30 cm Nebelwerfer 42
The 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42 (30 cm NbW 42) was a German multiple rocket launcher used in the Second World War. It served with units of the Nebeltruppen, the German equivalent of the U.S. Army's Chemical Corps. Just as the Chemical Corps had responsibility for poison gas and smoke weapons that were used instead to deliver high-explosives during the war so did the Nebeltruppen.
Also recorded as Wurfgerät 42
30 cm Nebelwerfer 42
Wehmeyer · Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-278-0888-27 / Wehmeyer / CC-BY-SA 3.0 · This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
- Field
- multiple rocket launcher
- Region
- Nazi Germany
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42 (30 cm NbW 42) was a German multiple rocket launcher used in the Second World War. It served with units of the Nebeltruppen, the German equivalent of the U.S. Army's Chemical Corps. Just as the Chemical Corps had responsibility for poison gas and smoke weapons that were used instead to deliver high-explosives during the war so did the Nebeltruppen.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q4634559 · wikipedia · 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42
In this article
Organization and use
The 30 cm NbW 42 was organized into batteries of six launchers with three batteries per battalion. These battalions were concentrated in independent Werfer-Regiments and Brigades. It saw service on the Eastern Front, Italian Campaign and the defense of France and Germany from 1943 to 1945.
Description
The name "Nebelwerfer" is best translated as "Smoke Mortar". It saw service from 1943 to 1945 in all theaters except Norway and North Africa.
The 30 cm NbW 42 was a six-barreled rocket launcher mounted on a two-wheeled carriage converted from the launcher for the 28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 by changing the open metal launcher frame. Its 30 cm Wurfkörper 42 Spreng (explosive missile) rocket was spin-stabilized and electrically fired. The rockets had a prominent exhaust trail that kicked up a lot of debris, so the crew had to seek shelter before firing. This meant that they were easily located and had to displace quickly to avoid counter-battery fire. The rockets were fired one at a time, in a timed ripple, but the launcher had no capability to fire single rockets. The same rocket was used in the 30 cm Raketenwerfer 56 launcher.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Engelmann, p. 5
- 2.Engelmann, p. 46
- 3.LEO online dictionary
- 4.Gander and Chamberlain, pp. 321-2
- 5.Niehorster, Leo W. G. German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 5/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (4 July 1943), 2005, pp. 52-3
- 6.Kameradschaft, vols. 1 and 2
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Connections
Knowledge graph
Connections
Each connection was recorded deliberately, with the basis for it kept on the internal record.
Broader subject
1- multiple rocket launcherTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- 3.7 cm PaK 36Terminology
- 3.7 cm SK C/30Terminology
- 3.7 cm SockelFlak L/14.5Terminology
- 3.7 cm TAK 1918Terminology
- 30 cm Raketenwerfer 56Terminology
- 30 mm Breda-MauserTerminology
- 30 mm caliberTerminology
- 30-pounder long gunTerminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.