Chapter 5 Weapons

97

Bazooka

Operation Rocket launcher, electrically fired Caliber 2.36 in. (60 mm)

Muzzle velocity 84 mps (275 fps) Weight 8.1 kg (18 lbs)

Overall length 154.9 cm (61 in.) Range 455 m (500 yds)

In response to the need for an infantry antitank weapon, Leslie A. Skinner and Edward G. Uhl of the Ordnance Department developed the bazooka—a metal tube that used an electrical firing mechanism—by early 1942. Until then American infantry had lacked an antitank rocket capable of stopping a tank. Another member of the Ordnance Department, Henry H. Mohaupt, had been working on a shaped charge grenade for use by infantry against tanks. Mohaupt’s M10 grenade weighed over

3.5lbs, making it nearly impossible to throw effectively. However, when Skinner and Uhl attached one of Mohaupt’s grenades to a rocket, then hit a tank on three successive shots during testing, the Ordnance Department immediately recognized the value of this new weapon. Many bazookas were shipped to America’s allies; in fact, when the Germans captured one from the Russians, they copied the design to produce the Panzerschreck (“Tank Terror”). The bazooka was named for a musical contraption devised by comedian

Bob Burns.

Panzerschreck Antitank

Rocket Launcher

Operation Rocket launcher, electrically fired Caliber 88 mm (3.46 in.)

Weight 9.3 kg (20.5 lbs)

Overall length 163.8 cm (64.5 in.)

Range 120 meters (130 yds)

Armor penetration 230 mm (9 in.)

The German Panzerschreck (“Tank Terror”) was a larger, more powerful antitank weapon than the more common Panzerfaust. Instead of firing an antitank grenade with a propellant charge inside the launcher tube, the Panzerschreck, like the American Bazooka, fired an antitank rocket electrically. The Panzerschreck consisted of a steel tube and a dry-cell electrical firing mechanism. An 88-mm hollow-charge rocket projectile was inserted into the rear end of the tube; pressing the trigger closed the contacts and ignited the propellant in the back of the rocket, firing the 3.2-kilogram projectile.

Page 98
Image 98
Microsoft Close Combat manual Bazooka, Rocket Launcher, Armor penetration 230 mm 9