Quote:
Originally Posted by Michele
Well, the Germans had the 38cm RW 61. It could fire a purely HE round, or a shaped-charge armor-piercing round (where the armor to be pierced is that of reinforced-concrete fortifications, given the caliber). Both were propelled rounds (rockets). You could fit them with guidance, I suppose, the same used for the X-7 Rotkäppchen, fins, rudder, and IR devices and all. Not particularly necessary for shooting at immobile targets such as bunkers, but if Godzilla, an Elder Thing, or anything else (slowly) moving showed up...
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The biggest problem is size of the ammo -- a pair of 38cm rockets take up more space than the 48 105mm shells. For every two infantry you dropped you could add only three more rockets.
An existing alternative are the American 7.2" ASW rockets. These were basically a Hedgehog depth charge fitted with a rocket giving it a range of 300 yards and weighing around 85 lbs. They were originally developed as a low-recoil alternative to the Hedgehog for light ships. By 1943 an air-launched version was also available and by 1944 a multi-tube launcher for a demolition version was available (similar to the more famous 4.5" Calliope mounted on some Shermans).
Such rockets would be mounted externally, either in a multi-tube launcher atop to the turret or one or two on rails on each side of the turret (much like the British Sherman Tulip, with two 60-lb rockets).