Panzerfaust
WW II German Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons
Page 13: Allied Counterparts
This page will take a sidelook at the allied weapons in the same shoulder-fired hollow-charge AT weapon - category. All the other weapons this site deals with, such as machine guns, flame throwers, mines and assorted AT rifles and grenades, naturally existed in the inventory of the allies, too, but due to the limited resources available I will have to keep the focus on the direct counterparts to the german Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck.
The United States had been developing and experimenting with different
weapons for close-range infantry AT weapons for considerable time before
the bazooka. The Springfield Armory in Massachusetts was trying to develop
AT rifles for an army requirement calling for a .60 cal. AT rifle. In the
late thirties the americans bought shaped-charge warheads from switzerland
without a real purpose in mind as to how these warheads were used or with
which weapon system. Nevertheless, the responsible administration was so
enthusiastic about these warheads that they ordered mass production to
begin immediately. At the end of 1941 the stockpile of produced shape-charge
warheads was already huge yet still no weapon in sight with which to use
these. With a little luck however out of this situation the americans developed
what is to be considered the first antitank rocket launcher.
The inventor was the army officer Skinner who had been known for experimenting
with mortars and rockets. He had modified a mortar tube he had developed
into a device to fire the unused shape-charge warheads with a little rocket
stage. He was allowed to demonstrate his little idea as a sidewshow to
an official display of the tank rifle program that was still stumbling
on at that time. His inofficial device outclassed all the official weapons,
all of the fired munitions hit the target with a great display of destructive
force. The spectators were more than impressed: the weapon was accepted
on the spot for mass production as the new standard infantry AT weapon.
A month later the first 5,000 weapons with the designation Rocket Launcher
M1 were available. Soon, however, the weapon was only known under the
name Bazooka because of the resemblance of the rocket launcher
with the Bazooka, a musical instrument of the very popular radio comedian
Bob Burns.
All Bazookas are preferrably served by a two-man team, gunner (aiming
and firing) and loader (preparing of ammunition and loading it into the
weapon). The weapon basically consists of a steel tube of 2.36in / 60mm
diameter that is open at both ends. The ammunition, a small fin-stabilized
rocket-propelled grenade, is inserted into the rear by the loader while
the gunner has the weapon resting on his shoulders. The pull of the trigger
releases an electric current that will ignite the ammunition's rocket stage.
The
first model of the bazooka, the Bazooka M1, has a one-piece tube
and has a battery-powered trigger mechanism powered by two batteries that
are located inside the wooden shoulder rest. A small lamp on the left side
of the shoulder rest shows if the weapon is on or off. The on/off switch
is located on the upper side of the tube. The weapon has two-piece iron
sights with a considerably large bead
located on the left side of the tube. Late M1 models had a different bead
with crevices for 100yard, 200yd. and 300yd. range.These late models also
did away with the on/off switch: as soon as the batteries were inserted
and the lid closed the weapon was ready. The projectile, which was also
used by the M1A1 and the M9 versions, had a length of 55cm
and a penetration performance of 100mm of armor. Smoke and incediary warheads
were also available.
Technical data: length 139cm; weight (empty): 5.8kg; length projectile
55cm; weight projectile 2.8kg; Vo 105m/s.
From
1943 on production was switched over to the successor model Bazooka
M1A1. The tube was still a single piece, the on/off switch was left
out, the forward hand grip was deleted and the smaller bead was moved closer
to the gunner. To protect the gunner from the backblast of the exiting
ammunition a small disc made of mesh wire could be attached to the muzzle
with a simple clamp. However the protective mesh wire did not prove very
useful and therefore was rarely used by the troops. Instead, a solid metal
funnel at the muzzle was to reduce the backblast.
Production
was switched over to the next version, the Bazooka M9, in 1944.
