Panzerfaust
The Panzerfaust (, "armour fist" or "tank fist", plural: "Panzerfäuste") was an inexpensive, single shot, recoilless German anti-tank weapon of World War II. It consisted of a small, disposable pre-loaded launch tube firing a high-explosive anti-tank warhead, and was intended to be operated by a single soldier. The "Panzerfaust"s direct ancestor was the similar, smaller-warhead Faustpatrone ordnance device. The "Panzerfaust" was in use from 1943 until the end of the war, continuing to see service outside of Germany for a number of years. Background: "Faustpatrone". A forerunner of the "Panzerfaust" was the "Faustpatrone" (literally "fist  cartridge"). The "Faustpatrone" was much smaller than the better-known "Panzerfaust". Development of the "Faustpatrone" started in the summer of 1942 at the German company Hugo Schneider AG (HASAG) with the development of a smaller prototype called "Gretchen" ("little Greta") by a team headed by Dr. Heinrich Langweiler in Leipzig. The basic concept was that of a recoilless gun; in the "Faustpatrone" and the "Panzerfaust" a propellent charge pushed the warhead out the front of the tube while the blast also exited the rear of the tube balancing forces, and therefore there was no recoil force for the operator. The  following weapon, the "Faustpatrone klein", 30 m ("small fist-cartridge") weighed 3.2 kg (7.1 lb) and a total length of 98.5 cm (38¾ in); its projectile had a length of 36 cm (14¼ in). The diameter of warhead was a shaped charge of of a 50:50 mix of TNT and tri-hexogen. The propellant was of 54 g (1.9 oz, 830 grains) of black powder, the metal launch tube had a length of 80 cm (31½ in) and a diameter of 3.3 cm (1.3 in) (early models reportedly 2.8 cm (1.1 in)). Fitted to the warhead was a wooden shaft  with folded stabilizing fins (made of 0.25 mm (0.01 in) thick spring metal). These bent blades straightened into position by themselves as soon as they left the launch tube. The warhead was accelerated to a speed of 28 m/s (92 ft/s), had a range of about 30 m (100 ft) and an armour penetration of up to 140 mm (5½ in) of plain steel. Development. Development began in 1942 on a larger version of the "Faustpatrone". The resulting weapon was the "Panzerfaust" 30, with a total weight of and total length of . The launch tube was made of  low-grade steel in diameter, containing a charge of black powder propellant. Along the side of the tube were a simple folding rear sight and a trigger. The edge of the warhead was used as the front sight. The oversize warhead ( in diameter) was fitted into the front of the tube by an attached wooden tail stem with metal stabilizing fins. The warhead weighed and contained of a 50:50 mixture of TNT and hexogen explosives, and had armour penetration of . The "Panzerfaust" often had warnings written in large red letters on the upper rear end of the tube, the words  usually being ""Achtung. Feuerstrahl."" ("Beware. Fire jet."). This was to warn soldiers to avoid the backblast. After firing, the tube was discarded, making the "Panzerfaust" the first disposable anti-tank weapon. The weapon, when correctly fired from the crook of the arm, could penetrate the armour of any armoured fighting vehicle of the period. Combat use. To use the "Panzerfaust", the soldier removed the safety, tucked the tube under his arm and aimed by aligning the target, the sight and the top of the warhead. Unlike the Americans' original M1 60 mm bazooka and the Germans' own heavier 88 mm  Panzerschreck tube-type rocket launchers based on the American ordnance piece, the "Panzerfaust" did not have the usual trigger. It had a pedal-like lever near the projectile that ignited the propellant when squeezed. Because of the weapon's short range, not only enemy tanks and infantry, but also pieces of the exploding vehicle, posed dangers to its operator. As such, the usage of "Panzerfäuste" required relatively great personal courage. The backblast from firing went back around 2 m behind the operator. When used against tanks, the "Panzerfaust" had an impressive beyond-armour effect. Compared to the bazooka and the  Panzerschreck, it made a larger hole and produced massive spalling that killed or injured (via burns and shrapnel) the crew and destroyed equipment. One informal test found that the "Panzerfaust" made an entry hole in diameter, whereas the "Panzerschreck" made an entry hole at least in diameter; contrastingly, the bazooka made an entry hole that was only in diameter). Much of this can be attributed not only to the size of the "Panzerfaust"s warhead but also its horn-like shape, as opposed to the traditional cone-shaped warheads of rockets used in the bazooka and "Panzerschreck". This design was later  copied in the modern-day AT-4 anti-tank weapon to produce