Although I’ve covered German armored vehicle losses before report FMS P-059 - German Tank Strength and Loss Statistics by Hermann Burkhart Mueller-Hillebrand has slightly different data and for the sake of completeness I decided to add these tables:
| 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | Sum | |
| Type | |||||
| Pz I | 345 | 60 | 405 | ||
| Pz II | 393 | 287 | 408 | 61 | 1,149 |
| Pz III | 782 | 1,501 | 2,395 | 130 | 4,808 |
| Pz 38 | 773 | 196 | 96 | 1,065 | |
| Pz IV | 369 | 502 | 2,352 | 2,643 | 5,866 |
| Panther | 525 | 2,297 | 2,822 | ||
| Tiger | 3 | 307 | 834 | 1,144 | |
| Command tank | 96 | 99 | 209 | 271 | 675 |
| Recovery tank | 7 | 35 | 42 | ||
| Sum | 2,758 | 2,648 | 6,299 | 6,271 | 17,976 |
| Sum | |||||
| Stug III/IV | 95 | 330 | 1,566 | 3,558 | 5,549 |
| JagdPz 38/IV | 344 | 344 | |||
| JagdPanther | 33 | 33 | |||
| Elefant | 44 | 35 | 79 | ||
| Pak Sfl | 127 | 831 | 981 | 1,939 | |
| Nashorn | 92 | 174 | 266 | ||
| Stuh III | 71 | 437 | 508 | ||
| StuPz IV | 24 | 83 | 107 | ||
| Sum | 95 | 457 | 2,628 | 5,645 | 8,825 |
Again it’s interesting to note that tank losses stay the same in 1941-42 and 1943-44 but Stug and self-propelled gun losses explode each year.
1943 saw a dramatic increase in the use of turretless AFVs in the German Army. My guess is that higher loss numbers came as a result of increase use.
ReplyDeleteChristos, thank you for your data. However can you please clarify following. German tank losses for 1942 is 2,648 but if you check your post Tank strength and losses – Eastern Front, table German AFV losses Eastern Front it says Germans lost 3,195 tank in 1942. What number is correct?
ReplyDeleteThank you in advance!
Different sources, different numbers. Did you check what i wrote in the essay?
Delete[Note that there are the following ‘issues’ with the German report:
1).The losses for 1942 include December 1941. According to Foreign Military Studies P-059 ‘Tank Losses’ by Generalmajor Burkhart Mueiler-Hillebrand total losses on all fronts for December 1941 comes to 525 Tanks and SPG’s but not all were lost in the East since at the same time there was heavy fighting in N.Africa during the British operation ’Crusader’. This could increase the 1941 percentage significantly.
2). February 1943 total losses show a huge spike at 2.069 vehicles. It seems reasonable to assume that these are vehicles heavily damaged/destroyed in late 1942 but officially written off in 1943. This would take the 1943 percentage down by a few points while raising the 1942 percentage.
3). For 1944 it says ‘December incomplete’. According to FMS P-059 total losses during the month were 677 Tanks, SPG’s and self-propelled artillery. A lot would be against the Western Allies during the Battle of the Bulge. In any case the number is so small that it can only raise the percentage by a few points.]