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need help identifying rocket


Johndanger
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this is a 2.3 inch rocket that looks a lot like the M8 type from WWII as used on aircraft and the calliope type launcers but its much smaller

 

I suppose it could be a bunch of odd parts stuck together but it seems to fit well, and it seems like it could be an indirect fired rocket

 

all sections come apart

 

the nose is a standard WWII bakelite mortar fuse, charge section below with a threaded ring at center and the rocket section with nozzle and 6 folding fins

 

markings on the rocket section are faint in yellow paint and look like they say --- BUDD-2.3-T-39 and under that LOT ??????? E.1 1 1945

 

its about 22.5 inches long and 2.3 wide

 

any help with ID would be great so I can find the right home for it

 

Thank, John

 

64484637_2474505459445003_31307641793219

 

64205681_2424184381191015_29886483114072

 

64743544_895763920768908_441554045836145

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John,

 

Actually, you have found the right home for it already....you just haven't sent it to me yet. :D Ha, ha.

 

Great piece. Take a closer look at the markings as I think it is actually a T59 rocket. In the test report, it is referred to as a "high velocity rocket grenade (super bazooka)". After the 2.36 launcher was adopted, they spend considerable effort trying to make it more potent with higher velocity motors, various folding fin configurations, and better HEAT warheads. The T59 is the only one I'm aware of that used a modified mortar fuze but there were probably others. Ultimately, most experimentation with 2.36" rockets ended just after WWII with the adoption of the 3.5" bazooka. They still issued a few smaller rockets with improved fins that show up in the 1947 TM but all the focus was on the 3.5. It just didn't go into production until Korea as the need wasn't pressing.

 

The T59 development started in January, 1943 and completed in October, 1945. Work on the project began at the Jet Propulsion Lab at Indian Head, MD, under the auspicies of the National Defense Research Committee, the Navy Bureau of Ordnance, and the Army Ordnance Dept. Development was continued at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory, Pinto, WV, operated by George Washington University. Additional input was provided by Western Electric Division of Bell Labs and the Budd Wheel Company. Budd's involvement isn't surprising as they were making metal parts for bazooka rockets before there were bazooka rockets, providing the M10 rifle grenade parts that eventually were re-purposed into the original M6 HEAT rockets.

 

The purpose of this round was to provide a higher velocity rocket giving longer range and better penetration. It apparently never got out of CONUS for field testing but the final report says the maximum range was 1600 yards at 465 ft/sec giving penetration of 8" of armor plate.

 

T59%20Rocket.jpg

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