History
Originally the name Nebel (mist) was chosen to disguise the fact that the Wehrmacht was setting up a military department for chemical warfare. Although there wasn’t any German chemical warfare during WW2, the name Nebelwerfer (fog thrower) remained in use during the war. The development and deployment of the weapons was expanded from smoke screen laying devices to artillery, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft defense and air-to-air attack weapons.
The Nebel Group was founded in two departments; Nebelgruppe 1 and 2. The rocket researcher Rudolf Nebel was involved. Rudolf Nebel attended the chemical-technical Reichsanstalt on March 27, 1930 in Berlin. He gave a demonstration and was the first to demonstrate the functionality of a rocket engine. During the First World War, Rudolf Nebel had used this rocket engine successfully on his plane and managed to shoot down two English fighters. After the First World War he continued to develop the rocket engine on this missile system.
During the Putch, in which Röhm and other leaders were eliminated to clear the way for Adolf Hitler and his henchmen, Rudolf Nebel was banned for life from participating in the rocket program. This was taken over by Wernher von Braun and other Nebel employees.
The 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41
As indicated, the Nebelwerfer is an artillery piece that drops an explosive charge on enemy positions, but its initial use was a smoke screen or chemical device. The Nebelwerfer fired rockets that could contain different types of payloads. The rocket could carry a high explosive load or create a smoke screen. The rocket could also disperse a chemical payload, but as far as we know this was not used during the Second World War.
The 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 fired rockets with a diameter of 15 cm, the 15 cm Wurfgranate. The weapon consisted of 6 tubes of 1300 mm length and a diameter of 16 cm. It fired a rocket-propelled projectile weighing around 34,2 kilograms. A salvo of 6 missiles was spread over 10 seconds and reached a range of around 7 kilometers. If all 10 rockets would be fired at once the Nebelwerfer would topple over. The weapon produced a screaming sound when fired, causing Allied troops to call it Screaming Mimi.
When fired, the rocket left a trail of smoke making it visible to enemy troops where the Nebel unit was located. As a result the entire unit had to move to a different location after each salvo.
Specifications of the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41
The weapon weighed 510 kilograms unloaded, with 6 grenades it weighed 770 kilograms. It had a total length of 3,6 meters and had 6 tubes of 1,3 meters long and a diameter of 16 cm. It was placed on an adapted carriage used by the 3,7 cm PaK 36. A crew of 5 was needed to operate the weapon. The range was approximately 6.9 kilometers. It fired its tubes over a time period of 10 seconds with an order of fire, a salvo was fixed at tubes 1–4–6–2–3–5. It was electrical fired from a distance,
For snow and ice environments, skis can be attached to the chassis in 2 ways, two skis can be placed under the wheels or the entire trailer can be placed on a sled.
Military use of the Wurfgranate in the Wehrmacht
From its development in the early 1920s, multiple types, diamateres, and firing systems were developed. There were rockets and firing devices from 8 cm diameter to 10,15, 21, 28, 30 and 32 cm. The rockets were fired from racks and tubes, from trailers, half-tracks and from aircraft. The Focke Wulf Fw 190 is known for fitting two underwing and firing 21 cm rockets at ground targets, one under each wing. The Messerschmitt Me 110 and Me 410 had four underwing launch tubes, two under each wing (the Me 410 could take three rockets under each wing as well). The Schwalbe, the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter is known to carry them as well. The 15 cm Wurfrgranate used the Sd. Ah. 7 specialized single axle trailer for the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 with the same principle as the Sd. Ah. 33 Sonder Anhänger (special trailer) for the 10,5 cm Wurfgranate. The Opel Maultier halftrack – 15 cm Panzerwerfer 42 Maultier Sd.Kfz. 4/1 – had a rectangle shaped 10 tube launch rack and ammunition storage.
The spin stabilization principle is also reflected in the 2 cm projectile fired by the hand-held rocket launcher Fliegerfaust.
Nearly 6,000 of the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41’s were manufactured during the Second World War and approximately five and a half million rockets were made for the Nebelwerfer.
