M1A1 Bazooka Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher

The development of the Bazooka was born of 2 different weapons - The Recoilless Rocket and the Shaped Charge Warhead. Following work done by Dr Robert H. Goddard towards the end of WW1, he successfully demonstrated a Tube Launched Rocket at the Aberdeen testing Grounds in Maryland. But just a few weeks later the War ended and interest wained. Goddard continued to work on the weapon for the War Department in a part time capacity until the early 20's when he lost interest. This left others to pick up where he left off. Henry Mohaupt, a Swiss immigrant, was working on a Rifle Launched Grenade, the M10. This was the best weapon of it's type at the time being able to penetrate 100mm of Armour. However because of it's weight it was found unsuitable as a Rifle Launched weapon. A smaller version was developed, the M9 which was suitable for Rifle Launching.

 

2 US Army Officers - Colonel Leslie A. Skinner & Lieutenant Edward G. Uhl were working on an experimental Rocket Launcher at George Washington University. Slowly they saw that the 2 types of weapon might be able to be used as a single projectile in their Rocket Launcher and after trials the 1st version was ready for use. It was found wanting in some areas, the barrel was not very well re-inforced, the 2 cell dry battery in the stock for firing the projectile was not reliable and the sighting was rudimentary. These issues were resolved by fitting a stronger barrel, a round sight with incremental ranging bars and a magneto for firing. Issued to troops in late 1942 it was used unofficially in the Torch Landings in North Africa to see how well it would perform. It was an excellent weapon against Armour at short range up to 150 yards and could also be used against fortified positions. Against the better German tanks it faired less well but was adopted as a standard US Army weapon thereafter. The M1A1 was supplanted by the M9 Bazooka in 1945. The Germans copied the Bazooka with their own version the "Panzershrek" although using a much bigger projectile of 88.9mm diameter. This was adopted by the Americans post war and it saw service right up until Vietnam before being replaced by the LAW Rocket.

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A watchful rifleman carrying his Platoon's Bazooka during the Normandy campaign.

 

it was highly effective, though inherently inaccurate at all but very close ranges. Its impact was such that later described it as one of the weapons which won World War II for the allies. The Germans immediately copied it from captured weapons, to produce their own much larger version known as the Panzerschreck.

 

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The American Bazooka. It was the first weapon of its type, being introduced in 1942.​

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How The Bazooka Got Its Name

In 1941 the US Army developed a large, shaped-charge, antitank rifle grenade, the M10. Obviously someone had not thought things through, it was too heavy to fire from a rifle without damaging it and the firer. It could not even be fired from a “rifle” grenade launcher on a .50-cal. machine-gun. That same year the Army purchased a number of British 2in anti-aircraft rockets to test under its fledgling rocket development program. In 1942, modified copies of the rocket motors were fabricated and the M10 warhead fitted to them. A 60mm steel tube was fitted with two handgrips, a shoulder stock, a rudimentary sight, and a simple electrical firing system. The result was the 2.36in T1 antitank rocket launcher. Irreverently, Major Zeb Hastings noted the weapon’s similarity to an amusing musical instrument called the “bazooka” used by radio comedian and musician Bob Burns, the “Arkansas Traveller.” The nickname was applied and stuck to what became the M1 rocket launcher (while under development the bazooka was code-named “The Whip”). The bazooka was also called the “stovepipe,” for obvious reasons. Later versions of the bazooka included the M1A1, M9, M9A1, and M18. Examples of the original “bazooka” (instrument) are displayed in Bob Burns’ home in Hot Springs, Arkansas.