Hitler's Secret WW2 Weapon that May Have Almost Hit the White House
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- Опубликовано: 2 май 2024
- April 24, 1945. Edsall-class destroyer USS Flaherty vigilantly patrolled the perilous North Atlantic on the hunt for a horde of deadly German U-boats. Under the codename Operation Teardrop, she formed part of a 24-vessel barrier force whose mission was not only to stop the Nazi submarines from torpedoing crucial Allied supply ships but to prevent a much more terrifying scenario: a devastating U-boat-based missile attack on the mainland United States itself.
As Flaherty roved the vast ocean, suddenly, her radio crackled to life with alarming news: fellow destroyer USS Frederick C. Davis had been hit by a German acoustic homing torpedo, and things didn’t look good. Without wasting a moment, Flaherty dashed through the waves as quickly as she could toward the floundering Davis, determined to save as many souls as possible.
Arriving within minutes, Flaherty was met with a scene of utter chaos and destruction. Davis had broken in two and was rapidly succumbing to the depths as her unfortunate crew fought for their lives among the wreckage and oil slicks. Flaherty’s men managed to haul three survivors from the frigid waters before her lifesaving mission was abruptly interrupted by an urgent message from her sonar operator: the attack’s wily perpetrator was still lurking nearby. With other Allied ships taking over rescue responsibilities, Flaherty was free to focus on her new objective: revenge.
The Germans were trying to develop the capability to launch a V2 from the sea, either by towed barge on a surface ship or a submergible barge with a dry storage hanger towed by a sub. Since there was nearly zero chance of a surface unit getting anywhere near the US coast undetected a submarine was really the only option. While the mission and equipment was feasible on a technical level it would have had very little chance of success.
1. The towing submarine would have been very VERY slow to manage the tow.
2. Greatly impacted the towing submarines seakeeping in weather.
3. If the barge was to sink it could not be disconnected underwater, likely resulting in the loss of sub and crew.
4. It took a couple of hours to prepare and launch a V2 on land but the difficulty increases when working at sea from a barge. The rocket is not structurally sound enough to be raised if pre fueled, it has to be fueled upright but the barge required it to be carried laying down.
5. The crew would need plenty of light to prepare a launch, so either launched in daylight or with plenty of work lights, either option leaves the surfaced sub vulnerable to visible detection.
6. Submarine cannot quickly dive once launch preparation has begun leaving them very vulnerable to attack.
7. Rocket must be launched within 200 miles of its target city further raising the likelihood of detection on the surface (day or night) during launch preparations.
8. Even using a submarine with a submersible launch barge the system still covers most of its journey on the surface using its diesel engines. The combination of sub and launch barge had very poor dive performance if they needed to dive to evade detection.
9. The barge imposed a severe maximum depth penalty (less than 50m if I recall)
10. It would take over ten thousand sorties to have a meaningful impact on the war and each barge could only carry 1 rocket. This is more U-Boat sorties than the Kriegsmarine undertook over the entire war and not by a small margin.
Put simply it was pie in the sky and nearly a suicide mission for the poor crew tasked with such a mission. Even if it had been deployed in 1941 (well before the V2 even existed as a working weapon) and sustained over the entire war and every sortie was 100% successful launching its rocket and hitting its target it would have had virtually no impact on the war for Germany if for no other reason than not having nearly enough submarines available even if they had every U-Boat doing nothing but launching V2's. Realistically those U-Boats were having a much greater impact on the war effort by actually focusing on sinking ships to reduce American personnel, war material, and fuel reaching the front. This is because you would have to do immense damage to many cities to impact production capacity to build a tank, but sinking a ship full of them is faster, easier, cheaper, and safer by comparison. For all those reasons it never really got past preliminary design specifications.
i beg to differ about there being no way to detach the barge from the sub if it sank the tech existed at the time explosive bolts could have been used to separate the tow cable i do agree that it would have been unlikely to make it to launch range undetected but not impossible as the germans did have snorkels for subs allowing them to stay submerged and run their diesel engine it would have been a long slow trip but was not impossible
@@paktahn Think of the big picture, its not just a tow cable but also other connections such as high pressure air, remote ballast controls, remote instrumentation relays (ex: barge depth gauge) external fuel bunkerage for the mother sub (to make the journey with the extra load and drag), and electrical power that would all need a clean and water tight disconnection. While an explosive disconnection would certainly sever the connection it would have been highly unsafe with so many through hull services that would have been part of those connections and really only useful as a last resort to prevent a sinking that is already happening (because you have nothing to lose at that point) but having such devices externally on the sub could just as easily add to risks rather than mitigate them when considering the prospect of an inadvertent activation or malfunction of those charges.
Didn't the Americans launch V1s from a test sub after WW2. I seem to recall a film about a sailor dying when it launched prematurely but can't remember the name.
I do not know about V-1s being used, similar cruise Missile type missiles were used post WWII and into the early 1950s.
@@paulmentzer7658 Probably your thinking of Regulus missile.
