100 Quick Reviews
Before World War II, the German Multiple Rocket Launchers (MLRS) were originally designed to launch rockets loaded with chemical** and smoke grenades. However, it is fair to say that the Soviet BM-13 multiple rocket launcher (the famous "Katyusha") was developed for the same purpose. This was reflected in the name of the first German mass-produced 150-mm multiple rocket launcher - Nebelwerfer or "D-type smoke mortar". Translated from German, "nebelwerfer" literally means "smoke emitter".
15-cm nebelwerfer 41
During the Second World War, Germany lagged behind the allies in terms of chemical ** reserves, but had a clear advantage in the quality of chemical **. The German chemical industry has traditionally had a high level of development and a strong theoretical foundation, which enabled German chemists to make a breakthrough in the field of chemistry at the end of the 30s of the 20th century. In the process of researching and developing pesticides, they discovered one of the deadliest chemicals**: nerve agents. A substance that would later become known as "Tabong" was originally synthesized. Later, the more lethal "sarin" and "Soman" were also produced on an industrial scale.
Fortunately, the Allied forces were not attacked by chemical **. Germany was doomed to defeat by conventional means, so no attempt was made to reverse the course of the war with the most advanced chemical **. As a result, German MLRS were only used to fire fragmentation, incendiary, smoke and propaganda shells.
Trials of a six-barreled 150-mm mortar began in 1937. The installation consisted of a kit consisting of six tubular rails, mounted on a modified 37-mm anti-tank gun 3On the gun carriage of the 7 cm Pak 36. Six roots are 1The 3-meter barrel was connected together by the front and rear gun rings. The gun carriage is equipped with a lifting mechanism with a maximum elevation angle of 45 degrees and a turning mechanism that can provide a horizontal firing boundary of 24 degrees.
The combat weight reached 770 kg in the loaded state and 515 kg in the marching state. At short distances, it can be pushed by the calculator himself.
Launch uses 150-mm turbojet bombs (rockets). The warhead is located in the tail section, in front of which is a jet engine with 26 inclined holes (nozzles inclined at 14 degrees) at the bottom. The engine was covered with a ballistic casing. Aerial stability is provided by an inclined nozzle that rotates at a speed of about 1000 rpm.
The main difference between German rockets and Soviet rockets was the way they stabilized in flight. Turbojet rockets have a higher accuracy of hitting, since this stabilization method simultaneously compensates for the eccentricity of the engine thrust. In addition, it is possible to use shorter guides, since, unlike rockets stabilized with rudder wings, the stabilization efficiency is not affected by the initial speed of the rocket. However, since part of the exhaust energy is used to rotate the projectile, its range is shorter than that of a projectile with a rudder wing.
When loading a turbojet bomb, the bomb is fixed with a special clip from the muzzle, and then an electric igniter is inserted into one of the nozzles. After aiming at the target, the calculation crew went into the bunker and fired using a launcher in a group of 3 bombs. When fired, the electric igniter is remotely ignited by the battery of the towing vehicle. One salvo lasts about 10 seconds. The reload time is 15 minutes (ready for the next salvo).
Originally, black powder compressed at high temperatures (melting point sulfur) was used as rocket fuel. The strength of the powder block was low, and the presence of a large number of voids in it could lead to cracks, which led to frequent accidents when fired. In addition, the combustion of this fuel is accompanied by a lot of smoke. In 1940, tubular powder blocks made of smokeless diethylethanol gunpowder replaced black powder blocks. This gunpowder has better energy properties. Seven blocks of gunpowder were usually used.
Weighs up to 3415 kg (smoke grenades are 35.)48 kg) of the rocket has a maximum range of 6700-6800 meters and a maximum flight speed of 340 meters and seconds. The Nebelwerfer had very decent accuracy in MLRS of its time. At a range of 6000 meters, the projectile is dispersed 60-90 meters on the frontal and 80-100 meters at the range. The fragmentation of fragments of fragmentation anti-personnel projectiles is dispersed 40 meters in the front and 13 meters in front of the ** point. In order to achieve maximum lethal effect, it was stipulated that firing could only be carried out in units of artillery batteries or battalions.
