How close did the Germans come to nuking the US?
redcoat
Active member
Ho hum, here we go again :roll:doomshot said:
Oh yes the man who invented the least cost effective weapon of WW2, the V2. It cost Germany Billions of Marks and vast quantities of valuable resources and manpower, just to kill a few thousand Allied civilians and blow deep holes in the English countryside.
As for inventing a rocket that could cross the Atlantic, he didn't manage that until the late 50's even with the vast economic power of the US behind him
The only one of his flying wing type designs to see service in WW2 was the Me 162, a aircraft that killed far more of its own pilots than Allied pilots.
Fortunately for the pilot who was supposed to fly this, it never got past the doddle on a notepad stage :roll:
Damien435
Active member
Germany had the plans to build a bomber that could fly across the entire world and drop a 10,000 lbs. bomb on NYC and glide across the atlantic landing in Peenemunde again. Construction of this plane was about to begin when Hitler ordered the project to a stop. And the plans did exist, the B-2 Stealth Bomber was based on the plans Germany made in 1944.
Damien435
Active member
That was the first source that popped up, if you read it it clearly shows that, as I said, the plans existed but not the plane, the War ended before it was built, I am trying to find more sources but alas I do not speak German.
http://www.luft46.com/horten/ho18b.html
http://www.luft46.com/horten/ho18b.html
Damien435
Active member
Darcia said:
lol, I won't know if I need it translated till after it is translated, only then will I be able to read it and gauge it's importance, whether it was worth translating or not. I think an the reference I gave in english above is enough to prove the plans existed.
redcoat
Active member
All you've proved is that a doddle existed, not detailed plans.Damien435 said:
It would have taken years to make something as ambitious and advanced as that
Like I have said before, Luftwaffe 56 not 46
But I have found the aircraft the B-2 was really based on
http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/pictures/gallery/armstrong whitworth aw52g.jpg.html
Actually, joking aside, here is the aircraft the B-2 was most likely developed from
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b3-66.htm
In the 40's and 50's everybody was playing with the flying wing concept , not just the Germans
D_Plus_One
Active member
Heisenberg's experiments into attempting an atom bomb were misguided in many respects, and outright wrong in others. Many scientists debate whether he did this on purpose, or if he really just was on the wrong track the whole way through.
redcoat
Active member
The modern view is that he just got it wrong, and his claim that he did it on purpose was just a self serving lie.D_Plus_One said:
The US intelligence service actually had the major german nuclear scientists together in 'safe custody' in a large house at the time of the dropping of the Atom bomb on Japan... and they were making secret tapes of their conversations.
Heisenberg's reaction to the news was one of total shock, and disbelief.
D_Plus_One
Active member
Yes, but when chemists get together to talk, a straight line isn't always followed. Also I think it is difficult for scientists to analyze in hindsight, knowing how it can actually be accomplished. When you know the path, its tough to see how someone could make a wrong turn.
redcoat
Active member
How can we tell if Heisenberg was telling the truth or not in regards to the Atom bomb ?
In truth, we can't know for 100%, but all the evidence points to him being, if not a Nazi as such, a loyal German.
With the exception of his error in working out the amount of material needed to made a bomb, there is no evidence of him hindering the Nazi war effort in any other way, and he didn't claim he had hindered the Nazi atom bomb work until sometime after the US had dropped the bomb on Japan.
In truth, we can't know for 100%, but all the evidence points to him being, if not a Nazi as such, a loyal German.
With the exception of his error in working out the amount of material needed to made a bomb, there is no evidence of him hindering the Nazi war effort in any other way, and he didn't claim he had hindered the Nazi atom bomb work until sometime after the US had dropped the bomb on Japan.
D_Plus_One
Active member
No, we can't tell for sure whether he was telling the truth or not. He may have said he deliberately erred to make himself look better, and I think the story probably picked up speed, rather than have him remembered as the man whose plan was to build an atom bomb for the Nazis.
A bit more feasible platform for air raids on America from Europe
http://www.luft46.com/prototyp/me264.html
Scroll to the bottom, there's incredible similarity with the B-29. (nose section)
http://www.luft46.com/prototyp/me264.html
Scroll to the bottom, there's incredible similarity with the B-29. (nose section)
Young Winston
Banned
Strongbow said:
I agree with Strongbow.
The Germans were well short of getting a nuclear weapon ready.
Unfortunately the Allies didn't know this until after the war.