Polish-seized Hetzer on a baricade during the Warsaw Uprising

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) (Sd.Kfz.138/2) was an excellent tank destroyer based on a slightly modified Czech Panzer 38(t) chassis. It was better armored than the earlier Panzerjäger Marder and Nashorn (60 mm sloped armour at 60 degrees, giving a equivalence of about 180 mm), carried a reasonably powerful gun, was mechanically reliable and small and easily concealed. It was also cheap to build. Its main failings were the cramped working condition of the crew and the gun mounting, which leftwards only allowed a limited traverse.

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) was intended to be more cost-effective than the much more ambitious Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger designs of the same period. Using a proven chassis, it avoided the mechanical problems of these mammoth armoured vehicles.

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) fitted into the lighter category of German tank destroyers that began with the Panzerjäger I, continued with the Marder series and ended with the Jagdpanzer 38(t). It had neither a very powerful gun (the 75 mm gun fitted was the same as the late Panzer IV marks and far less powerful than the 88 mm guns on other tanks or tank destroyers) nor particularly heavy armour. For this reason the Jagdpanzer 38(t) could not stand head-to-head with Allied heavy tanks or tank destroyers.

It should be noted that the name Hetzer was at the time never used for the vehicle. The usage is a postwar mistake conferring the name of a related prototype.

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) succeeded the Marder III (based on the same chassis) in production from April 1944; about 2584 were built until the end of the war. Its purpose was to equip the Panzerjägerabteilungen of the infantry divisions, giving them some limited mobile anti-armour capability. After the war Czechoslovakia continued to build the type and exported 158 vehicles to Switzerland. Most exemplars in today's collections are of Swiss origin.

Characteristics

• Role: tank destroyer
• Power plant: 120 kW (160 hp)
• Speed: road 42 km/h
• Range: 177 km
• Length: 6.38 m
• Width: 2.63 m
• Height: 2.17 m
• Weight: 15.75 tonnes
• Crew: 4
• Armament: 75 mm PaK39 L/48 gun with 40, later 45 rounds; remote-controlled MG on roof
• Armor: front 60 mm, side 20 mm, roof/rear 8 mm

External links

• Information about the Jagdpanzer 38 at Panzerworld
• PzFahrer's guide to the Jagdpanzer 38
• Achtung Panzer! Jpz 38(t) site