Sturmtiger Thor´s Thunder Hammer

Sturmtiger (German: "Assault Tiger") is the common name of a World War II German assault gun built on the Tiger I chassis and armed with a large naval rocket launcher. The official German designation was Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61. Its primary task was to provide heavy fire support for infantry unitsfighting in urban areas. The few vehicles produced fought in the Warsaw Uprising, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Reichswald. The fighting vehicle is also known under a large number of informal names, among which the Sturmtiger become the most popular.

Development
The idea for a heavy infantry support vehicle capable of demolishing heavily defended buildings or fortified areas with a single shot came out of the experiences of the heavy urban fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. At the time, the Wehrmacht had only the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B available for destroying buildings, a Sturmgeschütz III variant armed with a 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. Twelve of them were lost in the fighting at Stalingrad.
Its successor, the Sturmpanzer IV/Brummbär was in production from early 1943, but the Wehrmacht still saw a need for a similar, but heavier armoured and armed vehicle. Therefore a decision was made to create a new vehicle based on the Tiger tank and arm it with a 210 mm howitzer.

However, this weapon turned out not to be available at the time and was therefore replaced by a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth charge launcher.

In September 1943 plans were made for Krupp to fabricate new Tiger I armored hulls for the Sturmtiger. The Tiger I hulls were to be sent to Henschel for chassis assembly and then to Alkett where the superstructures would be mounted. The first prototype was ready and presented to Adolf Hitler in October 1943. Delivery of the first hulls would occur in December 1943, with the first three Sturmtigers completed by Alkett by 20 February 1944.

Due to delays, Hitler did not request production of the weapon until 19 April 1944; 12 superstructures and weapons for the Sturmtiger would be prepared and mounted on rebuilt Tiger I chassis. The first three production series Sturmtigers were completed by Alkett in August 1944. Plans to complete an additional seven 38 cm Sturmtigersfrom 15 to 21 September 1944 were presented to Hitler in a conference on 18–20 August 1944. Ten Sturmtigers were produced in September, along with an additional five in December 1944.

Hitler had laid great importance on the special employment of the Sturmtiger and believed it would be necessary to produce at least 300 rounds of ammunition per month

Design
The Sturmtiger was based on the late model Tiger I, keeping its hull and suspension. The front of the Tiger's superstructure was removed to make room for the new fixed casemate-style fighting compartment housing the rocket launcher. This was located directly at the front of the vehicle, giving it a boxy appearance.

Compared to the regular Tiger tank, the Sturmtiger was much shorter, only 6.28 metres (20 ft 7 in) compared to the Tiger's 8.45 metres (27 ft 9 in), due largely to the fact that it did not mount the protruding main gun of the latter. It also was slightly lower than the Tiger, 2.85 metres (9 ft 4 in) compared to 3 metres (9 ft 10 in)

Armour

Since the Sturmtiger was intended for use in urban areas in close range street fighting, it needed to be heavily armoured to survive. Its sloped (at 47° from vertical) frontal armour therefore was 150 millimetres (5.9 in) thick, while its superstructure side and rear plates were some 82 millimetres (3.2 in) thick. The hull front, depending on whether or not it had an additional armor plate, was 150 millimetres (5.9 in) or 100 millimetres (3.9 in). This pushed the weight of the vehicle up from the 57 tonnes (56 long tons; 63 short tons) of the Tiger I to 68 tonnes (67 long tons; 75 short tons)

Weapons
The main armament was the 380 mm Raketen-Werfer 61 L/5.4, a breech-loading rocket launcher, which fired short-range, rocket-propelled projectiles roughly 1.5 metres (59 in) long. There were a variety of rounds with a weight of up to 376 kilograms (830 lb), and a maximum range of up to 6000 metres, which either contained a high explosive charge of 125 kilograms (280 lb) or a shaped charge for use against fortifications, which could penetrate up to 2.5 metres (98 in) of reinforced concrete. The stated range of the former was 5,650 metres (6,180 yd). A normal charge first accelerated the projectile to 45 metres per second (150 ft/s), the 40 kilograms (88 lb) rocket charge then boosted this to about 250 m/s (820 ft/s).


The design of the rocket launcher caused some problems. The hot rocket exhaust could not be vented into the fighting compartment but nor could the barrel withstand the pressure if the gasses were not vented. Therefore a ring of ventilation shafts were put around the barrel which channeled the exhaust and gave the weapon somewhat of a pepperbox appearance.


