The Goliath remote-controlled [demolition carrier] was developed by the [Borgward] [automobile] company after the [Nazi]s recovered a similar French vehicle sunk in the [Seine]. It is yet another example of how the Nazis always managed to develop fascinating new weapons, but mostly failed to properly use them.

This vehicle was to be used to destroy [bunker]s and fortified positions. It was controlled by means of a wire by an engineer sitting in a secure position. Upon reaching the target, the Goliath was blown up.

The Goliath looked like a little [turret]less [tank] with a low [silhouette]. It was transported to the battle zone on a two-wheeled trailer. In the rear of the vehicle was a drum containing 650 meters of control wire. The wire had three strands, two for driving and one for detonating the charge.

An early version was driven by two electric motors and carried a 60-kilogram explosive charge. This was designated the Leichter Ladungsträger (light demolition carrier) [SdKfz] 302 E-Motor (electric engine) and known as Gerät 67 (Device 67). Between [April 1942] and [January 1944] Borgward and [Zündapp] produced 2650 vehicles of this type. However, only a few E-Motor Goliaths ever saw action, as the vehicle was quite expensive at 3000 [Reichsmark]s. In [March 1945] there were still 2527 E-Motor Goliaths waiting for action.

The E-Motor Goliaths were successfully used at Sevastopol, where they destroyed 36 bunkers and 11 guns.

Zündapp and [Zachertz] built a successor to the E-Motor Goliath with a [combustion engine]. It was designated the Leichter Ladungsträger SdKfz 303 V-Motor. Its first version was SdKfz 303a (Gerät 671), of which 4604 were built between [April 1943] and [September 1944]. The explosive charge had been increased to 75 kg. SdKfz 303a was slightly higher than SdKfz 302 due to an air-intake [cowl].

The final version was SdKfz 303b (Gerät 672). Only 325 were produced between [November 1944] and [January 1945]. It carried a 100-kilogram explosive charge.

The later versions of the Goliath were relatively inexpensive at 1000 Reichsmarks. Nevertheless they were also rarely used, and 3797 SdKfz 303 were still unused in [January 1945]. This is probably due to the fact that the Goliath was actually built for attacking fixed positions and, later in the war, the Germans were mostly on the defensive. [Allied] troops encountered Goliaths in Anzio, where many of them bogged down in the sand, and later in [Normandy].

Specifications:

Length: 150 cm (SdKfz 302), 162 cm (SdKfz 303a), 163 cm (SdKfz 303b)
Width: 85 cm (SdKfz 302), 84 cm (SdKfz 303a), 91 cm (SdKfz 303b)
Height: 56 cm (SdKfz 302), 60 cm (SdKfz 303a), 62 cm (SdKfz 303b)
Hull: 5 mm steel (SdKfz 302), 10 mm steel (SdKfz 303a and 303b)
Tracks: width 16 cm, 48 links, ground contact 73 cm
Ground clearance: 11.4 cm (SdKfz 302), 16.8 cm (SdKfz 303a and 303b)
Trench crossing: 60 cm (SdKfz 302), 85 cm (SdKfz 303a), 100 cm (SdKfz 303b)
Power: 2 x 2.5 kW (SdKfz 302), 12.5 bhp (SdKfz 303a and 303b)
Engine: 2 x [Bosch] MM/RQL 2500/24 RL2 (SdKfz 302), Zündapp SZ7, 703 cm³ (SdKfz 303a and 303b)
Weight: 370 kg (SdKfz 302 and 303a), 430 kg (SdKfz 303b)
Explosive charge: 60 kg (SdKfz 302), 75 kg (SdKfz 303a), 100 kg (SdKfz 303b)
Road speed: 10 km/h (SdKfz 302 and 303a), 11.5 km/h (SdKfz 303b)
Fuel capacity: 6 litres (SdKfz 303a and 303b)
Street range: 1.5 km (SdKfz 302), 12 km (SdKfz 303a and 303b)
Cross-country range: 0.8 km (SdKfz 302), 6 km (SdKfz 303a and 303b)

Sources:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/1167/egoliath.html
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3620/gol1.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3620/gol.htm
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/borgward.htm
http://www.strandlab.com/visquiz/

Goliath (thing)