15cm Nebelwerfer 41 (15cm NbW 41)

History

During the 1920s and 1930s, German engineers worked on rocket design, leading to the Army's introduction of several rocket launcher weapon systems. One of these developments was the "15 cm Nebelwerfer 41" (15 cm NbW 41), which was delivered in 1940 and officially entered service from 1941 to 1945 at the end of the Second World War. The NbW 41 had a huge lethal effect (physical and psychological) on the enemy forces, and the target area could be saturated with indirect fire from large-caliber explosive rockets. While the use of this weapon during World War II is primarily described in various Soviet developments in the war, all major players in the conflict used some form of rocket launcher.

In fact, the Germans themselves deployed several versions of the Nebelwerfer, which differed in caliber and delivery (since some were on-board projectors). "Nebelwerfer" means "smoke thrower" or "smoke projector" in German, and it's not a far-fetched term for a weapon system.

The heart of the Nebelwerfer 41 is a towable 150mm rocket launcher with six large launch tubes - the rocket is operated via a remote control assembly. For convenience, the launch tube and its mounting hardware are placed on a slightly modified form of the existing two-wheeled artillery frame for the 3.7cm PaK 36 series towed anti-tank gun (detailed elsewhere on this site) . The carriages feature massive rims, rubber wheels and split trailing arms. These weapons are put together for towing the gun (by moving the vehicle), or disassembled and lowered to the ground to use as a recoil mitigation measure. The six launch tubes were arranged in a hexagon, and the operator did not provide a gun shield - assuming the NbW 41 was fired behind the dangerous front line as an indirect weapon. The design is capable of emptying all six tubes within 90 seconds.

Supply vehicles will allow for reloading, although this action is almost always a time-consuming process - making "pre-emptive strikes" extremely important.

The Nebelwerfer 41 series rocket launchers are operated on the battlefield by "Nebeltruppen", a special group within the German Army responsible for the unconventional deployment and supply of unconventional weapons, including poison gas and smoke screens. These include high-explosive warhead missiles, often used to "soften" enemy positions before advancing through friendly matches.

The concept was well received by the Soviets, and was embraced by the British and Americans. The NbW 41 missile could carry almost any useful combat-oriented payload, although explosives were mostly the norm at the time. A twisting motion stabilizes the missile on its arcuate trajectory.

If the system only rotates around its wheels towards the target area, the launch tube mounting hardware allows the operator to perform a full 360-degree traversal over an altitude range of +45 degrees. Each missile shoots out of the launch tube at about 1,575 feet per second, extending its range to over 2,100 yards -- giving the crew a sizable "feel" on the battlefield. While their anti-infantry capabilities are well documented, large missiles can also render certain MBTs unusable by injuring exposed occupants, damaging hulls, and destroying track systemsa sort of dual-purpose Weapons, but hardly specialized anti-tank measures.

The upward facing surface of most armored vehicles is usually their weakest plate.

The NbW 41 rocket has a unique design element - the rocket propulsion system is mounted forward of its length and is expelled through a tail exhaust, which leaves most of the HE payload exposed above the rocket surface when on the ground, The rocket explodes on impact - this is to maximize the lethal impact of an exploding rocket. However, this also had the ill effect of slowing down the mass production of individual missiles, which numbered around 550,000 by the end of the war.

In addition to this, about 5,283 launch vehicles were produced.

The U.S. Army nicknamed the Nebelwerfer 41 "Moaning Minnie" because of the sound it made as it approached the missile.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

6 x 150 mm (5.9") battlefield missiles; reload depends on ammunition carrier.

Changes