Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind #2548

The Flakpanzer IV “Wirbelwind” (Whirlwind in English) was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on the Panzer IV tank. It was developed in 1944 as a successor to the earlier Möbelwagen self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.

In the first years of World War II, the German military forces had less interest in developing self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, but as the Allies began to gain air superiority, the need for more mobile and better-armed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns increased. During the early summer of 1944, SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Wilhelm Krause with the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend came up with the concept of the Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind.^[1] He presented the concept to SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, commanding officer of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment and it was approved by Adolf Hitler.

The Panzer IV’s turret was removed and replaced with an open-top, nine-sided turret that housed a 2 cm Flakvierling 38, a quadruple mount of 20 mm cannon. A closed-top design would have been preferable, but this was not possible due to the heavy smoke generated by the four anti-aircraft guns. The shape of the turret earned it the nickname Keksdose (“biscuit tin”).  Production of the tank was carried out by Ostbau Werke in Sagan, Silesia. However, in combat the 2 cm shells, while being able to be fired at a high rate and devastating to any aircraft in a precise burst, the guns lacked range and were sometimes ineffective if several shells did not hit an aircraft at once. Thus, a more powerful successor, with an armament that hit harder and had a longer range, was produced which eventually replaced it. Known as the Flakpanzer IV Ostwind (“East Wind”), the successor was equipped with a single 3.7 cm Flak 43.