V-1 (Fieseler Fi 103)
Research into remote controlled drones began in Germany in the late 1930s, namely by Fritz Gosslau. The Luftwaffe showed little interest in the project until mid-1942, when Gosslau, with the help of the Argus powerplant company and Fieseler, presented a simple design powered by a single pulse-jet engine. The Luftwaffe was intrigued enough to begin experimentation, with the design named the Fieseler Fi 103.
Though prototypes were air-launched, ground launching was much simpler and safer. Delays caused by Allied bombing and other projects delayed the first operational use of the Fi-103 until mid-June 1944; by that time, Hitler had already approved renaming the design in German propaganda as the Vergeltungswaffe 1--"Vengeance Weapon 1," or V-1.
From a military standpoint, the V-1 was a poor weapon. Its guidance system was fairly advanced for its time and its simplicity, but it could only be used against large cities such as London, and after late 1944, Antwerp. Where it would land was anyone's guess, and V-1s would stall easily. Many simply fell out of the air. All the V-1 could really do was kill civilians, which was exactly what Hitler intended.
The V-1 was fast, but not so fast that Allied high-speed propeller fighters could not keep up with it. Specially deployed units of Hawker Tempests and deHavilland Mosquitoes were formed to shoot them down; another method was to tip up the wing of a V-1 with the wingtip of the fighter, causing it to go out of control. Flak barrages were also somewhat effective. The most effective method of stopping V-1s was to ensure they were never launched: Operation Crossbow was enacted to bomb launch ramps and underground storage facilities. By late 1944, most of the launch ramps were overrun by Allied ground forces, but launch ramps in Germany and Heinkel He 111 bombers kept sending out V-1s until the last weeks of the war.
Of the 30,000 V-1s produced--it was remarkably simple to produce, even for a devastated German war industry--only 10,000 were launched, and of those, only 2400 reached their targets. Those that did, however, killed 6100 civilians; at one point, more civilians were killed in London than British soldiers in northwest Europe. After war's end, captured V-1s were used experimentally by the Allies to develop early Cold War-era cruise missiles.
Dad built this V-1 for a course on World War II that I teach. Markings were simple to nonexistent on most V-1s, though most were camouflaged; this one carries a standard Luftwaffe green over gray-green scheme.
V-1 (Fieseler Fi 103)
Research into remote controlled drones began in Germany in the late 1930s, namely by Fritz Gosslau. The Luftwaffe showed little interest in the project until mid-1942, when Gosslau, with the help of the Argus powerplant company and Fieseler, presented a simple design powered by a single pulse-jet engine. The Luftwaffe was intrigued enough to begin experimentation, with the design named the Fieseler Fi 103.
Though prototypes were air-launched, ground launching was much simpler and safer. Delays caused by Allied bombing and other projects delayed the first operational use of the Fi-103 until mid-June 1944; by that time, Hitler had already approved renaming the design in German propaganda as the Vergeltungswaffe 1--"Vengeance Weapon 1," or V-1.
From a military standpoint, the V-1 was a poor weapon. Its guidance system was fairly advanced for its time and its simplicity, but it could only be used against large cities such as London, and after late 1944, Antwerp. Where it would land was anyone's guess, and V-1s would stall easily. Many simply fell out of the air. All the V-1 could really do was kill civilians, which was exactly what Hitler intended.
The V-1 was fast, but not so fast that Allied high-speed propeller fighters could not keep up with it. Specially deployed units of Hawker Tempests and deHavilland Mosquitoes were formed to shoot them down; another method was to tip up the wing of a V-1 with the wingtip of the fighter, causing it to go out of control. Flak barrages were also somewhat effective. The most effective method of stopping V-1s was to ensure they were never launched: Operation Crossbow was enacted to bomb launch ramps and underground storage facilities. By late 1944, most of the launch ramps were overrun by Allied ground forces, but launch ramps in Germany and Heinkel He 111 bombers kept sending out V-1s until the last weeks of the war.
Of the 30,000 V-1s produced--it was remarkably simple to produce, even for a devastated German war industry--only 10,000 were launched, and of those, only 2400 reached their targets. Those that did, however, killed 6100 civilians; at one point, more civilians were killed in London than British soldiers in northwest Europe. After war's end, captured V-1s were used experimentally by the Allies to develop early Cold War-era cruise missiles.
Dad built this V-1 for a course on World War II that I teach. Markings were simple to nonexistent on most V-1s, though most were camouflaged; this one carries a standard Luftwaffe green over gray-green scheme.