Artillery

12 cm Granatwerfer 42

Also known as
  • 12cm Granatwerfer 42
  • 12 cm GrW 42
  • 12cm GrW 42
  • Granatwerfer 42
  • GrW 42

The 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 was a German 120 mm heavy mortar copied from the Soviet PM-38 pattern after German forces encountered captured weapons on the Eastern Front. German references and surviving imagery place the GrW 42 in Second World War Axis service, where it gave infantry units heavier indirect fire than smaller 8 cm mortars while using a towable two-wheel carriage.

12 cm Granatwerfer 42, 120 mm towed heavy mortar, Artillery
Image source: Commons 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 Eastern Front photo

Role in Conflicts

Second World War
Fire Support
Side
Axis Powers

Wartime imagery and U.S. Army intelligence material document the 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 in German service during the Second World War, including Eastern Front use and an example captured on the U.S. First Army front in Germany.

Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
Nazi Germany
Type
120 mm towed heavy mortar
Service note
Second World War German service from 1942
Designed
Copied from captured Soviet PM-38 mortars after 1941
Produced
1942-1945
Number built
About 8,461 listed by Tank Encyclopedia
Developed from
120-PM-38

Specifications

Caliber
120 mm
Crew
6
Maximum range
6,050 m
Weight
280 kg listed by WeaponSystems.net; 275 kg listed by Tank Encyclopedia
Barrel length
1.86 m
Projectile weight
15.8 kg
Rate of fire
Up to 8 to 10 rounds per minute in open references
Transport
Towed on a two-wheel carriage or broken down for movement
Variants

The 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 was part of the German wartime use and copying of Soviet 120 mm mortar designs.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
120-PM-38, 120 mm towed heavy mortar, Artillery120-PM-38Soviet source pattern

WeaponSystems.net and Tank Encyclopedia describe the German GrW 42 as a copy or adaptation of the Soviet PM-38 120 mm mortar.

Sources: WeaponSystems.net 12 cm Granatwerfer 42, Tank Encyclopedia 12cm Granatwerfer 42

12 cm Granatwerfer 378(r)Captured Soviet mortar designation

Tank Encyclopedia distinguishes captured Soviet 120-PM-38 mortars in German service from newly produced German GrW 42 copies.

Sources: Tank Encyclopedia 12cm Granatwerfer 42

Ammunition Fired

Open references describe the GrW 42 as a 120 mm smoothbore mortar that fired heavy mortar bombs in German infantry service.

AmmunitionAmmunition typeFiring evidence
Mortar bombs, 120mm, Heavy mortar ammunition, MunitionsMortar bombs, 120mm120 mm mortar ammunition

Tank Encyclopedia describes the GrW 42 as a 120 mm mortar and lists its projectile weight and maximum range, supporting the 120 mm mortar-bomb relationship.

Sources: Tank Encyclopedia 12cm Granatwerfer 42

Design Lineage

The GrW 42 was not an original German mortar family. German forces had captured Soviet PM-38 120 mm mortars after the 1941 invasion, used captured examples under a German designation, and then produced a German copy from 1942. That lineage explains why the GrW 42 shares the PM-38's heavy 120 mm class, two-wheel transport arrangement, and infantry fire-support role.

Source pattern

Soviet 120-PM-38 heavy mortar.

Captured designation

12 cm Granatwerfer 378(r) for captured Soviet mortars in German service.

German copy

12 cm Granatwerfer 42, produced from 1942 for German forces.

Source labels used here: WeaponSystems.net 12 cm Granatwerfer 42; Tank Encyclopedia 12cm Granatwerfer 42.

Timeline

12 cm Granatwerfer 42 Key Events

  1. German forces encounter Soviet 120 mm mortars

    Tank Encyclopedia describes the GrW 42 as a German response to captured Soviet PM-38 mortars encountered after Operation Barbarossa.

    Sources: Tank Encyclopedia 12cm Granatwerfer 42

  2. German production begins

    WeaponSystems.net dates the GrW 42's production period from 1942 to 1945 and identifies Waffenwerke Brunn as producer.

    Sources: WeaponSystems.net 12 cm Granatwerfer 42

  3. Eastern Front service photographed

    A Bundesarchiv photograph hosted on Wikimedia Commons identifies a German 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 crew on the Eastern Front, probably in 1943.

    Sources: Commons 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 Eastern Front photo

  4. Captured example documented in Germany

    Lone Sentry's U.S. Army intelligence extract shows a GrW 42 captured on the First Army front near Duren in western Germany.

    Sources: Lone Sentry German 12-cm Mortar

Media

12 cm Granatwerfer 42 Images

12 cm Granatwerfer 42, 120 mm towed heavy mortar, Artillery - view 1
Source: Commons 12 cm GrW 42 Sanok photo
Related Weapon Systems
120-PM-38, 120 mm towed heavy mortar, ArtilleryArtillery120-PM-38120 mm towed heavy mortarThe 120-PM-38, also known as the M1938, is a Soviet 120 mm smoothbore heavy mortar designed under B. I. Shavyrin and built for infantry fire support. Its large bomb, two-wheel transport arrangement, and roughly 5.7 km range made it a durable regimental mortar design; OSCE monitoring documented PM-38 mortars in Donbas heavy-weapons holding and storage records during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War, while Oryx listed M-1938 heavy mortars in Yemen's pre-war army inventory.
160mm PM-43, 160 mm towed heavy mortar, ArtilleryArtillery160mm PM-43160 mm towed heavy mortarThe 160mm PM-43, also known as the 160-PM-43 or MT-13, is a Soviet breech-loading heavy mortar developed from the idea of scaling up the 120 mm mortar family. Its hinged barrel let crews load a roughly 40 kg bomb from the rear, giving Soviet forces a short-range but very heavy indirect-fire weapon in the final stages of the Second World War before the longer-ranged M-160 replaced it in postwar Soviet service; open references also place Egyptian 160-PM-43 use in the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel.
203 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4), 203 mm tracked heavy howitzer, ArtilleryArtillery203 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4)203 mm tracked heavy howitzerThe 203 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4) was a Soviet high-power heavy howitzer built for reserve artillery, siege fire, bunker attack, and urban demolition, later modernized as the wheeled B-4M. Its 203 mm shell, slow rate of fire, and difficult transport made it a specialized weapon rather than a divisional howitzer, but sources document Soviet and captured German use during the Second World War, including prominent employment in the Battle of Berlin.

Sources

WeaponSystems.net 12 cm Granatwerfer 42Publisher: WeaponSystems.net | Note: Supports GrW 42 identity, production dates, producer attribution, PM-38 copy context, and listed specifications. | Accessed: 2026-07-06Tank Encyclopedia 12cm Granatwerfer 42Publisher: Tank Encyclopedia | Note: Supports GrW 42 background, Soviet PM-38 copy context, captured-mortar designation, production quantity, and specifications. | Accessed: 2026-07-06Commons 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 Eastern Front photoPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports the reusable image and directly documents a 12 cm Granatwerfer 42 crew in German Second World War service on the Eastern Front. | Accessed: 2026-07-06Commons 12 cm GrW 42 Sanok photoPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports gallery provenance for a surviving 12 cm GrW 42 displayed with an sWS vehicle at the Museum of Polish Arms in Sanok. | Accessed: 2026-07-06Lone Sentry German 12-cm MortarPublisher: Lone Sentry | Note: Reproduces a wartime U.S. Army intelligence item that directly documents a German 12 cm GrW 42 mortar captured on the U.S. First Army front during the Second World War. | Accessed: 2026-07-06