The U-Boats would have worked better if they weren't micromanaged. They should have been sent out and told "good luck have fun and let us know when you need us". Instead BdU constantly sent messages out that were decoded by the Allies and the U-Boats had to make contact with BdU every day and were always found where they were expected.
An interesting and informative video, but I think that the value of groups of warships hunting U-boats was originally demonstrated by Capt "Johnny" Walker CB. DSO and three bars, while Alan Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Parker the people who cracked the German codes and, according to many, developed the first (Colossus) computer. Both were British, and some of us are weary of films and videos giving the impression that USA won WW II single-handed. Oh - and did we not also give you, without payment, the UK technologies in ASDIC and radar, and a useful little medicine called penicillin? Credit where it is due, please
The one thing you can't help but notice is that in every wwII documentary is the fact that the allies cracked the communication codes of the enemy. Had that not happened I shudder to think what the outcome might have been. If nothing else the war would have dragged on many years.
Best part? The guy who cracked it was gay, and many tried to discredit the achievement because of it.
@@Gamatech123 They made a movie recently about him. I haven't had the chance to see it yet but a good actor plays him. Benedict Cumberbatch is the guy.
Germans cracked the British code first but that isn't mentioned very often.
@@nickhall5959 That's because cracking a military code is one thing, but cracking what was at the time the most water-tight and difficult code in history is quite another!
Achtung! Isn't that Kommandant Klink at 4:18 - 4:24?
Hoooogaaannnn !
Hogannnnn!!!!!!
@@bulkzorageI love it when good minds think alike :)
"I saw nothing... Noooothing!"
@@Peace2U-ec6es 😂
The V1 was also called the doddle bug, by londoners. hope this helps. Leona
Yes it was nicknamed the "doodle bug" and the "buzz bomb" due to the unique sound made by its pulse jet that made a very unique and noisy sound.
Teenage girls on horseback patrolled the beach at Atlantic Beach, FL, looking for U-boats during WW2.
No horses allowed here anymore. Teen girls yes though. Live in Jax Beach next-door 1 mile south
My old town of Great Falls Montana has a county courthouse, slightly on a hill, with a large dome and large windows. And gave a sweeping view of the area.
During the war, high school boys were given binoculars, and a phone was installed, and they served as Japanese plane spotters, most likely even when the Japanese were in Alaska they probably wouldn't have reached or even bombed Great Falls.
The boys said they never saw a plane but, it was great place to take dates.
You would have thought after time esp' how diligent the Germans are after they are met with force time after time ,they would have asked hey guys we have been hacked
Pa Pa Pete Marsitane? or Marzipain? was Batlle of the Atlantic PBY's the whole ride down through the Americas' gulf, or caribbean, maybe a first EWO, retired from NASA? then CA realestate. Very cool dude, "I think" I was the "only" one he ever talked much with about this, as I knew history as a kid growing up with these Vets.
There were stories that the scientists at Penamundie (sp?) we’re working on a two stage V-2 that could cross the Atlantic and hit our East coast.
Peenemunde
For sure,
it’s called the V3.
But it never left the drawing board
Your confused. The V3 was not a two stage V2 rocket.....Rather the V3 was a very large, very long multi-charge rifled barrel "field gun" literally built into the side of a mountain in Poland with a maximum range of only a little more that 100 miles and it was only actually fired for a few months for testing. The final "V" weapon was a solid fuel rocket otherwise similar to the V2. It was not accurate at all the two times they were launched. I have not heard anything about a multi-stage German rocket that was capable of hitting the east coast ever being designed. The only method other than U-boats that Hitler planned to use against the east coast was the proposed "Amerika" bomber which was to be a large bomber with at least 4 engines. Materials shortages and extreme cost basically killed the bomber before it left the drawing board.
@@rogergoodman8665
My error.
You’re right : among the V weapons the nazis had some sort of supergun like the ww1 Big Bertha.
@minhthunguyendang9900 : No worries! They built so many interesting weapons its easy to get them confused. The Germans built the 2 largest mobil guns ever fired in combat during WW2. They were the heavy rail guns named Schwerer Gustav and Schwerer Dora. They fired shells over 25 miles. Both guns were destroyed by the Germans themselves in the wars final days to prevent the allies from claiming them as "war booty" Gustavs remains were found by American forces and Dora was found by the Soviets. Both were so thoroughly destroyed, they were both eventually scrapped and recycled. Some of their shells still exist, I believe they are like 6 or 7 feet tall and were capable of penatrating 100 feet of reinforced concrete. I think the British have the largest collection of shells and other parts to the guns in one of their big military museums.
We know of a Mr Kim who is called Rocketman but Werner von Braun was the only true Rocketman, right, Elton?
Reginald? Mister Dwight?
steve
The plan to use V1 and V2 missiles against the US eastern seaboard was real... a plan. The German scientists and engineers quickly ruled out the V-2 for it required a very complex setup and fueling process and needed a very stable launch platform - one that could never be done off a submarine riding the swells.