This was a major redesign and improvement of the original weapon. The two-piece
tube is made out of light metal and was transported broken into the two
pieces. The batteries that had proven to be too unreliable were replaced
by a small generator. The iron sights were replaced by optical ones. The
iron muzzle funnel of the late M1A1's was standardized. The wooden shoulder
piece was replaced by a metal one.
Technical data: length 155cm; weight (empty): 6.5kg.
The last model wasn't finished until the end of WW II. The M20 had
a new caliber enabling the firing of new weapons with the double / triple
penetration performance as those used on the wartime Bazookas. Several
other improvements were made, incl. the sights and shoulder piece.
The PIAT, an acronym standing for Projector Infantry Anti-Tank,
is a very interesting british design that uses an entirely different approach
than the Bazooka/Panzerschreck or the Panzerfaust. Indeed, it is rather
a projector than a rocket launcher.When britain entered WW II, their infantry
was only equipped with the Boys AT rifle that was obviously unfit for it's
job of defeating enemy armor. The british realized that the usual cartridge
projectile ammunition fired by tank rifles, no matter how high the muzzle
velocity was, would not suffice. The engineers Jeffries and Wallis developed
experimental new weapons apart from each other. Both fired projectiles
with shaped-charge warheads. Out of combination of these two weapons the
PIAT was born.
The
PIAT was made of low-quality metal and was machined very poorly. The parts
were stamped, riveted and welded. The very rugged construction fired it's
shaped-charge warhead essentially like an oversized spring-loaded crossbow.
The weapon with a weight (empty) of 14.5kg and a total length (incl. warhead)
of 99.1cm consists of a sheet metal tube with a diameter of 7.6cm and a
length of 61cm. On the forward end a construction with a length of 25.4cm
diameter accepts the warhead, on the rear end a T - piece padded with canvas
is used as a shoulder piece. The sights are located on the upper tube.
they can be adjusted to 70yds or 100yds distance. A single strut is screwed
into the barrel as support.
The weapon fired a fin-stabilized shaped-charge projectile with a length
of 38cm, a caliber of 8.9cm and weight of 1.13kg. HE-Shrapnel and smoke
warheads were also available. The projectile can not be inserted into the
forward part of the weapon before the spring has been loaded. The latter
is a very tedious process: not only does the very strong spring need a
loading force of 90kg, but also has to be loaded with a certain techinque.
Therefore, the weapon can only be loaded by very strong and trained personnel.
Loading in a prone position is out of question: With the tube between the
legs and standing on the T-piece with the feet, the gunner grabs the tube
at the trigger pistol grip and turns it counterclockwise while while at
the same time pulling it up until he hears the cocked spring lock with
a loud click.
Firing the weapon is no less of a problem: the trigger can only be pulled
using all four fingers. Then the firing pin hits the procectile in its
rear, where a small charge of propellant is detonated. The latter makes
for a recoil that will cock the spring automatically for the next shot
- if the gunner can't take that recoil - which was reportedly not too seldom
- he will have to load the weapon again in the way described above. The
projectile leaves the weapon at a Vo of 135m/s but accelerates in flight.
Tanks could be attacked at ranges up to 100yd., larger targets like houses
at larger distances of 300m and more.
Another major problem was the ammunition itself. The fuse of the warheads
had a bad habit of prematurely detonating. In fact, the handling of the
ammunition was considered so dangerous that immediately after the war any
and all practice firing of the weapon was strictly prohibited, although
the weapons themselves officially remained in service until 1951.
Previous Page
: Anti Tank Guided Missiles Main
Page Next
Page : Miscellaneous
© 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 created by M.Hofbauer August
29th 1998; document ver. 1.4 mod 150102
This page has been constructed with own material as far
as possible, the third party images and information used herein are public
domain to the best of my knowledge. The author went to considerable lengths
to ensure accordance with the rights of copyright owners where applicable;
respective consent is documented. If you feel injured in your rights by
/ take offense at - any part of this page's content contact
me immediately for redress / possible removal of the respective part.