Were you aware that firing a V-2 rocket was so complicated? What did you think about the video? Welcome back! If you are new here make sure to hit subscribe to expand your knowledge on Military History and join the growing Premier History Community!
What I am aware of is that at wars end, Germany was working on a rocket that could reach New York City. The only thing that saved the United States from oblivion was the Atlantic Ocean. The United States won WWII by sure chance.
@@itjustlookslikethisnot really, it was more logistics Germany effectively didn't have the time or resources to get the nuke made that late in the war they didn't have access to oil after while .not in the quantity they needed anyways and even still Germany wasn't going to stop america by being able to hit New York
And here we are, 80 years later, and rocket technology still hasn't changed. Even though the V2 was used for evil purposes it's an astonishing feat of engineering. Thanks for sharing this rare video.
It changed a lot. Rockets can now put things into space or a warhead any place on the planet. Military rockets are solid fuel and can be launched in seconds, always ready to go.
@@billinct860 Mutually assured destruction has kept this country safe, sir. The vast oceans on both sides of the country can no longer save us from oblivion, like they did in WWII.
I read the book "V2" by Robert Harris and it descibed the launch of V2 in simpler terms, so thank you for all the detail. In the book there's mention of the inverted cone on the ground centered below the rocket exhaust used to channel the rocket flame in equal directions. There it was! FYI, the book is very good!
Listening to the witnesses to the impacts in London, they often stated that due to the incoming speed of the V2's, they didn't hear the rocket until after the impact explosion.
The amazing part about the V2, is the tiny 4 cent doorbell buzzer button on the bottom of the fin, that started all of the guidance systems, once the rocket lifted off the pad and took the pressure off of that button so it could close.
V2s were launched from the U.S. until the early 50's, and the first rocket launched from the U.S. to reach space was a V2. The first liquid fuel rocket was launched in the U.S. by Robert Goddard in 1926.
No! I was not aware that the process was so involved and required so many men to prepare it. According to other sources, although somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 were launched, they often missed their target by 7 to 17 km. They did result in an estimated 9,000 civilian and military deaths.
Had the germans developed a solid fuel system it would have been easier. Safer. The liquids were hazardous. But solid fuel for thst size would be quite development in that era. Not until minuteman that was possible.
The "V" of the V-1 and V-2 stood for vengeance. Americans and British were bombing German cities relentlessly, in violation of the Geneva convention. The V-1s and V-2s were always launched about a half hour after the British and the Americans dropped their bombs.
To little and to late thank God... Im glad we got Wernher on our side and the Russians didn't capture him... The Germans were amazing engineers, way ahead of ANYONE else in the WORLD.. They still have sime of the greatest scientists and engineers in the world today...
glad antwerp was mentioned, it was the city most bombed by v2 and v1,s in ww2, people always talk about londen, but antwerp had it way worse after it was in hands of the allies,aperantly hitler literly said that it had to be removed from the map by bombarding it out of existance
the bizarre fact is that towards the end of the war the limiting factor for number of launches was not the liquid oxygen supply not the supply of rockets, but the potato harvest. they distilled ethanol from potatoes, while people were hungry... insane.
Imagine a larger, 1000 lb incendiary bomb loaded with napalm along with a hardened penetrator, a slightly excessive burst charge and a very short delay hitting one of those loaded LOX lorries.
I have two main takeaways from this: 1) what an amazing treasure it is to stumble across so specific of a nerdy video 2) Hitler was an idiot. All that time, all those resources, countless slave lives and skilled engineers..... all to basically lob 2000lb bombs in the general direction of the 'target area'. Someone had to invest and 'be the pioneer' and that has paid-off in spades... but not for him.
Indeed. Complicated enough. So muc manual labor at the launch site. No wonder the Saturn V rocket worked so well for NASA, and the US. It a German design from the V2. I guess the US didn’t have the knowledge.
Why is there a jet-engine sound the entire video? The rocket engine obviously wasn't running. 😀 I would not want to go through this process while looking out for Typhoons and Thunderbolts. Everything around you was explosive, so if any cannon shell hit it, boom.....
