Nebelwerfer
The
Nebelwerfer (or "fog thrower") was a
German towed
artillery piece, developed in the 1930s and used in
World War II. It had six 150mm
barrels, from which it fired
rockets; a full salvo spread over a period of ten seconds. The loud screeching noise of the rounds led U.S. soldiers in the
Sicily campaign to nickname the gun the "
Screaming Mimi", and "
Moaning Minnie". It (as well as the
Katyusha) is considered to be the father of
multiple rocket launcher artillery.
The
Nebelwerfer 41 was a rocket-launching artillery piece which had six barrels. Each barrel fired a 75 pound 150mm rocket out to a range of about 6800 metres (about 4.2 miles). The
Nebelwerfer 42 had five 210mm barrels and could fire its 250 pound projectiles out to a distance of nearly 8000 metres (about 5 miles). The 210mm version was equipped with removable internal rails in the tubes to allow for the use of the 150mm rocket. Both types were towed pieces which were mounted on the modified carriages of a light pre-war anti-tank gun. After the crew had loaded and aimed the launcher, they would take cover a few metres away and fire the Nebelwerfer by an electric wire. After firing, however, a long streak of smoke could be seen from far away, making the Nebelwerfer an excellent target for counter-artillery fire. It was necessary, therefore, to relocate the Nebelwerfer as soon as possible after firing. As an interesting side note, the 210mm rockets were also mounted under the wings of several German fighter aircraft for use as an
air-to-air rocket called the Wfr. Gr. 21.
One way to make up for the Nebelwerfer's shortcomings in mobility was to mount the rocket launching tubes on some sort of
motorized tractor, as was the case with the
Maultier 42 Panzerwerfer; a lightly armoured half-tracked mount for the weapon.Later in the war cruder (and larger calibred) light metal or even wooden launch racks were devised, in order to cope with the increased frontline requests for the weapon and the growing scarcity of raw materials. The racks could be transported via truck and set up by a small crew which would then swiftly leave the launch site after firing.
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Wurfrahmen 40
