“A single prototype was built by Ostbau in January-February 1945, but the Ostwind II never entered production.”
Literature:
- Jentz T., Doyle H. Flakpanzerkampfwagen IV and other Flakpanzer projects development and production from 1942 to 1945. – Panzer Tracts, 2010
- Ledwoch J. Flakpanzer. – Militaria, 1999
- Terlisten D., Duske H.Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind (Sd.Kfz.161/4), Ostwind and Kugelblitz. – Nuts & Bolts Verlag, 2010
This is a more completely sourced article, and covers the contradictory sources in more detail.
Ultimately, the only sources are some technical drawings and supposition. Without photographic evidence, and given the various technical problems the project would have had to overcome at a time when Germany was cripplingly low on resources to solve such problems, I think it’s fair to say it’s existance is at least debatable.
I dunno if stapling a second gun inside an open top turret would have been super technically challenging
Either way It’s not outside the realm of possibility and a prototype having been built meets Gaijin’s requirements for “no paper tanks”
I don’t think it being in the game actively harms historical realism or game balance it’s not exactly overpowered and it’s certainly not the Coelian lol
I think you misunderstood my point, I wasn’t claiming that the Ostwind II is definitely fictional and shouldn’t have been added, I was merely saying that removing the Coelian for being “fictional” and then replacing it with the Ostwind II, a vehicle that’s practically as fictional, made no sense. There was room for both vehicles in the German tree if needed, and both have enough documented sources about them that their in game renditions could be made accurate.
As for the technical difficulties, it’s worth remembering that the default Ostwind turret was already considered cramped with a single gun. And the original 3.7 cm Zwillingflak 43 oreintation was vertical, which also had to be reworked to fit into said cramped turret. It certainly wouldn’t have been trivial, especially with just a few months of the war left, most of the Germany heavy industry in ruins, and severely limited resources to throw into a somewhat low key prototype like this. Again, not saying it’s impossible, just saying that it’s not certain.
Larger difference ignoring historical accuracy is one tank is a regular open top SPAA the other is the most heavily armored SPAA in the entire game.
Watch your tone, US main
.
Wasnt the Z46 and Z47 different types of the same Destroyer?
Nope. That prize goes to the Skink, at least in terms of survivability against aircraft. The 341 has 16mm of roof armor, vulnerable even to .50s at close range, whereas the Skink has 19.5mm over the engine deck and 25mm+ everywhere else.
The Kugelblitz is also in contention here, as it has 20mm over the turret roof and the ball turret’s internal armor does make it very trolly against tank shells.
Hell, even the Crusader AA Mk II has better armor on the turret (20mm again), albiet at the cost of a very weak engine deck.
Different hulls of a class started, but never completed, Just like the Kron
remove flakpanzer?
how about remove HSTVL, ADATS, XP-50, XP-55 etc?
I don’t think people complain about the Flakpanzer 341 as an SPAA in its role against aircraft, but I could be mistaken.
I think it’s more the panther chassis rolling around with twin 37mms blasting the side of tanks.
Still as I’ve noted:
Conversely, I’ve only ever seen complaints about it being strafe-proof against aircraft. Is it really all that special against tanks? The twin 37mms only have 49mm of pen, that’s marginal against even medium tank side armor at that tier. The Ostwind II has the same guns at 5.7, and that already struggles in an anti-tank role, you’re basically only useful against super lightly armored targets like Hellcats and PT-76s. The 341 may have Panther hull armor, but that’s nothing special at the tier, and the turret is such an easy shot.
The Kugelblitz is far scarier, with the 77mm HVAP, 58mm AP and the internal ball turret armor that trolls APDS and low caliber HEAT like crazy. Sure, you don’t get the Panther hull, but anything weak enough to be dealt with by the twin 37mm will have a lolpen round that’ll cut right through that armor like it’s not even there.
Yeah? How so?
No, it isn’t.
It was removed because it wasn’t historical and it was horrible to implement any new function.
Oh, sorry, your sight parallax is off? Well it’s too bad the tank didn’t exist, and we have no clue where the gunner sight is.
Why wouldn’t it be available for use in games? People put in the time to unlock it, why would it be taken away?
Even to the point of the CV90 being entirely replaced, and players getting the new XC-8 variant without pay.
There’s only 1 vehicle that is “fantasy” in the bluewater fleet, and that’s the Kronshtadt. The hull was almost completely built by the end of the war, the turrets and barbettes fully built but not implemented due to the incomplete hull, and even powerplant systems were ready to be fitted.
If you complain about the 341 against tanks then that is a massive skill issue.
It has virtually no pen how are you letting yourself die to it, it can’t even pen most tanks it faces at that BR from the sides.
The more likely scenario is it’s salty CAS complaining that they can’t machine gun a SPAA to death or drop a bomb in roughly the same grid square and overpressure it because it isn’t open topped.
hehehehe
someone wants it to be removed
the other wants it to come back
I want it to come back because even if its a prototype, it was still more complete than the Ostwind II that replaces it
You do realize that this game is wrong. It was bug reported numerous times but nothing changed:
I didn’t know that. However, the important roof armor for SPAAs is generally the turret roof, and that’s what prevents the gun from being knocked out during a head on with a plane. And AFAIK, that armor is accurate, although feel free to correct me, information on the Coelian is hard to find.