Due to the bulkiness of the ammunition, only 14 rounds could be carried, of which one was already loaded, with another in the loading tray. The rest were carried in two storage racks. To help with the loading of ammunition into the vehicle, a loading crane was fitted at the rear of the superstructure, next to the loading hatch. Even then, the entire five man crew had to help with the loading.


It was intended that each Sturmtiger would be accompanied by an ammunition carrier built on the same Tiger I chassis, but only one carrier was completed.


At the loading hatch's rear was located a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) grenade launcher, using SMi 35 leaping mines, which was used for close range defence against both armoured vehicles and infantry in a 360 degree circle around the vehicle.


For defence against infantry attacks, there was a mount in the front for a 7.92 x 57 mm MG 34 machine gun.



Combat service

The original role of the Sturmtiger was intended to be as a heavy infantry support vehicle, to help with attacks on heavily fortified or built-up areas. By the time the first Sturmtigers were available however, the situation for Germany had changed for the worse, with the Wehrmacht being almost exclusively on the defensive rather than the offensive.


Three new Panzer companies were raised to operate the Sturmtiger: Panzer Sturmmörser Kompanien (PzStuMrKp) (Armored Assault Mortar Company) 1000, 1001 and 1002. These originally were supposed to be equipped with fourteen vehicles, but this figure was later reduced to four each, divided into two platoons.


PzStuMrKp 1000 was raised on 13 August 1944 and fought during the Warsaw Uprising with two vehicles, as did the prototype in a separate action, which may have been the only time theSturmtiger was used in its intended role. PzStuMrKp 1001 (commanded by captain von Gottberg) and 1002 (commanded by lieutenant Zippel) followed in September and October. Both PzStuMrKp1000 and 1001 served during the Ardennes Offensive, with a total of seven Sturmtigers.


After this offensive, the Sturmtigers were used in the defence of Germany proper, mainly on the Western front.


Survivors

Sturmtiger #250174 is on display at the Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster. This vehicle is currently on loan from the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung in Koblenz.
A Sturmtiger is on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia. This vehicle is believed to have been captured by advancing Red Army units in the Elbe area in April 1945.
A 380 mm Raketen-Werfer is in the collection of the Bovington Tank Museum.

Related Links

• "Sturmmörser: 38 cm Rocket Projector on Tiger Chassis", U.S. Ordnance Report, 1945.
• Information about the Panzersturmmörser (also known as Sturmtiger) at Panzerworld
• Sturmmörser Tiger at Achtung Panzer!
• OnWar
• WWII Vehicles
• Surviving Tiger tanks - A PDF file presenting photos of the Tiger tanks (Tiger I, Kingtiger, Jagdtiger and Sturmtiger) still existing in the world

Haunebu´s Hoax Photos Debunked

This picture shows a “Haunebu-II” next to a house, demonstrating the dimensions of the flight disc

An enlargement of the red bordered area shows clearly that the lower edge of the right lower cupola (arrows) does not match the remainder of the picture.
Even without enlargement, this dividing line is easily recognizable. Even the most untrained layman without special photo-technical knowledge can see an unambiguous “photo-shop” montage!

The same applies also to this picture. While the flight disc is a relatively sharp image, the whole background is a blur. However, the area at the same distance of the claimed flying object would have to be also sharp! The complete contrast of the disc with the remainder of the picture is recognizable without difficulty!

The 'Bellonzo-Schriever-Miethe Disc'

The retractable undercarriage legs terminated in inflatable rubber cushions. The craft was designed to carry a crew of three The "Schriever-Habermohl" flying disc developed between 1943 and 1945 consisted of a stable dome-shaped cabin surrounded by a flat, rotating rim. Toward the end of the war, all the models and prototypes were reported destroyed before they could be found by the Soviets. According to postwar U.S. intelligence reports, however, the Russian army succeeded in capturing one prototype. After the war, both Schriever and Miethe, another German scientist involved in the design of flying disks, came to work for the US under ‘Operation Paperclip’. Habermohl was reported, by U.S. Army Military Intelligence, as having been taken to the Soviet Union.

