21 cm Nebelwerfer 42
Encyclopedia
The 21 cm Nebelwerfer 42 (21 cm NbW 42) was a German multiple rocket launcher
used in the Second World War. It served with units of the Nebeltruppen, the German equivalent of the American Chemical Corps
. Just as the Chemical Corps had responsibility for poison gas and smoke weapons that were used instead to deliver high-explosives during the war so did the Nebeltruppen. The name "Nebelwerfer" is best translated as "smoke-thrower". It saw service from 1942—45 in all theaters except Norway
. It was adapted for aerial combat by the Luftwaffe
in 1943.
mounted on the towed carriage derived from that of the 3.7 cm PaK 36 anti-tank gun. A pivoting stabilizer was added to the front of the carriage to steady the launcher when firing.
The 21 cm Wurfgranate (thrower-shell) 42 rockets were spin-stabilized, electrically-fired and only had high-explosive warheads. The rocket nozzle assembly contained 22 orifices evenly spaced around the rim of the nozzle with the orifices set an an angle of 16° from the axis of the rocket to give the rocket clockwise rotation. The rockets had a prominent exhaust trail that kicked up a substantial amount of dust and debris, so the crew had to seek shelter before firing. This meant that they were easily located and had to displace quickly
to avoid counter-battery fire
. The rockets were fired one at a time, in a timed ripple, but the launcher had no capability to fire single rockets. The rockets could be fitted with either impact or delay fuses as necessary. Liner rails could be fitted to allow the launcher to use 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 rockets with their HE
, smoke and poison gas warheads.
Despite the improved aerodynamics of the Wgr. 42 rocket over the 15 cm Wgr. 41 it proved to have similar dispersion problems; notably an area 500 metres (546.8 yd) long and 130 metres (142.2 yd) because of uneven burning of its propellant.
, North Africa
, Italian Campaign
and the defense of France and Germany from 1942—45.
Luftwaffe use as the Werfer-Granate 21
The rocket was adapted for air-to-air use by the Luftwaffe
in 1943 with a time fuse and a larger 40.8 kilograms (89.9 lb) warhead as the Wfr. Gr. 21, or BR 21 (for Bordrakete 21, as seen on German manuals) to disrupt Allied
bomber
formations, particularly the Eighth Air Force
's combat box
formations, and make them more vulnerable to attacks by German fighters while staying outside of the range of defensive fire from the bombers. Single launch tubes were fitted under each wing of the Bf 109 and Fw 190 single-engined fighters
, and two under each wing on the Bf 110 twin-engined fighters. The earliest known attack against American bombers with the underwing rockets was made on July 29, 1943, by elements of both JG 1 and JG 11, during American strategic bombing attacks on both Kiel
and Warnemünde
. Photographic evidence indicates that the Hungarians fit three tubes under each wing of some of their twin-engined Me 210 Ca-1 heavy fighters. However, the high drag
caused by the launchers reduced the speed and maneuverability of the launching aircraft, which could be lethal if Allied fighters were encountered. Also, the launch tube's underwing mounting setup, which usually aimed the projectile at about 15° upwards from level flight to counter the considerable ballistic drop of the projectile in flight after launch, added to the drag problem. The American nickname for the 21 cm rockets was "flaming baseballs" from the fireball-like appearance of the projectiles in flight.
The Messerschmitt Me 410
Hornisse was known to have sometimes been fitted with the Bf 110's quartet of launchers for the Wfr. Gr. 21 rockets, but one tested an experimental installation of six launching tubes, similar in appearance to the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41's half-dozen carriage-mounted tubes, in the Me 410's under-nose weapons bay. The tube assembly, with their axis angled upwards at 15°, as the underwing mountings were angled, was intended to rotate, as a revolver handgun
's magazine would, as each rocket to be fired was launched singly from the exposed tube at the bottom of the aircraft's nose. A test flight was made on 3 February 1944, but the concept proved to be a failure as the rockets' exhaust substantially damaged the aircraft.
A similar adaptation of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer's components were also used on an experimental bomber destroyer
version of the He 177 heavy bomber, known as the Grosszerstörer, which proposed using upwards of thirty-three of the launch tubes, mounted upwards within the bomb bay area at mid-fuselage at a 60º angle and firing slightly to starboard out the dorsal fuselage surface, flying two kilometers below the USAAF combat box
formations - a few trial intercepts were attempted, without contact with USAAF bombers, and was doomed to fail from the swarms of American fighters protecting the bombers.
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
used in the Second World War. It served with units of the Nebeltruppen, the German equivalent of the American Chemical Corps
Chemical Corps (United States Army)
The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear weapons...
. Just as the Chemical Corps had responsibility for poison gas and smoke weapons that were used instead to deliver high-explosives during the war so did the Nebeltruppen. The name "Nebelwerfer" is best translated as "smoke-thrower". It saw service from 1942—45 in all theaters except Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It was adapted for aerial combat by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
in 1943.
Description
The 21 cm NbW 42 was a five-barreled multiple rocket launcherMultiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
mounted on the towed carriage derived from that of the 3.7 cm PaK 36 anti-tank gun. A pivoting stabilizer was added to the front of the carriage to steady the launcher when firing.
