Wervelschieter
| Wervelschieter | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Tank series |
| Manufacturer | Schroeter Traktoren |
| Model years | 1940–1945 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Armoured fighting vehicle |
| Powertrain | |
| Propulsion | Tracked |
| Chronology | |
| Era | Vader Era |
The Wervelschieter was a series of Dutch tank designs developed by Schroeter Traktoren between 1940 and 1945. Four variants were designed, beginning with the Wervelschieter.I, a 13.670-tonne vehicle armed with a 65 mm cannon. The final design, the Wervelschieter.III, weighed 67.538 tonnes and carried two cannons in separate turrets.
Development
[edit | edit source]Schroeter Traktoren developed the Wervelschieter.I in 1940, followed by a modified version in 1941 known as the Wervelschieter.IP or Plofmerg. Both used the same chassis, although the IP replaced the original 65 mm cannon with a short-barrelled 150 mm gun.
The Wervelschieter.II appeared in 1942 with a larger turret, an 85 mm cannon and a more powerful engine. In 1945, the company developed the Wervelschieter.III, which had a substantially longer chassis and a second turret. The production and service histories of the four designs have not been established.
Variants
[edit | edit source]Wervelschieter.I
[edit | edit source]The Wervelschieter.I was the first design, introduced in 1940. It weighed 13.670 tonnes and had a crew of three, with a 65 mm Wervelmerg-I-40-65 cannon mounted in a fully rotating turret. The chassis measured 3.099 metres in length and 1.770 metres in width. Armour thicknesses recorded in the design ranged from 5 to 250 mm.
The tank used a 4.0-litre two-cylinder engine and a transmission with five forward gears and two reverse gears. Its torsion-bar suspension supported tracks measuring 305 mm in width. Two fuel tanks provided a calculated capacity of approximately 109 litres.
Wervelschieter.IP
[edit | edit source]The Wervelschieter.IP was developed in 1941 using the chassis of the Wervelschieter.I. It was fitted with the 150 mm Plofmerg-I-23-150 cannon, a short-barrelled weapon originally designed in 1923. The heavier gun brought the vehicle's weight to 14.583 tonnes.
The IP retained the three-man crew, 4.0-litre engine and five-speed transmission of the original design. Its suspension, chassis dimensions and fuel capacity also remained unchanged, while the recorded armour thicknesses ranged from 5 to 250 mm.
Wervelschieter.II
[edit | edit source]Introduced in 1942, the Wervelschieter.II weighed 27.981 tonnes and had a crew of four. It carried an 85 mm Wervelmerg-II-42-85 cannon in a fully rotating turret. Although its chassis remained 3.099 metres long and 1.770 metres wide, the new design was considerably heavier than its predecessors. Recorded armour thicknesses ranged from 5 to 250 mm.
Schroeter Traktoren fitted the tank with a 12.0-litre four-cylinder engine and a transmission with eight forward gears and three reverse gears. Track width increased to 391 mm, and its four fuel tanks held approximately 217 litres in total. The vehicle retained torsion-bar suspension.
Wervelschieter.III
[edit | edit source]The Wervelschieter.III was developed in 1945 and was the largest of the four designs. Weighing 67.538 tonnes, it had a crew of five and carried a 105 mm cannon in its main turret. A smaller turret housed an additional 20 mm cannon. The main turret could rotate through 360 degrees, while the secondary turret had a traverse of 180 degrees.
The chassis measured 6 metres in length and 2.291 metres in width, nearly twice the length of the earlier Wervelschieter models. The tank used a 16.0-litre eight-cylinder engine, a transmission with ten forward gears and one reverse gear, and tracks measuring 759 mm in width. It retained torsion-bar suspension and carried approximately 770 litres of fuel. Recorded armour thicknesses ranged from 5 to 150 mm.