The 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42 (30 cm NbW 42) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...

used in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It served with units of the ''Nebeltruppen'', the German equivalent of the U.S. Army's ''

Chemical Corps The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against and using chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear ( CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activit ...

''. Just as the ''Chemical Corps'' had responsibility for poison gas and smoke weapons that were used instead to deliver

high-explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

s during the war so did the ''Nebeltruppen''. The name "Nebelwerfer" is best translated as "Smoke Mortar". It saw service from 1943 to 1945 in all theaters except Norway and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Description

The ''30 cm NbW 42'' was a six-barreled rocket launcher mounted on a two-wheeled carriage converted from the launcher for the

28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 The 28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 (28/32 cm NbW 41) was a German multiple rocket launcher used in the Second World War. It served with units of the so-called ''Nebeltruppen'', the German equivalent of the U.S. Army's ''Chemical Corps' ...

by changing the open metal launcher frame. Its ''

30 cm Wurfkörper 42 Spreng The 30 cm Wurfkörper 42 Spreng was an unguided spin-stabilized artillery rocket developed by Germany and used by the Wehrmacht during World War II. Design The 30 cm Wurfkörper 42 Spreng was conceptually similar to earlier rockets such as t ...

(explosive missile)'' rocket was spin-stabilized and electrically fired. The rockets had a prominent exhaust trail that kicked up a lot of 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 Counter-battery fire (sometimes called counter-fire) is a battlefield tactic employed to defeat the enemy's indirect fire elements ( multiple rocket launchers, artillery and mortars), including their target acquisition, as well as their command ...

. The rockets were fired one at a time, in a timed ripple, but the launcher had no capability to fire single rockets. The same rocket was used in the 30 cm Raketenwerfer 56 launcher.

Organization and use

The ''30 cm NbW 42'' was organized into batteries of six launchers with three batteries per battalion. These battalions were concentrated in independent ''Werfer-Regiments'' and ''Brigades''. It saw service on the Eastern Front, Italian Campaign and the defense of France and Germany from 1943 to 1945.Kameradschaft, vols. 1 and 2

Notes

References

* * Englemann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. ''Deutsche Artillerie 1934–1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliderung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz''. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974 * Engelmann, Joachim. ''German Rocket Launchers in WWII''. Schiffer Publishing, 1990 * Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979 * Kameradschaft der ABC-Abwehr, Nebel- und Werfertruppen e.V. ''Die Nebel- und Werfertruppe (Regimentsbögen)''. 2001

External links

Lexikon der Wehrmacht on Nebelwerfers
(in German)
YouTube video of different kinds of Nebelwerfers in action

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Rocket artillery World War II artillery of Germany 300 mm artillery Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1943