Scraper S

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Heavy mine clearance vehicle Räumer S (self-propelled)
General properties
crew 8th
length 15.63 m
width 2.60-3.27 m
height 3.93 m
Dimensions 130 t
Armor and armament
Armor 25 mm
agility
drive 2 × Maybach HL 90 P 20-K
700 PS (515 kW)
Top speed 25 km / h road /
4–8 km / h off-road
Power / weight

The Räumer S was a heavy mine clearance vehicle developed by the Krupp company for the German Wehrmacht , which never got beyond the prototype stage and was never tested. It was an oversized high-wheeled vehicle with a central joint. The heavy weight of the vehicle should detonate anti-tank mines .

As early as September 1940, the Weapons Office placed an order with the Alkett and Krupp companies to develop a "device for mechanically clearing mines on the road and in the field, even during combat" . The vehicles should be self-propelled, armored and equipped with attached rollers, which should clear an alley 3 m wide. The dimensions were determined as follows: not more than 2.70 m high, 3 m wide, 10 m long and weighing not more than 40 t. After the work at Alkett was stopped again, the scraper S was created at Krupp. This vehicle weighed 130 t.

The model vehicle, which was only produced once, consisted of two halves that were connected to one another by pins and hydraulic cylinders. This also made it possible to steer the vehicle. Each half of the vehicle could be turned 22 °, for a total of 44 °. Since the turning circle would still have been huge, the option of two driver positions for driving forwards and backwards was chosen. The vehicle was 15.63 m long and 2.93 m high. It had 53 cm wide steel wheels, which had a diameter of 2.70 m and were equipped with 15 cm thick rubber pads. Due to the different widths of the vehicle halves of up to 3.27 m, the widest possible mine lane should be cleared.

The 2.70 high steel wheels were well sprung, as they could jump up to half a meter high during mine explosions or fall into mine craters up to 90 cm deep. The ground clearance was between 1 m and 1.40 m. The thickness of the armor plates of the superstructure was only 25 mm. The vehicle was powered by two Maybach HL-90-P-20-K engines. Each of these machines had an output of 350 hp. The vehicle should be able to go up to 25 km / h on the road and between 4 and 8 km / h when clearing mines. The vehicle, including the driver, had a crew of eight, all of whom had hydraulically suspended seats.

On June 4, 1943, the Weapons Testing Office 5 was shown the individual parts of the Räumer S. Due to the bombing raids on Krupp in Essen, further assembly of the vehicle was moved to Hillersleben. On August 10, 1944, the vehicle was presented to Wa Pruef 5 again with the stipulation that it should be completed by September 1944. On October 20, 1944, Krupp announced that the vehicle was not yet ready due to further problems, but that it would now be completed by November of that year. Tests should then take place in Kummersdorf.

When the Americans marched into the Hillersleben test site in 1945, they found the model vehicle there. It was examined and should be brought to the Americans' depot 0644 near Paris for testing. The vehicle was cut into its two halves for transport; then his track is lost. The American loot report doubts that this vehicle was really intended for clearing mines, as it only had 53 cm wide wheels, which would only lead to a clearing width of 1.06 m even with different axle widths of the front and rear axles - quite apart from the enormous ground pressure of the vehicle. It was assumed that the scraper S should only be the towing vehicle for a special clearing device.

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