8 cm PAW 600
8 cm Panzerabwehrwerfer 600 | ||
---|---|---|
Breech vertical sliding-block | | |
Recoil | Hydro-pneumatic | |
Carriage | Split trail | |
Elevation | -6° to +32° | |
Traverse | 55° | |
Muzzle velocity | 520 m/s (1,706 ft/s) | |
Effective firing range | 750 m (820 yd) (anti-tank) | |
Maximum firing range | 6,200 m (6,800 yd) (high explosive) |
The PAW 600 (Panzerabwehrwerfer 600, officially designated 8H63) was a lightweight
Background
By 1943, the
Design and development
In 1943, a specification was issued for a lightweight anti-tank gun that used less propellant than a rocket or recoilless weapon, yet was sufficiently accurate to hit a 1-meter square target at a range of 750 meters.
Unlike previous anti-tank guns, which relied on firing steel projectiles at high velocities to penetrate heavy armor, the 8H63 was designed to fire shaped charge ammunition (also called hollow-charge ammunition, high explosive anti-tank, or HEAT). Because shaped charge warheads perform best when no spin is imparted on the projectile, the 8H63 was a smoothbore design. To simplify development and manufacture, the projectiles used were based on the widely used 8 cm Granatwerfer 34 mortar (actual caliber 81.4 mm). This allowed the use of existing tooling in the manufacture of the ammunition, which reduced the costs. The cartridge case was developed from the 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer.
The standard shaped charge projectile, which was designated 8 cm W Gr Patr H1 4462, weighed 2.70 kg. The propelling charge was 360 g of Digl B1 P (compared to a 500 g propelling charge for a Gr 38 Hl/B fired from a PAK 40), which produced a muzzle velocity of 520 mps and provided an effective range of 750 meters against a 1m² target. Armor penetration was 140mm of vertical armor, which was comparable to the 7.5 cm PAK 40 firing the rare and expensive tungsten-cored PzGr40 shot.
Other uses and rounds
Because the ammunition was developed from the standard infantry mortar, any type of round developed for the mortar could have been readily adapted for the 8H63, including high-explosive (HE),
Production
Some 260 guns and 34,800 rounds of ammunition were completed from December 1944, with 81 guns delivered to the troops in January 1945 and 155 listed on 1 March 1945. Plans had called for the production of 1,000 guns, 4,000,000 anti-tank and 800,000 explosive shells per month. Production models were fitted with PAK 40 muzzle brakes and had either the purpose-built light carriage or used redundant PAK 38 carriages, which were slightly heavier.
Further development perspectives
Several self-propelled models were proposed in 1945, but the war ended before even prototypes could be built. It is clear that, had the war in Europe carried on longer, the 8H63 would have been a major factor and would likely have complemented the towed PAK 40 and replaced various 7.5 cm infantry guns in production.
Use in combat
The weapon was used near the River Aller on 14 April 1945, as described in the following account by the official history of 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars by Major G Courage 15/19H, who was with the regiment on the day.
"The enemy resistance had been determined and tough, only equalled by that met in the Rhineland fighting. The Marines had used their SA weapons and bazookas with skill and they had been well backed up by the large number of guns sited in support of them. Their 88-mm guns were well sited and difficult to spot in the thick country which was admirably suited to defence. The one which had given the most trouble was afterwards found to be well dug in and almost impossible of detection from the A or C Squadron positions. We found too that the first guns which had been met were 75-mm bored out to 80-mm and firing a hollow charge projectile through a smooth bore.
This was a new weapon and, although it was not thought to be effective over about five hundred yards, it was an interesting example of German improvisation."
Nomenclature
The Panzerabwehrwerfer 600 ("anti-tank thrower") designation was used by Rheinmetall during the design phase. The service designation was 8H63 in accordance to the new designation system used during the last year of the war.
In 1944–5, the Germans changed their system of artillery designations from the old "year" system. Each weapon was to have a number showing their caliber group, a letter denoting the ammunition group, and the last two digits were from the weapon drawing number. In this case, 8H denoted an 81.4 mm caliber weapon using the H group of ammunition. The shells were all to be designated as H with a four digit number, the first three were the drawing number and the last was the shell's category from the following list:
# | Shell type | # | Shell type |
---|---|---|---|
1 | high explosive
|
6 | gas |
2 | hollow charge anti-tank
|
7 | incendiary |
3 | armor-piercing
|
8 | leaflet |
4 | high explosive, high capacity | 9 | practice |
5 | smoke | 10 | proof projectile |
In museums
Coastal Defence Museum in Świnoujście (Poland) - one of three remaining PAW 600 in the world.[1] Aberdeen Proving ground in Maryland, USA.
References
- ^ "Unikat z dna Świny trafił do naszego muzeum!". fort-gerharda.pl. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3
- Fleischer, Wolfgang and Eiermann, Richard. "German Anti-Tank (Panzerjager) Troops in WWII" Schiffer Military Publishing, Atglen PA 2004. ISBN 0-7643-2096-3
- Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X
- Courage, Guy. The History of 15/19 the King's Royal Hussars 1939-1945. Aldershot, 1949