[WWII] SdKfz 231 6x4 armored car (Germany)

[copeab]

SdKfz 231 armored car
Copyright 2012 by Brandon Cope

When the Wehrmacht began rearming in the 1930's, the SdKfz 231 was one of the first armored cars to enter service for it. It was a large 6x4 wheeled vehicle that was little more than an armored body atop a truck chassis. It served a vital training role and was still in service in sufficient numbers by 1939. It was used in significant numbers in Poland and France, but was greatly hampered by it's poor cross-country mobility. It was used in smaller numbers in Russia in 1941, but afterward was relegated to internal security and, coming full circle, training. Over 1,000 were built.

The SdKfz 231 has a crew of four: driver, commander and second driver in the body and gunner slit between the body and turret. The turret was manually rotated at 8 degrees per second by the gunner. The armored car used 2.7 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Heavy Small Wheeled chassis +3, Medium Weapon turret +2, ten off-road wheels +1.
Powertrain: 60-kW gas engine with 60-kW wheeled transmission and 26.4-gallon standard fuel tank; 4,000-kWs batteries
Occupancy: 3 CS Body, 1 CS Both. Cargo: 10.5 Body.

Armor
Body: F 4/25, RL 4/25, B 4/15, T 4/15, U 4/15
Tur: F 4/25, RL 4/25, B 4/15, T 4/15, U 0/0

Weaponry
20mm Long Ground Autocannon/20mm KwK38 [Turret:F] (200).
Ground LMG/ MG 34 [Turret:F] (1,500).

Equipment
Body: Small radio transmitter and transceiver, backup driver option.

Statistics
Size: 19'x6'x7'
Payload: 0.59 tons
Lwt: 6.2 tons
Volume: 41
Maint.: 120 hours
Price: $2,350

HT: 12.
HP: 500 [body], 150 [turret], 36 [each wheel]

gSpeed: 40
aAccel: 2
aDecel: 10
aMR: 0.25
aSR: 4
Very High Ground Pressure. 1/8 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes
The design speed was 50 mph. The turret HPs, cost and weight were doubled. Weight was increased 12.7%.

The second driver was seated at the back of the vehicle, facing to the rear. He drove if the vehicle had to retreat quickly.

Variants
The early models were armed with the KwK 30 and MG 13, but these were replaced early in the war.

The SdKfz 232 had a Medium radio set with a large and distinctive antenna frame over the body and turret.

The SdKfz 263 was a command variant with additional radio gear. The turret was replaced by a fixed superstructure was was armed with only a single machinegun.