I read a long time ago that Wernher von Braun's early main interest was in developing and perfecting rockets for eventual space travel with no particular interest in developing the device for use as a weapon of mass destruction, but with the only funding for rocket science at the time being that provided by the Nazis, von Braun accepted it with his attitude being (I'd venture to guess) , "You've gotta start somewhere, however you can." Not being able to change things for the better anyhow, my guess is he simply accepted the bad (having to use slave labor and promoting the Nazi cause) along with the good (Whoopie! I get to build rockets) to pursue his interest. I'm sure once Nazi Germany lost, he immdiately went running to the Americans waving and hollering the word "paperclip"--whatever that meant. I'm sure when men finally went to the moon, there was no happier, prouder man than he--with at least (I should hope) a little tinge of sadness at all that it took (some of it bad) of how he got there.
@@kimvibk9242 Yes, it is the "Kuifje/Tin Tin" rocket, the whole passport is FULL with cartoons like the Smurfs, Marsupilami, Kuifje, ... But... the Hergé rocket was inspired by the V2 following Hergé himself. Colors match perfect.
As a war weapon the V-2 was junk. Great tech advance, but it cost vastly more than the damage it did, which was very minor compared to the 1,000 plane bomber raids on Germany A 1,000 bombers dropping 10 bombs each...compared to one V-2.
I was thinking the same thing. At least let it hang out of your mouth and use both hands to do your job. They seemed more concerned with that cancer stick than with the task assigned to them. Most of the V-2 launches were made toward the end of the war however, these guys almost certainly knew they were fighting a lost cause, why not have a ciggy then?
Despite all of this amazing technology, the Allies beat these guys who thought they were so superior. I bet they couldnt believe that the master race was beat by a bunch of scruffy guys from all over the world!
Too much effort and too many resources expended on delivery of a one ton warhead. Tall Boy and Grand Slam bombs were so much more effective and used against strategic military targets, not indiscriminately on innocent civilians.
Exactly my thought, but I must also say that dropping a bomb from an airplane is also a quite complicated way of delivering some TNT. Aicraft design, building, maintenance and flying are also costly. Even if you divide it by tons TNT delivered.
Yes, it was expensive, but it was less costly to use it to hit targets (even with it's inaccuracy) than it was to use manned bombers. The RAF in the Battle of Britain, plus the combined efforts of Bomber Command and the US 8th Air Force strategic bombing campaign effectively wiped out the Luftwaffe, so Germany had no other practical way of attacking. The RAF had long since figured out how to destroy V-1's. There was no defense against a V-2. But, it was an act of desperation.
@@karlmartell9279 Agreed, and Dresden could have been spared. I'm only referring to the earthquake bombs which were used on key military targets of essential strategic significance, a specialized weapon as compared to the V2. The death toll for civilians on all fronts was horrifying.
The fact that the Germans had already had these capabilities back in the early-mid 1940s is mind boggling, especially in view of the fact that the American and British were nowhere close to such capabilities (although the Americans were close to nuclear abilities).
Were you aware that firing a V-2 rocket was so complicated? What did you think about the video?
Welcome back! If you are new here make sure to hit subscribe to expand your knowledge on Military History and join the growing Premier History Community!
What I am aware of is that at wars end, Germany was working on a rocket that could reach New York City. The only thing that saved the United States from oblivion was the Atlantic Ocean. The United States won WWII by sure chance.
@@itjustlookslikethisnot really, it was more logistics Germany effectively didn't have the time or resources to get the nuke made that late in the war they didn't have access to oil after while .not in the quantity they needed anyways and even still Germany wasn't going to stop america by being able to hit New York
Awesome!
Great documentary
The ignition device looking like a swastika is kinda funny
And here we are, 80 years later, and rocket technology still hasn't changed.
Even though the V2 was used for evil purposes it's an astonishing feat of engineering.
Thanks for sharing this rare video.
It changed a lot. Rockets can now put things into space or a warhead any place on the planet. Military rockets are solid fuel and can be launched in seconds, always ready to go.
@@billinct860 Mutually assured destruction has kept this country safe, sir. The vast oceans on both sides of the country can no longer save us from oblivion, like they did in WWII.
Great history thank you ❤
excellent document.
Simple and refined for well trained personnel
I read the book "V2" by Robert Harris and it descibed the launch of V2 in simpler terms, so thank you for all the detail. In the book there's mention of the inverted cone on the ground centered below the rocket exhaust used to channel the rocket flame in equal directions. There it was! FYI, the book is very good!
I have been in Peenemünde in July 2024. incredible story!
Listening to the witnesses to the impacts in London, they often stated that due to the incoming speed of the V2's, they didn't hear the rocket until after the impact explosion.
