Wheels & Tracks Album #11: Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer Tank Destroyer

Jagdpanzer 38(t). Hetzer was built on the Panzerkampfwagen 38(t)‘s widened and lengthened chassis with modified suspension (larger road-wheels from Praga TNH n.A prototype reconnaissance tank) and up-rated engine. The new engine was 160hp Praga AC/2 6-cylinder engine controlled by Praga-Wilson gearbox (5 forward and 1 reverse gear). Chassis was modified in order to accommodate larger gun and thicker armor than regular Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) tank. Its combat weight was 16 metric tons (verses 9.8-tons for the Pz 38(t)) and it could travel at maximum speed of some 42km/h.

Jagdpanzer 38(t). The Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), later known as Hetzer ("baiter"), was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. The project was inspired by the Romanian "Mareşal" tank destroyer.

Jagdpanzer 38(t). The name Hetzer was at the time not commonly used for this vehicle. It was the designation for a related prototype, the E-10. The Škoda factory for a very short period confused the two names in its documentation and the very first unit equipped with the vehicle thus for a few weeks applied the incorrect name until matters were cleared. However, there exists a briefing paper from Heinz Guderian to Hitler claiming that an unofficial name, Hetzer, had spontaneously been coined by the troops. Post-war historians basing themselves on this statement made the name popular in their works, though the vehicle was never named as such in official documents.

A Jeep from the 26th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army drives past knocked out Hetzer tank destroyer on the road to Saarlautern.Next to the rear of the vehicle the body of a member of the crew. Germany, March 18, 1945.

A U.S. soldier poses in front of a destroyed Hetzer in Alsace in February 1945.

Hetzer tank destroyer.

Hetzer tank destroyer, 1945.

Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer.

Rear view of Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer at Bovington, circa 1970s.

Hetzer in Prague, 1945.

Hetzer.

Captured Hetzers.

Hetzer of Pz.Abt. 202 on 1 April 1945.

Abandoned Hetzer.

Hetzer on the outskirts of Budapest.

Damaged and knocked out Hetzers with other German vehicles in a collection area.

Hetzer.

Hetzer.

Hetzer.

Hetzer.

Destroyed Hetzer.

Allied officer checking out a destroyed Hetzer.

Hetzer production line.

Hetzer.

Abandoned Hetzers.

Completely destroyed Hetzer.

Hetzer in Prague in 1945.

 US soldiers of the 78th Infantry Division passing by two knocked-out Hetzer tank destroyers (one in winter camouflage) in Kesternich, Germany, in January 1945. 

Hetzer.

Hetzer in Berlin in 1945.

Pz.Jag.38 (t) “Hetzer” and Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. G “Panther” from 23.Pz.Div. Hungary, autumn of 1944.

Rear of knocked out Hetzer in 1945.

Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer being inspected by Hitler.

Local children on top of an abandoned Hetzer in a Polish village.

Knocked out Hetzers in Czechoslovakia in 1945.

Hetzer.

Destroyed and burning Hetzer.

Jagdpanzer 38(t). The Jagdpanzer 38 succeeded the open-top Marder III (based on the same chassis) in production from April 1944; about 2584 were built until the end of the war. The older Marder III Panzerjäger series retained the same vertically sided chassis as Panzer 38(t). In the Jagdpanzer 38, the lower hull sides slope 15 degrees outward to make roughly hexagonal shape when viewed from front or rear. This increased the available interior space and enabled a fully enclosed casemate-style fighting compartment. Because of the fully enclosed armor, it was 5 tons heavier than the Marder III. To compensate for the increased weight, track width was increased from 293 mm to 350 mm.

Jagdpanzer 38(t). It was better armored than the thinly armored earlier Panzerjäger Marder and Nashorn with a sloped armor front plate of 60 mm sloped back at 60 degrees from the vertical (equivalent in protection to about 120 mm), carried a reasonably powerful 75mm gun, was mechanically reliable, small and easily concealed. It was also cheap to build.

Jagdpanzer 38(t). The Jagdpanzer 38 equipped the Panzerjägerabteilungen (tank destroyer battalions) of the infantry divisions, giving them some limited mobile anti-armor capability.