Talk:Bazooka

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[edit] Wow, 1 yard effective range

Nice sarcasm, but what's the actual effective range, 8P (I don't think that'd be effective anyways, since you'd blow yourself up). 65.172.9.227 05:45, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] M1A1?

"This proved to be a good match, and by late 1942 the Rocket Launcher, M1A1 was introduced." Huh? Is "M1A1" ambiguous, as it traditionally refers to a variant of M1 Abrams? Someone please clarify this. --ZeroOne 19:57, 25 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The U.S. has an (IMO) odd numbering system. The TYPE of ordnance is actually part of it's unique identifier. A few examples: M1 Rifle, M1 Carbine, M3 Submachine Gun, M3 Tank etc. Oberiko 02:11, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Actually, the Ordnance Issue Number system is even more curious than you know. Originally, M numbers only dealt with small arms - other letters were used for specific pieces of Ordnance. Tanks originally used the letter "T" for developmental purposes, but then switched to M numbers by World War II. The "T" number remained during the developmental period, but it was morphed to an M when the final product was produced. The Russians gained their "T" number from the Christie tanks they licensed in the 1930's. Another example, Vehicles tended to use the classification system imposed by the manufacturer, which is why the original 2 1/2 Ton truck was known as the Model CCKW, which stood for Truck, Cargo, Medium Duty, 6X6, 4DT, 2.5 Ton, 164in Wheelbase. The companion "Duck" was the DUKW-353, which stood for Truck, Cargo, Amphibian, 6X6, ST, 2.5 Ton, 164in Wheelbase.World War II saw the standardization of the number system. in the model series seen in the examples on the detail page, the first series - M1 - indicates the first example of a production model . XM1 would indicate an experimental model, and YM1 would indicate a developmental model. The first modification would be indicated by M1A1, while M1A1B1 would indicate the first modification of the first modification, with that modification a reletively minor modification. If it had been a major modification, then the result would have been M1A2. nThe use of additional numbers for secondary modifications was subsequently dropped, and only major modifications get numkbers these days. That is why the M16 Rifle only has four "types", the M16, the M16A1, A2, and A3, even though several minor modifications took place over the life of the basic model. Another quirk are the items that were numbered with the M prefix, and the model year of introduction. Hence, the M-1903 Springfield Rifle, and the M-1911 Colt Automatic Pistol. SSG Cornelius Seon (Retired) 13:16, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The Russians gained their "T" number from the Christie tanks they licensed in the 1930's. The Soviets were using the "T" designator long before they bought the Christie. See T-18, T-27 for example. DMorpheus 16:22, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
There is no developmental model "YM" in the US Army designation system. There seems to be some confusion with the current aircraft designation system there. The T designation was used for all "Trial" equipment, whether it be small arms or vehicles or anything else in the system (see the M1 Garand article). The XM designator replaced the T designator sometime in the 1950s, when I'm not entirely sure. T designations never related to the actual designation when adopted, could be reused within the same class, and were assigned almost at random.
The usage of manufacturer designations for certain trucks seems to be a hold-over from the introduction of vehicles into the system at all, circa WWI, since there were also vehicles that recieved M designations (various jeeps, beeps, etc).
The E suffix has also been used to designate experimental variants of T, XM, or M equipment.
I believe the B subvariant designation has gone by the wayside since the differences it used to designate (such as different hulls used for conversion to a certain vehicle standard such as M32 recovery vehicles or M36 tank destorys for instance) are no longer common place. It might still technically be in the system. Machine guns seem to retain their alphabetical suffixes to differentiate variants for specific roles, however, and we can see this still with the M240 series (A and E are skipped because of their existing usage, F appears to have been skipped as well).
The practice of using the year of adoption to designate weapons appears to have gotten confusing quickly, even with class distinctions required for full designations, and this might explain why the practice was dropped and classes started from M1 starting around the beginning of the Second World War. A good example of the confusion in doing this was the M1917 machine gun and M1918 machine gun, both adopted in 1917, but since they were in the same exact class it required a different year to be applied.
Lastly, US Army system designations (and those in the US Navy system as well actually), require the written class for a complete designation. In terms of this article, the complete designations would be Launcher, Rocket, 2.36 Inch, M9 and Launcher, Rocket, 3.5 Inch, M20 for instance. -- Thatguy96 04:51, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] So where was it copied from?

