A Slightly Confusing Guide to The StuG III

[@eta320]

Fun drinking game: take a shot for every way I pronounce “StuG”

[@night2957]

Will do that when its not 3:30 am

[@dr.ayoweda1571]

Already done, vodka martini isn't recommended, but thanks for vids

[@Tau-5-weeb]

I became drunk as you said Zugführerwagen.

[@hesh_a_day9326]

When you talked about the Stug III ausf. F& F/8 there is a clip showing me the marketplace of my Hometown: „Eisenach“ in Germany with the „Bach“ statue in the back. Do you have the full video or a link to this video ? Would be amazing!!

[@leopard1419]

Stu G~~~

[@moomoo7706]

For the difference in chassis of the Panzer III mentioned at the beginning (4:50): The Ausf. B had 8 road wheels on leaf-spring suspension. All Panzer III's from Ausf. E onwards, would have 6 road wheels on torsion bar suspension. The engines were also different. Ausf. A - D used the Maybach HL 108 TR V-12 with 250hp. Ausf. E - H used the Maybach HL 120 TRM V-12 with 265hp. All later models of Panzer III (Ausf. L - N) ran on an upgraded engine that had 285hp (used the same name: Maybach HL 120 TRM V-12). Source for those interested: Tank Encyclopedia

[@russman3787]

The B looks like some mutant combination of a panzer IV and III.

[@moomoo7706]

@@russman3787 I guess it does in a sense. Both were designed very similarly. I wonder if in an alternate universe there is a torsion bar Panzer IV

[@russman3787]

@@moomoo7706 Maybe it was proposed at some point?

[@natehaux7575]

The oil bath air filter pulls in outside air and makes it turn 90 degrees over a pool of oil. This helps to remove the large, heavy particles. The air then travels over a filter element that rests in the oil and wicks it into the fibers (often made of steel mesh). Some early filters used horse hair for the element, while some more modern filters used foam.

[@Probookuser03]

12:28 this essentially means that the intake filters for the engines sat in a “oil bath” and through capillary action drew oil into the filter. the reason this is important is because having oil-laden paper or cloth means that the filter can pick up finer particulates in the air meaning the engines weren’t as prone to sludge buildup in the oil pan. the problem with this is sometimes the oil can filter too much air and require many many spare cloths/pleated paper cartridges and spare oil on hand

[@ashermccready]

Also because oil laden cloth/paper is a massive fire hazard

[@lamarepository248]

I can’t decide what’s worse: the ersatz stug or the stug D not really having a bell.

[@mathias8634]

If I remember correctly, the Ersatz Stug was supposed to look like an m7 Priest self-propelled gun, but it really, really doesn't.

[@user-ns4zm8qe9p]

I love ersatz stuff it’s so funny

[@dr.torpedo4350]

This was worth waiting 7 days more! Good job Eta lol oh yeah and the Ersatz Stug isn't as stupid as you think bec many soldiers didn't know what type of tank where in service so.... I guess hope that no one knows no American tank like that exists.

[@eta320]

As much as I played the Ersatz StuG up as pointless for the laughs, I do actually see reason for it. At the very least, even if it doesn't look like any specific American Tank, it could cause an enemy tank to hesitate for a moment. You don't need it to be 100%, but as long as you can make your enemy take an extra second to take their first shot, that can be the difference between life or death.

[@irishkiwi477]

This type of video going over variants and development history has to be my favourite video format that you use, keep it up!

[@datonegamer218]

The part with the panther as a m10 I knew. But the Stug disguised as what I hadno clue. Thank you for this information.

[@Smithgirll]

its supposed to look like the m7 priest

[@nevermindthegermans6242]

I laughed at the bullet point "Best not to question it". That is probably the spirit in which they were built, because that is the way all things were done in Germany at the time.

[@t.e.sprocketeering]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Eta320! The Stug is easily my favourite German armoured vehicle, so this is a really treat. Thank you!

