Panzerkampfwagen 1 Ausf A ohne Aufbau
other designation:Krupp Traktor LaS
type:Light armoured tracked vehicle for training use
History: Prevented by the Treaty of Versailles from possessing or manufacturing tanks or similarly deigned armoured fighting vehicles, Germany skirted the treaty restrictions by producing 15 tank hulls without supersructures, turrets or armament.
To speed production experience as far as possible,five companies had been selected in 1933 to produce three vehicles each.
The official designation 'Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper' (agricultural tractor), helped disguise the fact that any type of tracked or armoured vehicle was being manufactured.
Specific features:
This vehicle had a fully-tracked armoured hull.
The suspension consisted of a sprocket, 4 road wheels, a fifth, larger road wheel and three return rollers.
The forward road wheel was cushioned by a coil spring and hydraulic shok absorber.
The other 4 road wheels where mountid in pairs, cushioned by leaf springs supported by a girder.
This girder was all that remained of a suspension design which related back to development from a Carden-Loyd design.
Combat service: Designed as a training vehicle, the turetless Krupp Traktor was not intended for combat.
In the Spring of 1934, it was issued to the first two Panzer regiments, Kraftfahrlehrkommando (Motorization Instrutional Command) Zossen und Ohrdruf to give the troops their first experience of driving a fully-tracked armoured vehicle.
15 produced from February to April 1934
crew: 2
Engine: Krupp M305
Gearbox: 5 forward, 1 reverse
speed (km/hr): 37
Range (km): 145
Wheight (tons):3.5
Length (metres): 4.02
Width (metres): 2.06
Height (metres): 1.15
Armour (mm/angle):__Front______Side____Rear___Top/Bottom
Hull___________13/27´_____13/0´___13/15´_________6/90´
source used: Peter Chamberlain and Hilary L. Doyle: Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two. Arms and Armour Press, 1978.