 

The first non-official report on the development of this craft is to be found in Die Deutschen Waffen und Geheimwaffen des 2 Weltkriegs und ihre Weiterentwicklung (Germany's Weapons and Secret Weapons of the Second World War and their Later Development)., J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, Munich, 1956. The author of this detailed and technical work on German wartime weaponry was Major d.R. Rudolf Lusar, an engineer who worked in the German Reichs-Patent Office and had access to many original plans and documents. Lusar devoted a section of the chapter entitled "Special Devices," to Third Reich saucer designs.

Among other things, Lusar declared:
"German scientists and researchers took the first steps toward such flying saucers during the last war, and even built and tested such flying devices, which border on the fantastic. According to information confirmed by experts and collaborators, the first projects involving "flying discs" began in 1941. The blueprints for these projects were furnished by German experts Schriever, Habermohl, Miethe, and the Italian expert Bellonzo."

Habermohl and Schriever chose a flat hoop which spun around a fixed pilot's cabin in the shape of a dome. It consisted of steerable disc wings which enabled, according to the direction of their placement, in horizontal takeoff or flight. Miethe developed a kind of disk 42 meters in diameter, to which steerable nozzles had been attached. Schriever and Habermohl, who had worked together in Prague, took off on 14 February 1945 in the first "flying disc". They attained a height of 12,400 meters in three minutes and a horizontal flight speed of 2000 KMH. It had been expected to reach speeds of up to 4000 KMH. 

 

Massive initial tests and research work were involved prior to undertaking the manufacture of the project. Due to the high rate of speed and the extraordinary heat demands, it was necessary to find particular materials in order to resist the effects of the high temperatures. Project development, which had run into the millions, was practically concluded by the final days of the war. All existing models were destroyed at the end of the conflict, but the factory at Breslau in which Miethe had worked fell into the hands of the Soviets, who seized all the material and technical personnel and shipped them to Siberia, where successful work on "flying saucers" was conducted. 

 

Schriever was able to leave Prague on time, but Habermohl must be in the Soviet Union, since nothing more is known concerning his whereabouts. The aged German builder, Miethe, is in the United States developing, it is said, "flying saucers" for the A.V. Roe Company in the U.S.A. and in Canada..

 

Georg Klein ran the Schriever, Habermohl and Miethe project for the Luftwaffe. When Kammler took over the program and it became an SS program, Klein was retained by Kammler. Klaus-Peter Rothkugel recounts a discussion between Klein and Kammler in which Kammler finally decides upon the Habermohl model for production purposes and tells Klein why. Klein did many newspaper articles, not tabloid articles, in the German press in the 1950's. Klein was a public figure then. In one article, Klein describes seeing a German saucer test flown at Prague airport. Josef Epp worked as a consultant on all three of these programs and took pictures of a test flight in 1944 which were published in his book.

In a 2005 book, the late Heiner Gehring and Karl-Heinz Zunneck discuss the private memoirs of SS man Wilhelm Landig who, among other things, was responsible for SS security at the Prague airport. Landig says that the larger Haunebu-sized craft were real and flew at some point but that the propulsion system was nothing like described by many German writers and as in those alleged blueprints. Landig claims that the last three of these craft are stored, currently, in tunnels in the Andes. He says they no longer fly because of age and lack of spare parts. For years, he claims, a shadow group of technicians exchanged parts and knowlege world-wide to keep these things airborne. Landig calls them Rüstungesoteriker (arms esoterics).

Foo Fighter Word Etymology

When the USAF 415th NFS and British intruder aircraft first encountered the German land-based and launched WNF Feuerball and AEG Kugelwaffen weapons in the skies over occupied France in late 1944 they were simply called "Fire Fighters" due to their intense glow or "burn" in the sky. In the WNF Feuerball this was the chemical burn ring that caused an intense electrostatic field at close proximity to the daylight bombers. With the AEG Kugelwaffen, the glow or burn was considered part of the propulsion system which was suspected of being a mercury-plasma type.

As word spread of these mystery weapons the word Fire got changed several times:

1) Since the "Fire Fighters" appeared over France, the French word for fire was adopted- "Feu Fighter"

2) Too complicated for the Allied airmen, the USAF changed that to "Foo"- a crude reference to the Smokey Stover comic of a bumbling fireman that actually started fires and had a catchphrase of "Where there's foo, there's fire". So, the mystery weapons became known as "Foo Fighters". The RAF simply called them Kraut Meteors instead.

