Hornisse/Nashorn vs T-34

Fully illustrated, this study investigates the battles between the German Hornisse/Nashorn tank destroyer and the Red Army’s formidable T-34 tank during 1943–44.

Fully illustrated, this study investigates the battles between the German Hornisse/Nashorn tank destroyer and the Red Army’s formidable T-34 tank during 1943–44.

Designed to defeat Soviet armour at long range, the SdKfz 164 Hornisse mounted the formidable 8.8cm PaK 43 anti-tank gun on a hybrid tank chassis with an open top. Making its combat debut at the battle of Kursk in July 1943, it equipped Germany’s heavy anti-tank battalions. Its principal opponent was the T-34 medium tank, the backbone of the Red Army’s armoured formations. Combining excellent mobility, sloped armour and the 76.2mm F-34 main gun, it had already established a hard-earned reputation. By mid-1944 the design had been simplified and uparmoured, with its main armament becoming the 85mm ZiS-S-53 gun.

In this fully illustrated study, armour expert Jacek Zabielski reveals how the Hornisse performed during Operation Zitadelle and beyond, harnessing its superb accuracy and long-range firepower to knock out Soviet tanks while remaining out of range. He also examines how the Red Army’s T-34 crews built on their hard-won battle experience and improved their training and tactics to counter the long-range threat posed by the Hornisse amid the open steppe terrain of the Eastern Front battlefields.

The authoritative text is complemented by rare photographs, full-colour mapping and specially commissioned artwork to show these two types in combat.