German Ammunition Loadouts

German tank and anti-tank gunners typically had several different types of ammunition available to be used against different types of targets. Not all types of ammunition were developed for each gun, but most tank and anti-tank guns had at least some type of armor piercing and high explosive ammunition.

The standard armor-piercing ammunition for most guns was a solid-body steel shot (AP, ABC, APCBC). For some guns, the standard armor-piercing ammunition was HEAT. This was typically the case for guns that could not handle high-pressure ammunition, such as the 7,5 cm Pak 97/38, or weapons that were designed to be recoilless, such as the Panzerschreck. Later in the war, HEAT ammunition became available to most large-caliber guns.

To defeat targets with armor too thick for the standard armor-piercing ammunition, many guns also had APCR ammunition. Due to raw material shortages, German APCR ammunition was often in short supply, and for many guns only a small number of test rounds were ever manufactured.

Each gun had an officially number of each type of round. The number of each type actually carried depended on front-line availability. In addition, the official guidelines would likely have been deviated from for specific missions. Even so, the official loadouts are helpful in determining which ratio of different types targets the guns were expected to encounter.

For a detailed description of the ammunition types mentioned below, see the anti-tank ammunition type article. For a detailed description of the German ammunition designations, see the German ammunition nomenclature article.

Allocation Process

The following procedure is an abridged description based on an 8 August 1944 document issued by the Gruppe Munition (Ammunitions Section) of the Oberkommando des Heeres (German Army High Command)1. The full process included a total of 33 different forms.

• Army groups and armies reported their ammunition inventory at regular intervals. There were different intervals for different army groups and armies, as well as for different types of ammunition:
  • By default, daily inventory reports were to be sent by teletype. For Heeresgruppe E, Heeresgruppe F, and 2. Panzer-Armee, the teletype reports were to be sent every third day.
  • On the 1st, 10th, and 20th of every month, an inventory report was to be sent by courier.
  • On the 1st and 15th of every month, an inventory report was to be sent by courier. This report on the 1st of every month was different from the previous report on the 1st of every month.
  • Every five days, an inventory report of tank and anti-tank gun ammunition was to be sent.
• On the 15th of every month, army groups were to telephone in their ammunition requests. Under special circumstances, additional telephone requests could be made at any time.
• Ammunition components were delivered from the factories to the local Heeres-Munitionsanstalt (Army Ammunition Plant) for assembly. Some ammunition, such as rounds up to 20 mm, were delivered fully assembled by the factories. The Ammunitions Section had a liason officer placed with the Feldzeuginspektion (Campaign inspectorate), who reported back ammunition requirements:
  • On the 20th of every month, a report was sent of all expected ammunition production, except ammunition in short supply.1
  • Every fifth day of the month, starting on the 1st and then continuing from the 5th, the production of ammunition in short supply was telephoned in.
• Based on the tactical requirements and the inventories reported by the units, ammunition was allocated by the Ammunitions Section.
  • Most common ammunition types, except ammunition in short supply, was allocated on the 21st of every month.
  • Remaining ammunition types, except ammunition in short supply, was allocated on the 1st, 10th, and 30th of every month.
  • Ammunition in short supply was allocated every five days, starting on the 1st of the month and then continuing from the 5th.
  • Practice ammunition was allocated for delivery with regular ammunition.
  • Air drop supply containers was allocated as needed.
• Ammunition was shipped to the army groups by train. Trains were only sent if the allocation could fill an ammunition supply train, equal to approximately 450 tons of ammunition (375 tons for Heeresgruppe Ukraine and Heeresgruppe C).

Authorized Allocation

Ammunition in the German Army was issued according to what was called 1. Ausstattung (first allocation). This was the authorized full allocation of ammunition per gun. This not only included the ammunition carried with the gun for immediate use, but also included rear area supplies for re-stocking.

The following tables are examples of authorized ammunition allocations at different times during the war.

Assault guns, April 1942

These numbers from a 27 April 1942 field manual2 describe the full ammunition compliment for each assault gun in an assault gun battalion.

Assault guns, January 1943

These numbers from a 15 January 1943 order to create five new assault guns battalions3 describe the 1. Ausstattung (first allocation) for each gun.

General allocation, August 1942

Anti-tank company, February 1944

These are the number of rounds specified for a tank destroyer company following Kriegsstärkenachweisung (K St N) (Table of organization and equipment) 1149, equipped with either Sturmgeschütz III, Jagdpanzer 38, or Jagdpanzer IV, as described in a 1 February 1944 supply unit training manual4. The tank destroyer company had two versions, with either 10 or 14 vehicles.

Ammunition compliment

These are the number of rounds authorized for the entire company.

Carrying capacity

These numbers are the maximum number of rounds that could be carried by the company.