3) To hide the fact that these were German weapons, US Intel designated them in official military documents as "PHOO BOMBS" starting in December 1944. This has foiled FOIA document researchers for decades until a declassifed 1944 document concerning possible German Capabilities in 1945 revealed the code words and matching precise description. Perhaps they labeled them BOMBS as many believed this was a flying flak weapon, or aerial mine... which later proved to be a false assumption.

A Reuters report from December 13, 1944 Bottom: The New York Times, December 14, 1944

This document, fascinating in its own right, serves as a translation. "Foo fighters are "Phoo Bombs" in the government's parlance. No more "no record" name-games from the government

U.S. government's own documents prove they knew of the German origin of foo fighters. This table of contents of a "Intelligence Digest" document, with a February, 1945 date, addresses German military capacities. It lists "Phoo Bombs" as a weapon in the German arsenal (see VI- OtherWeapons) Taken from microfilm negative image.

The Focke Wulf VTOL Project

The Miracle Fighter


The fantastic Focke-Wulf "miracle fighter" is one of the few German secret designs which was developed into publicly acknowledged military airplanes.
Its story begins in 1942. German aeronautical research records for that year include a report by the Aerodynamic Testing Center in Göttingen, entitled "The Flying Wing". In this report, authors E. Von Holst, D. Küchermann and K. Solf examined the possibility of conceiving an aircraft that would combine the propulsion and lifting bodies, based on the flight of dragonflies as a source of inspiration. The original idea called for a powerful, fuselage-mounted propulsion engine to power two wide-diameter, inverse-rotation propellers. The lightweight and simple turboprop engine had not yet been developed.As Carlos Simó correctly points out in the Encyclopedia Más Allá de los Ovnis, such a vertical take-off device could revolutionize German aeronautics.

In the fall of 1944, the "miracle fighter" project had been calculated with great detail, and when compared to other fighters from the same time period, it should have had extraordinary flight performance: 1000 KMH had been calculated as its maximum ground speed, and some 840 KMH at an altitude of 11,000 m.. The initial elevation speed would be 25 meters per second, which would be reduced to 20 meters per second at cruising altitude.


Setbacks in the development of the propellers, according to Sengfelder, and the utter defeat of the Germans, kept this most interesting aircraft from ever making it off the drawing board. The blueprints fell into American hands, who realized in June 1945 that an advanced fighter was about to be born. These documents were stamped SECRET and the ramjet-powered wing was never officially built.
Nonetheless, in spite of the belief that the miracle fighter was never officially developed, the fact is that the U.S.--ultimate destination of the information liberated from the Nazis--built at least two aircraft suspiciously similar to the revolutionary German project.
These were the Lockheed XFV-1 "Tailsitter" and the Convair XFY-1 "Pogo", both equipped with fixed wings. In either case, propulsion was provided by means of a 5,850 HP Allison YT40-A-14 turbine, and two reverse propellers 4.8 meters in diameter. Although test flights could be completed with relatively favorable results, the U.S. Navy was not interested in "tail take-off" and the project was abandoned. This is, at least, the official story.

Triebflugel - The History Of Focke-Wulf's Vertical Take-Off Landing (VTOL) Project

The V3 - The "England-Canon"

Type	Artillery
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	1944 - 1945
Used by	Nazi Germany
Wars	World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Krupp
Specifications
Length	130 metres
Shell	140 kg
Caliber	150 mm
Rate of fire	300 shells per hour (projected)
Muzzle velocity	1,500 m/s
Maximum range	165 km

The V-3 (Vergeltungswaffe 3) was a German World War II supergun working on the multi-charge principle whereby secondary propellant charges are fired to add velocity to a projectile.
The weapon was planned to be used to bombard London from two large bunkers in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France, which were rendered unusable by Allied bombing raids before completion. Two similar guns were used to bombard the country of Luxembourg from December 1944 to February 1945.
The basic construction was later taken up in the U.S. and Canada by developments like Project HARP in the 1960s.
The V-3 was also known as the Hochdruckpumpe ("High Pressure Pump", HDP for short), which was a code name intended to hide the real purpose of the project. It was also known as Fleissiges Lieschen ("Busy Lizzie")

Description

The gun used multiple propellant charges placed along the barrel's length and timed to fire as soon as the projectile passed them, to provide an additional boost. Because of their greater suitability and ease of use, solid-fuel rocket boosters were used instead of explosive charges. These were arranged in symmetrical pairs along the length of the barrel, angled to project their thrust against the base of the projectile as it passed. This layout spawned the German codename Tausendfüßler ("millipede"). Unlike conventional rifled weapons of the day, the smoothbore gun fired a fin-stabilized shell, dependent upon aerodynamic rather than gyroscopic forces to prevent tumbling, which resulted in a lower drag coefficient.

