- Yes
- No
The Rauchwagen short RW made by Krupp in the early 1930s and was a alternative design to the Begleitwagen II Krupp, for a similar purpose like the british 3 Inch howitzer vehicles.
The Rauchwagen is identical to the Begleitwagen II Krupp but instead of the 7,5 cm KwK L/24 it recived an 10,5 cm KwK L/16. To be able to create smokes big smokescreens (Rauch) and better support infantry with greater He charge, as well as greater AT performance in comparisson to the L/24.
Its results and performance (appart from the hard stats) are sadly lost to histroy.
Overall its the hull of the B.W. II with the superstructure of the Pz IV Ausf. B, and the Turret of the B.W. with an 10,5 cm KwK L/16. In April of 1938 it was constructed and completed, then again later in an report dated 17th Nov 1938 the turret was taken off and mounted on an special stand for trails and the tank converted to a bridgelayer.
So while there is sadly no full picture, instead there are pictures about the turret and the full rest of the hull (in form of the Brückenleger). Overall it looks like a normal Pz IV Ausf. B, but it has 6 big roadwheels with tortionbar suspention, a different sprocketwheel and a 10,5 cm KwK.
The Vehicle has all around hull armor 14,5 mm armor with 30mm at the front and 20mm all round turret armor with 30mm at the front, an coax Mg 34, top speed of 34,71 km/s, 17,2 t weight and 270 PS.
Overall the driving performance will be good but somewhat slow, similar to the in game Pz III Ausf.B.
It could be placed in a folder with the Pz IV Ausf.C
Pictures:(Click to show)
Here is a good model, tho with the L/24 Begleitwagen II Krupp — Каропка.ру — стендовые модели, военная миниатюра
It might look like this (not the hull)
The Gun, overall source is barly documented, it was an 10,5 cm L/16 gun. There are no further informations about it, however there is exactly one other 10,5 cm L/16 gun from that time that did enter service. Unlike for example the 10,5 cm KwK L/28 (DW) its not based on a 10,5 cm LeFH, and uses 1 piece ammo, as such it would rather be the same as the L/28 (DW) rather than what the LeFH and StuH have.
The 10,5 cm LeFH 98/09, while sometimes written as L/16 is infact L/12 and the 10,5 cm LeFH 16 is L/22. The 98/09 was also alread in WW1 taken from service and didnt have smoke rounds, nor was compatible with the ammo.
The gun would have left and right recoil cylinders, which was the usual mounting type of the time by germany or be simply flipped to one side, -10° to +20° with 40 rounds, 16°/sec turret traverse and a bit faster reload than the in game StuH 42 so around 9 sec or faster for ballancing.
The gun, unlike the field guns uses one piece ammo, because it aids in reloading and 2 piece ammo is suboptimal in tanks as well as different bag charges are not needed, that was also taken over later in the 10,5 cm KwK L/28 (DW) for the Vk 30 and 36 series. This only relatively limits the ammo availability, instead of the normal F.H.Gr. HE rounds, it has the Gr.34, which has a crimping rim and is slightly weaker, otherwise irrelevant. The Gr.39 series is pretty much meta for HE power anyway.
Also the Gr.39 HL/C could be left away for ballancing, like the Pz IV Ausf.C also doesnt have the /C.
10,5 cm KwK L/16
-10° to 20° at 8-10°/sec horizontal traverse at 16°/sec
Velocity will follow when i have access to another document.
Ammo:(Click to show)
Ap:
Pzgr. (Aphe) 14 kg 238g (304,64g aquivalent) filler ? m/s ?mm/10m
Pzgr. Rot (Apcbc) 15,56 kg 250g (357,5g) ?m/s ?mm/10m
Gr.39 Rot Hl/B (Heat) 12,35 kg 2,53 kg filler aquivalent ?m/s 105mm/all
(More Pictures in Hl/C)
Gr.39 Rot Hl/C (Heat) 12,35 kg 2,53 kg filler aquivalent ?m/s 115mm/all
He:
Sprgr.34 (He (TF)) 14,85 kg 1,6 kg filler Fp.02 und Np.10 (2,05 kg TnTa) ?m/s
Utility:
F.H. Gr. Nb. (Smoke) 14 kg 50g smokestuff ?m/s
Kt. (Canitster Shot) 15 kg ?m/s
The Vehicle:
Weight: 16 Ton
Speed: 32,4 km/h at 2800 RPM and 34,71km/h at 3000 RPM
Engine: Hl 108 TR 270 Ps/3000 Rpm and 250 PS/2800 RPM
Crew: 5
Armor: 14,5-30mm
Source:
Thomas L.Jentz, Hilary Louise Doyle - Panzerkampfwagen IV
Grosstraktor to Panzerbefehlswagen IV, Panzer tracts No.4
Walter J. Spielberger - Panzer IV & its Variants
Thomas L. Jentz, Hillary Louis Doyle - Panzer Tracts No.23 - Panzer Production from 1933 to 1945
