Panzerwerfer

Panzerwerfer
Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier (Sd.Kfz. 4/1)
Type	Half-track multiple rocket launcher
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	1943–1945
Used by	Nazi Germany
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Opel
Manufacturer	Opel
No. built	300
Specifications
Weight	7.1 tons (6.33 long tons or 7.82 short tons)
Length	6 m (19.69 ft)
Width	2 m (6.56 ft)
Height	3 m (9.84 ft)
Armor	6-14.5 mm (0.24-0.57 in)
Main armament	15 cm Nebelwerfer 41
Secondary armament	MG 34 or MG 42
Engine	one Adam Opel 6-cylinder petrol engine 69 PS (68 hp)
Power/weight	9.58 hp/tonne
Suspension	Overlapping torsion bar (track) Leaf spring (wheels)
Speed	40 km/h (24 mph)

Overlapping torsion bar (track)

The German Panzerwerfer is one of two different types of half-tracked multiple rocket launchers employed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The two self-propelled artillery vehicles are the 15 cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf Selbstfahrlafette Sd.Kfz.4/1 (based on the Opel Maultier, or "mule", half-track) and 15 cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf Schwerer Wehrmachtsschlepper (or Panzerwerfer auf SWS).

The Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier, Sd.Kfz. 4/1, first went into production in April 1943, and was produced until March 1945. Hitler called for production of the vehicle in January 1942, and the vehicle saw its first tests on the Eastern Front in fall of 1943. Opel was the main manufacturer, producing most of the components, including the 3.6 liter, 6 cylinder Adam Opel engine, which had 68 horsepower and an 80-liter fuel capacity. Throughout the three years it was produced, 300 Panzerwerfers and 289 of its variant, the Munitionskraftwagen, were made.

The Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier was used for larger scale rocket barrages against positions of Russian resistance where a large bombardment of a big area would be more effective than more accurate artillery fire. The Panzerwerfer's rocket barrages covered much larger areas and added more psychological elements to the fight: the amount of noise, smoke, splinters, and flying debris as the rockets hit and exploded was considerable. The extensive use on the Eastern Front showed that this weapon could be employed effectively on the Western Front as well. The weapon was finally introduced throughout the army on May 14, 1944, in France.

When the western Allies first went into action against the Panzerwerfer 42 after D-Day. American intelligence before D-Day pointed to the use of rocket launchers such as the Nebelwerfer by the German Wehrmacht, but besides that, they were overly unprepared for the effects of a mobile, armored, camouflaged, and highly destructive rocket launcher mounted on a half-track chassis. The British and Canadians were the first of the western Allies to see the German rocket launchers in action against troop concentrations and Allied positions. The 7th Werfer Brigade was sent to Normandy from Beauvais after D-Day, and on June 10 it was in Falaise. The next day, the unit was about 10 kilometers from Caen. The unit was part of the attack on the Orne Bridge, which was a British held position over the Orne River. The 84th Regiment of the brigade, which was made up of the 83rd and 84th Regiments, had fourteen combat ready Panzerwerfers, and the 83rd had about the same. Some other Werfer units were the 101st SS Werfer Abteilung, 101st Stellungs-Werfer Regiment, and the SS Werfer Abteilung 102, which was part of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. The 7th Werfer Brigade fired 8,000 tons of ammunition, notably onto Hill 112 (during Operation Jupiter) in support of its recapture by Panzers on June 30. The British were usually at the receiving end of the Panzerwerfers rockets in Normandy, but the 15 cm Nebelwerfers were used in large numbers against American, British, and Canadian troops throughout the summer of 1944.