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Panzerschreck Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 | |
---|---|
Type | Anti-tank rocket launcher |
Place of origin | Nazi Germany |
Service history | |
In service | 1943–1945 (Nazi Germany) [1] |
Used by | See Users |
Wars | World War II |
Production history | |
Unit cost | 70 ℛ︁ℳ︁ |
No. built | 314,895 [2] |
Variants | RPzB 54, RPzB 54/1 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 11 kg (24 lb) empty (RPzB 54) with shield |
Length | 164 centimetres (65 in) |
Caliber | 88 mm (3.5 in) |
Muzzle velocity | 110 m/s (360 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 150 m (490 ft) RPzB 54 |
Panzerschreck (lit. "tank fright", "tank's fright" or "tank's bane") was the popular name for the Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 ("Rocket Anti-armor Rifle Model 54", abbreviated to RPzB 54), an 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by Nazi Germany in World War II. Another earlier, official name was Ofenrohr ("stove pipe"). [3]
The Panzerschreck was designed as a lightweight infantry anti-tank weapon and was an enlarged copy of the American bazooka. [4] The weapon was shoulder-launched and fired a fin-stabilized rocket with a shaped-charge warhead. It was made in smaller numbers than the Panzerfaust , which was a light, disposable anti-tank weapon that used a system akin to recoilless rifles. [5]
The Panzerschreck development was initially based on the American "bazooka", captured during the Tunisian campaign, November 1942. [6] [7] The Panzerschreck was larger and heavier than its American counterpart – the Panzerschreck had an 88 mm calibre, compared to the 57 mm calibre of the bazooka – allowing it to penetrate thicker armour, but also required a larger motor, creating more smoke when firing.
Calibre 88 mm was selected as the existing RPzB. Gr. 4312 for 8.8 cm Raketenwerfer 43 was reused for Panzerschreck. Warhead and fuzing was carried over, but the rocket motor's housing needed lengthening from 490 mm (19 in) to 650 mm (26 in) to accommodate the longer rocket motor. Raketenwerfer 43 had percussion firing, whereas for the Panzerschreck an electrical priming was selected, forming standard grenade RPzB. Gr. 4322. [6] Other munitions were developed, including drill dummy, practice live rocket with inert warhead and standard grenade with improved contact system. [8]
The earliest production model of the RPzB 54 was 164 centimetres (5 ft 5 in) long and weighed about 9.25 kilograms (20.4 lb) when empty. Unlike the rockets used in American bazookas which extinguished before leaving the tube, the RPzB rockets kept burning for about 2 metres (6.6 ft) after exiting the tube. Users were instructed to wear heavy gloves, a protective poncho and a gas mask without a filter to protect them from the heat of the backblast when the weapon was fired. [7] Improvised shields were made to protect the user and in February 1944, the RPzB 54 was fitted with an official blast shield to protect the operator which made the weapon heavier, weighing 11 kilograms (24 lb) empty. Small numbers of the shortened RPzB 54/1 were later produced. It had an improved rocket, a shorter barrel, and a range increased to about 180 metres (590 ft). [3]
Firing the RPzB generated copious amounts of smoke both in front of and behind the weapon. Because of the weapon's tube and smoke produced, official documentation named the weapon the Ofenrohr ("stove pipe"). This also meant that anti-tank teams were revealed once they fired, making them targets and, therefore, required them to shift positions after firing. This type of system also made it problematic to fire the weapon from inside closed spaces (such as bunkers or houses), filling the room with toxic smoke and revealing the firing location immediately.
