Jagdpanzer 38 of 11. Panzer-Division and Panzerjäger-Abteilung 553

Image size: 1600 x 1041 pixel. 556 KB
Date: Monday, 7 May 1945
Place: Černá v Pošumaví, Český Krumlov District, South Bohemian Region, Czechoslovakia
Photographer: US Army photographer

7 May 1945. The war is over for these Jagdpanzer 38s. This image was shot by a US Army cameraman attached to the US 26th Infantry Division. The graffiti on the side of the Jagdpanzer is interesting. It is thought that the series of photo was shot in Černá v Pošumaví (then known as Schwarzbach) on the Czech/Austrian border and shows the surrender of mixed elements of both 11. Panzer-Division and Panzerjäger-Abteilung (Pz.Jg.Abt.) 553 to the 16th S&R Platoon/101st Infantry Regiment/26th Infantry Division. This heavily camouflaged Jagdpanzer 38 has a cover on the muzzle.

Source:

"Panzerwrecks: German Armour 1944-45" magazine 3rd edition by Lee Archer and William Auerbach

Early Model Jagdpanzer IV at Aberdeen Ordinance Museum

Image size: 1600 x 967 pixel. 385 KB
Date: Thursday, 1 January 1948
Place: Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, USA
Photographer: Armin Sohns

Jagdpanzer (Hunting Tank) IV (Sd.Kfz.162) armed with a 75mm (3 inch) L/48 gun. Also designed as Sturmgeschütz (assault gun) neuer Art (new design) mit (with) 7.5cm PaK L/48 auf Fahrgestell (based on chassis) Panzerkampfwagen IV. This is an early production vehicle because it has four return rollers; later Jagdpanzer IVs only had three. The stopgap Marder I/II/III designs (various captured Soviet, Czech and French guns and tanks welded together to form tank destroyers) were unsatisfactory and in December 1942, the Jagpanzer IV was ordered from manufacturer Vogtlandische Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft (Vomag) in Plauen, Germany in December 1942. After a year of design and testing a prototype was presented to Reichskanzler (Reichchancellor) Adolf HItler and accepted for production. Over 750 vehicles, including the one in this view, were produced between January-November 1944. This "short" version of the Jagdpanzer IV is missing its muzzle brake, which dampened recoil and gun rising during discharge. The muzzle brake was found to give away the Jagdpanzer IV's position, and many crews had already removed them in the field. In May 1944, Jagdpanzer IVs were made without a muzzle brake. An updated version of the Jagdpanzer IV mounted heavier armor and a longer L/70 gun. This example was either captured in Italy or Normandy and shipped to the Ordinance Museum for testing. It was scrapped as part of an unfortunate consolidation during the Korean War. Aberdeen has an L/70 version that survived the cutter's torch. 

Source:

Charles Kliment photo collection

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0070

Jagdpanzer 38(t) "Hetzer" of Heeresgruppe Sudukraine

Image size: 1600 x 1101 pixel. 395 KB
Date: Sunday, 20 August 1944
Place: Hungary
Photographer: Wilhelm Kreutzer

A Jagdpanzer 38(t) (SdKfz 138/2) "Hetzer" tank destroyer number 132, part of a mixed column of tanks, mules and horses of Heeresgruppe Sudukraine (Army Group South Ukraine), moves through a town during the evacuation of surviving German forces during the Soviet Jassy-Kishinev Strategic Offensive Operation. The propaganda value of this photo is that the forces of Heeresgruppe Sudukraine appear to escape to Hungary, when the actual situation was that the Soviets successfully prevented most of Heeresgruppe Sudukraine from escaping Romania. The Soviets effectively destroyed Heeresgruppe Sudukraine and opened the way for the Soviet Union to enter Romania and force that nation to switch allegiance from Germany to the Soviet Union. This "Hetzer" was manufactured in June or July 1944 by BMM. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) ("t" for Tschech or Czech) was based on the Skoda Works' Panzer 38(t), known as LT vz.38 before the Germans completely took over Czechoslovakia in April 1939. Superior to the German Panzer I and II, by 1943 German forces were having serious trouble competing with the Soviet T-34. Colonel General Heinz Guderian demanded a better tank destroyer, capable of defeating the T-34. The stopgap open-top Marder I/II/III series had limited mobility and exposed the crews to small-arms fire. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) was cramped and unpopular with crews because the right-mounted gun also loaded on the right, reducing the rate of fire. Four crewmen were squeezed into the hull, and the commander had trouble seeing over the top of the tank if the panzer was in a hull-down camouflaged position. Despite these shortcomings, it was a formidable opponent for the Allies, because its small size and low profile, combined with its long-range 75mm (3 inch) gun, often gave the first shot to the Hetzer. Historians debate over whether the name "Hetzer" was adopted during or after the war. Skoda continued to manufacture the Hetzer after the war, and Sweden operated the type for several decades. 

Source:

Kommunikations und Begegnungszen 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0063