the same effect against modern main battle tanks. Germany. In the Battle of Normandy, only 6% of British tank losses were from "Panzerfaust" fire despite the close-range combat in the thick "bocage" landscape. However, the threat from the "Panzerfaust" forced Allied tank forces to wait for infantry support before advancing. The portion of British tanks taken out of action by "Panzerfäuste" later rose to 34%, a rise probably explained by the lack of German anti-tank guns late in the war and the increased numbers of "Panzerfäuste" that  were available to defending German troops. In urban combat later in the war in eastern Germany, about 70% of tanks destroyed were hit by "Panzerfäuste" or "Panzerschreck"s. Soviet and Western Allied tank crews modified their tanks in the field so as to provide some kind of protection against Panzerfaust attacks. These included logs, sandbags, track links, concrete and wire mesh, along with bed frames with springs (bedsprings), similar to expanded metal-type German tank sideskirts. In practice, about 1 metre of air gap was required to substantially reduce the penetrating capability of the warhead, thus sideskirts and sandbags, along with  other improvised armor, were virtually entirely ineffective against both the Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust. Moreover, the added weight from such add-on armor overburdened the vehicle's engine, transmission and suspension systems. Later on, each Soviet heavy tank (IS) and assault gun (ISU-152) company were assigned a platoon of infantry in urban battles to protect them from such infantry-wielded anti-tank weapons, often supported by flamethrowers. This order remained intact even during 1950s and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. During the last stages of the war, due to the lack of available weapons, many poorly-trained conscripts (mainly elderly men ) and teenage Hitler Youth members were often given a single "Panzerfaust", plus any type of obsolete pistols or rifles (some only had a Panzerfaust and nothing else). This caused several German generals and officers to comment sarcastically that the empty launch-tubes could then be used as clubs in hand-to-hand combat. Other countries. Many "Panzerfäuste" were sold to Finland, which urgently needed them, as Finnish forces did not have enough anti-tank weapons that could penetrate heavily-armoured Soviet tanks like the T-34 and IS-2. The Finnish experience with the weapon and its adaptability to Finnish needs was  mixed, with only 4,000 of 25,000 "Panzerfäuste" delivered expended in combat. The manual that came with the weapon upon delivery to the Finns included depictions of where to aim the weapon on the Soviet T-34 and US Sherman tank (which also saw service with Soviet troops from US Lend-Lease-supplied stocks). The Italian Social Republic (RSI) and the Government of National Unity (Hungary) also used the "Panzerfaust". Several RSI army units became skilled in anti-tank warfare and the Hungarians themselves used the "Panzerfaust" extensively, especially during the Siege of Budapest. During this brutal siege, an arms factory, the  Hungarian Manfred Weiss Steel and Metal Works, located on Csepel Island (within the city) kept up production of various light armaments and ammunition, "Panzerfäuste" included, all the way until the very last moment, when attacking Soviet troops seized the factory by the first days of 1945. The US 82nd Airborne Division captured some "Panzerfäuste" in the Allied invasion of Sicily and later during the fighting in Normandy. Finding them more effective than their own bazookas, they held onto them and used them during the later stages of the French Campaign, even dropping with them into the Netherlands during Operation Market  Garden. They captured an ammunition dump of "Panzerfäuste" near Nijmegen and used them through the Ardennes Offensive toward the end of the war. The Soviet Red Army only incidentally used captured "Panzerfäuste" in 1944, but from the beginning of 1945, many became available and were actively used during the Soviet offensives of 1945, mostly in street fighting against buildings and protective covers. In February 1945, such use of captured "Panzerfäuste" was recommended in a directive by Marshal Georgy Zhukov. Similarly, they were used by the Polish People's Army. After the war, some 4,000 "Panzerfäuste" were adopted by the Polish  Army in 1949, which designated them as PG-49. Plans and technical materials on the Panzerfaust were supplied to the Empire of Japan to assist with their development of an effective anti-tank weapon. However, the Japanese went with a different design, the Type 4, loosely based upon the American bazooka. Examples of the American weapon were captured by the Japanese at Leyte in 1944.