Development

In 1943, German engineer August Cönders, of Röchling Stahlwerk AG, proposed an electrically initiated multiple-charge weapon. Thanks to the success of Cönders's other projects, including the "Röchling shell", major figures in the Nazi establishment took notice of him, most importantly Albert Speer, the Minister of Munitions.
Cönders was ordered to produce a prototype of the Hochdruckpumpe ("high-pressure-pump") and duly constructed one in 20 mm calibre, which proved satisfactory. At this point, Adolf Hitler, who had been following the project with interest, took a hand and decided that a battery of 50 full-size guns would be sited in northern France for bombarding London.
Cönders had constructed a full-calibre gun at the Hillersleben proving ground near Magdeburg, but by the end of 1943 he had encountered severe problems both in putting the gun's basic principle into operation and in producing a feasible design for the shells it was to fire. Even when everything worked, the muzzle velocity was just over 1,000 metres per second (3,300 ft/s), which was nowhere near what had been promised. Nonetheless, plans were proposed to build a single full-size gun with a 150-metre (490 ft) barrel at Misdroy on the Baltic island of Wolin, near Peenemünde, while construction at the Mimoyecques site in France (which had already been attacked by the USAAF and the RAF) went ahead. By March 1944, with no good news from Misdroy, the Heereswaffenamt (Weapon Procurement Office) took control of the project, and Cönders became one of the engineers working on the three chief problems: projectile design, obturation, and ignition of the secondary charges.
Six different companies, including Krupp and Skoda, produced satisfactory designs for projectiles. Obturation problems were solved by placing a sealing piston between the projectile and the initial propellant charge, which in turn prevented the flash from the charge from getting ahead of the projectile and solved the problem of controlling the initiation of the secondary charges. By the end of May 1944, there were four designs for the 150-mm finned projectile, one manufactured by Fasterstoff (designed by Füstenberg), and three others by Röchling (Cönders), Bochumer (Verein-Haack), and Witkowitz (Athem).
Trials were held at Misdroy from May 20–24, 1944 with ranges of up to 88 km (55 mi) being attained. On July 4, 1944, the Misdroy gun was test-fired with 8 rounds (one of the 1.8 m (5.9 ft) long shells travelled 93 km (58 mi)). The gun burst during the testing, putting an end to the tests.

Mimoyecques site

Following Hitler's decision that HDP guns be sited in northern France to bombard London, the task of finding a suitable site for the HDP batteries was given to Major Bock of Festung Pioneer-Stab 27, the fortification regiment of LVII Corps, Fifteenth Army, at the time based in the Dieppe area. A study in early 1943 concluded that a hill with a rock core would be most suitable, as the gun tubes could be placed in drifts (inclined tunnels) and support equipment and supplies located in adjacent tunnels. The guns would not be movable, and would be permanently aimed at London.
A suitable site was selected at a limestone hill about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of the Hidrequent quarries, near Mimoyecques in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France behind Cap Gris Nez, very close to the French end of the present day Channel tunnel, where V-1 and V-2 launch sites were already under construction. The site was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the sea and 165 kilometres (103 mi) from London. Codenamed Wiese (meadow) and Bauvorhaben 711 (Construction Project 711), Organisation Todt began construction in September 1943 with the building of railway lines to support the work, and began to excavate the gun shafts in October. The initial layout comprised two parallel facilities approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) apart, each with five drifts which were to hold a stacked cluster of five HDP gun tubes, for a total of 50 guns. Both facilities were served by an underground railway tunnel and underground ammunition storage galleries.

