You know that:
- The development of the Wirbelwind as a successor to the obsolete Möbelwagen did not begin until 1944, because at the beginning of the war the German troops, due to their air superiority, did not fear attacks by Allied aircraft on the rapidly advancing Wehrmacht units.
- The original design called for an enclosed armoured turret, which failed in tests as none of the soldiers were able to last more than 60 seconds in a turret full of fumes from rapid-fire cannon fire.
- The production was first entrusted to the Krupp company, which assembled gun turrets on decommissioned, broken down or otherwise battle-damaged Panzer IV tanks.
- In April 1944, a film was made for A. Hitler demonstrating the Wirbelwind's combat capabilities, and after viewing it he ordered its immediate deployment to all anti-aircraft units.
- After the bombing of German industrial plants, the production of the turret was moved to Teplice and the final assembly to the Famo plant in Wroclaw.
- Only 5 vehicles were assembled in Wroclaw because almost all parts and raw materials for the assembly of the other units were missing.
- In total, about 112 units were produced.
- The soldiers called the tank's turret "Keksdose" (candy box) because of its shape.
- The manually rotating turret could be covered with a tarpaulin in case of bad weather.
- The wide barrel aiming adjustment allowed firing at air and ground targets at a rate of up to 1,800 rounds per minute.
- The first combat deployment occurred on 12 June 1944 in Normandy, where the inexperienced crew managed to shoot down two Allied fighters in the first day.
Technical parameters:.jpg)
- dimensions: length 5.92 m, width 2.90 m, height 2.76 m
- weight 25 000 kg
- hull armour 20- 80 mm, turret 16 mm
- power unit 12-cylinder Maybach HL 120 TRM petrol engine with 202 kW
- maximum speed on the road 38 km/h (off-road 20 km/h)
- range 200 km on the road and 130 km off-road
- wading distance 0.8 m
- main weapon 4x Flakvierling 38 cannon of 20 mm calibre
- 90 magazines with a total of 3,200 rounds
- secondary weapon MG 34 machine gun
- crew 5-6 persons
From the Memoirs of Wolfgang Bauer - 12th Panzer Division:
"I sat in the Wirbelwind for the first time only a few hours before the attack in the Ardennes began. None of our crew had experience with this machine. The wait for orders was long, so we decided to test fire at a nearby abandoned barn. The gunner sent a short burst. After two seconds with an unbearable noise and smoke, we saw that the barn was on fire. There was nothing we could do."
Assembly instructions