[@randomstuff6355]

Late in the war, there also were Ausf Gs with a coaxial machine guns. Not a seperate variant, just an interesting tidbit not a lot of people seem to know

[@mdkd99]

Wow, thanks a lot for this video. Very entertaining, lots of good knowledge! I loved making models from the StuG in Dreams PS4. It always amazes me how many vehicles Alkett built. One factory making about 7000 StuGs or so, and two air raids set back the production line so much that the StuG 4 and Jagdpanzer 38T were made from different factories. As for the final point, why Germany only made so many vehicles and other nations made more: Russia and the US had more natural resources than Germany. Germany had to import them from countries like Russia and Norway, and were only able to import them as long as the army occupied the region. Also: Many factories in the US and Russia probably mostly produced the streamlined M4 Shermans and T-34s, where with german factories, they produced multiple different vehicles, often for totally different branches of the army. Alkett was mainly producing the StuG at some point, and about 7000 or so were made by them. Imagine if Germany had more materials, no air attacks and like 3-4 factories mainly producing one vehicle version. They probably would've made double the amount of vehicles. Also: Yeah, some of the vehicle names are super long lol, and if you shorten them, they sound way worse. Usually when Germans shorten words, its for text. So you wouldnt say 'Pz. Sfl.', but Panzerselbstfahrlafette. ^^ Again, great video, very entertaining and some good knowledge.

[@williamashbless7904]

A pretty amazing vehicle. More popular and useful than its parent. It was equally effective in the assault gun role or tank destroyer. It pretty much was the beginning of the end for Germany when StuG switched from offensive to defense. Great content!

[@Edelweiss6404]

100% worth the wait, great job! The StuG is by far one of my favorite tanks, and this was a very solid video on it.

[@harmdallmeyer6449]

If anyone is interested, the difference between the Panzer III Ausf. B and Ausf. F are, that the B still used a Leaf-Spring suspension and has thinner armor. But I found that there were only 15 of these produced, so 37 protypes using this Hull sounds unlikely.

[@Garthbrooks4756]

Why is this channel not more popular wtf

[@eta320]

I ask myself that every day

[@heycunt7186]

At some point, it's better for youtuber to be between popular and not popular. Being so popular it can cause strain on the youtuber's mind if you get what I mean. That is not to say I don't support the idea for him to be popular.

[@that_dude6818]

now we need an video about the Samovente

[@theporschetiger]

I love the BTTF inspired intro. You are certainly a cultured man who knows good movies

[@Smithgirll]

btw for the estaz stug its supposed to look like the m7 priest from a distance btw, low key works when you look at it.

[@exio_exio1234]

Top 4 vids to edge too 💯💯💯💯

[@JoeBurgerCinematicUniverse]

this is one of the sturmiest geshutzes of all time, 12/p would watch again

[@kalanmccowan2153]

Thanks so much the Stug 3G is one of my favourite tanks😀

[@spellsans9951]

I love how low quality and high quality the intro is. Keep up the good work man.

[@jimmylight4866]

Oil bath engine air filter is oil being used as the filter. How the metal container is made really cool. You maintain clean oil in it to a certain marked level and it cleans the air.

[@hbsavage0387]

Yea it’s pretty neat they are still used today on small engines but turns out there are way more efficient ways to do air filters on bigger engines so it died out

[@kooptt]

These videos are great and you should make more of them. Sort of like a mix between potential history and the cheiftan, got a new sub

[@MiguelWario05]

Hey, I just found your channel, by a link in Reddit actually haha, great video my dude, keep up your excelent work, have a great year of grouth.

[@simselmore5625]

I know it's a video on StuGs but I wish I heard more about the StuH variants that took over the main self-propelled artillery role. I really think that the StuH G is a great looking piece

[@Ghostmaxi1337]

There are more differences between the Ausf. F and F/8. While generally retaining the shape of F, the F/8 has improvements found on the G, such as the raised 30mm frontal plates, deleting the Shot traps, where at the beginning the periscope went through and iirc, also came directly by factory allways with the add on armor. (These are the most noticable additional changes to F/8).

[@dariostabletopminatures]

Thank you!

[@wolfgang_h3t]

Nice video mate!

[@Ghostmaxi1337]

A note to the "Open Top nature" In the planning of the Stug III and why it came to be III, the vehicle specifications were as followed: 1. The main armament of the vehicle must have a caliber of 7.5 cm. 2. The maximum vertical clearance of the gun must be of at least 30 degrees. 3. Optimal elevation of the gun must allow it to fire at a range of six kilometers. 4. The gun must have anti-tank capabilities and be able to penetrate every existing tank at a distance of 500 meters. 5. It must be fully armored with an open-top superstructure, and not have a turret. Frontal armor has to be impervious to a 2 cm shell at an angle of 60 degrees. 6. Total height must not exceed that of a standing man. 7. Other dimensions must take account of those of the biggest existing Panzer chassis. 8. Other imperatives will be established when new armaments and ammunition have been tested by the crews. Of course, it didnt reach the seen range, did have a roof and ended up on the Pz III (and later Pz IV chassis). This should also answer your qute of Open topped Nature at the beginning.

