Wasserfall
| Wasserfall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Surface to air missile |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Flak-Versuchskommando Nord, EMW Peenemünde |
| Unit cost | 7,000–10,000 Reichsmark |
| Produced | March 1943 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 3,700 kg |
| Length | 7.85 m |
| Diameter | 2.51 m |
| Warhead | 235 kg |
Detonation mechanism | Proximity |
| Engine | liquid-fueled rocket motor |
Operational range | 25 km |
| Maximum speed | 770 m/s |
Guidance system | MCLOS (Manual Command to Line Of Sight); operator used a radio command link to steer the missile along the optical line of sight from launch point to target. |
Launch platform | Fixed. |
The Wasserfall Ferngelenkte Flakrakete (English: Waterfall Remote-Controlled A-A Rocket),[1]: 77 was a World War II guided surface-to-air missile developed at Peenemünde, Germany.
Technical characteristics
Wasserfall was essentially an anti-aircraft development of the V2 rocket, sharing the same general layout and shaping. Since the missile had to fly only to the altitudes of the attacking bombers, and needed a far smaller warhead to destroy these, it could be much smaller than the V2, about 1/4 the size. The Wasserfall design also included an additional set of fins located at the middle of the fuselage to provide extra maneuvering capability.
Unlike the V2, Wasserfall was designed to stand ready for periods of up to a month and fire on command, therefore the volatile liquid oxygen used in the V2 was inappropriate. A new engine design, developed by Dr. Walter Thiel, was based on Visol (vinyl isobutyl ether) and SV-Stoff, or red fuming nitric acid (RFNA), (94% nitric acid, 6% dinitrogen tetroxide). This hypergolic mixture was forced into the combustion chamber by pressurizing the fuel tanks with nitrogen gas released from another tank. Wasserfall was to be launched from rocket bases (code-named Vesuvius) that could tolerate leaked hypergolic fuels in the event of a launch problem.[1]: 77
Guidance was to be a simple radio control MCLOS system for use against daytime targets, but night-time use was considerably more complex because neither the target nor the missile would be easily visible. For this role a new system known as Rheinland was under development. Rheinland used a radar unit for tracking the target and a transponder in the missile for locating it in flight, read by a radio direction finder on the ground). A simple analog computer guided the missile into the tracking radar beam as soon as possible after launch, using the transponder to locate it, at which point the operator could see both "blips" on a single display, and guide the missile onto the target as during the day. Steering during the launch phase was accomplished by four graphite rudders placed in the exhaust stream of the combustion chamber, and (once high airspeeds had been attained) by the four air rudders mounted on the rocket tail. Commands were sent to the missile using a modified version of the "Kehl-Strassburg" (code name Burgund)[2] joy-stick system used to direct Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb, which had some significant successes against Allied ships in the Mediterranean.[3]
The original design had called for a 100 kg warhead, but because of accuracy concerns it was replaced with a much larger one (306 kg) based on a liquid explosive. The idea was to create a large blast area effect amidst the enemy bomber stream, which would conceivably bring down several airplanes for each missile deployed. For daytime use the operator would detonate the warhead by remote control.
Conceptual work began in 1941, and final specifications were defined on November 2, 1942. The first models were being tested in March 1943, but a major setback[citation needed] occurred in August 1943 when Dr. Walter Thiel was killed during the bombing Operation Hydra. After the first successful firing (the third prototype) on March 8, 1944,[2]: 107 three Wasserfall trial launches were completed by the end of June 1944. A launch on 8 January 1944 was a failure, with the engine "fizzling" and launching the missile to only 7 km of altitude at subsonic speeds. The following February saw a successful launch which reached a speed of 770 m/s (2,800 km/h) in vertical flight.[1]: 69 Thirty-five Wasserfall trial firings had been completed by the time Peenemünde was evacuated on February 17, 1945.[2]: 107
The Bäckebo Bomb, a V-2 rocket using Wasserfall radio guidance, crashed in Sweden on June 13, 1944.
Assessment
According to Albert Speer and Carl Krauch it could have devastated the Allied bomber fleets.[4]
The project enjoyed little support in its earlier stages. Speer, Nazi Germany Minister of Armaments and War Production later claimed:
To this day, I am convinced that substantial deployment of Wasserfall from the spring of 1944 onward, together with an uncompromising use of the jet fighters as air defense interceptors, would have essentially stalled the Allied strategic bombing offensive against our industry. We would have well been able to do that -- after all, we managed to manufacture 900 V2 rockets per month at a later time when resources were already much more limited.
— from memoir[5], Albert Speer, Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition (English: Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions)
Similar missiles
Enzian
Rheintochter
Schmetterling
| External images | |
|---|---|
| plans and flight photos W-10 Drawing |
References
- ^ a b c
Klee, Ernst (English translation: 1965) [1963]. The Birth of the Missile:The Secrets of Peenemünde. Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling Verlag. pp. 69, 70, 77.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ a b c Pocock, Rowland F (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 71, 81, 87, 107.
- ^ Neufeld, Michael J (1995). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press. p. 235. ISBN 0-02-922895-6.
- ^ Speer, A (1970) Inside the Third Reich. Macmillan, New York P492
- ^ Speer, Albert (1969). Erinnerungen (in German). Propyläen Verlag. p. 375. ISBN 3-550-06074-2. See also:
- Speer, Albert (1997 Simon & Schuster paperback) [1970]. Inside the Third Reich. New York and Toronto: Macmillan. ISBN 0-684-82949-5 (paperback).
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) Translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston.
- Speer, Albert (1997 Simon & Schuster paperback) [1970]. Inside the Third Reich. New York and Toronto: Macmillan. ISBN 0-684-82949-5 (paperback).
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