Secret Weapons of World War II

Taught by: [Imperator]



Sections in order

1. Jets
2. The Atomic Bomb
3. Ballistic Missile
4. Super U-Boat



Jets

Germany’s earliest jets were produced as early as the late 1930’s but none had reliable enough engines and were plagued with problems. Due to this, the Luftwaffe decided to build more conventional piston powered fighters like the Messerschmitt Bf 109. This set jet engine aircraft on the sidelines for several years of World War II until 1944 as the allied tide began to push the axis back and even on to their own territory. As the odds continued to stack against Germany, the top Nazi leadership turned to jets as one of several last desperate hopes. However, Germany’s jets had not progressed much since the Luftwaffe’s decision to build the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the same engine problems remained. Several different jet designs were produced the most notable being the Me 262. This jet fighter had two Jumo 004 engines that allowed it to go 100 mph faster than the quickest allied aircraft making it almost impossible to destroy in combat. Almost all allied kills against the Me 262 were made while the plane came in to land after a mission. Several other radical jet plane designs were experimented with including a predecessor to the Stealth Bomber or “flying wing” and even an aircraft with forward swept wings, an invention that is still being tested today.


German Messerschmitt Me 262, the world's first jet fighter.




The Atomic Bomb

The race to build the first atomic bomb was a closer race between the axis and allies than many people would like to believe. For building an atomic bomb there are too main methods, one of which is to use uranium or plutonium as the fuel for the explosion or to use a substance called “heavy water”. After Germany’s invasion of Norway, the Nazis gained access to huge quantities of this heavy water because of a heavy water plant in the Norwegian mountains. This plant was to be the basis of Germany’s nuclear program. However, two factors doomed Germany’s ambitions. The first was the allied bombing raids and sabotage operations against the heavy water plant which heavily disrupted supplies. The second was the fact that Germany divided its nuclear program into separate competing groups that were unable to share advances and knowledge with each other. The allies on the other hand began one massive nuclear program called the Manhattan Project. Here, top scientists from all the allied countries gathered in the American west in secret facilities to carry out their work. By early 1945, the United States tested their first nuclear bomb. Although the allied powers managed to beat the axis in the race for a nuclear bomb, what few people know is that London was perhaps just months away from getting hit with a nuclear “dirty bomb”.

With Germany’s resources stretched to the max and Hitler’s empire losing territory on all sides, those working on the nuclear program decided to stop focusing on a bomb like that which would be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the allies and instead work on a “dirty bomb” that would spread massive amounts of radiation within a comparatively small area but be fatal to anyone within its range. By 1944, Germany was coming very close to having a workable dirty bomb and plans were made for it to be released over London. Then on D-Day (see The Western Front) allied forces landed in Normandy. This event stalled the dirty bomb plans and when the potential launch sites on the English Channel were captured, the plan faded away. Had D-Day failed or been delayed only a few months, the entire war could have taken a very different turn.


The "Fatman" bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima.




Ballistic Missile

The predecessors to this frightening technology of ballistic missiles were the German V rockets. Designed by the brilliant German rocket scientist, Werner von Braun, these weapons would terrorize the city of London for many long months as unpredictable missiles fell from the sky on unsuspecting civilians.

Werner von Braun’s life long dream was to build a spacecraft that could journey to the moon or another planet. When Hitler originally came to him and asked von Braun to build a rocket, the scientist believed that he was to work on a rocket to go into space. When he found out that it was for a missile of military use, he was disappointed but continued the project anyway. The result was the V1. In June 1944, just after the D-Day landings, 8000 V1’s were fired on London. Then in September 1944, the new, more advanced, V2 rocket is launched against London. With its improved range the V2 became more of a threat than its predecessor the V1 however both were deadly. Combined the rockets killed at least 9000 people but with the war slowly but surely nearing its end, the V rocket program began to fade as Germany’s resources faltered. However, in the last months of the war, German scientists began work on a new V3. Had it been completed, this rocket would have been capable of hitting New York City all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. In testament to the determination of the Germans, blueprints and other plans were discovered for the V3 just as the Russians closed in on Berlin.


V-1 rocket in flight.




Super U-Boat

As the war in the Atlantic turned more and more against Germany, U-Boat design was forced to make giant strides forward if the Kreigsmarine, or the German Navy, was expected to compete with the allies dominance of the sea. Fortunately for the allies, the new generation of U-Boats was just too little, too late to affect their control of the Atlantic but the advances made were frighteningly modern. As U-Boats were pounded on from the air by patrol craft and hunted by warships while submerged, the Germans realized that in order to continue torpedoing enemy merchant shipping, they would need a submarine that could stay under water longer and have a longer duration at sea. The answer was the Super U-Boat. This new class of submarine was technologically more advanced than previous U-Boats and was much faster too. The hulls of the submarines were smooth and lacked various objects on the outside that had produced drag on older U-Boats. Additionally, the new U-Boats were capable of sinking enemy ships from over one-mile away using sonar and a single torpedo, which was unprecedented for previous U-Boat versions.


U-Boat 3008, captured by the allies and photographed here after the war.




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