Story Sunday: Panjandrum Weapon
The Great Panjandrum at Westward Ho!
Wacky WW2-Era Failed Weapon
In 1941, the Government of the United Kingdom established a temporary wartime body called the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) to find new and unconventional ways to kill the enemy. Efforts from this department led to such useful inventions such as the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon and Squid anti-submarine mortar, as well as the Holman Projector, an anti-aircraft rocket battery—and a system of degaussing used to protect ships against magnetic mines. It also led to the invention of the bouncing bomb that could skip across water to avoid torpedo nets and was used in the very successful Dambusters Raid of 1943. Above all, it played an important role in developing parts of the Mulberry Harbour used in the D-Day landings.
Despite these successes, not all of the DMWD’s projects were fruitful. An attempt to conceal the River Thames from German bombers, by covering it with soot, failed due to the effects of wind and tides, although it did cause some confusion when the coal-covered waters were mistaken for [a] tarmac during blackouts. The most disastrous project, however, was the Panjandrum. With a name inspired by a character in a nonsensical piece of prose from the 18th-century British dramatist Samuel Foote, the Great Panjandrum was doomed from inception. Constructed as a pair of large wheels, each approximately 10 feet in diameter, it featured a central steel drum carrying over a ton of explosives. Around the rims of the wheels were cordite rocket charges, designed to spin the entire device, propelling it towards the concrete beach defenses along the French coast with the intent of creating a substantial breach. The designers estimated that a fully loaded, 1,800-kg Panjandrum could reach speeds of around 60 mph (100 km/h), with enough momentum to crash through any obstacles between its launch point and target.
Trials began with only a handful of cordite rockets attached to the wheels and the payload was simulated by an equivalent weight of sand. The rockets were ignited and the Panjandrum catapulted itself forward, out of the landing craft used as a launchpad […] a fair distance up the beach. However, a number of rockets on one of the wheels failed, causing the weapon to careen off course. Despite several further attempts with more rockets, the Panjandrum consistently lost control before reaching the end of the beach.
Amusing Planet
Kaushik Patowary
July 5, 2024
Cosmic-Observation 
September 8, 2024 at 9:36 PM
Interesting topic. That Panjandrum was one odd looking contraption. I’m glad the outcome of this terrible war didn’t depend on it – undoubtedly, our world would have been very different!
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September 9, 2024 at 4:05 PM
It certainly was a strange thing. They couldn’t even make it work in 2009.
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September 9, 2024 at 2:04 AM
Interesting. With a more reliable propulsion system it might have worked!
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September 9, 2024 at 4:07 PM
They tried in 2009. It still didn’t work.
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September 9, 2024 at 9:53 PM
I guess you have to break some eggs to make an omelette. I would be afraid it would turn around and come back at you.
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September 9, 2024 at 10:07 PM
Pretty much. Even in 2009, they could not make it work.
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September 9, 2024 at 10:10 PM
It would have to be rockets on one side and connecting the wheels or it would not even out.
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September 9, 2024 at 10:34 PM
Yeah.
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September 10, 2024 at 11:11 AM
Lulu: “Hmm, this Panjandrum thing sounds like a job for the Mythbusters …”
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September 10, 2024 at 9:55 PM
You may be right, Lulu.
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September 14, 2024 at 1:37 AM
Great post 💚💓💖 HAPPY and blessed Saturday 🌹 Best regards 🇪🇸
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September 16, 2024 at 12:51 PM
Intriguing..dangerous as hell, but intriguing nevertheless. Based on what I can tell, the best “killer” should I say, concepts are coming out of the BattleBot participants. Now those things could be deadly when let out of the containment arena. As a general rule I dislike the concept of flaming rockets around my large drum containing explosives…but that may just be me.
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September 16, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Oh, my… BattleBots…is that the TV show where they remote-control robots to fight?
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September 16, 2024 at 9:16 PM
Yes, yes it. The most lethal machines outside of the military
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September 16, 2024 at 9:58 PM
Wow. I had no idea. I thought they were just toys.
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