How Bad Was The Hetzer?

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) is one of the most well-liked German armored fighting vehicles of World War II. It's also known as the Hetzer tank destroyer, though there's been a lot of debate over that nickname. While many people are fans of it, a decent number of AFV enthusiasts also think it was terrible. To get a clearer picture, we're going to take a very quick dive into the vehicle's history.

Check the channel "About" section for the link to the creator of my profile picture.

Sources:
Jagdpanzer 38t Hetzer, 1944 to 45 - Hilary Doyle, Mike Badrocke
Jagdpanzer 38 to Jagdtiger (Panzer Tracts No.9) - Thomas L. Jentz, Hilary Doyle
German Assault Guns and Tank Destroyers 1940 to 1945 - Anthony Tucker-Jones
Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer - Vladimir Francev, Miroslav Bílý
Inside the Chieftain's Hatch, Jagdpanzer 38t (G13)

Songs used (in order from first to last):
Subnautica - Into the Unknown
Halo 3: ODST - Rain (Deference for Darkness)

Sound mods:
Epic Thunder (Pre-release)

Reddit: /u/spookston
Discord: See my Patreon page.

#warthunder​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tanks​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tankhistory

[Spookston]

Yes, I meant to say 10cm when talking about the gun's penetration, not 1cm.

[Panzerfan]

it made a pretty good egg transport though!
a friend of my dad served in the swiss army while these were still in service and he got orders from the quartermaster to grab the nearest vehicle, drive to town and get some eggs
He did as he was told, only that the closest vehicle was a G-13 (swiss designation of the Hetzer)
When he came back to the kitchen, sitting on top of the gun mantlet holding the eggs, he discovered that the battalion commander was inspecting the unit
he wasn't happy

[richman]

The Hetzer is one of my favorite tank destroyers, it is fun to play, however, its weaknesses are *very* noticeable, its weak armor can even be penned by airplane MGs

[GoredonTheDestroyer]

The Hetzer may not have been a _good_ vehicle, but it was a good _vehicle, _ if that makes any sense. It was meant to be a cheap tank destroyer that could get the job done, a job it got done in spades.

[setesh]

Final drives seem to be a serious detriment to WW2 German tanks

[beefyblom]

I've always liked the Hetzer, it's absolutely adorable for a tank destroyer.

[Minx]

The hetzer is based on Panzerkampfwagen 38(t), originally known as the ČKD LT vz. 38 was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia ( and the (T) in the bracket stands for Tschechoslowakei with means Czechoslovakia.

[frankpolly]

What is interesting about the Hetzer/Jgdpzr.38(t) is that it was a step towards the E Series. You can very clearly see how the hetzer and E-10 and E-25 were alike. their main reason for being built being a cost effective, "reliable" and effective tank. Not to mention the fact that the Hetzer of course still shared many parts with the Pz.38(t) and other designs based on it like the Marders and thus had less downtime when broken down.

[xxfalconarasxx]

I love this tank. Despite its shortcomings, I think it served its purpose pretty well. It also was a tank my grandfather operated in World War 2 during the Battle of the Bulge, so it has some sentimental value to me as well.

[BarkBarkImShark]

Basically Germany the entire war:
"This tanks rushed design has lead to multiple performance issues."
"And I'll fukin do it again!"

[gmogosepikworld]

"I have seen this one before"
"What do you mean? It's brand new"

[Aggressively gestures at the lindybeige video]

[레오나SeizenTsungWo]

The most promising to become a plush tank.

[eta]

Your ability to take the development history, performance, pros, and cons, of a tank and present them in an extremely compact yet detailed format is something I've always admired. I take a lot of inspiration from you for my own content, thanks for another great video!

[panzerplayz]

"Hetzer" means baiter, or chaser as It was used to flank and lure in enemies and distract them. It did the job

[mrbloodmuffins]

The Hetzers were what I depended on as a Panzer Elite player back in Company of Heroes.

[Ropetor]

A panther costed as much as a late panzer 4 and took almost the same man hours to make, even if they made more tanks who would've crewed them and what fuel do they use?
The make more panzer 4 thing annoys me very much

[proparkour]

Fun fact: The Hetzer was inspired by the Romanian M-06, ,Mareșal" prototype.




The Hetzer project was approved the same month M-06 was presented to Hittler. Later on, during testing of the M-06, german observators were impressed by the tanks design and layout. If we compare the designs, the similarities are obvious.

[gsmit]

Ah yes finally a video on the armoured coffin

[edi]

I think it was an amazing tank for what it was intended to be and considering it's limitations at the time. War is never about the best possible technology, or troops, but coping with logistics... or more precisely managing your shortcomings...

[RayPall]

Some interesting additional info:

- Germans had quite a few plans for further development of the Hetzers. Among them were a turreted medium tank (essentially just a Hetzer with the Pz.IV turret and gun) and an enlarged tank destroyer with rear-mounted casemate and PaK 42 L/70 gun.

- There was also an assault gun variant armed with the sIG 33 howitzer housed in a lightly armoured casemate (the same gun as on the Sturmpanzer II). This one was actually produced and about 30 of them were made

- Czechoslovakia continued the production of Hetzers post-war. 234 Hetzers were manufactured between 1946-1948 and used under the designation ST-I. Further 50 vehicles were modified for driver training (ST-III) and two prototype variants - the VT-III recovery vehicle and the PM-I flamethrower vehicle. These were used until 1958 and kept in storage until 1963.

- Between 1946 and 1950, Switzerland purchased 158 Hetzers and used them under the designation G-13. These were nearly identical to the Hetzer but lacked muzzle brakes, radios and roof-mounted machine guns. The Swiss army then used them until the 1970s.