Known as hornisse (hornisse) or rhinoceros (nashorn, late), the Sdkfz.164 self-propelled anti-tank gun, despite its weak armor, became a weapon in the anti-tank arsenal of Nazi German ground forces due to its powerful main gun.
And less well known, it also contributed significantly to the first German capture of the New JS-2 Joseph Stalin heavy tank of the Red Army.
In May 1944, the 88th Heavy Tank Fighter Battalion was thrown into the Battle of Kamenez-Podolsk in support of the 3rd Panzer Army.
The Unit was formed in late October 1940 by the 4th Tank Destroyer Reserve Battalion of the 4th Military Region, the 14th Company of the 52nd Infantry Regiment and the 14th Company of the 101st Infantry Regiment, initially as the 88th Tank Destroyer Battalion under the newly formed 18th Panzer Division, and fought on the Eastern Front for most of the rest until the disbandment of the 18th Panzer Division on 29 September 1943. It was later reorganized into the 88th Heavy Tank Fighter Battalion.
In late November the battalion withdrew from the front and was completely reloaded with a Panzerjäger Hornisse at Truppenübungsplatz Mielau in East Prussia. In February of the following year, it again rushed to the theater of operations of the 1st Panzer Army Group of the Northern Ukrainian Army Group on the Eastern Front.
The SdKfz.164 tank destroyer developed in 1942 was mounted on the chassis of the III/IV tank with an open fixed combat compartment, and the main gun was an 88 mm Pak43/1 71 caliber anti-tank gun, which was undoubtedly one of the most powerful anti-tank guns of the time.
Its official design is 8,8 cm Pak 43 (L/71) auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen III/IV (Sf), which is "the (self-propelled) 8,8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun mounted on the chassis of Panzer III/IV".
The early version of this vehicle was called the Hornet, while the later type was called the Rhinoceros (mainly improving the front armor of the cockpit). Although its armor was very weak and tall, its powerful artillery could penetrate any Allied tank (up to 3,000 meters) at great distances. Because the cost was quite low and the mobility was good, it was produced until the end of the war.
In April of the same year, the Hornets of the 88th Heavy Tank Fighter Battalion engaged the Soviet IS-2 heavy tanks for the first time. The latter had previously broken through the German lines after an exchange of fire with tiger tanks of the 506th Heavy Panzer Battalion.
The IS-2 (Joseph-Stalin) was a new heavy tank of the Red Army, developed in 1943 and first introduced into actual combat in early 1944. Armed with a powerful 122 mm gun, this heavy tank could easily compete with the German Tiger and Panther tanks without falling behind.
However, its main gun was extremely slow, firing only two shells per minute, which was a very fatal weakness in the duel between tanks.
The IS-2's thick armor was heavily armored, and its main mission was to fire high-explosive bombs from a distance (usually 20 of the 28-round load) to destroy enemy fortifications and strong support points, more similar to the role of heavy assault guns in German troops.
During the fighting that broke out in Khotymyr on 30 April, an 88 mm shell fired by the Hornet tank destroyer penetrated the gun shield of the IS-2 of the 72nd Regiment of the Guards Independent Heavy Tank at a distance of 2,000 meters, rendering it ineffective. The Soviet tank was towed away and recovered by the 506th Heavy Armored Battalion and then transported to Germany for evaluation and firing tests.
This set of photographs was included in the atlas of the 1st Panzer Army Headquarters (Stabsbildabteilung der Pz.A.O.K.1), the model of which the Germans called "KV85 with a 12.2 cm gun".
Photographs of the captured tanks were sent to the Director of The Panzer Corps of the German Army General Command (i.e. Guderian) on 10 May. In addition to photographs taken from multiple directions of the tank, the location of penetration caused by German shells was clearly marked. In addition to the decisive blow of the Hornet tank destroyer, the right side of the turret was also pierced by a shell.
Shortly after these photos were taken, the IS-2 was carefully marked with white paint. The large white letters on the right side of the turret declare that the tank was "recovered by the 506th Heavy Armored Battalion". On the other side, in equally thick Gothic font reads: "Instructions for Shipping to OKW".
In addition, statistics were made on all shells hit. In addition to the fatal blow of the Hornet 2000 meters away, the perforation on the left side of the turret is marked "260 meters, Tiger tank". It was a shell that hit at very close range, most likely after the IS-2 had been destroyed by bumblebee.
At the same location, several more craters that failed to penetrate were marked. On the left side of the hull, there was a crater hit by an 88 mm shell of another Tiger tank at a distance of 1300 meters, while there were at least two other craters in the front armor at a distance of 1200 and 1300 meters.
The Germans had long anticipated the encounter with IS-2 heavy tanks on the battlefield, and they learned of its existence from Soviet prisoners of war confessions. Although the GreatErdeutsche Panzergrenadier Division had encountered and destroyed several IS-2s a few days earlier, this was the first time the Germans had acquired such tanks that could be used for testing and evaluation.
The results of this comprehensive assessment were first published in the third issue of the Armored Forces Newsletter in June 1944. However, the article falsely claims that the distance of bumblebee's fatal blow was 2600 meters.
While this is also theoretically possible, the reason for this error is most likely because the author misread the small white number on the photo, and not for any promotional purpose.
A subsequent engagement in the town of Neil, near Cologne, on 6 March 1945, a tactically numbered 25 T-26E3 Pershing tank of the 3rd Battalion H of the 33rd Panzer Regiment of the 33rd Panzer Division was also hit by a Rhino at a distance of 270 meters, and the shell penetrated the front and bottom armor of the tank, passed through the driver's legs, ignited the stored ammunition, and set the entire turret on fire.
It can be seen that even in the face of the most powerful heavy tanks of the United States and the Soviet Army, the tail sting of the "Bumblebee" also has the strength to kill with one blow.