Besides the standard variant of the Borgward Sd.Kfz. 11 Halftrack a special variant was made for sea rescue. These halftracks were in service with the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons and were outfitted with a system to launch a rocket with a lifeline towards the people or ship in distress. For the latter, the light rope could be used by the ship’s crew to pull in a sturdier tow rope, which could in turn be reeled in by a spool mounted on the Halftrack to tow the ship ashore. The Borgward was also fitted with a searchlight and a lifeboat on the roof.
Although it bears the designation “Raketenwagen”, which is probably because of the rocket launched lifeline system, this variant should not be confused with the Borgward Sd.Kfz. 11 Raketenwagen version used by the German Army, a rocket launcher variant that was modified to carry and launch Wurfrahmen 40 rockets, typically 28 cm and 32 cm high-explosive or incendiary rockets mounted on the vehicle’s sides.
The vehicle in the pictures was photographed in the Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseum or German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven.