General allocation, May 1944

The following allocation numbers are from the official Oberkommando des Heeres (German Army High Command) manual for ammunition supplies issued 1 May 19445.

For some guns the allocation could be filled in several ways. This is especially true for guns where both solid shot and hollow-charge armor piercing ammunition existed.

Ammunition Consumption

9. Panzer-Division, June 1941 to October 1943

From the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union to the autumn of 1943, 9. Panzer-Division kept very detailed records of its ammunition consumption. The ammunition comsumption until October 1942 is grouped into three reports. From November 1942, the comsumption is described month-to-month.

These reports allow for a very detailed analysis of the ammunition comsumption in the division. As could be expected, the consumption is generally higher during months of heavy combat, such as March 1943 (defensive operations around Zhizdra) and July 1943 (Battle of Kursk).6 In addition, the reports allow an insight into the ratio of how the different types of ammunition were used.

Some caution should be taken when analyzing the data. While the numbers give an indication of how the different types of ammunition was used, it does not explain why this was the case. For example, it is not possible from these numbers to conclude that APCR was used less than regular armor-piercing because the regular ammunition was sufficient, or because no more composite ammunition was available. In addition, some of the months appear to combine several ammunition types, such as high explosive and incendiary 20 mm ammunition.

Tungsten cored 7.92 mm ammunition for machine guns (S m K H) and anti-tank rifles only appear in the numbers between June 1941 and January 1942, with 154 000 and 4700 rounds respectively. For comparison, 3 702 000 armor-piercing (S m K/S m K L'spur) and 5 046 000 regular rounds were fired during the same period.

Since the combat objectives for different gun types were different, it can be expected that they used different quantities of ammunition. In the following tables, the numbers have been divided into gun type and are presented as the ratio between the different types of ammunition. Guns and ammunition types that only saw very limited use with the division have been excluded to make the comparison clearer. This includes:

• 3,7 cm Kw K (1340 solid anti-tank, 230 composite anti-tank, and 420 high explosive rounds fired between June 1941 and January 1942)
• 3,7 cm Stielgranate 41 (315 rounds fired between November 1942 and July 1943)
• 7,5 cm Pak 41 (10 anti-tank and 47 high explosive rounds fired in December 1942)
• 7,5 cm Pak 97/38 (37 hollow charge and 81 high explosive rounds fired in December 1942)
• 7,62 cm Pak 36 (56 anti-tank and 85 high explosive rounds fired in September and October 1943 combined)
• 8,8 cm Kw K 36 (L/56) (600 anti-tank and 1276 high explosive rounds fired in September and October 1943 combined)
• 8,8 cm Pak 43 (L/71) (303 anti-tank and 220 high explosive rounds fired in July and October 1943 combined)

Tank guns

For tank guns, it is interesting to note that until the end of 1942, the ratio between armor-piercing and high explosive rounds is very similar for the 5 cm Kw K, the 5 cm Kw K 39 (L/60) and the 7,5 cm Kw K (L/24) is very similar. From 1943, the ratios start to diverge.

There are two trends that are true for both tank and anti-tank guns:

• APCR ammunition saw very little use with the long-barreled 75 mm guns, and only relatively limited use with the 50 mm guns.
• HEAT ammunition was the predominant 75 mm armor-piercing round. Whether this was due to the supply situation or due to tactical decisions by the gun crews is not clear.

The 5 cm Pak 38 consistently used more armor-piercing ammunition than the 50 mm tank guns. By comparison, the 7,5 cm Pak 40 had approximately the same ratio as the 7,5 cm Kw K 40 (L/48). This would make sense, as the high explosive ammunition of the 7,5 cm Pak 40 had a larger explosive charge that that of the 5 cm Pak 38.

For the 8,8 cm Flak, the high explosive ammunition was partially with impact fuzes and partially with timed fuzes:

While the time delayed fuzes were the most commonly used until the the fall of 1942, usage shifted to impact fuzes. This could indicate that the anti-aircraft guns were increasingly used against ground targets.

Notes

1. This was defined as ammunition for rifles and machine guns, and the Sturmgewehr 44, as well as ammunition for the 7,5 cm Pak 40, 8,8 cm Pak 43, 7,5 cm Kw K 40, 7,5 cm Kw K 42, 8,8 cm Kw K 36, 8,8 cm Kw K 43, Puppchen, Panzerschreck, and Panzerfaust. Back
2. In case no rounds were available, 7,5 cm Pzgr Patr 39 Kw K 40 or 7,5 cm Gr. Patr 38 Hl/A Kw K 40 could be used instead. Back
3. In case no rounds were available, 8,8 cm Pzgr Patr 39/43 Kw K 43 could be used instead. Back
4. According to tactical requirements. Back

References

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