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.

Bazooka

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 Bazooka M1 with projectilelauncher 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.

Bazooka M1 and M1A1

Bazooka M1The 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.

Improved Bazooka M1A1From 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.

Bazooka M9

Bazooka M9Production 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.postwar Bazooka M20
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.



PIAT

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.
british PIATThe 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.

 
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© 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.