Hochdruckpumpe (High Pressure Pump) was the cover name for a German super-long-range cannon designed to fire across the English Channel into the Greater London area. The cannon's configuration and layout also provided nicknames like "Busy Lizzie" and "The Millipede".
The theory behind the mechanism of the cannon was that a fin-stabilized shell would be loaded into the breech, together with the appropriate propelling charge. Additional charges would be added into the auxiliary chambers. The initial charge would be ignited and start the shell soaring up the bore. As it passed the auxiliary chambers additional charges would be fired to produce extra gas and thrust to boost the speed of the shell. With all these additional boosts, the shell would leave the muzzle at a very high velocity -- somewhere around 1,524m/sec was projected. The shell would be hauled into the stratosphere, where the thin air offered less air resistance and would permit the projectile to reach a range of about 280km.
Hitler had wished to make the cannon his
"V-3" Vengeance Weapon. However, only two shortened versions of the gun were built and they were hurriedly thrown into use during the Ardennes Offensive in December 1944. One or two shots were fired without documented result, and the guns were blown up and abandoned afterwards. Fragments and pieces of the experimental guns are said to be still in existence on the Baltic Coast.
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Wasserfall (Waterfall) was a German radio-controlled supersonic guided missile for anti-aircraft purpose. It was designed to meet a demand for a missile that would intercept hostile aircraft flying at 19,812maltitude at 880km/h and at ranges up to 48km from the launch site. This specification was highly advanced for the 1940s and was not achieved by any major combat aircraft in the war. The intention was to position batteries of these missiles to defend population centers, and about 200 batteries would be needed to cover Germany.
Work and research were started at the Peenemünde Research Station in 1942, and the design borrowed many concepts from the A-4 missile. The first launching tests took place across the Baltic in February 1944, and an altitude of 7010m was reached by the rocket. Seven more prototypes were made and fired by July 1944. Research and development were terminated in February 1945. Some sources have suggested that several of the trial missiles were actually deployed against Allied aircraft. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.
The missle weighed 3545kg at takeoff, and contained a 306kg warhead of high explosive armed with a proximity fuze. Wasserfall would have been a powerful and fearsome addition to Germany's air defenses if only more were produced on time.
Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-1 (Fritz X, SD 1400)
The sudden but arranged capitulation of the Italian fleet to the Allies on 9 September 1943 spurred the Germans to take quick actions against their former ally. The battleship Italia was damaged and Roma sunk as victims of a new type of air-to-surface weapon, the Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-1 or Fritz X. It was a free-falling bomb guided by the parent aircraft. Usually it was dropped at an altitude of about 6,000m; by the time of detonation it would have had gained a velocity close to that of sound.
The control apparatus comprised of electromagnetically operated spoilers activated in sympathy with radio signals from the parent aircraft (often a Dornier Do 217). After dropping the Fritz X, the airplane would have its motors throttled back and be flown to a higher altitude directly above the target, thus enabling the observer to guide the missile with a conventional Lofte 7 bombsight. Direct wire-link control using transmission lines that were 8km long was also possible. However, it was later abandoned for economic reasons.
Rheintochter (Rhine Daughter)
The famous and versatile Rheinmetall-Borsig company developed the Rheintochter ground-to-air missile from 1942 onwards. The first experimental launching tests began in August 1943, and 82 had been fired and tested by 5 January 1945. Only four out of those 82 had failed. The propulsion mechanism included a motor driven by solid fuel, and a solid booster unit for initial take-off. Like the Schmetterling missile, the Rheintochter was guided through radio command, and tracked visually by meand of flare attached to the wings and fins. The warhead composed of 136kg of high explosive and was armed by a "Kranich" acoustic proximity fuze, like the X-4. The design altitude of the original Rheintochter was 8000 meters, but the RLM rejected the design, requesting more altitude from the missile. The power system was then revised to employ solid or liquid fuels, and the booster rockets were placed outside the missile. It was also designed to be launched from an immovable launch site in a pit. This new version came to known as the Rheintochter 3, and production began in May 1944. Six had been built and fired by January 1945, but imperfection still plagued the control system. Development and thus production was canceled on 6 February 1945, as it became clear that the missile was not likely to be ready in time to have a significant impact on fate of the Reich.
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