Tank launcher 42
| Tank launcher 42 | |
|---|---|
Panzerwerfer 42 in the Musée des Blindés (2006) |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 4 men |
| length | 6.02 m |
| width | 2.26 m |
| height | 2.17 m |
| Dimensions | 7.1 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 8-10 mm |
| Main armament | 10-way rocket launcher, 15 cm |
| Secondary armament | MG 42 |
| agility | |
| drive | Six-cylinder in-line engine (Opel) 68 hp |
| suspension | Coil springs (chain drive) / leaf springs (on the front rigid axle) |
| Top speed | 40 km / h |
| Power / weight | 9.6 hp / t |
| Range | 140 km |
The Panzerwerfer 42 or in other sources Panzerwerfer 43 stands for Sd.Kfz. 4/1 and was a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher of the German Wehrmacht from 1943. The vehicle, also called “ Nebelwerfer ” after its original camouflage name, consisted of a converted Opel Maultier (Sd.Kfz. 3).
The armament consisted of ten 15 cm launcher tubes and a MG 42 for self-defense. The vehicle was only built in small numbers.
ammunition
The development of launcher ammunition began with so-called smoke tracking devices . The Luftwaffe initially had the RZ (smoke cylinder) series developed; For the army, an 11 cm caliber rocket was subsequently created. This 15 kg rocket, intended for the fog troops (to fog the battlefield), was launched from a 3.25 m long space tube and reached a flight range of 4.5 km.
This rocket was not produced in large numbers, but formed the basis for the Do-Device 38 , which was initially planned for the paratroopers . The name is explained by the fact that it was developed under the supervision of General Dornberger . The 40 kg 15 cm launcher grenade was fired from a simple lattice-shaped frame called a firing channel . The gunpowder propellant was very unstable and led to numerous early detonations. The spread was at a range of 5.5 km with 230 m an unacceptable extent. The Do device weighed 53 kg and did not prove itself in practical use.
On the basis of the ammunition of the Do device, the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 was also developed, in which six circularly arranged 15 cm launcher tubes were mounted on the spreading carriage of the 3.7 cm anti- tank gun. The empty weight of this launcher was 540 kg. Series production began in March 1940.
Since this solution was very immobile, the Panzerwerfer 42 was developed on the basis of the "Maultier".
commitment
For use, the existing launchers were grouped together in batteries . In this way, considerable firepower was guaranteed on the battlefield. The effect of the ammunition was higher, but the scattering circle was still not satisfactory. Multiple launchers guaranteed a high level of destructiveness in a relatively large space. For support and security, heavy artillery pieces were concentrated in the hinterland, which should shoot cover fire in an emergency or continue the actual fire fight. Thanks to the mobility of the “mule”, however, this was seldom necessary. The batteries of Panzerwerfer 42 were used almost exclusively at division level. The British gave the launcher the name Moaning Minnie (idiom, translatable as "grouch") because of the bloodcurdling noise that the rockets made on approach. The Soviet soldiers called the thrower Ischak ("donkey") because of the sound that was similar to the donkey screaming .
Production numbers
- 1943: 188 (or 244) pieces, sources are inconsistent here
- 1944: 52 pieces
literature
- Philip Trewhitt: tanks. The most important combat vehicles in the world from World War I to the present day. Neuer Kaiserverlag, Klagenfurt 2005, ISBN 3-7043-3197-X , ( Worth knowing - Technology ).
- Werner Oswald : Motor vehicles and tanks of the Reichswehr, Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-613-02370-9 .
