The ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' was a roof mounted, breech-loaded, single shot, multi-purpose, 360 ° rotating

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mo ...

that could fire a variety of

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

. It was typically found on

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

tanks such as the

Panzer IV The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panz ...

, Panther I,

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...

, and Tiger II from 1944 until the end of the war and was intended to replace three previous devices: the '' Nebelwurfgerät'', the '' Minenabwurfvorrichtung'', and pistol ports.

Operation

The ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' was a simple breech-loaded launcher tube oriented at a 50° angle and fitted in a traversable mounting on the

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

roof. Unlike the previous externally mounted launchers, it was not exposed to enemy fire, being reloaded from within the vehicle through a hinged breech. The ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' was designed to mate with the standard '' Kampfpistole'' flare gun and could be sealed by an armored plug when not in use. Aiming was by

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

s located on the turret and cupola.

Ammunition

The device could fire the following ammunition: * ''Schnellnebelkerze'' 39

smoke grenade Smoke grenades used at demonstrations in Paris, 2008 upBritish L83A1 Smoke Grenade manufactured in May 2008. This grenade has already been used. A smoke grenade is a canister-type grenade used as a signaling device, target or landing zone mark ...

for the purpose of concealment * ''Rauchsichtzeichen'' Orange 350

smoke signal The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication. It is a form of visual communication used over a long distance. In general smoke signals are used to transmit news, signal danger, or to gather people to a common area ...

for identification to friendly aircraft * ''Leuchtgeschoss'' R flare * ''Sprenggranatpatrone'' 326 Lp

anti-personnel An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ...

explosive to defend the vehicle against infantry attack The ''Sprenggranatpatrone'' 326 Lp had a range of with a blast point of above the ground. It splintered to a circumferential distance of after an initial delay time of one

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

. All turret hatches and openings were to be closed when this round was fired.

Deployment

The ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' was first mounted in March 1944 on the

Panther tank The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to ...

.Jentz (1995), p. 75 It was equipped on a variety of late-war vehicles, including the

Sturmtiger () was a World War II German assault gun built on the Tiger I chassis and armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled mortar. The official German designation was ''Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61''. Its primary task was to provide heavy f ...

and the Maus tank.

Gallery

Image:Panther type G (Sd.Kfz. 171) near Celles, Belgium pic10.JPG, Panther I tank equipped with the ''Nahverteidigungswaffe''. Roof of the turret, bottom right. Image:Jagdpanther IWM.jpg, Jagdpanther equipped with the ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' on the upper left side of the roof. Center left side of the roof. Image:Char Tigre de Vimoutiers 2012-02 turret 3.JPG, The ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' with armored plug as seen on a Tiger I tank. Roof of the turret, bottom right. File:Nahverteidigungswaffe Highlighted 1.png, The ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' with armored plug as seen on a Tiger I tank. Highlighted. Image:Königstiger Militärmuseum Full.jpg, Tiger II tank equipped with the ''Nahverteidigungswaffe'' on the right side of the roof. Image:Tiger Ausf B FgstNr 280273 la gleize abteilung 501 0004.jpg, Tiger II tank equipped with the ''Nahverteidigungswaffe''. Roof of the turret, top right.

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

*http://www.custermen.net/nahvert/nah2.htm *http://panther1944.de/index.php/en/sdkfz-171-pzkpfwg-panther/technik/close-in-defense-weapon {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813102905/http://panther1944.de/index.php/en/sdkfz-171-pzkpfwg-panther/technik/close-in-defense-weapon , date=2019-08-13 *http://www.tigertank181.com/45_Nahverteidigungswaffe.htm *http://www.figuren.miniatures.de/nahverteidigungswaffe.html *http://www.geocities.ws/desertfox1891/NahVtdgW/artnahvtdgw.htm *https://www.lexpev.nl/grenades/europe/germany/rauchsichtzeichenorange.html Anti-personnel weapons Armoured fighting vehicle equipment Flare guns Grenade launchers of Germany Smoke grenades Tanks of Germany World War II weapons of Germany Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1944