[@EzylrybSoren]

an oil bath air filter in the simples term uses metal mesh submerged in oil to filter out contaminates from the air instead of paper ore sponge

[@Ghostmaxi1337]

A good addition would have been the StuG III 7,5 cm StuK L/41. It came to be in 1940/1941 and was a Testbed build on an Ausf. F hull, which was upgraded to StuG standart (50mm frontal armor and so on). It was the planned Ausf. F, where they wanted to fix a lot of things, ready for russia, with a greater AT gun (the 7,5 cm StuK. L/41 (identical to the K. L/41) could fire the K. Gr. Rot Pz at 685m/s), it overall had allready improvements as found on the G, such as, wide Sponsen and deleting the Shottrap over the driver, by raising the 30mm Frontal plate where the hole for the periscope was befor. However necesity put a line through it, and the rest is history.

[@Lightman0359]

The Zugfuhrerwagen can be translated as "command tank" it literally translates into train leader car, or column leader vehicle. Similarly Panzerkampfwagen is "armored struggle car". Also Ausf. is Ausferung or variant. German is the lego of languages, need a new word? bolt 2 together. Like Schadenfreude [the emotion of "sucks to be you" is literally "damage joy"

[@tavarix5893]

For the "american" StuG, the average soldier didn't know the small details of each tank, they would see a green tank with a star surrounded by "american" troops and think it is friendly. They didn't have War Thunder to make them pseudo tank scientists. I've heard about reports of french soldiers surrendering on the sight of the Panzer I as it rolled their way, because it was the most terrorfying thing they've ever seen. It is easy to think it is weak comparing to other vehicles, but what dictates is the context of the situation that pushed the soldier into his ultimate action. The weak leadership, poor training or experience, the stress of combat and the fact that they've never seen a tank before, and the little tractor with two MGs was fuel nightmare for them Aside from that, I get it is a joke and you probably know that, you're not the tin foil channels who stay just on the simple stat cards of tanks. Great videos, I am watching them all.

[@ZvZd]

11:05 made me laugh quite a bit

[@Ianfantastic2]

Oil bath intake filters draw up vertically through, basically a puddle of oil. No paper filtration media needed, just change the oil when it gets dirty.

[@ThefanaticFoxUser]

Actually the stug stands for super terrifying ultra gun

[@anthony2002able]

27:19 That Sherman is the one at my local national guard armory like 5 minutes from my house

[@eriklagergren7124]

Very informative

[@loganbesecker1345]

From wat i have read the ersatz stug was dressed up to look like an m7 preist spg, which is open topped

[@stuff9680]

The guide saying the Stug is open topped is probably from designs like the Sturmpanzer 2 Bison, it had a open top and a 150mm gun and was a conversion of the Panzer I so im assuming the Stug was supposed to have a open top until design changes were made last minute

[@IsaacUssery-n9q]

Starts at 2:55

[@DoeJohn887]

OMG StuGs!!!! i'm totally watching this... #StugsLife.

[@SuperBuildsInMC]

Are you sure that's an Ersatz StuG and not just an allied captured one?

[@oscccar1]

29:11 German Artillery*

[@theicelandicnationalist2.023]

Yea, uniformity was just a fever dream for the German engineers, I heard somewhere (might have been Potential History, but I don’t remember) that for every 6 tigers produced, something would be changed, it could have been reorganised stowage, the gas vent had been moved or the Pistol ports removed… yea german tank production was as far from standardised as one could get

[@merajmasuk]

If you camo the barrel, you can make the Ersatz look like a Turretless Sherman. This can be used as a bait to ambush the recovery crew. But this is 100% speculation from my side.

[@keeganferrell9152]

Oil bath engine air filters are an alternative to traditional air filters where oil is used to catch debris instead of paper.

[@AspiringD3v]

A Russian History Channel taught me that StuG III vehicles were used as a self propelled gun for destroying soviet bunkers

[@WolfRichter337]

Oil bath engine air filters. disclaimer: i am assuming here. there are air filters that are supposed to weork dry. think of a piece of foam ( or back in the day paper) which the air for the internal combustion engine needs to be sucked through in order to filter dust, stones and other particles out that would act like sandpaper in the engine otherwise and thus gravely decrease the engine live. Then there are those which need to be coated slightly with oil in order to filter properly. (get those fingers oily and run them across the paper mhhhh) I assume this is what is referred to here.

