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Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust

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Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust
Unlike what was expected at the beginning, the Second World War assumed an increasingly slow evolution which made it to last for painful and tragic years. This new aspect of the situation led to a modification in the type of warfare operations, and consequently to an evolution in the armament, the logistics and the tactical and strategical employment of the fighting forces. The very German Army, which had entered the war well prepared and with a well developed and outlined physiognomy, in the early 1944 had made so many changes that it could be considered to be fully renovated. But not only technology had made a great progress; in the very art of directing the war the fast development of two specialties, which initially did not seem destined to have such great dimension and importance, had been carried out: the aerial warfare and the warfare of armored vehicles. In the first case, Germany, which had already lost the superiority in the air, placed its hopes on the so much boasted secret weapons and in the new and sophisticated fighter aircraft. It was a sort of an offensive of quality versus quantity. In the second case, the Wehrmacht, after having initially directed the game, found itself harassed by the tanks of the Red Army which, after having suffered hard blows at the hands of the Panzerwaffe, had learned the lesson and consequently developed its own tactic for employing armored vehicles, which was increasingly effective. Also in this case the Germans were forced to oppose quantity with quality, but this was not a situation which could be prolonged for a long time. It was clear that the anti-tank warfare had to be intensified to the maximum, and due to the impossibility of producing large masses of armored vehicles the German Army decided to constitute a certain number of small autonomous units which were characterized by a great firepower, thanks to a significant provision of automatic and anti-tank weapons. Regarding these latter, great importance was given to both the wieldiest and the individual ones. Following an American idea with which the Germans had been experimenting for some time, around the late 1943 the Wehrmacht would deploy in the battlefield a new generation of weapons: the launchers of rocket-propelled hollow-charge grenades, which simply were enhanced versions of the American "bazooka". In this article we will see the characteristics of these weapons, and the operating principle whose application made possible to obtain the deadly effects which put so many Allied tanks out of action.
RAKETENWERFER PANZERBÜCHSE 43 (Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher Rifle) Initially denominated as "Ofenrohr" (Stovepipe), was later renamed as "Panzerschreck" (Terror of the Armored Vehicles). It was not an exaggeration, for it was capable of destroying any existing tank from 100 meters away. Beyond that distance it was hard to keep the aim, and since the average speed of the projectile was only 80 meters per second the rocket-propelled grenade would have taken too long to travel, for example, 200 meters. The main defect of the Panzerschreck 43 was the large trail of fire which the projectile left behind, which besides revealing the position of the weapon could be dangerous for the operator. To prevent this second inconvenience, the weapon would be fitted with a protective shield with an eyehole on it. The weapon was served by a gunner and a loader. The projectiles were loaded by the rear part, and hooked by a retaining tooth which prevented the projectile from falling in the case of inclination of the weapon. The ignition of electromagnetic type caused the departure of the projectile without any recoil. Caliber: 77 millimeters Length: 164 centimeters Weight: 9 kilograms (without shield) Weight of the projectile: 3 kilograms (approximately) Piercing power: 180 millimeters at 100 meters Maximum range: 400 meters
RAKETENWERFER PANZERBÜCHSE 54 E 54/1 This was a version of the Panzerbüchse 43 with the caliber enlarged to 88 millimeters and the maximum effective range extended to 200 meters. Caliber: 88 millimeters Length: 164 centimeters Weight: 9.3 kilograms (without shield) Weight of the projectile: 3.2 kilograms Piercing power: 180 millimeters at 200 meters Maximum range: 400 meters
The weapons of the "Panzerfaust" (Armored Fist) series, originally denominated as "Faustpatrone" (Fist Cartridge), were in practice rocket-propelled hollow-charge grenades, launched from a tube-shaped support by following the principle used in recoilless cannons. Aiming was done by looking through a sight which released the safety device when it was set in position. The ignition mechanism was one of percussion type. The blaze generated by the rocket propeller disintegrated the plastic top which sealed the rear end of the launching tube, and in this way the launching of the projectile happened without recoil. Just after the tail of the projectile left the launching tube, four stabilizing fins made of flexible steel deployed themselves at the end of that tail to stabilize the trajectory the projectile.
PANZERFAUST 30 This was the first model in the series and also the most dangerous one to handle due to its low degree of perfectioning. It had 103 centimeters in length and launched a projectile of 3.1 kilograms in weight, which was capable of piercing 140 millimeters of steel with an angle of incidence of 30 degrees from 30 meters away.
GRETCHEN (Small Greta) This was a reduced version of the Panzerfaust 30, which had 80 centimeters in length and launched a projectile of 1.6 kilograms in weight intended for being used against lighter targets.
PANZERFAUST 60 This was a modified version of the Panzerfaust 30, which had an improved construction and was safer to use. The sight was graduated for three distances: 30, 60 and 80 meters. It was capable of piercing up to 200 millimeters of steel with an angle of incidence of 30 degrees. From this model onwards, the launching tube, which in previous models was disposable, was used to build new weapons.
PANZERFAUST 100 This was the most perfected and produced version. It was prepared for launching at distances of 50, 100 and 150 meters, and was capable of destroying any enemy tank within a radius of 80 meters. It had little more than one meter in length and 6.8 kilograms in weight.
HOW HOLLOW CHARGES WORK It is denominated as "Munroe Effect" the capability which some explosives have of concentrating the effect of their emission of energy (explosion) if they are adequately moulded. The discovery was made by the American scientist of the same name in the second half of 19th century. If we take the charge of an artillery projectile (which is commonly of ojival shape) and empty its fore part forming a perfectly parabolic cavity, in the moment of the explosion all of the energy produced by the charge will be concentrated (mainly in the form of heat) in the focus of the parabola. During long time this phenomenon was applied only to cutting metal plates. Only during the Second World War it was thought of applying this principle to the warfare science, with the results that we already know. The effect of the explosion of a hollow charge against the armor of a tank is that the dart of fire which emerges from the projectile (with a temperature of about 3,000 to 3,500 degrees) melts the armor of the tank and insufflates into its interior a blast of air and burning gas which is capable of cindering the crew, exploding the ammunitions or igniting the fuel. Externally, the result appears as a hole of few centimeters in diameter which has molten borders. Looking from the interior the hole presents a conical shape, with the greater diameter in the inner face of the armor. In the illustration, which shows a Panzerfaust projectile, the blue part represents the TNT explosive and the yellow part represents the hollow chamber where the explosion concentrates towards the tip of the projectile.

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