V-1 Buzz Bomb

The Fieseler Fi 103, better known as V-1 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1) was an early cruise missile used during World War Two. The V-1 was developed at Peenemünde by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Between June 1944 and 29 March 1945, it was fired at population centers such as London and Antwerp. V-1s were launched from "ski" launch sites along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts until the sites were overrun by Allied forces. The underground V-1 storage depots at Saint-Leu-d'Esserent, Nucourt and Rilly-la-Montagne, as well as the launch sites, were bombed during Operation Crossbow.

The earliest experimental versions of the V-1 were air-launched. Most operational V-1s were launched from static sites on land, but from July 1944 to January 1945 the Luftwaffe launched approximately 1,176 from modified Heinkel He 111 H-22s flying with the Luftwaffe's 3rd Bomber Wing or Kampfgeschwader 3 (the so-named "Blitz Wing") flying over the North Sea. Research after the war estimated a 40% failure rate of air-launched V-1s, and the He-111s used in this role were extremely vulnerable to night fighter attack, as the launch lit up the area around the aircraft for several seconds.

Late in the war several air-launched piloted V-1s, known as Reichenbergs, were built, but never used in combat. There were plans, not carried into practice, to use the Arado Ar 234 jet bomber to launch V-1s either by towing them aloft or by launching them from a "piggy back" position atop the aircraft.

Almost 30,000 V-1s were made. 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 were received by Croydon, on the SE fringe of London.

Antwerp (Belgium) was hit by 2,448 V-1s from October 1944 to March 1945.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Vergeltungswaffe
• V-1
• Fieseler
• Fi
• 103
• cruise
• missile
• buzz
• bomb
• doodlebug
• pulsejet

[theboneman1977]

those crazy nazis sure built some cool weapons

[Lucicsux]

here you have it first folks, the worlds first cruise missile....Germany was so far ahead in technology, im shocked they still didnt win the war, even though Hitler blew it by attacking the Russkies in 1941......turning point that will live in infamy. Cheers

[3ISAMAGICNUMBR]

Hate to say it, but we owe a lot of today's aviation wonders to the Nazis.

[Pikabuu2]

at 1:24 FAAAIIIL

[Beowolf1970ff]

good film thx for upload.. at all.. better these weapon and the V2 and some other weapons never reach the full combat status and front power.. (or large numbers like me 262 and so on) who kows what would have happened

[fastacker2]

@Lucicsux Well, the US developed he nuclear bomb first, so all tactics aside, that would have definitively ended the German aggression. Also, technology alone without wise tactics and strategy will not win. Attacking Russia along with all of the other German fronts was monumentally stupid. And running hundreds of R&D programs at the same time, without focusing on what is critical to win is also not so schmart. The US focused on the bomb and radar and cheap plentiful tanks and planes.

[Slagar1000]

They were fighting on 3 fronts and had only 2 allies. One of which Italy was a joke.

[NWA90s]

@Lucicsux they had enemies in the east and in the west. they were waging wars in africa, russia and france. no surprise they lost. hitler was a idiot

[MicaBrag]

wow!

they sure were ahead of us in tech.

[ultrajd]

The worlds first cruise missile. 

[Civsuccess2]

Americans are copycats!!

[absurdny]

@Lucicsux Germany used reverse engineering on ufo's that crashed