London Blitz vs V1

"Bernardz" wrote in message
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In article ,
says...
Bernardz wrote in message
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In early December 1944, General Bissel produced a paper which
argued
strongly in favour of the V1.

The following is a table he produced

Blitz (12 months) vs V1 flying bombs (2 3/4 months)
-----------------------------------------------------
1. Cost to Germany
...........................Blitz.................. ..V1
Sorties...................90,000.................8 025
Weight of bombs...........61,149 tons............14,600 tons
Fuel consumed.............71,700 tons.............4681 tons
Aircrafts lost............3075....................0
Men lost..................7690....................0

2 Results
Houses damaged/destroyed...1,150,000............1,127,000
Casualties.................92,566...............22 ,892
Rate casualties/bombs tons...1.6...............4.2

3. Allied air effort
Sorties......................86,800............44, 770
Planes lost..................1260...............351
Men lost.....................805...............2233


For the cost of 1 uncrewed, unrefuelled and unbombladen Lancaster
the
Germans were getting more than 300 V1s. Furthermore they made
little
demand on skilled labour or strategic materials. On the negative
side
they had all the inherent problems of a fairly slow unaimed
weapon.
Of around 10000 launched at Britain only about 2400 reached the
vague
proximity of their target area. And many fell fairly harmlessly -
aided by British manipulation of intelligence. But as an economic
weapon they made much sense and if they had arrived on the scene
some
months earlier in far greater numbers, when proximity fuzed,
radar
guided AA was not yet available they would undoubtedly have had a
proportionately much larger effect on the prosecution of the war.

Agreed. By the way I am in the process of writing a fictional story
based on such a scenario

WWW.bernardz.20m.com



Thanks to Hitler's intervention this did not happen.

I am not so sure Hitler was wrong! The V1 could probably have come
on-
line in 1943 only at a terrific price and a very limited target -
Britain. At that time Britain was a minor part of the war. The major
war
was in the East and he needed resources against Russia. Before 1943,
when it looked like Hitler could win the war those resources
required
could be far better spent on things that mattered like tanks and
planes.

After 1943, he needed to gain time for a miracle. Maybe the Allies
would
split. To do that he needed to give the German people hope and
vengeance
that they could still fire back. That is what these weapons
provided.


The term "V" used in the "V" weapons was firstly so as to confuse
alllied intelligence. The term "V" meant "Veruchs" or experimental.
Thus when the Germans made a new aircraft type eg the Arado 234 they
might have a V1,V2,V3...V20.... to represent the prototypes and test
vehicles 9for variuous engines and armanments) similar to the way the
United States uses the term X for its experimental designations. The
official RLM (Reichs Luftfahrts Ministerium) designation for the V1
was Fi 103. (A4 for the V2)

When the term Vertiedigung was applied it represented the word
"Reprisal or Retaliation" rather than the more emotional "Vengence".

It has to be remembered that the Germans regarded the bombing of their
cities as "Terror bombing" and it was the term they used. Few would
rationaly argue against it since the bulk of the casualities were
civilian women,children or seniors. W.G.Sebald in his book "on the
natural history of destruction" mentions that the allies destroyed
records and photogrpahs of the effects of phosphorus because they were
so horrific.

The Germans also began development of a turbojet engine RLM
designation 109-005(TL) for the Fi 103 (V1). The Chief Engineer was
Dr Max Adlof Mueller (who had designed succesfull torbojets at junkers
and heinkel) and Porsche was given the contreact. With this engine
the range of a V1 with full sized warhead was extended from 240km to
700km and speed and altitude also increased. The range of the V1
variant with the smaller warhead was also expected to increase
proportionatly out to 1000km or so I expect. Speed and altitude also
improved.

Such an engine would not have been expensive at all as the engine only
needed to opperate for 1.2 hours so alloy steel with a high refractory
alloy content would not be required.

The normal Argus 109-014 pulse-jet was continiusly tweeked by Argus
and would have been capable of 494 mph if its final form if they had
of been fitted and would have been harder to destroy.

With the fall of France and launch positions the turbojet was needed
since air launch of V1s by German bombers was very dangerous due to
interception and becuae it was inaccurate.

There appear to have been efforts to develop guidence systems for
flying bombs: one based in comparing strips of film with a image of
the ground using basic TV and electro-optical and electro-mechanical
methods. The Germans also succesfully tested a long range air
launched glide bombs (BV246) with a radar homing warhead
http://www.luft46.com/missile/bv246.html and I wonder if they would
have fitted it to the V1? (Probably not the BV246 is a better
platform as it is stealthy)


I suspect when the Germans began opperations of their jet bombers and
jet reconaisence over the British Isles they would have increased V1
accuracy. One of the big problems the Germans had was that they
could not opperate succesfull reconaisence over the British Isles
untill they had jet aircraft so they could not check they accuracy of
their V1s.

The German jet bombers (eg Ar 234 ) were capable of using accurate
computing bomb sights such as the Lofte 7 and the Egon blind bombing
system.

So in any future bombing campaigne I think the V1 would have been an
area bombing (OK terror weapon) and irritation weapon with the jet
bombers being used where accuracy was required. The most sensible use
of the Jets however would have been to harras RAF bombers all they way
back to their bases.

The 466mph Ar 234B was capable of opperation over the UK and could
avoid interception (just) but versions such as the Ar 234C (4 x
BMW003A engines in lieu of the 2 x jumo 004B4) was capable of 566mph
(mach not thrust limited) and thus beyond anything that could
reasonaly intercept the aircraft including a F80 starfighter or
developed meteor . The other versions with Jumo 004D, BMW003C,
BMW003D or HeS 11 engines were also difficult to intercept.











Eugene Griessel





--
A terrorist kills for publicity.

24th saying of Bernard