Another question. How often, if at all, were Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck rounds used purely in the HE role? (Gunnar, going to need your help here.)
Regards
Tim
I would imagine that the actual HE blast in the immediate area was more powerful than the blast of the PIAT, as it contained 50% more explosives, but I am not sure if the blast would actually kill enemy soldiers reliably, as the actual explosion process is almost like an implosion, as the explosion works inwards and (mainly) in a forward direction, not outwards in a 360° fashion.
Maybe it could kill someone if the blast occured near the head, or let's say when the beam missed but when the compression blast would still hit the head/upper torso.
Technically, the beam of a hollow-charge warhead can penetrate armor because the armor plate behaves (pretty much) like water, once the beam (which is pretty much a beam of liquified metal: the metal lining inside the warhead is surrounded by HE explosives, and the explosion - inward and forward - creates the mentioned metal beam) hits the plate, that's why the liquified metal beam can even penetrate 200 mm of armor, easily. I am guessing that human body parts would react in the same manner, so if a round actually goes off, and if the beam hits a soldier, then there'd be a clean hole at the entry point (means a FULL penetration), in theory. The forward blast of the H/C case may also affect the area around the entry point, but I am not sure to what extent. Say the beam would develop on/hit 1 of 3 soldiers (walking in VERY close succession, with gaps of less than 1 meter) then I am guessing that the beam would penetrate all 3 of them, but the HE blast would only affect (if at all) the first soldier in the column.
EDIT: There are combat reports of the Großdeutschland Division indicating the use of large quantities of Panzerfausts in 1945, with individual soldiers firing up to 76 Panzerfausts in one operation (to eliminate enemy infantry, supposedly). A number of Abrams and M60 vets keep juggling (and speculating) with comparisons like the blast of a Panzerfaust would be equal to the blast of a German stick grenade with minor fragments (!), in some forums, but I am not sure about that, as the warhead cone's hull was designed to contain and direct the blast towards the armor, so I am not sure if and how many fragments were created.
The movie "Blackhawk Down" contains a scene where a US soldier gets knocked off his feet twice (and covered with rubble after the 2nd near hit) by RPG-7 rounds exploding next to him, but where those 2 blasts didn't even leave a mark on the guy. The scene depicts the real event that was confirmed by fellow soldiers.
I am not sure which grenade version the Somali militias were using in that area, but I am guessing that they were mostly using the pure HEAT version, as the HEAT/AP combo or the pure AP version would have created quite a few deadly fragments.