Marder III H

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Marder III H
germ_pzkpfw_38t_marder_iii_ausf_h.png
Marder III H
AB RB SB
3.0 3.0 3.0
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This page is about the German tank destroyer Marder III H. For other uses, see LT-38 (Family).

Description

GarageImage Marder III H.jpg


The PaK40/3 auf Sfl.38 Ausf. H (or Marder III H) is a rank II German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.47 "Big Guns".

The Marder III H is a step above the basic Marder III. As it is in Germany's open - top tank destroyer line, it's calling card is its superb firepower; in fact, it has the most powerful gun for the battle rating 2.0 - 3.0 - 4.0 range - APCBC is almost always enough to penetrate and destroy any tank on the battlefield, and with APCR, it has the highest penetration of any tank for its battle rating range - even at battle rating 5.0 your gun will remain competitive.

The Marder III Ausf. H mounts a 75 mm gun slightly surpassing those on the late Panzer IV's, thus its only disadvantages are its weak armour and its open encasement.

Being a modified Pz.38(t) tank, it is one of the more mobile of the German tanks - nearly matching some Russian tanks. It has a better gun close-range wise and has better armour coverage, being curved to the sides, unlike the earlier Marder III.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides (Slope angle) Rear Roof
Hull 50 mm (19°) Front plate
12 mm (74°) Front glacis
50 mm (13°) Lower glacis
16 mm Upper
15 mm Lower
15 mm 12 mm
Turret 11 + 8 mm (31°) 11 mm (8-9°) N/A N/A

Note:

  • Belly armour is 15 mm thick.

Mobility

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 49 7 11 213 286 19.36 26
Realistic 45 7 133 150 12.09 13.64

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: PaK 40/3 (75 mm)
75 mm PaK 40/3 L46
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
38 -2°/+22° ±30° N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 10.57 14.63 17.76 19.63 20.89
Realistic 7.14 8.40 10.20 11.28 12.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
7.60 6.75 6.24 5.90
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
PzGr 39 APCBC 151 148 135 121 108 96
Hl.Gr 38B HEAT 80 80 80 80 80 80
PzGr 40 APCR 197 195 170 144 121 102
Sprgr. 34 HE 10 10 10 10 10 10
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
PzGr 39 APCBC 792 6.8 1.3 15.0 28.9 +4° 48° 63° 71°
Hl.Gr 38B HEAT 450 4.4 0.0 0.1 872.1 +0° 62° 69° 73°
PzGr 40 APCR 990 4.2 N/A N/A N/A +1.5° 66° 70° 72°
Sprgr. 34 HE 550 5.7 0.1 0.1 686 +0° 79° 80° 81°
Ammo racks
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
7th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
38 37 (+1) 33 (+5) 29 (+9) 25 (+13) 17 (+21) (+29) (+37) No

Gun shield empty: 33 (+5)

Machine guns

Main article: Vz.37 (7.92 mm)
7.92 mm Vz.37
Hull mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
1,200 (200) 769 ±10° ±10°

Usage in the battles

Since you are an unprotected tank from behind, try to be as far from the action as possible. If getting close to enemy tanks cannot be prevented (Urban maps, Allied retreat etc), then try to hide at least a part of your hull against a wall or rock.

Use the horizontal range of the Marder III H as much as possible - as a turret-less SPG, it has excellent - if not the best - gun traverse for any turret-less SPG. This tank destroyer can be penetrated easily; it has next to no armour at its battle rating. keep close to other tanks to prevent this in urban maps, and stay close to cover in other maps. Also, be careful when being targeted by Artillery; one close hit on your rear and you can be destroyed by shrapnel. Another important thing to take into account is the fact that ammunition is stored in the nearly unarmoured gun shield - nearly any vehicle in the game - with the notable exception of the GAZ-AAA (4M) - can penetrate this tank with ease. To get Ammunition out of the turret, bring only 32 shells, leaving the "turret" basically empty - 32 shells is more than enough. Another fact to take into account is that nearly all shells will over penetrate the "turret", with no damage, a crewman knocked out or 2.

The Marder III H's main APCBC shell, the PzGr 39, is good enough against most standard medium tank models like the M4 Sherman and T-34 at a front-on and slightly angled perspective. However, the penetration performance against sloped armour is only just enough for these circumstances, and extreme angling beyond a 60 degree angle of attack on those tank's part can bounce rounds heading towards their front glacis. This makes up-armoured models like the T-34E and T-34E STZ particularly dangerous as they can defeat the APCBC shell's sloped performance at even slight angles. The T-34E presents itself an enhanced side armour that can bounce shots while the T-34E STZ features enhanced front armour to bounce shots, so be sure to distinguish the two models for a better understanding on where to aim.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tracks Parts Horizontal Drive
II Suspension Brake System FPE Hl.Gr 38B Adjustment of Fire
III Filters Crew Replenishment PzGr 40 Elevation Mechanism
IV Transmission Engine K.Gr.Rot Nb.
Since the Marder can be hullbroken in one hit, the Parts modification is not as important. Also, the stock shell is quite effective, so the Ml.Gr 38B HEAT shell and PzGr 40 APCR shell are not priorities for research either. Instead, focus on mobility upgrades and the Horizontal Drive modification. Then, Parts and FPE should be researched, and after that the order or research will be determined by personal preference.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Outstanding gun for its rank
  • Armour that protects the crew from MG fire, but thin enough to allow normal AP rounds to over-penetrate
  • Fairly small tank destroyer can hide behind most obstacles
  • Good gun elevation
  • Excellent horizontal arc of 30°, that allows hiding easily the tank
  • Amazing penetration with APCR ammunition