The amazing part about the V2, is the tiny 4 cent doorbell buzzer button on the bottom of the fin, that started all of the guidance systems, once the rocket lifted off the pad and took the pressure off of that button so it could close.
Excellent technology for that time.
Very informative video. A very complicated process involving more men than I thought.
Not a walk in the park :)
Awesome documentary. Lot of work to get 1 launch. 17:05
U.S.- built V2 rockets were those used at the beginning of their space programme.
V2s were launched from the U.S. until the early 50's, and the first rocket launched from the U.S. to reach space was a V2. The first liquid fuel rocket was launched in the U.S. by Robert Goddard in 1926.
Very enlightening.
The power to erect the rocket came from a VW Beetle engine.
Great Video! Greetings from Sammelplatz Militaria
You'd think they would've had a cork on that tip, it could have your eye out 🧐
Good video! I'm still wondering how it was set to a target.
That's what most of the work with the theodolites was for... to align the missile's gyroscope with the firing azimuth.
No! I was not aware that the process was so involved and required so many men to prepare it. According to other sources, although somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 were launched, they often missed their target by 7 to 17 km. They did result in an estimated 9,000 civilian and military deaths.
I always think of Tin Tin when i see these rockets.
@@6teeth That's really sad.
Had the germans developed a solid fuel system it would have been easier. Safer. The liquids were hazardous. But solid fuel for thst size would be quite development in that era. Not until minuteman that was possible.
Unbelievable 😊
COMMING THIS WINTER TO WARTHUNDER!
Funny how the Nazis only sent V1 and V2 weapons westward. Their greatest trouble was from the east.
Not funny at all bucket head
Indeed.
The "V" of the V-1 and V-2 stood for vengeance.
Americans and British were bombing German cities relentlessly, in violation of the Geneva convention. The V-1s and V-2s were always launched about a half hour after the British and the Americans dropped their bombs.
the missile's shape was taken from the silhouette of a Mauser 8mm rifle bullet
Wow did not know it was so complicated and tedious.
To these guys this was super hi-tech…. It looks barbaric to us today.
Nice program
To little and to late thank God... Im glad we got Wernher on our side and the Russians didn't capture him... The Germans were amazing engineers, way ahead of ANYONE else in the WORLD.. They still have sime of the greatest scientists and engineers in the world today...
glad antwerp was mentioned, it was the city most bombed by v2 and v1,s in ww2, people always talk about londen, but antwerp had it way worse after it was in hands of the allies,aperantly hitler literly said that it had to be removed from the map by bombarding it out of existance
the bizarre fact is that towards the end of the war the limiting factor for number of launches was not the liquid oxygen supply not the supply of rockets, but the potato harvest. they distilled ethanol from potatoes, while people were hungry... insane.
Almost made it to the two minute mark before I had to sit through two commercials.
Makes me think of the Robert Harris novel V-2
Definitely pointy..like a proper missile 😂
Imagine a larger, 1000 lb incendiary bomb loaded with napalm along with a hardened penetrator, a slightly excessive burst charge and a very short delay hitting one of those loaded LOX lorries.
Definitely complicated. Was it accurate?
No.
At a range of 240km rockets would land in a 25x20km area.
I have two main takeaways from this: 1) what an amazing treasure it is to stumble across so specific of a nerdy video 2) Hitler was an idiot. All that time, all those resources, countless slave lives and skilled engineers..... all to basically lob 2000lb bombs in the general direction of the 'target area'. Someone had to invest and 'be the pioneer' and that has paid-off in spades... but not for him.
Indeed. Complicated enough. So muc manual labor at the launch site. No wonder the Saturn V rocket worked so well for NASA, and the US. It a German design from the V2. I guess the US didn’t have the knowledge.
Bravo.......job security.........rockets dangerous stuff in early days........wow.........I'm glad Germany is on our side this time.......cheers
Why is there a jet-engine sound the entire video? The rocket engine obviously wasn't running. 😀
I would not want to go through this process while looking out for Typhoons and Thunderbolts. Everything around you was explosive, so if any cannon shell hit it, boom.....
My mother's maiden name was Brawn I'm related to him.
it's written Braun
No, you're just a kid and Wernher von Braun is not related to your mother. If she were related she'd be called von Braun.
