The following intelligence report on the WWII German Nebelwerfer 41 was originally published in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 10, Oct. 22, 1942. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

NEW GERMAN ROCKET WEAPON The existence of a new German rocket weapon, the Nebelwerfer 41, has been recently reported. As is shown in the accompanying sketch, the weapon has six barrels. Each barrel has a caliber of 150 mm and a range of 6,600 yards. The barrels are not rifled but have within them three straight guide rails, about one-third of an inch deep. The projectiles rotate in flight, however, apparently due to the set of the venturis. The barrels have no breech and are open at both ends. Each barrel, however, contains a spring-operated latch, presumably to retain the projectiles in position after they have been loaded. Firing is electrical. The separate barrels fire at intervals of 1 second, and thus the complete series of six rounds can be fired over a period of 5 seconds. This complete series can be repeated every 90 seconds. This rocket weapon can be used for firing either HE or gas projectiles, and also probably smoke shells.

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