Better than Artillery?! Nebelwerfer (Rocket Artillery)

A look at the differences of rocket artillery - specifically the Nebelwerfer - and regular artillery in the Second World War. For this we look mostly at German primary sources (war-time documents) from the Second World War. Most of these aspects should also apply to Soviet Katyusha launchers etc. as well. Factors covered are production cost, accuracy, targets, speed of delivery, sustained fire, logistics, range, camouflage, mobility and organization.

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BArch, RH 1/1402: H.Dv. 210/1b: Allgemeine Ausbildung zu Fuß - Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Nebeltruppe. Berlin, 1938.

BArch, RH 1/1406: H. Dv. 210/3: Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Nebeltruppe. Schießvorschrift. Vom 4. 11. 1939. „Offene Worte“: Berlin 1939.

BArch, RH 1/1403: H.Dv. 210/2d: Die schwere Werferbatterie (mot.) - Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Nebeltruppe. Berlin, 1942.

H. Dv. 200/5: Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Artillerie. Heft 5: Die Führung der Artillerie. E. S. Mittler & Sohn: Berlin, 1937.

BArch, RH 10/58: Technische und andere Erfahrungsberichte der Truppe.

BArch, RH 11-IV/37: Merkblatt geh 16/4: Merkblatt über die Nebeltruppe. 12. Mai 1943.

Munitionsmerkblatt 7: Nebeltruppe. 15. Mai 1943.

Pionier: Zeitschrift für die Übermittlungstruppen. Ausgabe 1943, Nr. 9. Zürich, September 1943.

Hogg, Ian V.: German artillery of World War Two. Paperback edition, Frontline Books: London, UK, 1975.

Emde, Joachim: Die Nebelwerfer. Entwicklung und Einsatz der Werfertruppe im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag: Dorheim, o.J. (1979?).

Fleischer, Wolfgang; Eiermann, Richard: Das letzte Jahr des deutschen Heeres 1944-1945. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag: Wölfersheim, Germany, 1997.

Wiener, Fritz: Die Nebelwerfer 1939-1945. In: Schirmer, Friedrich (Hrsg.); Wiener, Fritz (Hrsg.): Feldgrau. Heft 3. / 1. Juni 1959. Burgdorf/Han. 1959.

Hahn, Fritz: Waffen und Geheimwaffen des deutschen Heeres 1933-1945. Dörfler Verlag: Eggolsheim, o.J.

Margiotta, Franklin D. (ed.): Brassey’s Encyclopedia of Land Forces and Warfare. 1st ed, Brassey’s: Washington, DC, 1996.

#Nebelwerfer,#Artillery,#RocketArtillery

[gitfoad]

Two German weapons feared most after D-Day - nebelwerfer - because they could be heard 'long' before they arrived, & the 88mm, because it arrived before the sound. -According to Canadian artillery memoir ('Guns of War').

[Atlas]

Your icons/graphics are spot on. They are simple, but effectively convey their meaning. Great video!

[Ulfcytel]

Another aspect to this is the cost and complexity of ammunition, which in the case of the nebelwerfer had to include not only the usual fusing systems, but also rocket engines and propellants. Artillery shells had been tried-and-tested technology for decades.

[SteamCrane]

One thing I learned in Engineering school many years ago was "Build something that's hungry". ie, sell the machine cheap, and make money on the refills. Case in point, they practically give printers away, but rob you on ink.

[MrVlad]

Interesting german proverb in the end. In Russia we say "Stingy one will pay twice", which also conveys the same meaning: if you buy cheap there will be a catch to make you spend more money down the road.

[TheArchaos]

Its almost like various types of weaponry have benefits and drawbacks which means these weapons have to be applied in the correct circumstances and situations.

[alansewell]

The Soviets referred to Katyushas as "rocket mortars" because they had the same characteristics as conventional mortars --- high angle of fire, high rate of fire, low velocity relative to artillery, and limited accuracy. Soviet ordnance officers noted that the many simultaneous blast waves from a salvo magnified their effect. Mating them to American lend-lease Studebaker trucks multiplied their mobility over what the Germans could obtain with a towed Nebelwerfer. They are said to have first been used at the Battle of Smolensk in summer 1941, routing a German unit of several hundred men gathered around a railroad station.

[logoseven]

Grandpa, Bastogne artillery commander, was initially shocked by this weapon, however, it was loud, smoky, and limited engagement duration and range. Grandpa liked counter artillery missions, his spotters and battery commanders were very fast and accurate.
Thank you for your videos.

[steelhammer]

didn't know that artillery employment was literally rocket science :D have you found anything about the morale factor similar to the katyusha?

[ashfox]

The machine was cheap, but the pods are incredibly expensive.

[theeternalsuperstar]

2:35 I love how you put a storm trooper to represent the inability to hit a target. :D

[vindicare]

Conventional Artillery also can be used in a direct fire role, against tanks, or fortified positions unlike rocket artillery

[adampatino]

2:42 it took be a couple seconds to process "Unsuited for firing at specific targets" before the Storm trooper icon literally made me laugh out loud. Bravo 👏

[sargonassarg]

Nebelwerfer could saturate a target in a way that would require many more pieces of artillery. However, it's Achilles heel was its short range, needing to be placed very close to the front. Werfer units were therefore highly vulnerable to Allied counterbattery fire; especially on the Western Front and losses among werfer troops were high.

[rags]

As a veteran Wargame: Red Dragon player I can confirm that everything that this video states is still true, assuming that the designers of that game did their research correctly 🙂 . In most battlefield situations medium or heavy artillery (ie 105mm to 155mm) artillery is still the most effective and versatile, but for sheer brute force HE shock value nothing beats rocket artillery. Of course more modern rocket artillery such as the Smerch or MLRS are a different unit altogether as they combine firepower and extreme range with great accuracy and unique munition options, eg cluster bombs, napalm, FAE etc.

There is still a place on the modern battlefield for saturation fire weapons such as rocket artillery.

[steventhompson]

I used to play a pc game in early 2000s when I was a kid called blitzkrieg where you could use rockets, that game helped get me interested in WWII weapons. The rockets were most effective for rapid area saturation right before an attack or where an enemy concentration was detected. But ideally you still want regular artillery for harder or smaller targets and sustained barrages, they each have their place on the battlefield, but chosing just one or the other I'd take regular artillery in more situations than just rockets. The panzerwerfers and katyushas were great for hit and run or shoot and scoot attacks, but more often in the game having regular towed or self propelled artillery is better overall. I miss that game lol

[JGCR]

One other thing, manufacturing artillery shells was fairly easy while especially fin stabilized rockets were comparatively expensive. Remember the GyroJet fiasco of the 60s to see how easy manufacturing errors in those could result in rockets flying all over the place, even if the tolerances in large caliber rockets were probably easier to match. But with artillery chains there was an established supply chain and mass production ongoing while rockets were a new thing.

[upcoming]

One thing I have a hard time finding information on is how big the target area was for one of these things (Nebel/katyusha). The usual numbers seems to be for a group of them, that may or may not be deliberately aimed to cover a bigger area rather than every gun aimed at the same place.

[FrontTowardsAnemone]

It seems to me that the same advantages/disadvantages also apply to man-portable rocket propelled grenades/recoilless rifles and anti-material rifles:
RPG's are cheap and light, but ammo is bulky and they are overall relatively inaccurate, while anti-material rifles are individually heavier and more expensive, but the ammo is smaller and lighter to carry, as well as being more accurate

[creatoruser]

That assessment from the 90s has come true in some ways. The US Marine Corps is ditching most of their tube artillery for HIMARS rocket artillery.