Le Prieur rocket

Le Prieur rocket

"Le Prieur" rockets (French "Fusées Le Prieur") were a type of incendiary air-to-air rockets used in World War I against observation balloons and airships. [cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/leprieur.htm|title=First World War.com - "Le Prieur Rockets"|accessdate=2006-08-20] They were invented by the French Lieutenant Yves Le Prieur and were first used in the Battle of Verdun on 1916. Due to great inaccuracy their range was limited to about 115 m (125 yd). They were fired electrically from the interplane struts supporting the wings of biplanes through a cockpit switch. The switch would launch all the rockets consecutively. It successfully brought down observation balloons, but never managed to bring down a Zeppelin, although it was used to defend the United Kingdom from Zeppelin bombings. Amongst users of the rockets were France, United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany. After planes became equiped with tracer rounds and incendiary bullets which were highly effective against hydrogen filled aerostats, the rockets were gradually abandoned through 1918. Aircraft that were armed with the rockets included the Nieuport 11/16/17, SPAD 7/13, Sopwith Baby/Pup/Camel, Farman HF.20/21, and the B.E.2/B.E.12. They were usually armed with eight rockets but the SPAD 7 carried six and the B.E. 12 had ten.

ee also

[http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/le_prieur.html The Pioneers-Yves Le Prieur]

References


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