Cons:

  • Vulnerable to HE rounds
  • Not fully enclosed (Exposed crew)
  • Bad gun depression
  • Extremely high penetration that it often over penetrates most light tanks that it faces
  • Hull-breakable

History

Development

After the start of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht found a very dire problem of the lack of a mobile anti-tank system and adequate anti-tank weapons, especially after the appearance of the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. The only mass-issued anti-tank was the 37 mm Pak 36 and the only mobile anti-tank system widely used was the Panzerjäger I with the Czech 47 mm anti-tank gun. Modifications to current vehicles in service was done to put more self-propelled anti-tank weapons into service, which created the Marder I from the French Lorraine, the Marder II from the Panzer IIs, and the Marder III from the Czech Panzer 38(t).

Specifications

The Marder III, with the rest of the Marder series, gave Germany forces a self-propelled gun mounting a better gun than what was available on German tanks, such as the 75 mm Pak 40 or captured Soviet 76.2 mm guns chambered for the Pak 40 ammo. All of the Marders share a lack of armour for the crew, the top and rear of the vehicle is left exposed to mortar, shrapnel, or infantry weapons. This weakness is mitigated with the fact that the Marders is supposed to be anti-tank motor carriages that are to ambush incoming enemy tanks.

The Marder III Ausf. H uses the Panzer 38(t) as it was a design going obsolete, and new large German anti-tank weapons were being produced, so they mounted these guns onto the Panzer 38(t) first. The finished self-propelled mount had a higher silhouette than the Panzer 38(t), which left it more vulnerable, but had a 75 mm Pak 40 gun and withhold 38 rounds in the vehicle. A machine gun on the hull was retained for anti-infantry purposes.

The Marder III Ausf. H predecessor, simply named as the Marder III mounted a rechambered 76.2 gun instead of a Pak 40. Another variant created, the Ausf. M, featured a lower silhouette and a better-sloped armour and fighting compartment, despite only holding 27 rounds for the mounted Pak 40. A total of 3,472 Marder IIIs and its version was created or converted from Panzer 38(t) during its production life.

Combat usage

The Marder III Ausf. H fought on all fronts of the war, being produced from 1942 to 1945, with 450 Marder III Ausf. H with the Pak 40 converted and produced. Using the tested design of the Panzer 38(t), the Marder III experienced a reliable mechanical history and has a gun that could take out most allied tanks in the war. The vulnerability to the crew due to lack of armour was its most pressing issue, with only a front shield plate at most 15 mm thick and side plates that can't enclose the crew. This makes it as very poor assault vehicles or tank substitutes as the open top could allow infantry to easily kill the crew from hidden areas, despite that, it is sometimes repurposed to this role to the chagrin of the crew.

As its production was underway, Germany already had a few self-propelled assault weapons being produced such as the StuG III that could have the same anti-tank capabilities, yet was fully armoured, enclosing the crew inadequate armour. This obvious advantage over the open Marder series encouraged the development of a new kind of tank destroyer from the Panzer 38(t) with better armour, which will eventually create the Jagdpanzer 38(t). Despite that, the Marders continued to serve to the end of the war.

In-game description

"An antitank vehicle designed by Alkett. The prototype was built in June, 1942. It was produced from November, 1942 to April, 1943 at the BMM factory. The Marder II Ausf.H was also rebuilt from damaged tanks at the Wehrmacht factory in Prilougi using cabins obtained from BMM.

Marder IIIs were used actively on all fronts of World War II. Most of them were used on the Eastern Front.

A total of 613 Marder III Ausf.H tank destroyers were produced."

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

  • reference to the series of the vehicles;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

ETC.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


Germany tank destroyers
Pz. I Derivatives  Panzerjäger I
Pz. II Derivatives  15cm sIG 33 B Sfl
Pz. 38(t) Derivatives  Marder III · Marder III H · Jagdpanzer 38(t)
Pz. III Derivatives  StuG III A · StuG III F · StuG III G · StuH 42 G
Pz. IV Derivatives  Jagdpanzer IV · Panzer IV/70(A) · Panzer IV/70(V) · Dicker Max · Nashorn · Brummbär · VFW
Pz. V Derivatives  Jagdpanther G1 · Bfw. Jagdpanther G1
Pz. VI Derivatives  Sturer Emil · Elefant · Ferdinand · 38 cm Sturmmörser · Jagdtiger
Wheeled/Half-track  8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl. · Sd.Kfz.251/9 · Sd.Kfz.251/10 · Sd.Kfz.251/22 · Sd.Kfz.234/3 · Sd.Kfz.234/4 · 15 cm Pz.W.42
ATGM Carrier  RakJPz 2 · RakJPz 2 (HOT) · Wiesel 1A2
Other  Waffenträger · M109G · JPz 4-5 · Raketenautomat · VT1-2