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V2 rocket technology1/18/2024 That number does not include the deaths of 10,000 to 20,000 people who were used as slave labor in V-2 construction at the underground Mittelwerk factory and various concentration camps.ĭesperate to stop the strikes, the Allies launched Operation Crossbow - a series of operations and bombing campaigns aimed at destroying the V-weapon program. Together, V-1 and V-2 attacks caused over 30,000 civilian casualties and left hundreds of thousands homeless. There is no complete official toll, but it is estimated that V-2 attacks killed anywhere from 5,000 to 9,000 people. One V-2 struck a packed cinema in the Belgian port city of Antwerp, killing 567 people, including 296 Allied soldiers - the deadliest strike from a single piece of aerial ordnance in the European theater. Over 2,700 people were killed by the missiles in Britain alone. Up to 100 V-2s were launched each day, and they wreaked havoc on Allied cities. (Its guidance system was an innovation in its own right gyroscopes and an analog computer in it constantly tracked and adjusted its course to a preprogrammed destination.) Their speed and operational ceiling made them impossible to intercept, and Allied attempts to jam the V-2's guidance system were useless, as the missile did not use radio guidance. V-2s were so fast that they could hit their targets at up to 1,790 mph. They also had a range of 200 miles.Īfter launch, the missile rose over 50 miles into the air and reached a speed of over 3,000 mph, enabling most to reach their targets in just five minutes. They were about 46 feet tall and were equipped with a 2,000-pound amatol warhead at the tip. V-2s were much more complex and larger than their predecessor, the V-1. They were intended to be launched from hardened complexes similar to modern missile silos, but Allied bombing and advances on the ground forced the Germans to rely on mobile launch platforms. The missile became the second in Hitler's series of “Vergeltungswaffen,” or “vengeance weapons,” and was designated V-2.Ībout 6,000 V-2 rockets were built. Hitler, angry at the destruction Allied bombing was causing in Germany, wanted to strike Allied cities in revenge. The project was repeatedly downgraded and upgraded during the war, but in 1943 it became one of the largest weapons projects of the Third Reich. ![]() Traveling over 118 miles and reaching an altitude of 277,200 feet, or 52.5 miles, it was the first rocket to reach the edge of space. The missile had its first successful test flight in October 1942. The German Wehrmacht had a keen interest in rockets, and some of Germany's best engineers were tasked by the military to create this new “Wunderwaffe” or “wonder weapon.” A vengeance weaponĭevelopment of the V-2 started in 1934. ![]() The Germans had launched a horrifying new type of weapon at France and England: the V-2, the first guided ballistic missile in history.įor almost a year, more than 3,000 V-2s would be launched at civilian and military targets in Belgium, Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Hundreds of explosions in the following weeks forced the British to admit the truth. The blast was blamed on a faulty gas main and quickly hushed up. The site was closed to the public, and censors barred journalists from reporting on it. One of the explosions in London left a crater 30 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Nearly eight hours later, two more explosions occurred in London, killing three people and wounding 17. The blast killed six people and wounded 36 more. ![]() On the morning of September 8, 1944, a massive explosion rocked the southeastern outskirts of recently liberated Paris. Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
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