Mattress was the term applied to ground-based British-devised

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a volle ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Compared with the German and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

counterparts (the ''

Nebelwerfer The Nebelwerfer (smoke mortar) was a World War II Nazi Germany, German series of weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the German Army (Wehrmacht), Wehrmacht's "smoke troops" (''Nebeltruppen''). Initially, two different mortar ...

'' and '' Katyusha'' launchers respectively), the western Allies deployed these weapons late in the war. Nevertheless, they did see useful service as

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

support during the crossings of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

rivers.

Sea Mattress

The first multiple

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

launch system developed by the British was designed to be deployed on warships and landing craft and fired in support of troops in a landing action. The rockets were 5-inch

cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

sticks and the launching system, known as a "mattress projector", was capable of projecting a salvo of 16 to 30 rockets in around 45 seconds. The weapon was also known as the "Stickleback". For naval assault on beaches, the specially-outfitted

Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) The Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) or LCT(R) was developed from the British Mk.2 and Mk.3 Landing Craft Tank (LCT) during the Second World War. It was designed to saturate beaches with either 972 or 1,044https://www.combinedops.com/US%20LANDING%2 ...

- LCT(R) was devised, each of which carried over a thousand rockets intended to be fired

en masse Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engli ...

against targets on the invasion beaches and intended for saturating the defenders' positions with rockets. They were used in the

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General (Unit ...

and in the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

Land Mattress

The so-called land mattress was a ground weapon named after its naval equivalent. It was originally developed by Lt. Col.

Michael Wardell Brigadier Michael Wardell (19 June 1895 – 29 April 1978) was a British-born army officer and publisher. In the 1950s and 1960s he owned and operated a publishing company, a daily newspaper and a monthly magazine in New Brunswick. He became ...

of the British army in 1944. Based on the British Z gun anti-aircraft rockets, it was tested in the summer of 1944 and saw some action with British and Canadian troops, with mixed results. The Land Mattress was based on the tube of the

RP-3 The RP-3 (from Rocket Projectile 3 inch) was a British air to ground rocket projectile introduced during the Second World War. The "3 inch" designation referred to the nominal diameter of the rocket motor tube. The use of a warhead gave rise to ...

or "60-lb" rocket used as an air-to-ground weapon with naval 5-inch shells as warheads and consisted of a 16- or 30-tube launchering system mounted on a towed carriage. The land version had an operational range of . Rounds were fired at a rate of 4 per second. At the crossing of the

, over a thousand rockets were fired in six hours.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Land Mattress Rocket artillery World War II artillery of the United Kingdom World War II military equipment of Canada Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1944

Sea Mattress

Land Mattress

See also

References

External links