V-1 flying bomb
In 1935, Paul Schmidt and Professor Georg Hans Madelung submitted a design to the Luftwaffe for a flying bomb. This innovative design used a pulse-jet engine while previous work dating back to 1915 by Sperry Gyroscope relied on propellers. Fritz Gosslau developed a remote-controlled target drone called the FZG 43 while employed by Argus. In October 1939, Argus proposed Fernfeuer, a remote-controlled aircraft carrying a payload of one ton that could return to base after releasing its bomb. The Luftwaffe declined to award them a development contract initially. Schmidt and Argus began cooperating in 1940, integrating Schmidt's shutter system with Argus' atomized fuel injection. Tests began in January 1941, and the first flight made on the 30th of April 1941 with a Gotha Go 145. On the 27th of February 1942, Gosslau and Robert Lusser sketched out the design of an aircraft with the pulse-jet above the tail, which became the basis for the future V-1. Lusser produced a preliminary design in April 1942 known as P35 Erfurt, which used gyroscopes. When submitted to the Luftwaffe on the 5th of June 1942, the specifications included a range of 150 miles, a speed of 360 mph, and capable of delivering a 1,760-pound warhead. Project Fieseler Fi 103 was approved on the 19th of June, and assigned code name Kirschkern and cover name Flakzielgerät 76 (FZG-76). Flight tests were conducted at the Luftwaffes coastal test centre at Karlshagen, Peenemünde-West. Erhard Milch, State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Aviation and Inspector General of the Air force, awarded Argus the contract for the engine, Fieseler the airframe, and Askania the guidance system. By the 30th of August Fieseler had completed the first fuselage, and the first flight of the Fi 103 V7 took place on the 10th of December 1942, when it was airdropped by a Fw 200. Then on Christmas Eve, the V-1 flew 14 miles, for about a minute, after a ground launch. On the 26th of May 1943 Germany decided to put both the V-1 and the V-2 into production. In July 1943 the V-1 flew 50 miles and impacted within a kilometre (1,100 yards) of its target.
The Argus pulsejet's major components included the nacelle, fuel jets, flap valve grid, mixing chamber venturi, tail pipe, and spark plug. Compressed air rather than a fuel pump forced gasoline from the 80-gallon fuel tank through the fuel jets which consisted of three banks of three atomizers. These nine atomizing nozzles were in front of the air inlet valve system where it mixed with air before entering the chamber. A throttle valve, connected to altitude and ram pressure instruments, controlled fuel flow. Schmidt's spring-controlled flap valve system provided an efficient straight path for incoming air. The flaps momentarily closed after each explosion, the resultant gas compressed in the venturi chamber, and its tapered portion accelerated the exhaust gases creating thrust. The operation proceeded at a rate of 42 cycles per second. The V-1 guidance system used a simple autopilot developed by Askania in Berlin to regulate altitude and airspeed. A pair of gyroscopes controlled yaw and pitch, while azimuth was maintained by a magnetic compass. Altitude was maintained by a barometric device. Two spherical tanks contained compressed air at 30 atmospheres that drove the gyros, operated the pneumatic servomotors controlling the rudder and elevator, and pressurized the fuel system. The magnetic compass was located near the front of the V-1, within a wooden sphere. Shortly before launch, the V-1 was suspended inside the Compass Swinging Building (Richthaus). There the compass was corrected for magnetic variance and magnetic deviation. An odometer driven by a vane anemometer on the nose determined when the target area had been reached, accurate enough for area bombing. Before launch, it was set to count backwards from a value that would reach zero upon arrival at the target in the prevailing wind conditions. As the missile flew, the airflow turned the propeller, and every 30 rotations of the propeller counted down one number on the odometer. This odometer triggered the arming of the warhead after about 25 miles. When the count reached zero, two detonating bolts were fired. Two spoilers on the elevator were released, the linkage between the elevator and servo was jammed, and a guillotine device cut off the control hoses to the rudder servo, setting the rudder in neutral. These actions put the V-1 into a steep dive. While this was originally intended to be a power dive, in practice the dive caused the fuel flow to cease, which stopped the engine. The sudden silence after the buzzing alerted people under the flight path to the impending impact. Initially, V-1s landed within a circle 4 miles in diameter, but by the end of the war, accuracy had been improved to about 1 mile, which was comparable to the V-2 rocket.
