Features
M1A1
Caliber: 60 mm.
Length: 1.38 m.
Weight:launch tube, 6.010 kg;
rocket, 1.540 kg
Maximum capacity: 594 m.
Initial speed: 82.30 m/s.
Perforation: 119.4 mm of armor at zero incidence.
The American bazooka was one of the most original weapons of the Second World War. It was the result of rocket research conducted at the proving ground in Aberdeen, Maryland. Its development began in earnest at the beginning of 1942, and it entered service in North Africa in November of the same year to be used practically only the following year against Axis armor. The first model bore the precise name of 2.36-in Rocket Launcher, M1. Its real ammunition received the name of M6A3 and the practice rocket that of M7A3.
The bazooka was a weapon of great simplicity, consisting of a simple steel tube open at both ends, which served as a launcher. It was equipped with a shoulder pad or a wooden stock, and its two handles, including the rear handle which included the trigger, served as support. Firing was done electrically and in cold weather the propellant charge did not completely burn out before the rocket left the tube, so that the residue burned the face of the shooter. To avoid this danger, it was possible to attach a small circular metal protective sieve at the level of the mouth.
The bazooka could be used against point targets up to 274 m, but its practical range was limited to a hundred meters.
Shortly after its entry into service•, the M1 was replaced by the M1A1 which essentially resembled him. It was a weapon capable of knocking out any tank. It was served by two men, the gunner and the loader who transported the ammunition and had to connect the electrical firing circuits. The bazooka received a large number of uses foreign to its anti-tank destination:It made it possible to neutralize blockhouses of all kinds or to open breaches in barbed wire networks. It was possibly used to fire on targets such as vehicle parks located at distances of the order of 600 m, or sometimes even to clear routes in minefields. It would even have served against artillery pieces installed at close range.
However, it distinguished itself above all against tanks, and the Germans were inspired by it to carry out their series of Raketenpanzerbüchse from the specimens removed in 1943 in Tunisia. These weapons had a much stronger
caliber, but the Americans kept their 60 mm M1 even beyond 1945. In the meantime, they had adopted the M9 model which had the particularity of disassembling in two parts for easy transport. Smoke and incendiary projectiles entered service before 1945 and thus came to complete the range of possibilities of use of this material.