[@garrettknox5266]

The "disguised" Stug kinda looks like a Chaffee in that photo. Give'm a little star for trying dude.

[@jsplicer9]

There's also the StuG IV, the Pz IV hull with a StuG superstructure

[@spinosaurusiii7027]

Sonderkraftfahrzeug 142/2 10,5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 18 auf Sonderkraftfahrzeug 141 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausführung E Selbstfahrlafette "Sturmhaubitze 42" Ausführung G my beloved

[@eta320]

My sweet princess

[@Commander9013]

20:35 dude that's clearly an M4A2

[@ClonetrooperCaptain]

What happened to your Sherman family tree video? I cannot find it.

[@eta320]

It should be on my channel still, look for "A Slightly Confusing Guide To The Sherman"

[@crazycarnut1313]

I think they “ersatz” stug is actually just a captured stug put in use by the U.S. I’ve heard stories and seen pictures of American soldiers capturing stubs and using them against their former owners. But correct me if I’m wrong.

[@theholypeanut1738]

U don't choose the stug life, the stug life choose U.

[@acoopdawg06]

Hmm... Maybe do a video on panzer 4s.

[@eta320]

Oh boy, now the ghost of Christmas Tankery has another promise to hold over my head this year

[@anttitheinternetguy3213]

I think StuG IIIG looks really good, perhaps The best looking tank of WW2

[@whiskey_tango_foxtrot__]

Chapter 3. Give the Germans a break. The Stug was built on the Panzer 3 chassis. A very standard production line and supply chain.

[@gandsproductions5105]

My one critique is you didn't mention the stug iii with an 88 (I know it was only a mockup but still)

[@Ghostmaxi1337]

The Erstaz StuG III may represent a M7 Priest.

[@richardbennett3368]

The reason for differences in the same model is because damaged earlier models were returned to the factory for repair. They were upgraded and giving upgraded model numbers.

[@comradclumsy1484]

I didn't choose the StuG life, The StuG life chose me

[@davidsabillon5182]

❤

[@vepr5596]

Tank video LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO!!! Edit: fuck thats a lot of stug's...

[@meinhausbrennt1426]

The stugs that were put into the panzer divisions were given to the Panzerjäger abteilung wich lead to the problem that two stugs, one from the artillery and one from the Panzerjäger abteilung couldn't communicate because they had different radios 2 the hetzer was produced because the factory that produced stugs was bombed and with that the production of stugs was destroyed and they needed cheap replacements i am not sure but i think its the same reason for the stug 4

[@Kuschel_K]

Nah, Jagdpanzer 38(t)s were the result of Germanys need for self propelled AT guns. So instead of building no longer viable light tanks, the factory was used to built Hetzers. The Jagdpanzer IV was born out of the same need but built on the Pz IV chassis which was also obsolete as medium tank.

[@derekholdeman4461]

Germany had the advantage of dictating where and when the fighting happened as well as short transit to the battle field... American tanks had and still have to prioritize transportability and battlefield mobility

[@NathanDudani]

Germany had trains too, ya know

[@TheWarDogSquad]

Wasn’t that the M7 ersatz (I know it from a model kit,I was confused as well 😂)

[@Tactikill44]

Absolutely

[@overcookedcorn1992]

Before the premiere: 3 hours January 3, 02:30. Okay, I will wait.

[@overcookedcorn1992]

It was worth it

[@F-4E-58-MC]

Heyyyyyyyy you should try IL-2 Clash at Prokhorovka!

[@theothertonydutch]

It's okay, you can say Ausfuhrung. Ausf. is mostly abbreviated for text, with german being a pretty unwieldy language in general (Fingerspitzengefühl anyone?) I don't think anyone would say Ausf. You won't hear anyone say "PzKpfw" (gesundheit) either. Also, you could just say "version", "mark" or even omit the whole "Ausfuhrung" signifier and just say "Stug A, G, etc." We all know what you are talking about. It's fine.

[@bmouch1018]

8:12 this why a lot of german kit was garbage. So many things were rushed into production/service haphazardly

[@whothoughtthiswasagoodidea]

My brother doesn't know what an oil bath air filter is?

