Posted on Jun 17, 2017
5
5
0
On this day in 1944, Germany launches 10 of its new V1 rockets against Britain from a position near the Channel coast. They prove to be less than devastating.
Mired in the planning stages for a year, the V1 was a pilotless, jet-propelled plane that flew by air-driven gyroscope and magnetic compass, capable of unleashing a ton of cruise missile explosives. Unfortunately for the Germans, the detonation process was rather clumsy and imprecise, depending on the impact of the plane as the engine quit and the craft crash-landed. They often missed their targets.
This was certainly the case against Britain. Of the 10 V1, or Reprisal 1, “flying bombs” shot at England, five crashed near the launch site, and one was lost altogether—just four landed inside the target country. Only one managed to take any lives: Six people were killed in London. The Germans had hoped to also mount a more conventional bombing raid against Britain at the same time the V1s were hitting their targets—in the interest of heightening the “terror” effect. This too blew up in their faces, as the Brits destroyed the German bombers on the ground the day before as part of a raid on German airfields.
Mired in the planning stages for a year, the V1 was a pilotless, jet-propelled plane that flew by air-driven gyroscope and magnetic compass, capable of unleashing a ton of cruise missile explosives. Unfortunately for the Germans, the detonation process was rather clumsy and imprecise, depending on the impact of the plane as the engine quit and the craft crash-landed. They often missed their targets.
This was certainly the case against Britain. Of the 10 V1, or Reprisal 1, “flying bombs” shot at England, five crashed near the launch site, and one was lost altogether—just four landed inside the target country. Only one managed to take any lives: Six people were killed in London. The Germans had hoped to also mount a more conventional bombing raid against Britain at the same time the V1s were hitting their targets—in the interest of heightening the “terror” effect. This too blew up in their faces, as the Brits destroyed the German bombers on the ground the day before as part of a raid on German airfields.
Germans launch V-1 rocket attack against Britain - Jun 13, 1944 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.comPosted in these groups: 
WWII World War Two
WWII World War Two
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
0
0
0
Thanks for reminding us TSgt Joe C. that on June 13, 1944 Germany launches 10 of its new V1 rockets against Britain from a position near the Channel coast which proved to be less than devastating.
The V1 was essentially unguided while the V2 was a guided missile.
The V1 was essentially unguided while the V2 was a guided missile.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
The V-1 rockets were a great rocket that might have worked better for the Germans if they had been used to batter behind the Allied lines. They were slow and made a distinct noise as they plummeted to earth, hence the buzz bomb. Fighters could actually shoot these bombs down. Improvements made brought in the V-2 which was a true intermediate range cruise missile. The big weakness for them was the same as the earlier V-1: imprecise aiming & guidance systems.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google