The V1 was still a possibility and attempts to mount a launching ramp those more simple "buzz bombs" launched from was potentially feasible, any accuracy whatsoever was out of the question, and the range would mean the submarines would only be able to hit specific port cities or fall short.
If anything, a few submarines were tested to launch the V1, but for practical application to attack a large city such as Washington DC or New York was not going to happen. There are no records of German U-Boats fitted with launch ramps ever set sail to bombard the eastern seaboard.
SOURCE: My dad was not only a US Navy Captain, but a WWII Naval historian with an above Top Secret clearance. Once the information was no longer classified, he showed me a book written many decades ago (title unknown) that went over all the details of Operation Teardrop that also contained transcribed German intelligence reports about the attempt to arm and launch the V-weapons against the US, but ultimately ran out of time as the war drew to a close.
The Germans WERE working on that type of an attack using V1 bombs, but after Hitler ended his life, the project was cancelled.
The sub towed barges if i remember right got as far as prototypes for testing but never got tested. The two stage amerika rocket wouldve been interesting too, if built. The nazis came up with some unique solutions
is the voice a.i. or an actual person? because "R-gent-a" is how it/he spoke Argentina "arrrr-gen-tina" ...right or is R-gent-a a real site /place?
He is talking as if being hunted by a destroyr of the Royal Navy 😂....
I refer to the cover photo when I ask what does a picture of an overturned ship in a floating drydock have to do with the rest of this video? Clickbait ?
Well well WELL... Torturing prisoners to obtain information... What a surprise. After all, Victor dictates history. But that's ok, we're the good guys... Tit for tat..
Torturing pows is a crime, lying about events that took place is sin, and we are are the good guys as long as we are characterized by good and not evil.
So sniper elite 5?
Hello world
Hello David,
How are you?
Australia!
Krieg ist die Hölle.
. .
Always wondered why no one has made a nuclear powered sub that was rocket powerd
noise the one thing that subs cant make to hide
Any of those tortured U-boat sailors still living? If so ask them & find out what they went through at the hands of Americans as POW.
Doodlebugs!!
THE FACT IS THE TACTICS USED TO GAIN INTELLIGENCE SAVED THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN LIVES !!! POSSIBLY YOUR GRANDPARENTS OR GREAT GRANDPARENTS AND RELATIVES !!!
The end does not justify the means.
😅
There is a third war happening, don't annoy your viewers with 80 year old shit ,we are here now
Torturing prisoners is unforgivable.
Since our admission of using enhanced interrogation methods all around the world... disregarding any Geneva Convention guidelines... do you think our adversaries will still adhere to it? Probably not... so why the hell did we even admit it...???
THESE AI VIDEOS HAVE STOPPED TRYING LOL
yoo on god this comment section looking empty
First! 🎉
What an intelligent comment.
What an amazing accomplishment, this must be a moment in your life that you will never forget. I hope you have marked your greatest accomplishment on a calendar so that you and the world will never forget the highest achievement of your life.
@@Scrambler85wow, what a waste of time
@@Scrambler85 I think the same thing every time I see it. No opinion or useful comment just First. 😐
I used to really like your content, but this is an example of why I don’t so much anymore. Using images of nuclear explosions to illustrate the threat of German buzz bombs when the Germans had no such nuclear technology is ridiculous and it’s analogous to Clickbait … shame on you.
Totally agree, don't forget the "hair regrowth debacle" they're selling themselves short, they did have good videos once.
Why do you say the germans had no such capabilities?
Hitler mentioned bombs with catastrophic destruction capability being available soon in late 44 and again in 45. There is a massive difference between the two bombs. There was a lot of betrayal at the end of the war for the Germans. Someone my have concealed the availability of the bomb or hitler simply decided not to use it much like he decided not to use the massive stores of chemical weapins.
@@user-lg1rd7jb5mwell the allies were going all out to destroy any heavy water procurement.
And AH Schicklgruber had persecuted most of the better nuclear physicists out of Germany.
You should stop bitching and make your own content troll
That's true German was quick in making rocket U-boats and it was deadly attack if it was us in USA soil it. USA will be in dire situation 😬☢🛢
Submarine crews allied and foes were brave men as were surface crews !. Unwritten law was to rescue survivors. Some must have been dismayed realising that these survivors were to be tortured afterwards. Good documentary but commentator needs to slow down a little . Thanks to you and subscribers who provide us with their experiences. Dave
@@davidhewson8605 🤝🏻👍🏻🍷
America is a continent not a country, there are no american citizens, you meant US citizens.
You are ignorant.
Mass immigration coming soon.. Pack your bags..
Still wrong. /North/ America is a continent. 'United States of America' is a country.
There are American/US citizens, calling us 'United States of Americans' is outright stupid. Is there any other country whose citizens we can call 'American'?
No? Well... alright then. Americans! :D
You are objectively incorrect. North America and South America are continents.
"America" is a country, not a continent.