Captured SdKFz 251
 

Hey guys - just wanted to pick some people's brains with more WW2 knowledge than myself.

I have a picture (which I haven't had digitally scanned in yet - I will get this done soon) of what appears to be a captured Hanomag that have 4.5 inch rocket tubes attached to it. They look almost identical to the 4.5 inch rocket tubes that were put on the Sherman T-34 Calliope.

I was wondering, has anyone heard of American units using captured Hanomag's in this way? Or anymore general information about this?

BTW the picture was taken in Belgium probably right after the Battle of the Buldge. It was taken by my Grandfather when he was there and sent it back to my Grandmother. Anyways I'll try to get it scanned and upload ASAP. Any information anyone can add would be great. Thanks.

Please dont put in Calliope, rocket willys is way sexier.

I thought you had "Rocket Willy" tattoed on your, uh, special purpose.

You sure it's not a captured Panzerwerfer 42?

http://www.brookhursthobbies.com/ima...scale/wz25.jpg

Indeed. right now it just says... lly...

ahhh, you know... Im not even gonna finish this one. ***Runs anyway!

Not completely sure but if thats an accurate depiction of how the Panzerwerfer 42 looks than I'd say no. The rocket tubes have two bracings on them instead of one, plus it looks a bit different in the frame than that. Perhaps when I can get a scan in we can tell by the number on the front of the 251 - you can see it in the picture but I'll need it enhanced to be able to read all the numbers off of it.

Just post the pic as best you can or post it someplace like Photobucket and link it.

There a few people who lurk here who should have no problem IDing what kind of WW2 vehicle it is.

Alright, here is the picture.

It's an Sd. Kfz. 251 for sure.

That's pretty nifty

Yeah, the basis vehicle is an sdkfz 251 ausf B.

Found this by an accident:
http://www.panzernet.net/panzernet/f...251/extra2.jpg
Instalace šedesátihlavňové zbraně si však vynutila i zásah do pancéřování vozu. Zadní dveře musely být odstraněny a z boční stěny byl vyříznut pruh pancíře aby uvolnil prostor pro zvedací mechanismus hlavní. Evidentně se jednalo pouze o experiment, který měl pravděpodobně ověřit možnosti využití ukořistěných německých polopásů. Stroj však nebyl nikdy bojově nasazen.
Ani SdKfz 251 se nevyhnulo šetření každou kapkou benzínu a tak tedy vznikla i jeho verze na alternativní pohon. Na přídí a na zádi se objevily nádrže na výrobu a skladování dřevoplynu a stroj byl doslova obehnán trubkami. Takto upravené vozy pravděpodobně nesloužili jako bojové stroje ale spíše jako podpůrná vozidla k dopravě munice, náhradních dílů nebo něčeho podobného.

what does that say?

Not sure about the text, but from what I have understood it is US Calliope installed on Sdkf 251 Pak modification (see the turret on the side). They have made it so that the turret will rise and lower the launcher. But it is not SP, it is missing the tracks.

A very nice picture you got there !
The only other pic I found on the Internet is the one with the damaged Track that j_fin already posted.

Some Info about this modification can be found here: 251 / Calliope

And there is also this model made after it: Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf.D mit Calliope


If you look carefully at the side, you can see that it´s an SdKfz 251 Ausf.D:
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6079/a112ld6.th.jpg
(from: Die Halbkettenfahrzeuge des Deutschen Heeres 1909-1945, Motorbuchverlag Stuttgart)

The WH on the numbersign means that it was assigned to the Wehrmacht (WL = Luftwaffe).

cheers, Mad

Thanks for the replies everyone! Thats cool seeing another picture of and SDK with the rocket launcher on it.

From all I've read and can tell is that it is indeed the Calliope rocket launcher of the 4.5 inch style.

From what I gathered from my Dad and what his Dad told him - they did most of these conversions after the Battle of the Bulge because there were so many German vehicles around that were captured. One of the main reasons they put the rockets on the 251 was because it was a more stable platform to shoot from. Apparently they also had these rockets on a trailer type platform but it wasn't very stable and fell over when they fired the rockets.

Wow interesting! Nice photo you got there Mnenoch. I wonder what Taranov has to say about this convertion.