WWII U.S. NAVY FILM TESTING OF MOUSETRAP ANTI-SUBMARINE ROCKETS FOR TBF-AVENGER AIRPLANE 49284

Dating to mid-to-late WWII or early post-war, this color silent film shows ordnance tests with the hull of a Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. The weapon being tested is described in a title card as a “.“ -- most likely meaning Velocity Aircraft Rocket, and the tests seem directed at determining whether these missiles can be launched without endangering the aircraft. It’s possible that the footage is from summer of 1943, when the United States Navy launched a high-priority project for the development of an anti-submarine rocket. The weapon shown at 5:57 closely resembles a “Mousetrap“ rocket bomb, which was widely used for anti-submarine warfare aboard ship. The Mousetrap weapon used a rocket and rail system that created almost no recoil, which made it well suited for aircraft use, as opposed to the more famous Hedgehog system (which was also much heavier). It’s not clear that Mousetrap rockets ever made it into the fleet, as the most common weapon deployed on the Grumman TBF was the Forward