Late war German tactical doctrine called for Panzerschreck and/or Panzerfaust teams to set up in staggered trenches no further than 115 metres (377 ft) apart. In this way, attacking armor would face anti-tank fire from multiple directions at a distance of no more than 69 metres (226 ft). Anti-tank teams were instructed to aim for the thinner side or rear armor whenever possible. [9] Allied armored units frequently attempted to add improvised protection to their tanks, e.g., sandbags, spare track units, logs and so on to protect against HEAT rounds. Another defense was to rig metal mesh and netting around the tank, resembling the German Schürzen auxiliary plates. In practice about 1 meter of air gap were required to substantially reduce the penetrating capability of RPzB, thus skirts and sandbags were entirely ineffective against RPzB and Panzerfaust. [10]
In 1944, Germany provided the Panzerschreck to Finland, which used it to great effect against Soviet armour. The Finnish name for the weapon was Panssarikauhu (literal translation of the German name).
The Italian Social Republic and Hungary also used the Panzerschreck. Several Italian units became known as skilled anti-tank hunters and the Hungarians used the Panzerschreck extensively during Operation Spring Awakening.
Penetration measured against Face-Hardened Armor (FHA), Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA).
Testing nation | Armor | Angle (°) | Penetration (mm) |
---|---|---|---|
Germany | RHA | 90 | 230 [11] |
Germany | RHA | 60 | 160 [11] [12] |
Germany | RHA | 30 | 95 [11] [12] |
Finland | FHA | 30 | 100 [11] |
United States | FHA | 90 | 216 [13] |
United States | FHA (6" / 152 mm) + RHA (2.25" / 57 mm) | 90 | 210 [14] |
United States | FHA | 90 | 152 [15] |
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired rocket weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor which propels the RPG towards the target and they are stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable with new rocket-propelled grenades, while others are single-use. RPGs are generally loaded from the front.
Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate armour protection, most often including naval armour, body armour, and vehicle armour.
The Bazooka is a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative Bazooka was among the first generation of rocket-propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat. Featuring a solid-propellant rocket for propulsion, it allowed for high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge warheads to be delivered against armored vehicles, machine gun nests, and fortified bunkers at ranges beyond that of a standard thrown grenade or mine. The universally applied nickname arose from the weapon's M1 variant's vague resemblance to the musical instrument called a bazooka invented and popularized by 1930s American comedian Bob Burns.
High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity shaped charge jet; this is capable of penetrating armor steel to a depth of seven or more times the diameter of the charge. The shaped charge jet armor penetration effect is purely kinetic in nature; the round has no explosive or incendiary effect on the armor.
The Panzerfaust was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light anti-tank weapons based on a pre-loaded disposable launch tube, a weapon configuration which is still used today.
Anti-tank warfare originated during World War I from the desire to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks. After the Allies deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire introduced the first anti-tank weapons. The first developed anti-tank weapon was a scaled-up bolt-action rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, that fired a 13.2 mm cartridge with a solid bullet that could penetrate the thin armor used by tanks at that time and destroy the engine or ricochet inside, killing occupants. Because tanks represent an enemy's strong force projection on land, military strategists have incorporated anti-tank warfare into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. The most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II in 1939 included the tank-mounted gun, anti-tank guns and anti-tank grenades used by the infantry, and ground-attack aircraft.
Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile, among other variants, are common slang terms to describe high-caliber shoulder-mounted weapons systems; that is, weapons firing large, heavy projectiles ("missiles"), typically using the backblast principle, which are small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while held on one's shoulder. The word "missile" in this context is used in its original broad sense of a heavy projectile, and encompasses all shells and rockets, guided or unguided. A more formal variant is simply shoulder-fired weapons system and the like.
An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that can be carried and used by one person, but is sometimes used for larger weapons. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armor became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other "soft" targets, though recoilless rifles and rocket-propelled grenades such as the bazooka were also introduced for infantry close-layer defense against tanks.
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The RPG-1 was a Soviet lightweight anti-tank warfare rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) equipped with a shaped charge warhead. The design was inspired by similar weapons being introduced by the US and Germany in the late-World War II period. Work on the design began in 1944 and continued until 1948, but it was not put into production, as the RPG-2 was selected for this role instead. The RPG-1 introduced the basic physical and mechanical layout that was also used on the RPG-2 and the far more famous and ubiquitous RPG-7.
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