Panzerschreck

The Panzerschreck, German for "Tank Terror", was the popular name for the Raketenpanzerbüchse also known as the RPzB. It fired an 88MM Shaped-Charge Explosive propelled a fin-stabilized rocket. The rocket itself was fired from a reusable shoulder-mounted tube and ignited by an electric trigger mechanism. The weapon was designed to be a mobile, portable anti-tank weapon for infantry use.

History
By the late stages of the North African campaign, the German army had no truly effective way to defeat armor without tank support. Although they had anti-tank artillery and anti-tank hand grenades, the former was far too stationary and the later was too impractical.

At the time, the Germans had been considering a solution in a towed 88MM rocket launcher called the Püppchen. However, during the North African campaign, German troops encountered and captured M1A1 "Bazooka" Rocket Launchers. The significance of such a portable and simple system was obvious, and they quickly saw the potential. Soon, they had more or less abandoned the Püppchen concept and developed a weapon based on the captured Bazookas. The Raketenpanzerbüchse was first fielded in 1943, and soon given it's more common name, Panzerschreck.

The weapon's 88MM, Fin-Stabalized Rocket-Propelled Shaped Charge was originally designed for the Püppchen as there were already many already produced.

Although the Panzerschreck was the first man-portable anti-tank rocket launcher in German service, it was shadowed by it's later rival, the Panzerfaust (Tank Punch/Fist) which was far less expensive to produce.

Sometimes, triple Panzerschrecks were sometimes mounted on Sdkfz. 251's, Kübelwagens and captured Universal Carriers.

Advantages
The Panzerschreck was, at the time, the perfect combination of range and portability that the German army had been looking for in the Püppchen but adding the benefit of being truly man-portable. While the Allied Bazooka and PIAT could penetrate 100MM of armor, the Panzerschreck by comparison could penetrate 200MM of armor. So while the PIAT and Bazooka had difficulty penetrating the armor of German Panther or Tiger tanks, the Panzerschreck had no such difficulty in destroying allied tanks. It could even pierce the thick armor of the IS-2 Heavy Tanks used by the Soviet Union. When manned by a competent crew, they were the bane of Allied tanks. Allied Tank crews would often try to improvise armor by adding logs, barbed wire or anything else they believed would work, but to little effect. The launch tube was re-usable, unlike the Panzerfaust, meaning that a single unit could be fired multiple times, saving production costs.

Disadvantages
The Panzerschreck was limited by several factors. One of the largest was the blast of the round itself. Without proper clothing or shielding, the blast of a Panzerschreck exiting the forward tube could seriously burn and injure the firer. At first, a modified gas-mask without a filter was used to shield the firer's face. This was later rectified with the recognizable blast-shield positioned in front of the operators face. Another disadvantage was the amount of toxic smoke fired by the weapon. This made it impractical and dangerous to fire indoors and made the operators exposed after firing. It was so prominent that a nickname for the Panzerschreck by German troops was Ofenrohr (Stove Pipe) due to the shape of the weapon and the smoke it produced. Another detraction was that, much like the bazooka, the Panzerschreck had to be in relatively close range to the enemy tank in order to score a guaranteed hit (about 150 Meters). The final detraction was it's weight. The rocket alone was almost eight pounds and the launcher was significantly heavier than the Bazooka to survive the strain of firing a larger round.

In Game
The Panzerschreck in Call of Duty 2 is portrayed in use by both Allied and Axis forces(The British PIAT launcher and American Bazooka are not portrayed). It is difficult to use without being close to an enemy vehicle, though it can often disable enemy vehicles in one shot--even massive Tiger Tanks. In Call of Duty 3's multiplayer mode, both the Bazooka and Panzerschreck are practically interchangeable, and defeat most armor within two-three shots.

It is interesting to note that the Axis forces in Call of Duty 3 apparently use Panzerschrecks without face-shields to protect against the forward blast of the weapon and do not wear any face protection, firing the weapons without any ill-effect to the firer.