The first units armed with six-barreled mortars were formed at the beginning of 1940. For the first time, the Germans used this ** in the French campaign. In 1942, with the entry into service of the 28 32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 rocket launcher, the installation was renamed 15-cm NBw. 41。
In 1942, the German Army deployed three regiments (Nebelwerfer Regiment), as well as nine separate battalions (Nebelwerfeabteilung). Each battalion had three six-barrel launchers, and each regiment had three battalions (54 "nebelwerfer"). From 1943, 150-mm rocket artillery companies (six-barreled launchers per company) began to be incorporated into the light battalions of the infantry divisional artillery regiments, replacing the 105-mm field guns. As a rule, a division has two rocket artillery batteries, but in some cases their number increases to three battalions. In addition to strengthening the artillery of the infantry divisions, the Germans formed separate rocket artillery units.
In total, the German industry produced 5283 six-barreled 150-mm Nebelwerfer 41 and 5.5 million rockets.
The relatively light heavy firepower Nebelwerfer rocket artillery showed itself well during the Cretan landing (Operation Mercury). On the Eastern Front, they were armed with the 4th Chemical Special Purpose Regiment, which from the first hours of the war were used in the shelling of the Brest Fortress, firing more than 2880 fragmentation anti-personnel shells.
Due to the distinctive sound of the flying projectile, the Nebelwerfer 41 received the nickname "donkey" among Soviet soldiers. Another unofficial name is "Vanessa" (similar to "Katyusha").
The Nebelwerfer 41 was a very effective ** that played an important role in the Second World War. It has a fast rate of fire and a high hit rate, which can inflict significant ** on enemy units. It can also be used to fire smoke grenades and propaganda grenades, to cover your own troops, or to advertise enemy soldiers.
One of the major drawbacks of the German 150-mm six-barreled mortar was the clearly visible smoke left behind when firing, which made it a good target for enemy artillery. Taking into account the low maneuverability of the Nebelwerfer 41, such shortcomings were often fatal.
In order to improve mobility and protection calculations, in 1942, on the basis of the Opel Maultier half-track truck, the 15cm Panzerwerfer 42 AUF. was developedSF or SDkfz.4 1 self-propelled rocket launcher with a total combat weight of 725 tons. The firing installation consisted of two rows of ten barrels, connected together by two gun rings and a gun case.
15cm panzerwerfer 42 auf.sf
panzerwerfer 42 auf.The protection of the SF consisted of 6-8 mm anti-fragmentation armor. For self-defense and firing at anti-aircraft targets, there is an installation 7 above the cockpitBracket for the 92-mm MG-34 machine gun. The crew consisted of four people: the commander (who also served as the radio operator), the gunner, the loader, and the driver.
During serial production in 1943-1944, a total of 296 Panzerwerfer 42 AUF. were producedSF self-propelled rocket artillery, as well as 251 ammunition delivery vehicles equipped with ammunition on the same chassis. The Panzerwerfer was used by the German ** team until the end of the war.
In addition to the "Opel" chassis, self-propelled rocket launchers were produced on the basis of the standard 3-ton heavy military tractor (3-ton Schwerer wehrmachtschlepper) half-track armored personnel carrier. The car was mass-produced by the companies "Busnin-NAG" and "Tatra" from 1944 and continued until the end of the war. The total combat weight of the car reached 14 tons, so it was protected by 15 mm armor, and its mobility and travel speed were slow.
The 150-mm self-propelled rocket launcher was also produced on the basis of the Somua MCG MCL half-track tractor captured in France.
In order to increase the destructive power of the rocket, in 1941 a 28 32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 six-barreled launcher was adopted. On wheeled mounts with fixed frames, two-tiered barrel farms were installed. The rails can accommodate 280 mm and 320 mm incendiary shells. The unloaded device weighs only 500 kg (the rails have a mesh structure instead of a tubular structure), so it allows the calculator to roll freely on the battlefield. The combat full weight of the system: 280 kg for mortars armed with 1630 mm ammunition and 320 kg for mortars armed with 1600 mm ammunition. The horizontal firing range is 22 degrees, the elevation angle is 45 degrees. It takes 10 seconds to fire a salvo of six rockets and 2 to reload5 minutes.
