction gears
secured to each of the main chassis members. The suspension consisted of five
pairs of double overlapping bogies, there being three widely spaced and two
narrowly spaced on each side. The bogies were mounted on taper roller-bearings
on hubs carried on radius arms, each separately sprung by means of a
torsion-bar. The arrangement of these differed from that on the older
semi-tracked vehicles in that the radius arms on the two sides were directed in
opposite senses, those on the left pointing forward and those on the right
trailing. Further, each torsion·bar was arranged to be co-axial (whereas in the
older semi-tracks they were slightly offset) and tracks of the same number of
links were used on each side. The driving sprocket consisted of two truncated
cones, united at the smaller ends and carrying toothed rings bolted to the two
outer rims. The bogies consisted of pairs of identical shallow discs carrying
solid rubber tyres at their peripheries and were bolted to the hubs. They were
detachable without removing the hubs. The idlers consisted of spoked wheels,
rubber blocks being secured round their peripheries by steel clamping rings
that also acted as guides for the teeth of the tracks. The idlers were mounted
on cranked axles and the usual track-tensioning device was used, comprising a
nut and threaded rod device incorporating a shear-bolt. Each track consisted of
fifty-five main links, each carrying two spuds and two guide teeth, and an
equal number of intermediate links hinged together by track pins. The
intermediate I inks were secured on the outer side by a head and on the inner
side by a circlip and pin. The guide teeth ran between the widely-spaced bogies
but outside the narrowly-spaced ones. The track width was 500mm (19.7in).
The front wheel steering was of the ZF Ross
worm and- cam type, and it was connected with a pneumatic valve for operating
the track brakes when the steering wheel had been turned through a certain
angle. A new feature was a lever on the dashboard that enabled each track to be
braked independently, allowing the vehicle to be driven on one track only in
the event of one track slipping excessively or when removing tracks.
A winch was optional and would be
incorporated only by special request. It was driven from the auxiliary gearbox
through a propeller shaft and worm gear. The capacity of the winch was 5 tons.
The version with an armoured cab weighed
10.5-tons unladen and could carry up to 3 1/2 tons. The trailer load capacity
was 8 tons. In this version the engine, radiator and driver's compartment were
enclosed in light armour plate. This armour was joined by welding except that
of the engine cover, which was bolted on. The armour varied from 15mm on the
front to 8mm on the sides and roof. The body of the vehicle consisted of a
flatbed covered with steel plates and fitted with hinged sides. A compartment
of the same height as the sides extended across the rear of the body. A seat
for a gun crew was located at the back of the cab and was protected by an
extension of the side armour. A folding canvas top was provided. This armoured
version was not fitted with a winch.
Manufacturer: Bussing-NAG, Ringhoffer-Tatra
Chassis Nos.: 150001-
825 produced from December 1943 to March
1945
Crew: 2
Engine: Maybach HL42TRKMS
Gearbox: 2 x 4 forward, 2 x 1 reverse
Weight (tons): 13.5
Length (metres): 6.92
Width (metres): 2.5
Height (metres): 2.07
Speed (km/hr): 28
Range (km): 300
Armour: 6-15mm
No comments:
Post a Comment