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| 150 mm sIG 33 | |
|---|---|
| Name | 150 mm sIG 33 |
| Origin | Nazi Germany |
| Type | Infantry gun |
| Service | 1933–1945 |
| Used by | Wehrmacht |
| Wars | Second World War |
| Designer | Rheinmetall |
| Design date | 1920s–1933 |
| Manufacturer | Rheinmetall, Krupp, Skoda Works |
| Production date | 1933–1945 |
| Number | est. 5,400 |
| Weight | 1,800 kg (combat) |
| Part length | 1.05 m (L/7) |
| Crew | 6–8 |
| Cartridge | 149.1×112.5 mm R |
| Caliber | 149.1 mm |
| Rate | 4–6 rpm |
| Velocity | 250–300 m/s |
| Range | 4,700 m (max) |
150 mm sIG 33 The 150 mm sIG 33 was the standard heavy infantry gun of the Wehrmacht and Heer artillery during the Second World War. Developed in the interwar period by Rheinmetall and produced by firms including Krupp and Skoda Works, it provided heavy, short-range fire support for Infanterie-Division formations in campaigns from Poland to Berlin. The weapon influenced German combined-arms tactics alongside weapons such as the 7.5 cm Pak 40 and supported operations in theaters including the Invasion of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the North African Campaign.
Design work originated in the late 1920s at Rheinmetall under constraints from the Treaty of Versailles and economic pressures during the Weimar Republic. The sIG project drew on lessons from First World War siege artillery, studio tests at the Kummersdorf proving grounds, and doctrinal input from the Reichswehr. Early prototypes were evaluated against competing designs from Krupp and Skoda Works, with final acceptance by the Heer in 1933. The design emphasized a heavy shell for bunker-busting and fortification reduction in operations such as the Siege of Sevastopol and actions at the Maginot Line.
The sIG was a short-barreled, box trail gun with a caliber of 149.1 mm, firing a 29–33 kg high-explosive projectile from a 149.1×112.5 mm R cartridge. Its recoil system combined a hydro-pneumatic mechanism tested at Kummersdorf and on ranges at Rheinmetall-Borsig facilities. The carriage provided limited traverse and elevation, similar to contemporary designs like the British 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer and the Soviet 122 mm howitzer M1910/30. The crew worked with implements drawn from doctrine at the Oberkommando des Heeres and used ammunition handling procedures comparable to those in manuals from Heereswaffenamt.
The sIG entered service with early Wehrmacht divisions during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, and later supported the Battle of France in 1940 where it engaged fortifications of the Siegfried Line and elements of the Maginot Line. In Operation Barbarossa and the Battle of Stalingrad the gun was employed in urban combat and against Soviet positions such as those defended by the Red Army's Guards units, while in the North African Campaign units deployed with the Afrika Korps. As the war progressed, mobility issues led to mounting the sIG on chassis like the Panzer I and Panzer II for the Sturmpanzer I Bison and later self-propelled variants used in actions around Kiev and during the Battle of Kursk.
Variants included the towed field model, the infantry support chassis-mounted versions such as the Sturmpanzer I and experimental conversions on Panzer II and captured T-26 chassis. Coastal adaptations were trialed by the Kriegsmarine for harbor defense at ports like Brest and Sevastopol. Axis allies and occupation authorities, including units of the Romanian Land Forces and the Hungarian Army, also fielded sIG pieces, while captured examples were used by the Soviet Union and re-badged by units of the French Forces of the Interior.
Production was coordinated by the Heereswaffenamt with contracts awarded to Rheinmetall, Krupp, and licensed production at Skoda Works in Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement. Output rates varied with resource allocation determined in part by directives from the OKW and economic planning in the Four Year Plan overseen by Hermann Göring. Wartime bombing by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces disrupted plants, while production priorities shifted toward anti-tank and artillery systems like the 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37.
Ammunition types included high-explosive, armor-piercing, and smoke rounds, comparable in function to munitions used by models like the Soviet 152 mm ML-20. Ballistic performance was modest due to the short barrel: muzzle velocity in the 250–300 m/s range and a maximum effective range near 4,700 m. The heavy shell delivered substantial blast and fragmentation for breaching fortifications and demolishing strongpoints, a capability employed at sieges such as Leningrad and Sevastopol.
Surviving sIG pieces are preserved in military collections and museums including the Imperial War Museum, the Bundeswehr Museum of Military History, the Kubinka Tank Museum, and the National Museum of Military History (Romania). Restorations have been undertaken by preservation groups affiliated with institutions like the Deutsches Historisches Museum and private collectors in United Kingdom, United States, and Czech Republic. Extant examples are displayed at memorial sites for battles such as Normandy and in city museums in Kiev and Sevastopol.
Category:Infantry guns of Germany Category:Artillery of World War II