Henschel Hs 293

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henschel Hs 293 ( German Museum Munich)

The Henschel Hs 293 was a radio-controlled German glide bomb during World War II , which was intended primarily for use against ships. The weapon was manually guided to the target by sight (now called MCLOS ) and was one of the first predecessors of today's anti-ship missiles . The Hs 293 was developed and built by Henschel Flugzeug-Werke AG in Schönefeld near Berlin .

technical structure

The Hs 293 (exhaust pipes)

The order for the development of the missile was given to Herbert Wagner in the spring of 1940 .

The Hs 293 was obtained from the explosive bomb 500 SC ( S prengbombe, c ylindrisch, 500 kg ) is derived. It had wings and a tail unit , which made it a glide bomb . According to the "target coverage procedure", in which the missile and target must always be kept under cover, the bomb was directed to the target. To make detection easier for the bombardier, a smokeless flare was installed on the rear of the missile for use during the day and a small headlight for night operations. In contrast to the free-falling Fritz X guided bomb, it was not necessary to fly over the target after it was dropped in order to achieve a precise hit. During the tests in the test center of the Luftwaffe Peenemünde-West it was shown that the available control time was very short, especially at low altitudes.

The glide bomb was controlled from the carrier aircraft via a radio remote control with 18 channels in the frequency range around 50 MHz. The remote control system consisted of a transmitter (FuG 203) with the code name “Kehl” in the aircraft and the “Strasbourg” receiver (FuG 230) in the glide bomb. Electric wire steering with audio frequency control via a towed double string wire of max. 30 km in length (2 × 18 km in the bomb, 2 × 12 km in the plane) was under development, but was not used. This would have made the Hs 293 insensitive to radio interference. A “FB” (television picture) control with a resolution of 224 lines was also developed with which the image from a camera (“barrel”; approx. 17 cm × 17 cm × 40 cm in size) in the glide bomb was sent to the “Seedorf “TV receiver in the aircraft was transmitted to enable route guidance. This version of the Hs 293 D with “Tonne” / “Seedorf” system was no longer ready for series production.

For the drive, there have been tests with both a Schmidding liquid propellant rocket engine and a solid-state engine 109-515 from Rheinmetall - Borsig . However, the decision was made to use a Walter HWK 109-507 liquid rocket engine developed by Walter , which worked according to the “cold Walter process”. This was not used for the actual drive, but was only intended to accelerate the glide bomb in the dropping phase in order to bring it in front of the carrier aircraft and thus into the field of vision of the bombardier. It was automatically ignited after being released. In order  to limit the speed in orbit flight from approx. Mach 0.75, drag bodies were attached to the wing ends.

Hs 293 roundabout

The glide bomb was controlled in a polar coordinate system by a proportional control that operated aileron and elevator. A rudder did not exist. A pitot tube ( pitot tube ) the speed has been detected, and the deflection of the elevator with affected by a constant trimming to obtain. To minimize rolling, a gyroscope also acted on the ailerons and stabilized the bomb.

The warhead of the Hs 293 consisted of 300 kg cast Amatol 60/40. It was twice as heavy as the combat charge of the later Exocet . A stick filled with TNT pellets was incorporated as an ignition aid, which ran from the main igniter to the front.

HS-293 Glide Bomb, technical description, from a US enemy weapons report

During the track measurement, data was generated from around 100 dial gauges. Their manual processing was not possible with the desktop calculating machines used at the time for the staff in the required development time, even in two-shift operation. Therefore, to determine the correction values ​​for ailerons and elevators, the “ special computers 1 and 2 ” with analog-digital converters developed by Konrad Zuse in 1942/43 were used.

