Nebelwerfer

This video shows german rocket launchers developed during World War 2, 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 and 21 cm Nebelwerfer 42. Rocket development had begun during the 1920s and reached fruition in the late Thirties. 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, like virtually all German rocket designs, was spin-stablized to increase accuracy. One very unusual feature was that the rocket motor was in the front, the exhaust venturi being about two-thirds down the body from the nose, with the intent to optimize the blast effect of the rocket as the warhead would still be above the ground when it detonated. 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. Almost five and a half million 15 cm rockets and six thousand launchers were manufactured over the course of the war. The 21 cm Nebelwerfer 42 rocket was introduced in 1942 with a longer range (7,850 metres) and a simpler design than the smaller 15 cm rocket. It only had a high-explosive warhead. It was fired from a five-tube launcher that used the same carriage as the smaller weapon. Liner rails were made to allow it to fire the smaller 15 cm rocket. Over four hundred thousand rockets and fourteen hundred launchers were completed. In the video you can see also 28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41, introduced in 1941, 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42 introduced in 1943 and 30 cm Raketenwerfer 56, multiple rocket launcher developed in 1944—45.