V-2 rocket
The V2 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit. 'Retaliation Weapon 2'), with the technical name Aggregat 4 (A4), was the world's first long-range[4] guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a "vengeance weapon" and assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings of German cities. The V2 rocket also became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line (edge of space) with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944.[5]
"V-2" redirects here. For other uses, see V2.V2
Single-stage ballistic missile
1944–1952
Mittelwerk GmbH
- 16 March 1942 – 1945 (Nazi)
- Some assembled post-war
Over 3,000
12,500 kg (27,600 lb)
14 m (45 ft 11 in)
1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
1,000 kg (2,200 lb); Amatol (explosive weight: 910 kg)
Impact
- 3,810 kg (8,400 lb) 75% ethanol
- 25% water
- 4,910 kg (10,820 lb) liquid oxygen
320 km (200 mi)
- 88 km (55 mi) maximum altitude on long-range trajectory
- 206 km (128 mi) maximum altitude if launched vertically
- Maximum: 5,760 km/h (3,580 mph)
- At impact: 2,880 km/h (1,790 mph)
- Gyroscopes to determine direction
- Müller-type pendulous gyroscopic accelerometer for engine cutoff on most production rockets[2][3]: 225
Mobile (Meillerwagen)
Research of military use of long-range rockets began when the graduate studies of Wernher von Braun were noticed by the Wehrmacht Heer. A series of prototypes culminated in the A4, which went to war as the V2. Beginning in September 1944, more than 3,000 V2s were launched by the Wehrmacht against Allied targets, first London and later Antwerp and Liège. According to a 2011 BBC documentary,[6] the attacks from V-2s resulted in the deaths of an estimated 9,000 civilians and military personnel, while a further 12,000 laborers and concentration camp prisoners died as a result of their forced participation in the production of the weapons.[7]
The rockets travelled at supersonic speeds, impacted without audible warning, and proved unstoppable, as no effective defense existed. Teams from the Allied forces—the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union—raced to seize major German manufacturing facilities, procure the Germans' missile technology, and capture the V-2s' launching sites. Von Braun and more than 100 core R&D V-2 personnel surrendered to the Americans, and many of the original V-2 team transferred their work to the Redstone Arsenal, where they were relocated as part of Operation Paperclip. The US also captured enough V-2 hardware to build approximately 80 of the missiles. The Soviets gained possession of the V-2 manufacturing facilities after the war, re-established V-2 production, and moved it to the Soviet Union.
Unfulfilled plans[edit]
A submarine-towed launch platform was tested successfully, making it the prototype for submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The project codename was Prüfstand XII ("Test stand XII"), sometimes termed the rocket U-boat. If deployed, it would have allowed a U-boat to launch V-2 missiles against United States cities, though only with considerable effort (and limited effect).[87] Hitler, in July 1944 and Speer, in January 1945, made speeches alluding to the scheme,[88] though Germany did not possess the capability to fulfill these threats. These schemes were met by the Americans with Operation Teardrop.
While interned after the war by the British at CSDIC camp 11, Dornberger was recorded saying that he had begged the Führer to stop the V-weapon propaganda, because nothing more could be expected from one ton of explosive. To this Hitler had replied that Dornberger might not expect more, but he (Hitler) certainly did.
According to decrypted messages from the Japanese embassy in Germany, twelve dismantled V-2 rockets were shipped to Japan.[89] These left Bordeaux in August 1944 on the transport U-boats U-219 and U-195, which reached Jakarta in December 1944. A civilian V-2 expert was a passenger on U-234, bound for Japan in May 1945 when the war ended in Europe. The fate of these V-2 rockets is unknown.