Wunderwaffe

V-2 rocket at Peenemünde Museum

Wunderwaffe (German pronunciation: [ˈvʊndɐˌvafə]) is German for "Miracle Weapon" and was a term assigned during World War II by the Nazi Germany propaganda ministry to some revolutionary "superweapons". Most of these weapons however remained prototypes, which either never reached the combat theater, or if they did, were too late or in too insignificant numbers to have a military effect.[1]

The V-weapons, which were developed earlier and saw considerable deployment, especially against London and Antwerp, trace back to the same pool of highly inventive armament concepts. Therefore, they are also included here.

As the war situation worsened for Germany from 1942, claims about the development of revolutionary new weapons which could turn the tide became an increasingly prominent part of the propaganda directed at Germans by their government.[2] In reality, the advanced weapons under development generally required lengthy periods of design work and testing, and there was no realistic prospect of the German military being able to field them before the end of the war. When some advanced designs, such as the Panther tank and Type XXI submarine, were rushed into production their performance proved disappointing to the German military and leadership due to inadequate pre-production testing or poorly planned construction processes.[3] However, a few of these weapons proved to be successful and have had a large influence in post war designs, such as the StG 44 assault rifle and the V-1 missile.

In the German language the term Wunderwaffe generally refers to a universal solution which solves all problems related to a particular issue, mostly used ironically for its illusionary nature.

Aircraft carriers

  • Graf Zeppelin – a 33,550 ton aircraft carrier laid down in 1936; never completed.
  • Flugzeugträger B – planned sister ship to the Graf Zeppelin; scrapped before launching.
  • I (1942) – a planned 56,500 ton aircraft carrier, converted from a transport; cancelled before work started.

Battleships

U-boats

Oceangoing U-boats

Littoral U-boats

U-Cruisers

  • Type XI – a U-boat designed to carry the Arado Ar 231 collapsible floatplane and have 128mm turrets; four were laid down but canceled at the outbreak of World War II

Armoured vehicles

Anti-aircraft weapons

Anti-tank weapons

Heavy Tanks

Super-heavy tanks

  • Landkreuzer P. 1000 "Ratte" (Rat) – a planned super-heavy tank, weighing 1000 tonnes and armed with two 280mm cannons, one 128mm anti-tank gun, 8 20mm flak guns and 2 15mm heavy machine guns; cancelled in early 1943
  • Panzer VII "Löwe" (Lion) – a planned super-heavy tank, weighing 90 tonnes and armed with a 105mm cannon; cancelled in March 1942 in favor of the Panzer VIII Maus
  • Panzer VIII "Maus" (Mouse) – a super-heavy tank, weighing 180 tonnes and armed with two cannons of 128mm and 75mm calibre; five were ordered but only two operable prototypes completed
  • Panzerkampfwagen E-100 – a planned super-heavy tank, weighing 140 tonnes and armed with either 128 or 150 mm cannon, one prototype hull nearly completed, the hull was later captured and evaluated by the British before being scrapped in the 1950s

Reconnaissance tanks

  • Kugelpanzer (ball tank), a prototype spherical reconnaissance/cable-laying tank with a mysterious history. Sent to Japan and captured by the Soviets in 1945. Currently on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum.

Gliders

Piston engine aircraft

Jets and rocket-propelled aircraft

Helicopters

Bombs and explosives

Artillery

Missiles

Orbital

  • Sun gun – a parabolic mirror in orbit designed to focus sunlight onto specific locations on the Earth's surface

Rifles

Mission equipment

Purported

See also

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ Willy Ley, "V-2: Rocket Cargo Ship" Astounding Science Fiction, May 1945, repr. Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space, (ed. J. Francis McComas, Raymond J. Healy, [1946], 1957), p. 359.
  2. ↑ Tooze 2007, p. 611.
  3. ↑ Tooze 2007, pp. 612–618.

Works consulted

  • Merkel, Reiner (2010). Hans Kammler – Manager des Todes. Frankfurt am Main: August von Goethe Literaturverlag. ISBN 978-3-8372-0817-7.
  • Tooze, Adam (2007). The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780141003481.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.