page_title: List of WWII Maybach engines
section_title: Maybach history, 1935–1945
hierarchical_section_title: List of WWII Maybach engines / Maybach history, 1935–1945
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.Drehkrankraftwagen (Hebekraft 3t) auf dem Lkw-Fahrgestell Büssing-NAG 4500 A (Allrad)
context_page_description: This is an incomplete list of gasoline engines designed by Maybach AG, manufactured by Maybach and other firms under licence, and fitted in various German tanks and half-tracks before and during World War II. Until the mid 1930s, German military vehicle manufacturers could source their power plants from a variety of engine makers; by October 1935 the design and manufacture of almost all tank and half-track engines was concentrated in one company, Maybach AG, located in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance.
  The firm designed and made a wide range of 4, 6, and 12-cylinder engines from 2.5 to 23 litres; these powered the basic chassis designs for approximately ten tank types, six half-track artillery tractor designs, plus two series of derived armoured personnel carriers. Maybach also designed a number of gearboxes fitted to these vehicles, made under licence by other manufacturers. Friedrichshafen was also home to the Zahnradfabrik factory which made gearboxes for Panzer III, IV, Panther and Tiger tanks. Both Maybach and ZF were originally subsidiaries of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, which also had a factory in the town.
context_section_description: In order to rationalise Germany's military vehicle production, sweeping changes were made to its entire automotive industry. Heinrich Ernst Kniepkamp, head of the Heereswaffenamt (HWA), oversaw the re-organisation. By late October 1935, Maybach had been designated the sole designer of engines for the army, with production outsourced to other firms including Nordbau (Norddeutsche Motorenbau GmbH) in the Berlin suburb of Niederschöneweide.
  Although a steady supply of spare parts is essential to an army in the field, the production of complete engines always took priority over providing spares. Germany never achieved the industrial capacity needed to keep its military vehicles running efficiently: when the Russian campaign got underway, the deficiencies of the armaments industry and the organisation of maintenance depots became obvious. The German armed forces suffered from continual shortages of spare parts for tanks and half-tracks until the end of the war. When the first Tiger I tanks arrived in Russia in autumn 1942, there was only one spare engine and one transmission for every 10 tanks. A critical lack of spare parts meant that most of them were out of commission within a short period, sometimes for weeks on end. Despite various attempts at re-organisation, friction between the distribution systems of the civilian Ministry of Armaments and the Army often led to confrontation and inefficiency.
  By late 1943 there was a severe shortage of spare tank engines. Rather than concentrate on proven designs, Maybach continued to bring out new, relatively untested models; the wide variety of engine types seriously hampered efforts to fix the multiple defects which Maybach engines developed under combat conditions. The extreme difficulty of stocking so many spares at the front, several thousand kilometres away from the factory, swiftly led to vehicles being unserviceable for combat. Because the armaments industry was already working at full capacity, it was not possible to completely replace obsolete models with new versions. Instead, the number of tank models and types within each series issued to the field forces increased steadily, which only made the maintenance and repair situation worse.
  Severely damaged tanks from the Russian front were initially shipped back to Germany, or to the Nibelungenwerk or the Vienna Arsenal for repair; but the prospect of inevitable delays often meant that vehicles were instead cannibalised at the front for parts. Often when a new engine was delivered, there was little left except the hull of the tank it was intended for. Nevertheless, the maintenance crews did their best, often retrieving knocked-out tanks under considerable difficulties.
  As the war progressed, new Maybach engines tended to be rushed into production, without adequate testing and development. As a result, they were viewed as unreliable. All the 325 new Panther tanks delivered to Russia in early 1943 had to be returned because of serious defects in the steering; they were underpowered by the HL210 P30 engine, and its replacement, the HL230 P30 (which didn't arrive until late 1943) suffered from over-heating, fires in the engine compartment and blown gaskets.
  By way of comparison, the Russian Army used a single basic engine (the V-12 diesel Kharkiv V-2) to power the majority of its tanks – with a few modifications – starting with the BT-7M and its successor the T-34, producing 500 hp (370 kW) @ 1800 rpm in 1939; the SU-85 and SU-100; the KV-1 and KV-2 (600 hp in 1939); and the IS-2, ISU-122 and ISU-152 and the T-10. Maybach didn't produce a more powerful acceptable engine until late 1943 with the HL230 P30.
caption: A Tiger tank undergoing an engine swap (HL230 P45), Romania 1944
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