"Best nick-name for a weapon" Topic

Soldiers are an inventive lot & often come up with amusing, even witty nick-names for weapons.

My favourite is 'Stalin's organ' for the Katyusha rockets.
Admittedly I used to think it was a somewhat naughty linking of an aspect of Stalin's physiology to the rockets rather than a church instrument.

Will you nominate some nick-names?

Bristol Beaufighter – Whispering Death. It's almost poetic, and a bit scary.

M-16 AA halftrack "Meatchopper"

Honey for the Stuart M3 Light tank.

x42

The Blackburn (later Hawker Siddeley) Buccaneer, the Black Banana.

All the best,

John.

The Italian tankette L3 had the nicknames "Scatola di Sardine" (can of sardines) and "Cassa da Morto" (coffin), nickname shared with the M13 tanks IIRC.

"Tommy Cooker" – reported German nickname for Sherman tanks

Wombat Gun (M79 40mm Grenade Launcher)

I've always liked the dark humor of 'Coffin for seven brothers', the Russian nickname for the Grant tank.

There's also the '@#$! Sho-sho', the American nickname for the Chauchat LMG of WW1.

Another vote for 'Coffin for seven brothers' but 'grease gun's' not bad.

"Door knocker" for the German 37mm anti tank gun and "street sweeper" for the German 20mm quad AA guns.

Maus – the biggest German tank of WW2.

I quite like the Big Bertha for the German WW1 42cm Howitzer. Not sure if it was a nickname or the actual name. Also the term flying pigs for large mortar shells due to their size.

The PAK 36 sounds even better in German : Heeresanklopfgerät (literally "army door-knocking device")

The A-10, Warthog. Looks like it's nickname.

Chauchat LMG--Sure Sh--…most approp0

AC-47--Puff, the Magic Dragon

Sword--Mister Pointy

Biplane---Rag wing

Toy Gun--'Johnny Seven'

I'm partial to Ma Deuce for the M2 Browning 0.50 cal. Such a homey and friendly sounding name for so much whoop-ass.

Do ships count as weapons? I've always been fond of the "Might Moo" for family history reasons.

I've also been a fan of "Building ##", where ## is the hull number for a ship with a reputation of not being able to get underway.

While not a weapon (well, usually) I do like Deuce and a Half for the 2 1/2 ton truck

Some squaddies I know used to call the M-249 the "Room Broom"

The Northrop P-61 – "The Black Widow"

The FW-190 – my favourite WWII German fighter – "Butcher Bird"

Big Bertha

I kind of like, whiz-bang and flying dustbin.

Aircraft have some wonderful nicknames.
Lanc, Hallybag, Wimpy, Wooden Wonder, Stringbag, Applecore.

I like a number suggested above. I was also a fan of the nickname given to Northrop's Joint Strike Fighter plane with the wide single intake in the nose of the aircraft. "The Monica"

If you remember the protoype planes were shown around the same time as the Clinton/Lewinsky affair. I think that killed the plane. Pilots, they are the best…

I've always wondered why the Bohemian ear-spoon (medieval polearm) got its name?

I've heard a shotgun called a "b-i-t-c-h".

Satan's Chariot for the Hind Attack Helo

I've always liked "Bouncing Betty"

Leg-biter: Viking sword

Jeff

jcpotn I always like that one also, "Leg-biter: Viking sword" It tells you something about how the northmen fought.

Supermarine Walrus – 'Shagbat'.

R Mark Daview wrote:

Supermarine Walrus – 'Shagbat'.

Or "Pusser's Spitfire". RN aircraft definitely have the best names.

All the best,

John.

Honey for the M3 light tank.

BTW does the pun for organ work in Russian?

Lots of great ones namesd already. I kind of like the AC130 "spooky".

Not strictly applicable, but I also like "Archie" for anti-aircraft fire during WWI. It came from a popular music hall tune: "Archibald, certainly NOT!"

optional field asked:

BTW does the pun for organ work in Russian?

No. It doesn't even work in the original German.

I have never quite understood why another Russian nickname for the multi-barreled Nebelwerfers was (if Valdimir Visotsky's song "Razvedka Boem" is to be believed) "Nadya with chocolate". Did Russian girls of the era scream when presented with chocolate?

All the best,

John.

Maybe when they got hit with rockets they made chocolate in their pants?

Not exactly weapons but:
Harald Hardrada's long coat of mail was called 'Emma'.
Renaissance soldiers called the 12 cartridges on a bandolier 'The 12 Apostles'.
I think the morningstar used by medieval knights was also called 'The Holy Water Sprinkler' (sounds like something from Monty Python'

And I have to dig out my Zaloga book on the Red Army but the nickname for the SU-76 was 'bitch'

Uesugi you made me giggle. Thanks…

Bohemian Ear Spoon.

I liked "Huey" for Utility Helicopter and the F105 "Thud". Then there is the "lead sled", but I am not sure which one of Sams mighty aircraft earned that moniker.

US troops called the Nebelwerfer "Screaming Meemie".

And of course there is Bazooka, which is almost more than a nickname and just the name for the weapon.

According to Wikipedia, "Lead Sled" has been used as a nickname for a variety of US military aircraft, including the F3H Demon, F-84 Thunderjet, F-105 Thunderchief, and SR-71 Blackbird.

"Old Wristbreaker," the Model 1840 US cavalry saber.

Grelber

The Goedendag.

The Warthog

Atomic Annie

"Vera".
I also like the Russian nickname for a Cold War era transport aircraft that was highly over-responsive with very twitchy controls: the "Maiden".

Burp Gun.

An old timer once told me a US tank was nicknamed "Tommy Cooker" . Can't remember which tank though. One that was supplied to the Brits and was not easy to escape out of.