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Chapter 5 Weapons
97
Bazooka
Panzerschreck
Antitank
Rocket Launcher
Operation
Rocket launcher, electrically fired
Caliber
88 mm (3.46 in.)
Weight
9.3 kg (20.5 lbs)
Overall length
163.8 cm (64.5 in.)
Range
120 meters (130 yds)
Armor penetration
230 mm (9 in.)
The German Panzerschreck (“Tank Terror”) was a
larger, more powerful antitank weapon than the more
common Panzerfaust. Instead of firing an antitank
grenade with a propellant charge inside the launcher
tube, the Panzerschreck, like the American Bazooka,
fired an antitank rocket electrically. The
Panzerschreck consisted of a steel tube and a
dry-cell electrical firing mechanism. An 88-mm
hollow-charge rocket projectile was inserted into the
rear end of the tube; pressing the trigger closed the
contacts and ignited the propellant in the back of the
rocket, firing the 3.2-kilogram projectile.
Operation
Rocket launcher, electrically fired
Caliber
2.36 in. (60 mm)
Muzzle velocity
84 mps (275 fps)
Weight
8.1 kg (18 lbs)
Overall length
154.9 cm (61 in.)
Range
455 m (500 yds)
In response to the need for an infantry antitank
weapon, Leslie A. Skinner and Edward G. Uhl
of the Ordnance Department developed the
bazooka—a metal tube that used an electrical firing
mechanism—by early 1942. Until then American
infantry had lacked an antitank rocket capable of
stopping a tank. Another member of the Ordnance
Department, Henry H. Mohaupt, had been working
on a shaped charge grenade for use by infantry
against tanks. Mohaupt’s M10 grenade weighed over
3.5 lbs, making it nearly impossible to throw
effectively. However, when Skinner and Uhl
attached one of Mohaupt’s grenades to a rocket, then
hit a tank on three successive shots during testing,
the Ordnance Department immediately recognized
the value of this new weapon. Many bazookas were
shipped to America’s allies; in fact, when the
Germans captured one from the Russians, they
copied the design to produce the Panzerschreck
(“Tank Terror”). The bazooka was named for a
musical contraption devised by comedian
Bob Burns.