28/32 cm nebelwerfer 41
When developing 280-mm and 320-mm rockets, a well-proven engine from the 158-mm rocket 15cm Wurfgran TE was used. Due to the much greater mass and resistance to the wind, the range of the new rocket was reduced by about three times, to only 1950-2200 meters, and the maximum speed was 149-153 meters. Such a range can only be used for firing at the line of contact of the battle line and in the nearest rear of the enemy.
The warhead of the 280-mm rocket was loaded with 454 kg of explosives. In the event of a direct hit on a brick house, the house will be completely destroyed.
The warhead of the 320-mm incendiary bomb was loaded with 50 liters of incendiary mixture (** and 1 kg of explosives.
During the war, the Germans removed the 320-mm incendiary bomb from the ** armament due to its insufficient efficiency. In addition, the thin-walled shells of 320-mm incendiary shells were not very reliable, they often leaked the incendiary mixture and broke when fired.
280-mm and 320-mm rockets can also be fired without a launcher. To do this, it is necessary to dig a firing position. The rockets were packed in one or four boxes and placed on a flat, sloping ground with wooden planks.
Rockets produced in the early days often failed to detach from the box when fired, but were launched along with the box. Due to the increased air resistance of the wooden crate, the range is greatly reduced, and there is a danger of injuring friendly troops.
Later, the Germans developed the "heavy throwing device" (Schweres wurfgerat) to solve this problem. Rocket boxes (in groups of four) are mounted on a light metal or wooden frame that can be folded into a ladder-like shape. The frame can be adjusted in such a way that the elevation angle of the launcher is from 5 to 42 degrees.
The weight of the wooden SWG 40 is 500 kg (with 280 mm rockets) or 488 kg (with 320 mm rockets). The weight of the steel SWG 41 is 558 kg (with a 280-mm rocket) or 548 kg (with a 320-mm rocket).
A salvo takes 6 seconds, and a reload takes 25 minutes. The sighting device is very primitive, there are only ordinary angles tables. These simple devices do not require specialized calculations to operate, and any infantry can shoot with the SWG 40 41.
The first large-scale use of the 28 32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 on the Eastern Front was during the German summer offensive in 1942. They were widely used during the siege of Sevastopol.
28 32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 also has a "self-propelled" version. In SDkfz.251.1 auf.dThree sets of wooden launchers were installed on the sides of the tracked armored personnel carrier (three on each side, two for the command vehicle).
** of the armored personnel transport vehicle — two 792-mm machine gun (the machine gun in the tail section was on the anti-aircraft turret) - still retained. An original sight was installed on the rod next to the machine gun for rough aiming. This "self-propelled" rocket artillery was mainly equipped with SS troops.
Containers with large rockets were also installed on other chassis. For example, in 1943, Germany converted several dozen two-seater armored tractors Renault UE captured as trophies in 1940 into self-propelled rocket launchers.
In the rear of the vehicle was installed a launch stand for containers with rockets. On the frontal armor plate of the vehicle, an original sight was installed on the outstretched rod for rough aiming **. The rocket can be launched from inside the towing vehicle. The crew consists of two people. The speed of the towing vehicle dropped to 22 km/h, but overall, the car was quite reliable and durable. The entire system was named 28 32 cm Wurfrahmen 40 (SF) auf infanterieschlepper UE 630.
Launchers for 280 320-mm rockets were also installed on captured French Hotchkiss H39 tanks.
During war, warring parties often copy each other's ** and equipment.
At the beginning of 1942, in the blockaded city of Leningrad, the production of rockets of the same structure as the German 28 cm Wurfkorper Spreng and 32 cm Wurfkorper Flam rockets began. The warheads of these rockets were made of substitute *** made of ammonium nitrate, which was very suitable for the conditions of the "trench warfare" of the Leningrad Front. The incendiary bomb was filled with petroleum processing waste, and the igniter of the burning mixture was a small piece of explosive placed in a cup of white phosphorus. However, the number of 320-mm incendiary shells produced was much less than that of 280-mm fragmentation shells.
280 mm rockets -28
In total, more than 10,000 280-mm rockets were produced. As a product of the blockade, the -28 rocket ended its existence along with the blockade.