Ernst Steinhoff

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Ernst A. Steinhoff (born February 11, 1908 in Treysa , † December 2, 1987 in Alamogordo , New Mexico ) was a German-American engineer and rocket developer .

Life

Paperclip group at Fort Bliss in August 1946. Ernst Steinhoff is in the first row, a little to the right of the middle, to the left of Wernher von Braun

Steinhoff graduated from a high school in Kassel in 1929. He then studied meteorology and aeronautics at the TH Darmstadt . His most important teachers were Walter Georgii and Franz Nikolaus Scheubel . During his studies, he became a member of the Markomannia Darmstadt fraternity in 1929 . He finished his studies in meteorology in 1933 with the main diploma examination. As early as 1931 he had successfully passed the pre-diploma examination in aeronautics. From 1933 to 1936 he was department head at the Polytechnic University of Frankenhausen, and from 1936 to June 1939 department head at the German Research Institute for Gliding in Darmstadt. In 1937 he joined the NSDAP.

From July 1939 he worked under Wernher von Braun on the development of the Fieseler Fi 103 (V1) and A4 rockets (V2) in Peenemünde , where he was responsible for the development of the control systems. He received his doctorate in applied physics in 1940 . Steinhoff ensured that numerous professors from the TH Darmstadt carried out important research assignments for the Peenemünde Army Research Center. These included u. a. Richard Vieweg , Otto Scherzer , Hans Busch and especially Alwin Walther .

From May 31, 1942 to June 5, 1942, Ernst Steinhoff ran together with his younger brother Friedrich Steinhoff (1909–1945), who as a submarine commander with his submarine U 511 had a stay in the port of the Peenemünde Army Research Center , attempted launching missiles with a submarine, which should be towed in a launch container behind a submarine. After the war ended, his brother Friedrich committed suicide in 1945 when he was tortured during interrogation in Boston .

Together with von Braun and other German missile specialists, Steinhoff was first interned at various locations before he was given an employment contract as part of Operation Overcast and traveled to the USA in November 1945. Until 1949 he was group leader for flight analysis and atmospheric rocket ballistics at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) in Fort Bliss and was responsible for the further development of the A4 control system. In 1949 he was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base ; under his direction real-time systems for rocket control were developed there. Between 1956 and 1963 he worked for the aviation industry.

At the time of his retirement in 1972, Steinhoff was Chief Scientist of the US Air Force Missile Development Center at Holloman Air Force Base. In 1979 he was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame at the Museum of Space History in New Mexico.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Peter Hall: Ernst Steinhoff. Retrieved October 21, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Ernst A. Steinhoff pioneered rocket guidance systems. In: New Mexico Museum of Space History. Retrieved October 21, 2019 .
  3. ^ Project: Technical University of Darmstadt and National Socialism
  4. ^ TU Darmstadt - Late coming to terms with the Nazi past
personal data
SURNAME Steinhoff, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steinhoff, Ernst A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American engineer
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Treysa
DATE OF DEATH 2nd December 1987
Place of death Alamogordo