America also put a great deal of effort into rocket research. By
the spring of 1945, the US Navy alone had 1,200 factories that
worked on rocket production. However, America’s acquisition of
Wernher von Braun and his input into America’s post-war rocket
development, has tended to overshadow the work done by America
during the war. Probably the most successful rocket developed by
the Americans was the bazooka. Development on the bazooka
started in December 1940. The scientists brief was to develop a
weapon that could take out a tank but that did not have the
inherent problems that bedevilled any weapon that fired an
armour-piercing shell – high recoil. The missile fired by the
bazooka developed its speed during the flight – not when it was
fired. Therefore it was far easier for an infantry soldier to
use this in combat rather than a weapon that had potentially
damaging recoil. The missile fired by a bazooka weighed 3˝lbs,
was 21 inches in length and fired from a 7-inch tube. In war the
bazooka was a formidable