"It was highly effective, so much so that the Germans copied it, possibly from those supplied to the Russians, to produce their own version known as the Panzerschreck." but according to the Panzerschreck article, "When German troops captured the American M9A1s "bazooka" in Africa, they noticed qualities that was lacking in their Panzerfausts and quickly sent it to engineers back in Germany for analysis."67.140.87.147 03:10, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Panzerfaust (Armorfist): Single-use antitank weapon Germans developed. Simialr to LAW and others.

Panzerschreck (Armorterror): Reloadable antitank weapon similar to Bazooka, improved from the Panzerfaust when Germans saw the improvement potential from their own 'Armorfists'. The difference lies in the aiming, as the Panzerfaust resembles RPG and Panzerschreck has the barrel to stabilize the rocket on its way. --131.207.161.152 08:54, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

The Panzerschreck was actually copied from the M1 Bazookas that had been captured in Tunisia. The Panzerfaust was a shaped charge rocket fired from a rather simple staff-like laucher that was discarded after use. The weapon was effective at extremely close ranges and the laucher was not reuseable.(Weapon Buff 24 Jan 2006)

[edit] Actual Inventor of Bazooka Rocket!

How do we rephrase the article to account for the fact that Col. Gregory J. Kessenich invented the "bazooka rocket" concept in 1941. When he submitted his concept it was declared top secret and he was deprived from patenting it or discussing it during WWII. It was then developed during 1942 perhaps by the people already mentioned in the article. It was in 1950 when the secretary of war acknowledge Kessenich and he received his patent in 1951.

He got his patent for the finished product, but Dr., Goddard still gets the recognition for the original idea, and the rocket itself. SSG Cornelius Seon (Retired) 13:21, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hot Pictures

¿Can we get a picture or plural of a bazooka from world war 2?

[edit] Merge

I think we should merge the variants and specifications sections. Oberiko 19:48, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Name?

I approach this one with fear and trepidation, because I wonder if this might be one of those oft-trodden paths, but . . .

I'd always heard that the name "Bazooka" was onomatopaeic - almost the direct equivalent of the Russian "Katyusha". I would be prepared to accept the alternative proposal of the musical instrument, except . .

. . . there's no such instrument as a bazooka. There is a Bassoon, but that's not similar enough to be a likely source in my book. To me, the answer above makes more sense. I won't change it unless I get some agreement, though.Johno 13:54, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

"Katyusha" isn't onomatopoeic; it's the diminutive form of the woman's name Yekaterina, which means Catherine. As the Katyusha article notes, the rocket system was named after a song about a girl of that name. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:06, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
And I believe the instrument in question is the Bouzouki. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:07, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Finlay: The Katyusha article also mentions the onomatopaeic theory, and my source for that one was actually a former Great Patriotic War soldier, so my guess was that he'd know. . . :) As for Bouzouki: Huh? There's not the slightest resemblance there, not even if you were looking through a welding mask! Ah well . . Johno 13:46, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

As I understand it, the "Bazooka" musical instrument from which the weapon got it's name was a one off, home-made trombone belonging to a popular American Comedy actor of the time - I have even seen a photograph of said actor posing with his "bazooka" alongside a smiling GI weilding an M1 Bazooka... Unfortunately I have no idea who tht comedy actor was... Getztashida 02:34, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] M20 variants (from the main page)

As an answer on one of the message boards, I posted this. It will help to clarify:

There were four different 3.5 R/L's in US Inventory.

M20 was the basic design: Had fittings held in with machine screws

M20B1: Had fittings cast as part of the entire unit.

Circa late 1952 there was an upgrade of the electric connector (Connector Latch Assembly) which provided the electricity to the rocket motor. This was known as the A1 improvement. Thus you now had four varients:

M20A1 (Upgraded M20)

M20A1B1 (Upgraded M20B1)

To summarize the US had the M20, M20A1, M20A1B1, and the M20B1.

By the Vietnam War there were no 2.36 in US inventory but we still supported their use in some foreign countries.

-- Ordnanceferret 15:47, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] B-Class

I spell checked the article, and corrected the errors. Therefore, it now meets Category 4 (Grammar) for B-Class Note There are still 4 other sections that article must fulfill to be eligible for Class B Flubeca 20:39, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

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