Sooo i got the afv sturmtiger and the extra rockets kit. BUT i cannot find anywhere how they transported these rockets appart from filling the inside the sturmtiger full before heading out. Ive seen they use the crane to move the rockets into the vehicle from the ground. But i wonder if there are any info or photos of how they got the ammo to the sturmtigers out in battle or behind battle? Was the ammo moved with trucks or ammo tanks? I guess the sturmtigers didnt drive back and forward to get ammo but had it delivered to them?
Due to the bulkiness of the ammunition, only fourteen rounds could be carried internally, of which one was already loaded, with another in the loading tray. The rest were carried in two storage racks. It was intended that each Sturmtiger would be accompanied by an ammunition carrier built on the same Tiger I chassis, but only one carrier was completed. Due to this, the additional rounds were usually carried in heavy truck when brought forward to the guns.
I’d expect that the trucks would be whatever was available by that stage of the war. The lack of photographs could be taken as an opportunity and even if there were a dozen shots of a particular type in use for the purpose, it would hardly be evidence that nothing else was used.
As a point of interest, in Normandy, Schwimmwagens/Kubelwagens, and motorcyle combinations were used to transport ammo to Tiger units, but that is totally irrelevant in this case as Sturmtiger ammo would be way too heavy and big for small vehicles.
According to Tankpower 16, Tiger-Sturmtiger; “Ammunition supply was the major headache for the Sturmtiger’s combat employment, over the entire stretch of the Sturmtiger’s short career, the Heereswaffenamt accepted only 317 rounds of 38cm ammunition, which is less than one-and-a-half ammunition complements for each of the vehicles actually built.”
No mention on how the rockets were delivered, but given the shortage of rockets as a whole, the vehicles may not have been fully loaded to begin with, certainly not leaving much room for training with this notoriously inaccurate weapon.
