Missile submarine

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The rocket submarine project , also known as the test stand XII , was a military project of the German Reich during World War II . The aim of the project was to develop a submarine from which ballistic missiles can be launched.

history

During the Second World War, several different experiments were carried out in the Peenemünde Army Research Center to mount rocket launch systems on a submarine .

In 1941 the first tests were carried out with a rocket launcher frame (type Nebelwerfer 41 ), which was mounted on the deck of U 511 . Tests were carried out in different arrangements:

  • Shots from the surface of the water.
  • Shots from below the surface of the water (up to "periscope depth", max. 12 m depth).

All kills were successful and had no effect on the accuracy of the missiles. The experimental set-up was aimed at developing a weapon against ship convoy escorts, but without an effective control system the set-up was largely ineffective.

In 1943, interest in the concept was revived with the advent of the Fieseler Fi 103 (V1) cruise missile . Here, further ideas were developed and investigated to mount a V1 and a launcher on a submarine in order to reach targets at a greater distance than the previous 251 km at land-based locations. However, this proposal failed due to rivalry between the services, as the V1 was an air force and not a naval project.

In 1943, consideration was given to launching the V2 rocket from a submarine. This could have hit targets in the USA in particular . Since the V2 was too big to be mounted on a submarine, a 500-ton submersible was developed to transport and launch the rocket. Unmanned and without a drive, this should be towed by a conventional submarine within range of its target, then set up and launched. Three of these ships were ordered at the end of 1944, but only one was built, and due to the course of the war, no further tests were carried out on the usefulness of the system.

Allied intelligence, however, learned of these projects, and the U.S. Navy developed a countermeasure known as Operation Teardrop . That operation was actually conducted in early 1945 when a group of submarines were discovered en route to the US east coast . Most of these submarines were attacked in the Mid Atlantic and destroyed in the massive anti-submarine operation, although post-war analysis showed that there was no real missile threat.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive of the German U-Boat Museum Foundation: "Wunderwaffen" U 511, U 1063 and the plans for submarines with sea-based missiles (viewed on October 17, 2019)
  2. ↑ Guðmundur Helgason: The Type IXC boat U-511. German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved January 31, 2015.