Nebbelwerfer vs Katiushka

Teddy Wisch · Post by **Teddy Wisch** » Wed May 12, 2004 5:30 am

That's the question. Which one was better?

Christian · Post by **Christian** » Wed May 12, 2004 7:43 pm

I would have to lean towards the truck mounted Katiusha as it could have as many as 48 launchers versus only 6 barrels for the Nebelwerfer. In addition, it was a much more mobile weapon system compared to the Nebelwerfer.

Regards,

Christian

Das Reich · Post by **Das Reich** » Thu May 13, 2004 3:59 am

I think the caliper of the rockets (if you can even describe rockets with calipers, I dunno) on the Katiusha was larger than that on the Nebelwerfer. In other words... the rockets were bigger.

Jason Long · Post by **Jason Long** » Thu May 13, 2004 5:03 pm

Das Reich is wrong. The smallest German Nebelwerfer to enter wide-spread service was 15cm with the larger calibers being 21cm, 28cm and 32cm. The bulk of the Soviet rockets were either 132mm or 82mm with some 30cm ones as well.

The chief advantage of the smaller Soviet weapons was they were much more thorough in covering an area compared to the larger Geman weapons. And their much greater mobility.

Jason

Das Reich · Post by **Das Reich** » Thu May 13, 2004 6:29 pm

Thanks for clearing things up!

Matt L · Post by **Matt L** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:06 pm

One also has to take into account reloading- the Nebelwerfer, being a ground mount weapon, was very easy to reload, while I'd think that the high-mounted (on a truck) Katyusha wouldn't be nearly so easy.

Further, the Katyusha rockets were typical simple Soviet technology- not particularly reliable, accurate, etc.- the Nebelwerfer rockets were typical German technology- very reliable, and particularly effective.

I think the comparison also has to take into account the 'Stuka zu Fuß'- 32cm Nebelwerfer rockets mounted on a SPW halftrack- I'd say was rather more effective than a Katyusha. Mobile, armored and of good design. The rockets' transport 'crate' was also the launch platform, so firing and reloading was quite easy.

It's my understanding that the Katyusha HAD to be employed in fair numbers and to shoot a lot of rockets simply because it was so inaccurate and that the rockets weren't excessively reliable.

Matt

Christian · Post by **Christian** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:38 pm

Matt,

You are correct that the Katyusha was not that accurate, however I would question whether it was ever designed to be. Instead Russians used them for heavy area bombardment and this had great psychological impact on enemy forces. While the Nebelwerfer's accuracy was better, it was far from perfect.

You bring up a good point in respect to the loading of the weapon and I agree that this was an advantage of the Nebelwerfer. However, Nebelwerfer positions were easy to spot and thus an inviting target for enemy artillery and mobility was definitely inferior to the truck mounted Katyusha.

Regards,

Christian

Matt L · Post by **Matt L** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:54 pm

Oh, indeed I agree the Katyusha was never intended to be anything more than an area-saturation weapon- that's partly what I meant about Soviet technology- mass over quality (or in this case, accuracy). Certainly the Nebelwerfer wasn't supremely accurate either, but that's a drawback inherent in a rotation-stabilized 'dumb' rocket. They were also area-saturation weapons, but were rather more accurate and thus effective.

As for being easy to locate, I'd think that the fairly compact size of a Nebelwerfer would make it fairly easy to move- not as quick to drive away as a Katyusha, to be sure, but it's certainly fairly easy. Granted the HUGE plume of smoke that make it aptly named, did probably advertise its position better than a billboard would have

Actually, that's why I pointed out the SPW- a weapon system that's more reasonable to compare to the Katyusha is definitely superior.

I'd say that for psychological effect, the Katyusha wins out because of its inaccuracy, and the fact that it was fielded in such huge numbers, but for actual effect, the Nebelwerfer wins- its rockets were extremely devestating- even the concussion being lethal.

In equal numbers, I'd rather have the Nebelwerfer, but then I've always thought they were one of the COOLEST weapons the Wehrmacht had

Matt

gubra · Post by **gubra** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:10 am

I have seen pictures of nebelwerfers mounted on halftracks so they at least have been as mobile as their soviet counterpart. But of course, it might have been just a small percentage of those compared to the towed version.

Gubra

Matt L · Post by **Matt L** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:23 am

Quite true Gubra- that's the 15cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf (SdKfz 4/1) Maultier- a half-track mounting a 15cm 10-tube Nebelwerfer on a rotating mount. It was actually superceded by the 15cm Panzerwerfer 42 (Zehnling) auf sWS- this vehicle had more ammunition storage capacity and better cross-country performance. Unfortunately, I have NO idea how many of either were produced, but the number probably wasn't particularly high.

Matt

DeBaer · Post by **DeBaer** » Fri May 14, 2004 4:02 am

well there are numbers for the Maultier mounted:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3620/sdkfz41.htm

and theres the total number of sws built:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3620/sws.htm

only 825 sws total, and it says that only a small number was fit with the nebelwerfer, so it would be around 40 or something i guess.

Matt L · Post by **Matt L** » Fri May 14, 2004 6:17 am

Thanks Sven- as I suspected, only a tiny number compared to the number of Katyusha built. Then again, the Katyusha was just a regular truck with a few rails added to the back... like something you'd see 'bodged' together on Junkyard Wars actually

Christian · Post by **Christian** » Sat May 15, 2004 11:56 am

Like something you'd see 'bodged' together on Junkyard Wars actually

I have to agree with you on that one Matt!!

Cheers,

Christian

Christian Ankerstjerne · Sat May 15, 2004 5:26 pm

Reloading a 15 cm Panzerwerfer 42 auf Sf.

Christian · Post by **Christian** » Sat May 15, 2004 7:25 pm

Christian,

Thanks for posting these pictures. It definitely highlights how easy it was to load the launchers.

Regards,

Christian

Feldgrau.net

Nebbelwerfer vs Katiushka

Nebbelwerfer vs Katiushka

Nebelwerfer vs. Katyusha