Panzerschreck

Template:Short description Template:Title lang Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox weapon

Panzerschreck (Template:Lit "tank's dread" or "tank's bane") was the popular name for the Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 ("Rocket Anti-armor Rifle Model 54", abbreviated to RPzB 54), an 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by Nazi Germany in World War II. Another earlier, official name was Ofenrohr ("stove pipe").<ref name="Bishop">Template:Cite book</ref>

The Panzerschreck was designed as a lightweight infantry anti-tank weapon and was an enlarged copy of the American bazooka.<ref name="zaloga">Template:Cite book</ref> The weapon was shoulder-launched and fired a fin-stabilized rocket with a shaped-charge warhead. It was made in smaller numbers than the Panzerfaust, which was a light, disposable anti-tank weapon that used a system akin to recoilless rifles.<ref> Rottman, 2014. p. 74</ref>

HistoryEdit

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-710-0371-25, Ukraine, Ausbildung an Panzerabwehrwaffe.jpg

A German soldier handling a RPzB. Gr. 4322 HEAT rocket used with the Panzerschreck

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J27051, Russland, Füsiliere mit "Panzerschreck".jpg

Soldiers of the German Großdeutschland division's Panzerfüsilier regiment prepare an ambush in the ruins of a destroyed building on the Eastern Front, 1944.

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-264-1623-26, Frankreich, Vorführung Raketenpanzerbüchse.jpg

RPzB 54 operator wearing protective mask and poncho

The Panzerschreck development was initially based on the American "bazooka", captured during the Tunisian campaign, November 1942.<ref name="RottmanShumate2014" /><ref name="Fleischer39" /> The Panzerschreck was larger and heavier than its American counterpart – the Panzerschreck had an 88 mm calibre, compared to the 57 mm calibre of the bazooka – allowing it to penetrate thicker armour, but also required a larger motor, creating more smoke when firing.

Calibre 88 mm was selected as the existing RPzB. Gr. 4312 for 8.8 cm Raketenwerfer 43 was reused for Panzerschreck. Warhead and fuzing was carried over, but the rocket motor's housing needed lengthening from Template:Convert to Template:Convert to accommodate the longer rocket motor. Raketenwerfer 43 had percussion firing, whereas for the Panzerschreck an electrical priming was selected, forming standard grenade RPzB. Gr. 4322.<ref name="RottmanShumate2014"> Rottman, 2014 pp29–30 </ref> Other munitions were developed, including drill dummy, practice live rocket with inert warhead and standard grenade with improved contact system.<ref name="Bergflak">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The earliest production model of the RPzB 54 was Template:Convert long and weighed about Template:Convert when empty. Unlike the rockets used in American bazookas which extinguished before leaving the tube, the RPzB rockets kept burning for about Template:Convert after exiting the tube. Users were instructed to wear heavy gloves, a protective poncho and a gas mask without a filter to protect them from the heat of the backblast when the weapon was fired.<ref name="Fleischer39">Fleischer, Wolfgang. Panzerfaust: And Other German Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons. Schiffer Pub Limited, 1994, Template:ISBN, p. 39</ref> Improvised shields were made to protect the user and in February 1944, the RPzB 54 was fitted with an official blast shield to protect the operator which made the weapon heavier, weighing Template:Convert empty. Small numbers of the shortened RPzB 54/1 were later produced. It had an improved rocket, a shorter barrel, and a range increased to about Template:Convert.<ref name="Bishop" />

Firing the RPzB generated copious amounts of smoke both in front of and behind the weapon. Because of the weapon's tube and smoke produced, official documentation named the weapon the Ofenrohr ("stove pipe"). This also meant that anti-tank teams were revealed once they fired, making them targets and, therefore, required them to shift positions after firing. This type of system also made it problematic to fire the weapon from inside closed spaces (such as bunkers or houses), filling the room with toxic smoke and revealing the firing location immediately.

Late war German tactical doctrine called for Panzerschreck and/or Panzerfaust teams to set up in staggered trenches no further than Template:Convert apart. In this way, attacking armor would face anti-tank fire from multiple directions at a distance of no more than Template:Convert. Anti-tank teams were instructed to aim for the thinner side or rear armor whenever possible.<ref name="bull">Template:Cite book</ref> Allied armored units frequently attempted to add improvised protection to their tanks, e.g., sandbags, spare track units, logs and so on to protect against HEAT rounds. Another defense was to rig metal mesh and netting around the tank, resembling the German Schürzen auxiliary plates. In practice about 1 meter of air gap were required to substantially reduce the penetrating capability of RPzB, thus skirts and sandbags were ineffective against RPzB and Panzerfaust.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1944, Germany provided the Panzerschreck to Finland, which used it to great effect against Soviet armour. The Finnish name for the weapon was Panssarikauhu (literal translation of the German name).

The Italian Social Republic and Hungary also used the Panzerschreck. Several Italian units became known as skilled anti-tank hunters and the Hungarians used the Panzerschreck extensively during Operation Spring Awakening.

PerformanceEdit

Penetration measured against Face-Hardened Armor (FHA), Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA).

Testing nation	Armor	Angle (°)	Penetration (mm)
Germany	RHA	90	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Germany	RHA	60	160<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Karl. R. Pawlas pg.75">Karl. R. Pawlas, Dokumentation W 127 pg.75</ref>
Germany	RHA	30	95<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Karl. R. Pawlas pg.75"/>
Finland	FHA	30	100<ref name="auto"/>
United States	FHA	90	216<ref>Catalog of Enemy Ordnance Materiel pg.357</ref>
United States	FHA (6" / 152 mm) + RHA (2.25" / 57 mm)	90	210<ref>German and Japanese Solid-Fuel Rocket Weapons, pg.8</ref>
United States	FHA	90	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>