variants

  • Hs 293 V1 - Original prototype without engine.
  • Hs 293 V2 - This version was initially also delivered without an engine, but was then equipped with a 109-515 (Rheinmetall-Borsig) or 109-507 (Walter) engine for testing. A total of about 100 pieces were made.
  • Hs 293 V3 - use of the E230 radio receiver, also made about 100 pieces.
  • Hs 293 A-0; A-1 - were operational versions, of which about 1250 were made. From variant A-1, the resistance bodies were omitted.
  • Hs 293 A-2 - The ailerons were replaced by a spoiler on one wing, thereby simplifying the controls.
  • Hs 293 V4 - converted from the A-0, with simplified control. The further development of this line was stopped at the end of 1943, but the control was used in the Henschel Hs 298 and Henschel Hs 117 .
  • Hs 293 V5 - Corresponds to variant A-1, but had a smaller wingspan and was intended for use on turbo jet aircraft.
  • Hs 293 V6 - had two Walter engines firing one behind the other
  • Hs 293 B - About 200 pieces of the A-1, which were provided with a wire steering ( FuG 207 / FuG 237 ).
  • Hs 293 C-V1 - control with spoilers.
  • Hs 293 C-1 - Variations in Cell Size.
  • Hs 293 C-V2 - Changed radio control FuG 203c / 230a
  • Hs 293 C-2; C-3 - radio or wire steering
  • Hs 293 C-4 - Conical stern, drive 109-507B. About 60 pieces were made; they served as the basis for the Henschel Hs 294 .
  • Hs 293 D - remote control with the help of a built-in television camera ("barrel") and an image receiver ("Seedorf"). Made about 260 pieces.
  • Hs 293 E - control with spoilers, 18 pieces manufactured
  • Hs 293 F - delta structure , only wind tunnel test and discontinued in 1943.
  • Hs 293 H - air-to-air missile with 600 kg explosive device. Two Schmidding solid fuel engines 109-513 were planned . Version V3 and V4 with a proximity fuse
  • Hs 293 J - Like H, with an 800 kg warhead

Calls

The first use of the Hs 293 took place on August 25, 1943, when the British Sloop Bideford was damaged. Two days later, the British sloop Egret was sunk with an Hs 293 . As a result, the Hs 293 developed into the most successful German guided missile of the war. With over 30 damaged or sunk warships, it was the world's most successful anti-ship missile until the French Exocet was introduced more than 30 years later . In addition to the Egret, they are responsible for several destroyers and numerous merchant ships . On November 26, 1943, a Heinkel He 177 with an Hs 293 sank the British troop transport Rohna off the Algerian coast. Of the total of 2195 people on board, 1138 (according to other sources 1170) were killed, including 1015 US soldiers. It was the greatest loss of human life suffered by Americans in World War II. For use against heavily armored targets such as B. battleships , the penetration power of the Hs 293 was not enough.

Other ships damaged or sunk by an Hs 293:

In the later course of the war the Hs 293 was occasionally used on the Eastern Front and in Normandy against land targets, especially bridges.

The main aircraft used were Heinkel He 111 , He 177 , Dornier Do 217 , Focke-Wulf Fw 200 and Junkers Ju 290 bombers . At least 1200 pieces were built during the war.

The accuracy of the target can be described as high against the background of the radio technology of the time. During tests, a circle with a diameter of 25 m was hit twelve times with twelve approaches. Not least because of production errors, the hit probability was lower in action, but the Fw 200 and He 177 reached the II and III. Group of Kampfgeschwaders 40 (KG 40) had a hit rate of 31% with 28% failures. In the II./KG 100, the Do 217 deployed achieved a hit rate of 55% with 25% failures.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
Troop deployment 1943-1945
Manufacturer Henschel aircraft works
constructor Herbert Wagner
span 3.10 m
length 3.82 m
Total mass 975 kg
Ground warhead 660 kg, of which 300 kg amatol
Top speed 950 km / h
Discharge height 400-2000 m
Range 3.5-18 km
Engine a Walter HWK 109-507
thrust 590–600 kp (burning time: 10 s)

literature

Web links

Commons : Henschel Hs 293  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Clay Blair : Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunted 1942–1945. Random House, London 1998, p. 405. ISBN 0-679-45742-9
  2. ↑ ATHABASKAN page. Retrieved July 16, 2010 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Charles H Bogart: German Remotely Piloted Bombs. In: United States Naval Institute Proceedings. Annapolis 1976, 11, pp. 62-68. ISSN  0041-798X
  4. ↑ This indicates that the three Hs 293 missiles targeted at Tillman exploded without damage but that a torpedo exploding in the ship's wake did cause damage. In: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
  5. ↑ a b Rohwer : Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945, January 1944 (German)
  6. ^ Rohwer : Chronicle of the Maritime War 1939–1945, June 1944 (German)
  7. ^ German missiles , Das Waffen Arsenal, Vol. 103, Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 1987.