Wunderwaffe

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V-2

Wunderwaffe (German pronunciation: [ˈvʊndɐˌvafə]) is German for "wonder-weapon" and was a term assigned during World War II by the Third Reich propaganda ministry to a few revolutionary "superweapons". Most of these weapons however remained more or less feasible prototypes, or reached the combat theatre too late, and in too insignificant numbers (if at all) to have a military effect. A derisive abbreviation of the term emerged: Wuwa, pronounced "voo-vah".[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.

In Germany, the term Wunderwaffe is still used today to describe a powerful tool.

Naval vessels

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

  • H-class battleship – a series of proposals for battleships, culminating in the H-44, a 140,000 ton battleship with eight 20 inch guns. Two only laid down; scrapped on slipways

U-boats

Oceangoing U-boats

Littoral U-boats

  • Type XXII U-boat – a U-boat designed to use air-independent propulsion; two were under construction
  • Type XXIII U-boat ("Elektroboot") – a U-boat designed for littoral missions; 67 were built
  • Type XXV U-boat – a planned all-electric U-Boat designed for littoral missions

Submarine aircraft carrier

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

Armored vehicles

Anti-aircraft weapons

Anti-tank weapons

Super-heavy tanks

  • Landkreuzer P. 1000 "Ratte" (Rat) – a planned super-heavy tank, weighing 1000 metric tons and armed with two 280mm cannons, 128mm anti-tank gun, 8 20mm flak guns and 2 15mm heavy machine guns
  • Landkreuzer P. 1500 "Monster" – a proposed super-heavy self-propelled gun, weighing 1500 metric tons and armed with the 800mm Schwerer Gustav/Dora gun
  • Panzer VII "Löwe" (Lion) – a planned super-heavy tank, weighing 90 metric tons and armed with a 105mm cannon
  • Panzer VIII "Maus" (Mouse) – a super-heavy tank, weighing 180 metric tons and armed with two cannons of 128mm and 75mm calibre, two operable prototypes completed
  • Panzerkampfwagen E-100 – a planned super-heavy tank, weighing 140 metric tons and armed with either 128, 149 or 170mm cannon

Gliders

Piston engine aircraft

  • Focke-Achgelis Fa 269 – a planned tilt-rotor VTOL fighter
  • Focke-Wulf Ta 152 – a high-altitude interceptor
  • Focke-Wulf Ta 400 – a planned Amerika Bomber candidate with six radial engines and two jet engines with a range of 13,000 km in bomber configuration
  • Heinkel He 111Z – a five engined Zwilling (twin fuselage) aircraft created by combining two He 111s and designed to tow large gliders
  • Heinkel He 274 – a high altitude heavy bomber with four in-line engines with a range of 3,440 km, two completed by France after the war
  • Heinkel He 277 – a planned, advanced long range bomber design, never built as a complete aircraft, evolved to be an Amerika Bomber candidate, to be powered with four BMW 801 radial engines and up to 11,000 km range
  • Junkers Ju 390 – an Amerika Bomber candidate with six radial engines with a range of 9,700 km, two airworthy prototypes built and flown
  • Junkers Ju 488 – a heavy bomber with four radial engines with a range of 3,395 km
  • Messerschmitt Me 264 – an Amerika Bomber candidate with four inline or radial engines and a range of 15,000 km, three airworthy prototypes built and flown
  • Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant" (Giant) – a heavy transport with six engines

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

Directed-energy weapons

Main article: Directed-energy weapon

Rheotron/betatron

Among the directed-energy weapons the Nazis investigated were x-ray beam weapons developed under Heinz Schmellenmeier, Richard Gans and Fritz Houtermans. They built an electron accelerator called Rheotron (invented by Max Steenbeck at Siemens-Schuckert in the 1930s, these were later called betatrons by the Americans) to generate hard x-ray synchrotron beams for the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM). The intent was to pre-ionize ignition in aircraft engines and hence serve as anti-aircraft DEW and bring planes down into the reach of flak. The rheotron was captured by the Americans in Burggrub on April 14, 1945.

Röntgenkanone

Another approach was Ernst Schiebolds 'Röntgenkanone' developed from 1943 in Großostheim near Aschaffenburg. The Company Richert Seifert & Co from Hamburg delivered parts.

Mission equipment

  • Zielgerät 1229 "Vampir" – active infrared for the Sturmgewehr 44
  • FG 1250 Tank Mounted night-vision equipment

Fictitious

See also

Notes

  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.
  • Reiner Merkel: Hans Kammler – Manager des Todes, 2010 August von Goethe Literaturverlag, Frankfurt am Main, ISBN 978-3-8372-0817-7.
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