15 cm Nebelwerfer 41
| 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 | |
|---|---|
Hungary | |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designed | late 1930s–1945 |
| Unit cost | 3,350 ℛ︁ℳ︁ |
| No. built | 5,283[1] |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | Empty: 510 kg (1,120 lb) Loaded: 770 kg (1,700 lb) |
| Length | 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
| Barrel length | 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) |
| Width | 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Height | 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in)[2] |
| Crew | 5[3] |
| Caliber | 158 mm (6.22 inch) |
| Barrels | 6 |
| Carriage | Split-trail |
| Elevation | +5° to +45° |
| Traverse | 27°[2] |
| Muzzle velocity | 342 m/s (1,120 ft/s) |
| Maximum firing range | 6.9 km (4.3 mi)[2] |
The 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 (15 cm NbW 41) was a German
high-explosives during the war. The name Nebelwerfer is best translated as "smoke thrower".[4]
Allied troops nicknamed it Screaming Mimi and Moaning Minnie due to its distinctive sound.[5]
Development
Rocket development had begun during the 1920s and reached fruition in the late-1930s. These offered the opportunity for the Nebeltruppen to deliver large quantities of poison gas or smoke simultaneously. The first weapon to be delivered to the troops was the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 in 1940, after the Battle of France, a purpose-designed rocket with gas, smoke, and high-explosive warheads. It was fired from a six-tube launcher mounted on a towed carriage adapted from that used by the
3.7 cm PaK 36 to a range of 6,900 metres (7,500 yds), later also mounted on a halftrack as Panzerwerfer 42. Almost five and a half million 15 cm rockets and six thousand launchers were manufactured over the course of the war.[6]
Ammunition
Like virtually all German rocket designs, 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 projectiles were
Mustard Gas as the two primary chemical agents but it does not describe how the rockets were identified with color coded rings. German and Japanese Solid-Fuel Rocket Weapons describes the color coding for the rockets but only gives cryptic codes like M/HA for the type of chemical agent it was filled with.[7]
| Type | Designation | Length | Weight | Payload | Filling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Explosive | 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Spreng | 0.979 m (3 ft 2.5 in) | 31.8[8] kg (70 lb) | 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) | TNT |
| Smoke | 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Nebel | 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) | 35.9 kg (79 lb) | 3.9 kg (8.5 lb) | 30/70 Pumice/Sulfur Trioxide |
| Chemical | 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Gelbring | 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) | ? | 3.5 L (0.77 imp gal; 0.92 U.S. gal) | M/HA |
| 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Grünring | 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) | ? | 2.5 L (0.55 imp gal; 0.66 U.S. gal) | HN-3 | |
| 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Grünring/Gelbring | 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) | ? | 2.6 L (0.57 imp gal; 0.69 U.S. gal) | H[7] |
Photo gallery
-
Nebelwerfer 41 rocket launcher on display at the Rock Island Arsenal museum, viewed from the front -
Nebelwerfer 41 rocket launcher,breechview -
15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 side -
Wgr. 41 projectile for the 15 cm Nbw 41 on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center -
15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Spreng -
15 cm Wurfgranate 41 Spreng Schematic
Notes
- ^ Engelmann, p. 5
- ^ OCLC 2067459.
- ^ Engelmann, p. 46
- ^ "Germany's Rocket and Recoilless Weapons". Intelligence Bulletin. Vol. III, no. 7. March 1945.
- ^ Bull, p. 189
- ^ OCLC 23049230.
- ^ a b German and Japanese Solid-Fuel Rocket Weapons, pg.10-14
- ISBN 9781586637620.
References
- Baschin, J.; Block, M.; Nelson, J. & Tippmann, H. (2013). Nebel-, Panzer- und Vielfachwacher (in English and German). Vol. 30. Neumünster: Nuts & Bolts Verlag.
- Bull, Stephen (2004). Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 1-57356-557-1.
- Engelmann, Joachim. German Rocket Launchers in WWII. Schiffer Publishing, 1990 ISBN 0-88740-240-2
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41.
- 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 Archived 7 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Catalog of Enemy Ordnance, 1945.