[@eta320]

I’m not mechanic 💀

[@KB9813]

I'm laughing my ass off with you going f****** me over German nomenclature conventions: should take a look at British rifle naming convention that's quite fun too!

[@drbomdaydayboms4890]

The stugs they tried to look USA is prob seen as captured tanks. My best guess for the reason behind it.

[@potatosinnato1767]

I will comment E for the youtube algorithm

[@polticalme1677]

Very nice and informative video, BUT a StuG is not a tank (it lacks a turret) but a self-propelled artillery vehicle (assault artillery). The crews were artillery men till the end. Being assigned to a Panzerdivision didn't mean the crews were tank men then. Since you asked: Manstein is pronounced "Mun-shtine" (phonetically). EDIT: There were no, repeat NO 40 cm tracks on the Pz. or StuG III or IV. They were 38 cm. The mistake occured when some guy measured the width from the outer to the inner pin heads instead of the track links. You can look it up in the book "Gleisketten" by Peter Schwarzmann. Maybe there's an English version. The book deals with all German WWII tracks and the chapter on the Pz./StuG III/IV tracks is quite long because of the numerous types.

[@nomadprod.6211]

'bout time lmao

[@Kuschel_K]

It’s Germany’s greatest design philosophy flaw that they always want a tool to do a specific job very well and better than existing tools, without concern for practicality 😂😂

[@Miron_Marnic]

Best tank of ww2

[@jakelilevjen9766]

The Allies definitely won by out-producing the Axis.

[@hiphip4808]

Stug kinda looks like a little doom turtle in that pic

[@theumbreon1.0]

Also breath of the Wild music?!!!

[@doomlegion557]

what about american super tank destroyer with hull mounted turret

[@HATECELL]

My personal headcanon behind the Ersatz-StuG was that the Wehrmacht received a phone call from Wargaming or Gaijin, who told them they need a premium variant of the StuG3

[@charlie44266]

Nice videos. Thanks A word of advice: no literate German speaker pronounces StuG. as "stuh-g" , its an abbreviation of Sturmgeschutz and it is pronounced "schtoorm-geh-schtoots" when read in text the full word not some snippets of it or of the abbreviation. Likewise Ausf. is "ows-fuehroong" it full word: Ausfeuhrung (where the dipthong eu is the transliteration of the unlaut u) when Ausfuhrung is read or when Ausf. is read. It means model or design variant. An the letter following Ausf. is the design sequence designation, assigned sequentially from A. Germans like to create long sequences of compound words for novel ideas, but they don't write them out, they use abbreviations. Hence, StuG III Ausf. G Sd.Kfz. 142/1 is the destination of the Assault Gun Type 3, Design Variant G (seventh variant) Special Purpose Vehicle 142/1 and pronounced fully . You were correct that Erich Manstein was the inventor of the Sturmgeschutz. He was a general of artillery (the branch of assignment of the StuG.) and later field marshall. Of Prussian nobility, born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski, he was adopted by his sister and her husband after his father died when Manstein was in his teens and he then took upon himself his uncle's family name, von Mansstein giving up von Lewinski.

[@eta320]

Thanks for the translation advice! Although I generally understood the Ausf naming scheme, I keep being told now (especially after the Panzer IV video which is also full of translation issues) that nobody who speaks German would just say “Ausf”. You say the whole word, or not at all.

[@charlie44266]

@@eta320Thank you! A word to the wise is sufficient.

[@theumbreon1.0]

gup !!!!!!:)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@PewTheToaster]

The Sturmtiger is just a StuG... Mein Gotten Himmel

[@herbertgearing1702]

I guess it's true, you don't choose the stug life.

[@ZOMB3ykiller]

Hmmmm i watching it on the 1.1.2023

[@23GreyFox]

I wonder how many Shermans could be produced when suddenly the factory and the city around stopped to exist? What you call backwards i call different mindset. Americans just used the most mediocre design they could come up with and hoped it could do different task as well. With often catastrophic results.

[@thatguyoverthere9634]

That stug dressed up as an American tank was likely a film peice for a german propoganda film or a training target

[@thomaslinton5765]

Then it should be about a tank.

[@huntclanhunt9697]

"I have no idea what they were thinking." Yeah. The germans were on meth.

[@TurbotheFurbo]

what if the panzer III was upgraded like the M60?

[@jackjohnson2101]

Drops off with te commentary at the end.