Tiger II, Power on the Prowl

[cyberia]

I don't think I ever saw smoke launchers on a T-II.

[LAH 1 SS]

tiger 2 vehicles were never fitted with smoke dischargers

[cyberia]

That explains it.

[Randy]

As a note for those unfamiliar (maybe no one here) with the WW2 German practice, all turrets were government supplied equipment and made by Krupp. Only the hulls (running) were made by the various manufacturers (Henschel, Porsche). So . . . why do we call the early Tiger B turret the "Porsche" turret? Because we won the war and what are ya goin' to do about it!


"Tanks - Know your target" some airplane guy.

[McCoy]

It's all about who designed the turrets, that's why. If the Germans had persisted in using the "Porsche" türm then we wouldn't even know that it was a Porsche design as we wouldn't separate the different variants withh "Porsche", "Henshel" or "Production turret".

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by LAH 1 SS

tiger 2 vehicles were never fitted with smoke dischargers

Instead of smoke dischargers the Tiger II had a Nahverteidigungswaffe.

This was a short 92 mm mortar type device mounted on the top of the turret. It could fire smoke grenades, and fragmentation grenades for point defense against enemy infantry. It could also be used as a port to fire a flare pistol. This device was also mounted on the JagPanzer IV, JagPanther, JagTiger, Tiger I, Panther G, Sturmtiger, StuG III and apparently even on the Panzer IV.

See this link for more info and pictures:
Die Nahverteidigungswaffe

The pics below are what it looks like inside and outside the tank. On the outside it is the round plate with the oblong hole in it on the near side and on top of the turret.

[Pirate-Drakk]

Nahverteidigungswaffe

More shots....

[LAH 1 SS]

thank you for the correction pirate drak i forgot the close in weapon system fires the smoke cannisters just a quextion is the first photo from a stug 3 it looks like it

[Randy]

Originally Posted by McCoy

It's all about who designed the turrets, that's why. If the Germans had persisted in using the "Porsche" türm then we wouldn't even know that it was a Porsche design as we wouldn't separate the different variants withh "Porsche", "Henshel" or "Production turret".

As I understand it, the "Porsche" turret was designed by Krupp for the Porsche Tiger B prototype VK4502(P). The Porsche chassis was not practical (if only for its massive use of copper - lol) and was not ordered. The turret, however, was accepted for production and 50 were completed and known as the "P-2 turm" (for the second Porsche prototype). The Henschel chassis was accepted for production but the Krupp turret specifically designed for it was not and the 50 P-2s were adapted for it and when the hulls were finally ready for them they were installed. Henschel had objections to aspects of this turret and had ideas for improvement so Krupp redesigned the P-2 turret to address these concerns as well as optimize the design for the Henschel hull and production. This was called the "Krupp Serien Turm" (Series Turret). How much input Henschel had I have no idea, I do believe they may have actually done a full redesign of the P-2 but how much of this Krupp may or may not have incorporated I really don't know (some sources say Henschel simply delegated the redesign to Krupp). As I understand it Porsche had nothing to do with the P-2 turret design.

Just what I recall . . . could be wrong.





Who wants ice cream?

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by LAH 1 SS

thank you for the correction pirate drak i forgot the close in weapon system fires the smoke cannisters just a quextion is the first photo from a stug 3 it looks like it

Technically the Nahverteidigungswaffe is more then just a "smoke discharger" since it was multifunctional. It is certainly not a very obvious component on the tank like the normal smoke dischargers since most of it is on the inside.

As far as the pics go, the first very well may be a Stg III. I'm not sure. I think the second one is from a JagPanzer IV. I don't think any of those inside shots are from Tiger IIs. The sites I got the pics from weren't very specific.