The 21 cm Wurfgranate (thrower-shell) 42 rockets were spin-stabilized, electrically-fired and only had high-explosive warheads. The rocket nozzle assembly contained 22 orifices evenly spaced around the rim of the nozzle with the orifices set an an angle of 16° from the axis of the rocket to give the rocket clockwise rotation. The rockets had a prominent exhaust trail that kicked up a substantial amount of dust and debris, so the crew had to seek shelter before firing. This meant that they were easily located and had to displace quickly
Shoot-and-scoot
The term shoot and scoot refers to an artillery tactic of firing at a target and then immediately moving away from the location where the shots were fired. The reason for this is to avoid counter-battery fire - fired by enemy artillery or delivered by attack aircraft and helicopters, in order to...
to avoid counter-battery fire
Counter-battery fire
Counter-battery fire is a type of mission assigned to military artillery forces, which are given the task of locating and firing upon enemy artillery.-Background:...
. The rockets were fired one at a time, in a timed ripple, but the launcher had no capability to fire single rockets. The rockets could be fitted with either impact or delay fuses as necessary. Liner rails could be fitted to allow the launcher to use 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 rockets with their HE
He
He is a third-person, singular personal pronoun in Modern English, as well as being a personal pronoun in Middle English.-Animals:...
, smoke and poison gas warheads.
Despite the improved aerodynamics of the Wgr. 42 rocket over the 15 cm Wgr. 41 it proved to have similar dispersion problems; notably an area 500 metres (546.8 yd) long and 130 metres (142.2 yd) because of uneven burning of its propellant.
Army use
The 21 cm NbW 42s were organized into batteries of six launchers with three batteries per battalion. These battalions were concentrated in independent Werfer-Regiments and Brigades. They saw service on the Eastern FrontEastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
, North Africa
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
, Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
and the defense of France and Germany from 1942—45.
Luftwaffe use as the Werfer-Granate 21WGr 21 rocket launcherThe Werfer-Granate 21 rocket launcher, also known as the BR 21 in official Luftwaffe manuals, was a weapon used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and was the first on-board rocket in service by the Luftwaffe and was introduced in mid 1943. The weapon was developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig...
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
in 1943 with a time fuse and a larger 40.8 kilograms (89.9 lb) warhead as the Wfr. Gr. 21, or BR 21 (for Bordrakete 21, as seen on German manuals) to disrupt Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
formations, particularly the Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
's combat box
Combat box
The Combat box was a tactical formation used by heavy bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. The combat box was also referred to as a "staggered formation"...
formations, and make them more vulnerable to attacks by German fighters while staying outside of the range of defensive fire from the bombers. Single launch tubes were fitted under each wing of the Bf 109 and Fw 190 single-engined fighters
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
, and two under each wing on the Bf 110 twin-engined fighters. The earliest known attack against American bombers with the underwing rockets was made on July 29, 1943, by elements of both JG 1 and JG 11, during American strategic bombing attacks on both Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
and Warnemünde
Warnemünde
Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
. Photographic evidence indicates that the Hungarians fit three tubes under each wing of some of their twin-engined Me 210 Ca-1 heavy fighters. However, the high drag
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
caused by the launchers reduced the speed and maneuverability of the launching aircraft, which could be lethal if Allied fighters were encountered. Also, the launch tube's underwing mounting setup, which usually aimed the projectile at about 15° upwards from level flight to counter the considerable ballistic drop of the projectile in flight after launch, added to the drag problem. The American nickname for the 21 cm rockets was "flaming baseballs" from the fireball-like appearance of the projectiles in flight.
The Messerschmitt Me 410
Messerschmitt Me 410
The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse was a German heavy fighter and Schnellbomber used by Luftwaffe during World War II. Though essentially a straightforward modification of the Me 210, it was designated the Me 410 to avoid association with its notoriously flawed predecessor.-Design and...
Hornisse was known to have sometimes been fitted with the Bf 110's quartet of launchers for the Wfr. Gr. 21 rockets, but one tested an experimental installation of six launching tubes, similar in appearance to the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41's half-dozen carriage-mounted tubes, in the Me 410's under-nose weapons bay. The tube assembly, with their axis angled upwards at 15°, as the underwing mountings were angled, was intended to rotate, as a revolver handgun
Cylinder (firearms)
In firearms terminology, the Cylinder refers to the cylindrical, rotating part of a revolver containing multiple cartridge chambers. The cylinder revolves around a central axis in the revolver to bring each individual chamber into alignment with the barrel for firing...
's magazine would, as each rocket to be fired was launched singly from the exposed tube at the bottom of the aircraft's nose. A test flight was made on 3 February 1944, but the concept proved to be a failure as the rockets' exhaust substantially damaged the aircraft.
A similar adaptation of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer's components were also used on an experimental bomber destroyer
Bomber destroyer
Historically, several aircraft were designated bomber destroyers prior and during the Second World War. They were interceptor aircraft dedicated to destroy enemy bomber aircraft with exceptionally powerful armament...
version of the He 177 heavy bomber, known as the Grosszerstörer, which proposed using upwards of thirty-three of the launch tubes, mounted upwards within the bomb bay area at mid-fuselage at a 60º angle and firing slightly to starboard out the dorsal fuselage surface, flying two kilometers below the USAAF combat box
Combat box
The Combat box was a tactical formation used by heavy bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. The combat box was also referred to as a "staggered formation"...
formations - a few trial intercepts were attempted, without contact with USAAF bombers, and was doomed to fail from the swarms of American fighters protecting the bombers.