The eastern complex consisted of five drifts angled at 50 degrees reaching 105 metres (344 ft) below the hilltop. The five drifts exited the hilltop through a concrete slab 30 metres (98 ft) wide and 5.5 metres (18 ft) thick. Large steel plates protected the five openings and each drift had a special armoured door. Extensive tunnels and elevator shafts supported the guns, and had the site become operational about 1,000 troops from Artillerie Abteilung 705 and supporting units would have been deployed at Mimoyecques. Artillerie Abteilung 705 had been organised in January 1944 under Oberstleutnant Georg Borttscheller to operate the Wiese gun complex.
The plans were to have the first battery of five gun tubes ready for March 1944, and the full complex of 25 gun tubes by 1 October 1944. Following a failure at the Misdroy proving ground in April 1944 after only 25 rounds had been fired, the project was further cut back, from five drifts to three even though work had begun on some of the other drifts. The site was finally put out of commission on 6 July 1944, when bombers of RAF Bomber Command's 617 Squadron (the famous "Dambusters") attacked using 5,400-kilogram (12,000 lb) "Tallboy" deep-penetration bombs.

For the bombing of, and Allied intelligence regarding, this site, see Bombing of Mimoyecques during World War II.

V-3 Firing Battery: How a HE-filled B-17 or B-24 was to Dive Into This by Remote Control Seems Difficult and Unlikely to Succeed

plans for the demolition of the complex

 

 

Luxembourg bombardment

The project eventually came under the control of the SS and SS General Hans Kammler ordered the project to be ready for action in late 1944. Assisted by Walter Dornberger, a battery of two shorter guns approximately 50 metres (160 ft) long with 12 sidechambers were constructed and placed in the hands of the army artillery unit Artillerie Abteilung 705 under the command of Hauptmann (Captain) Patzig. These were sited in a wooded ravine of the Ruwer River at Lampaden about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) southeast of Trier in Germany.
The two guns were aimed west, resting on 13 steel support structures on solid wooden bases on a 34 degree slope. The city of Luxembourg (which had been liberated in September 1944) was at a range of about 43 kilometres (27 mi) and was designated Target No. 305. Between the two gun tubes concrete blockhouses were constructed as well as ten smaller bunkers to hold projectiles and propellant charges.
The assembly and mounting of the Lampaden guns coincided with the final preparations for the Battle of the Bulge. However, the supply of ammunition became problematic due to the state of the German railway network. As time had become critical, it was decided to use a 150-millimetre (5.9 in) finned projectile with a discarding sabot, weighing 95 kilograms (210 lb) and carrying a 7–9 kg (15–20 lb) explosive charge. The propellant comprised a 5 kg (11 lb) main charge and 24 subsidiary charges for a total of 73 kg (160 lb).
By the time the Ardennes offensive began on 16 December 1944, Kammler received orders from OB West (German Army Command in the West) to begin firing at the end of the month and on 30 December 1944 the first gun tube was ready for action. Two warm up rounds were initially fired, followed by five high-explosive shells which were fired in sequence, attended by Kammler. The muzzle velocity was approximately 935 metres per second (3,070 ft/s).
The second gun tube was brought into operation on 11 January 1945 and in total some 183 rounds were fired until 22 February 1945, with 44 confirmed hits in the urban area. The guns were not particularly effective; of the 142 rounds that impacted Luxembourg, total casualties were 10 dead and 35 wounded. One gun was dismantled on February 15,^[ and firing ceased on 22 February, when US Army units had advanced to within 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of the Lampaden site.

Final fate

A second battery of guns began to be deployed in January 1945 at Buhl, aimed at Belfort in support of the Operation Nordwind offensive. One gun was erected before the failure of the Nordwind offensive put the site at risk, and the equipment was removed before firing could begin.
There were other proposals to deploy batteries to bombard Antwerp and other cities but these were not implemented due to the poor state of the German railway network and a lack of ammunition. All four HDP guns were eventually abandoned at the Röchling works in Wetzlar and Artillerie Abteilung 705 was re-equipped with conventional artillery. The disassembled gun tubes, spare parts, and remaining ammunition were later captured by the US Army and shipped to the United States where they were tested and evaluated at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where they were finally scrapped in 1948.

V-3 Museum

The Mimoyecques museum allows visitors to view the galleries (in various stages of construction and bombing damage), remains of the guns, a small scale V-3 replica, and examples of machinery, rail systems and tools employed. The site also contains memorials to the slave-laborers who were employed by the Nazis to construct it, alongside memorials to the airmen lost in action during the destruction of the base.
The Miedzyzdroje site also has a museum.

See also

• Cross-Channel guns in the Second World War

Air Recon Photo of the V-3 Site

Daylight USAAF B-17 Bombing of the V-3 Site

Damaged V-3 Site Tunnel

V-3 Booster charges