Sturmtiger

The Sturmtiger, officially the Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61, was a German Second World War assault gun that mounted a 380 mm rocket-propelled mortar in a fixed casemate on a rebuilt Tiger I chassis. It was meant to give heavy fire support to infantry in urban fighting, an idea that came from the experience of Stalingrad in 1942, and its launcher was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth charge launcher. Krupp was to fabricate new Tiger I hulls, Henschel assembled the chassis and Alkett mounted the superstructures. The first prototype was shown to Hitler in October 1943 and production followed in 1944 in very small numbers. The vehicles fought in the Warsaw Uprising, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Reichswald, and one example survives at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia.