The History of the V-2 Rocket

As early as 1927, Germany had started experiments with liquid fueled rockets. By 1932, Hitler began considering their potential for long range artillery use. A team of scientists that reported directly to Hitler, led by General Dornberger, viewed a rocket designed and flown by Wernher von Braun.

The V-2, as it was called, was mass produced, beginning in 1943. They used slave labor to work on these rockets and about 10,000 were killed by overwork or by SS soldiers. It is said the Nazi scientists had eight workers hanged to encourage production by the other slave laborers. The V-2 weighed in at nearly 12 tons and was fueled by a liquid alcohol/oxygen mixture.

Batterie 444 was the first operational unit. On September, 2 1944, they assembled to launch attacks on recently liberated Paris. The next day, they formed at The Hague for attacks on London. The V-2 was considered ineffective militarily, because of a poor guidance system, which prevented it from hitting specific targets. Also, the cost of one V-2 rocket was equivalent to the cost of building a four engine bomber.

Regardless of its guidance system flaws, the V-2 had a greater psychological effect than its predecessor, the V-1 flying bomb which could be heard on approach and was called the "buzz bomb". The V-2 flew faster than the speed of sound and hit without warning.

The V-2 rocket technology was the most desired by the allies at the end of the war. Nazi scientists were taken to the U.S. to continue work on the V-2 rocket. Wernher von Braun, a Nazi scientist was taken to the U.S. to head V-2 rocket research. At a small town called Huntsville, Alabama, the government had built Redstone Arsenal around von Braun's research.

Under operation "paper-clip", three hundred train loads of V-2's and parts were captured and transferred to the U.S. 126 of the principle designers, including von Braun were transferred to the U.S.; presumably Huntsville, Alabama in 1950.

Von Braun's work on the V-2 led him to become the father of American rocketry, replacing Robert Goddard, who only worked with solid fueled rockets. Von Braun worked on the Redstone, Jupiter, Jupiter-C, Pershing and Saturn rockets.

The Soviet Union also captured a group of 250 engineers, and many rockets and parts. Beginning with V-2 development, they developed many missiles leading to the development of the SCUD. The team was repatriated in the 1950's.

A replica of the V-2 rocket along with an exact duplicate of Werhner von Braun's office can be seen at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Source:www.zamadayoleuluk.com/centinal/V2ROCKET.htm