I read a long time ago that Wernher von Braun's early main interest was in developing and perfecting rockets for eventual space travel with no particular interest in developing the device for use as a weapon of mass destruction, but with the only funding for rocket science at the time being that provided by the Nazis, von Braun accepted it with his attitude being (I'd venture to guess) , "You've gotta start somewhere, however you can." Not being able to change things for the better anyhow, my guess is he simply accepted the bad (having to use slave labor and promoting the Nazi cause) along with the good (Whoopie! I get to build rockets) to pursue his interest. I'm sure once Nazi Germany lost, he immdiately went running to the Americans waving and hollering the word "paperclip"--whatever that meant. I'm sure when men finally went to the moon, there was no happier, prouder man than he--with at least (I should hope) a little tinge of sadness at all that it took (some of it bad) of how he got there.
Allies were 10years behing germans V2.
The Nazis were 4 years behind the US in quest for nuclear bomb.
@@donkeyslayer9879 You have to learn hystory before you flapper your Iips.
But the allies had the nuclear bomb almost ready at that time, or at least in very advanced development stages.
@Eric-kn4yn The evil Nazis were 4+ years behind the Allies in nuclear weapons, and thank God for that.
@@johnsmith100 It is ready or not ready. It was not and it took a lot longer AND a German scientist.
Do you know, that Belgians have a V2 hologram in ther new passports?
Are you sure it is not the Tintin rocket? Hergé was Belgian, after all...
@@kimvibk9242 Yes, it is the "Kuifje/Tin Tin" rocket, the whole passport is FULL with cartoons like the Smurfs, Marsupilami, Kuifje, ...
But... the Hergé rocket was inspired by the V2 following Hergé himself. Colors match perfect.
Who cares?
@@donkeyslayer9879 Not you, Iow sociaI Ievel.
you have to marvel at the German engineering they gave it a lot of thought 1000 pound bomb not much power terror weapon for sure
Il avait 10 ans d'avance
As a war weapon the V-2 was junk.
Great tech advance, but it cost vastly more than the damage it did, which was very minor compared to the 1,000 plane bomber raids on Germany
A 1,000 bombers dropping 10 bombs each...compared to one V-2.
The begin of NASA 😂😂😂
17:05
German Technology at its best!!
It is not "soogmaschine". Try "tsoogmaschine", with the ts like in "wits" (he has his wits about him). That is how the German Z is pronounced.
ΑΥΤΗ ΕΙΝΑΙ Η ΓΕΡΜΑΝΙΚΗ ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑ
soldiers are smoking on the louncher site? Seriously?
I was thinking the same thing.
At least let it hang out of your mouth and use both hands to do your job. They seemed more concerned with that cancer stick than with the task assigned to them.
Most of the V-2 launches were made toward the end of the war however, these guys almost certainly knew they were fighting a lost cause, why not have a ciggy then?
Despite all of this amazing technology, the Allies beat these guys who thought they were so superior. I bet they couldnt believe that the master race was beat by a bunch of scruffy guys from all over the world!
What a palarva
New York city
I just am hoping that the orcs are not listening to this video
Too much effort and too many resources expended on delivery of a one ton warhead. Tall Boy and Grand Slam bombs were so much more effective and used against strategic military targets, not indiscriminately on innocent civilians.
Exactly my thought, but I must also say that dropping a bomb from an airplane is also a quite complicated way of delivering some TNT. Aicraft design, building, maintenance and flying are also costly. Even if you divide it by tons TNT delivered.
Yes, it was expensive, but it was less costly to use it to hit targets (even with it's inaccuracy) than it was to use manned bombers. The RAF in the Battle of Britain, plus the combined efforts of Bomber Command and the US 8th Air Force strategic bombing campaign effectively wiped out the Luftwaffe, so Germany had no other practical way of attacking. The RAF had long since figured out how to destroy V-1's. There was no defense against a V-2. But, it was an act of desperation.
You mean Dresden and others?
@@karlmartell9279 Agreed, and Dresden could have been spared. I'm only referring to the earthquake bombs which were used on key military targets of essential strategic significance, a specialized weapon as compared to the V2. The death toll for civilians on all fronts was horrifying.
But the planes carrying the Grand Slam and Tall boys could be shot down.. The V2 once launched was UNSTOPPABLE...
The fact that the Germans had already had these capabilities back in the early-mid 1940s is mind boggling, especially in view of the fact that the American and British were nowhere close to such capabilities (although the Americans were close to nuclear abilities).
Good human (rather than the annoying AI generated voice) narration, nice accent :)