The Wehrmacht first launched the V-1s against London on the 13th of June 1944, one week after Operation Overlord, the Allied landings in France. At times more than one hundred V-1s a day were fired at south-east England, 9,521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun until October 1944, when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was overrun by Allied forces. After this, the Germans directed V-1s at the port of Antwerp and at other targets in Belgium, launching another 2,448 V-1s. The attacks stopped only a month before the war in Europe ended, when the last launch site in the Low Countries was overrun on the 29th of March 1945. Mass production of the FZG-76 did not start until the spring of 1944, and FR 155(W) was not equipped until late May 1944. Operation Eisbär, the missile attacks on London, commenced on the 12th of June. However, the four launch battalions could only operate from the Pas-de-Calais area, amounting to only 72 launchers. They had been supplied with missiles, Walter catapults, fuel, and other associated equipment since D-Day. None of the nine missiles launched on the 12th reached England, while only four did so on the 13th. The next attempt to start the attack occurred on the night of 15/the 16th of June, when 144 missiles reached England, of which 73 struck London, while 53 struck Portsmouth and Southampton. Damage was widespread and Eisenhower ordered attacks on the V-1 sites as a priority. Operation Cobra forced a retreat from the French launch sites in August, with the last battalion leaving on the 29th of August. Operation Donnerschlag began from Germany on the 21st of October 1944. Almost 30,000 V-1s were made; by March 1944 they were each produced in 350 hours (including 120 for the autopilot), at a cost of just 4% of a V-2, which delivered a comparable payload. Approximately 10,000 were fired at England; 2,419 reached London, killing about 6,184 people and injuring 17,981. The greatest density of hits was received by Croydon, on the south-east fringe of London.
As part of Operation Crossbow, operations against the V-1, the British air defences consisted of anti-aircraft guns, barrage balloons and fighter aircraft, to intercept the bombs before they reached their targets, while the launch sites and underground storage depots became targets for Allied attacks including strategic bombing. Anti-aircraft guns of the Royal Artillery and RAF Regiment redeployed in several movements: first in mid-June 1944 from positions on the North Downs to the south coast of England, then a cordon closing the Thames Estuary to attacks from the east. In September 1944 a new linear defence line was formed on the coast of East Anglia, and finally in December there was a further layout along the Lincolnshire, Yorkshire coast. The standard British QF 3.7-inch mobile gun could not cope with the altitude and speed of the V-1. However, the static version of the QF 3.7-inch, designed for a permanent concrete platform, had a faster traverse. The cost and delay of installing new permanent platforms for the guns was found to be unnecessary as a temporary platform devised by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and made from railway sleepers and rails was found to be adequate for the static guns, making them considerably easier to re-deploy as the V-1 threat changed. The development of the proximity fuze and of centimetric, 3 gigahertz frequency gun-laying radars based on the cavity magnetron helped to counter the V-1's high speed and small size. In 1944, Bell Labs started delivery of an anti-aircraft predictor fire-control system based on an analogue computer, just in time for the Allied invasion of Europe. These electronic aids arrived in quantity from June 1944, just as the guns reached their firing positions on the coast. Seventeen per cent of all flying bombs entering the coastal
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Common questions
Who designed the V-1 flying bomb and when was the initial design submitted?
Paul Schmidt and Professor Georg Hans Madelung submitted the initial design to the Luftwaffe in 1935. Fritz Gosslau later developed a remote-controlled target drone called the FZG 43 while employed by Argus.
When did Germany first launch the V-1 flying bomb against London?
The Wehrmacht first launched the V-1s against London on the 13th of June 1944 one week after Operation Overlord. Mass production of the FZG-76 did not start until the spring of 1944.
How many people died from V-1 attacks on London during World War II?
Approximately 2,419 V-1s reached London killing about 6,184 people and injuring 17,981. The greatest density of hits was received by Croydon on the south-east fringe of London.
What engine powered the V-1 flying bomb and how fast could it fly?
The V-1 used an Argus pulse-jet engine that operated at a rate of 42 cycles per second. It flew at a speed of 360 mph with a range of 150 miles when submitted to the Luftwaffe in June 1942.
Where were the V-1 flying bombs launched from during the war?
Launch battalions operated from the Pas-de-Calais area in France before retreating in August 1943. Afterward Germans directed V-1s at Antwerp and other targets in Belgium launching another 2,448 V-1s from sites in the Low Countries.