Object Details
- Summary
- The 15 cm (5.9 in.) Nebelwerfer ("smoke launcher") was the standard German World War II solid-propellant artillery rocket. Spin-stabilized by 26 canted nozzles on the mid-section, it had its warhead in the rear to increase the effectiveness of its charge. Chemical warfare was the original objective of the solid-fuel rocket program, but as neither side used poison gas in Europe in World War II, Nebelwerfer units fired smoke or high-explosive projectiles. The standard launcher was a six-tube wheeled vehicle towed behind a truck or half-track. After 1940, the rocket propellant was a diglycol "smokeless powder." The "41" in the designation indicates that the design was finalized in 1941, the "Spr." that it was a high-explosive version. These rockets were first deployed in the attack on the USSR that same year.
- This artifact was probably manufactured in 1942. The U.S. Army Ordnance Museum transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1989.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum
- Inventory Number
- A19890604000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets
- Materials
- Steel; wooden nose
- Dimensions
- Overall: 5 7/8 in. tall x 3 ft. 2 in. deep (14.9 x 96.5cm)
- Other (tail warhead): 4 3/4 in. diameter (12.1cm)
- Country of Origin
- Germany
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
- Hangar
- James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19890604000
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9fab94645-80af-4e10-8648-168947aa628a
