I don’t model much armor, but occasionally when I shop for models in catalogs
& websites I’ll run across panzer kits that are labeled with the term “Ausf”. It’s
been gnawing at my curiosity for months so I thought that this would be the perfect place to get the question answered. So, all you armor freaks out there,
what does “Ausf” signify in German & what is its translation in English. Also,
I’d like to ask you panzerheads about some things that I’ve heard mentioned about German armour. First is it true that alot of panzer models, especially the
heavier ones, were not mechanically reliable? And I’ve also heard several times that the Wehrmacht did not have specialized tank recovery units like the
U.S. Army did and often had to leave their knocked out tanks on the battlefield?
Enlighten me, please.
Ausf is short for “ausfûrung” and it means model or version. If you have a Panther ausf. D it means Panther version D.
Yes it is true that some of the heavy german armor was mechanically unreliable. They were under powered, the transmission was to weak and so was the final drives.
The Wehrmacht had recovery units, the recovery units for the heavy armor used the FAMO 18 ton halftrack, but it took three to tow a Tiger. If several tanks was disabled in the field they simply didn’t have enough halftracks to recover them all.
I thought you were addressing me personally.[;)]
As Monrad has stated, it is short for Ausfuhrung, which in the case of vehicles, means type, design or model. It also in general means workmanship and performance. The phrase ‘in aller ausfuhrlich’ translates to “in great detail”.
Ist das klar?
Wow ausf you are quite good at german. [;)]
I am good at german but in cases like this I find myself translating from german to danish and then to english, and that is a bit difficult.
Its not quite true that the heavy tanks were unreliable… Granted, the tanks were underpowered, but what really did it was as the war went on there was a lack of experianced drivers, who some of which had never driven anything more complex than their own NSU mopeds. They tended to miss maintenance stops and abuse the transmission. If handled properly by a well seasoned crew (i.e. like Wittmann’s), the German heavy tanks were very reliable and worst of all very deadly.
In practise the Tiger II was actually a lot better than anything the allies could put up against it. The fact that the drivers were green, there was no fuel and there was no air coverage and the sheer force of numbers from the allied forces meant that the big King Tigers were just too little, too late.
another cause of breakdowns was possibley that the tanks were built be slaves and pows. Some think/thought that they were sabotaged.
However, they don’t necessarily go in order. For instance, a Panther ausf D is an earlier version than a Panther ausf A!
Klar Ausf.
Does this mean you’re a model or just a well crafted version? lol.
PS… too few Tiger II’s too late? GOOD! Ich habe Deutsch gern, aber… I’d like it as my SECOND language![;)]
Danke alle!
Ron[:D]