FREE REPAIRING THE PANZERS: VOLUME 2: GERMAN TANK MAINTENANCE IN WORLD WAR 2 PDF Lukas Friedli | 256 pages | 01 Nov 2011 | Panzerwrecks | 9781908032010 | English | Heathfield, United Kingdom World War II German Panther Medium Tank Assigned to aid in this cause, Captain Walter Dornberger, an artilleryman by trade, was ordered to investigate the feasibility of rockets. Impressed with his work, Dornberger recruited von Braun to aid in developing liquid-fueled rockets for the military in August Originally known as the A4, the V-2 featured a range of miles Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 a maximum speed of 3, mph. Its 2, pounds of explosives and liquid propellant rocket engine allowed Hitler's army to employ it with deadly accuracy. Commencing work with a team of 80 engineers at Kummersdorf, von Braun created the small A2 rocket in late While somewhat successful, the A2 relied on a primitive cooling system for its engine. Intended to be a smaller prototype of the A4 war rocket, the A3's engine nonetheless lacked endurance, and problems quickly emerged with its control systems and aerodynamics. Accepting that the A3 was a failure, the A4 was postponed while the problems were dealt with using the smaller A5. The first major issue to be addressed was constructing an engine powerful enough to lift the A4. This became a seven-year development process that led to the invention of new fuel nozzles, a pre-chamber system for mixing oxidizer and propellant, a shorter combustion chamber, and a shorter exhaust nozzle. Next, designers were forced to create a guidance system for the rocket that would allow it to reach the proper velocity before shutting off the engines. Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 result of this research was the creation of an early inertial guidance system, which would allow the A4 to hit a city-sized target at a range of miles. As the A4 would be traveling at supersonic speeds, the team was forced to conduct repeated tests of Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 shapes. While supersonic wind tunnels were built at Peenemunde, they were not completed in time to test the A4 before being put into service, and many of the aerodynamic tests were conducted on a trial and error basis with conclusions based on informed guesswork. A final issue was developing a radio transmission system that could relay information about the rocket's performance to controllers on the ground. Attacking the problem, the scientists at Peenemunde created one of the first telemetry systems to transmit data. Eventually, Hitler did Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 to the program, and on December 22,authorized the A4 to be produced as a weapon. Though production was approved, thousands of changes were made to the final design before the first missiles were completed in early Initially, production of the A4, now re-designated the V-2, was slated for Peenemunde, Friedrichshafen, and Wiener Neustadt, as well as several smaller sites. This was changed in late after Allied bombing raids against Peenemunde and other V-2 sites erroneously led the Germans to believe their production plans had been compromised. As a result, production shifted to underground facilities at Nordhausen Mittelwerk and Ebensee. The only plant to be fully operational by war's end, the Nordhausen factory utilized labor stolen from enslaved people from the nearby Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps. It is believed that around 20, prisoners died while working at the Nordhausen plant, a number that far exceeded the number of casualties inflicted by the weapon in combat. During the war, over 5, V-2s were built at various facilities. This static approach was soon scrapped in favor of mobile launchers. Traveling in convoys of 30 trucks, the V-2 team would arrive at the staging area where the warhead was installed and then tow it to the launch site on a trailer known as a Meillerwagen. There, the missile was placed on the launch platform, where it was armed, fueled, and the gyros set. This set-up took approximately Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 minutes, and the launch team could clear an area in 30 minutes after launch. Thanks to this highly successful mobile system, up to missiles a day could be launched by German V-2 forces. Also, due to their ability to stay on the move, V-2 convoys were rarely caught by Allied aircraft. The first V-2 attacks were launched against Paris and London on September 8, Due to the missile's ballistic trajectory and extreme speed, which exceeded three times the speed of sound during descent, there was no existing and effective method for intercepting them. To combat the threat, several experiments using radio jamming the British erroneously thought the rockets were radio-controlled and anti-aircraft guns were conducted. These ultimately proved fruitless. V-2 attacks against English and French targets only decreased when Allied troops were able to push back Germans forces and place these cities out of range. The last Vrelated casualties in Britain occurred on March 27, Accurately placed V-2s could cause extensive damage and over 2, were killed and nearly 6, wounded by the missile. Despite these casualties, the rocket's lack of a proximity fuse reduced losses as it frequently buried itself in the target area before detonating, which limited the effectiveness of the blast. Unrealized plans for the weapon included the development of a submarine-based variant as well as the construction of the rocket by the Japanese. Highly interested in the weapon, both American and Soviet forces scrambled to capture existing V-2 rockets and parts at the end of the war. In the conflict's final days, scientists who had worked on the rocket, including von Braun and Dornberger, surrendered to American troops and assisted in further testing the missile before coming to the United States. Inan experiment called Operation Sandy was conducted by the U. Working to develop more advanced rockets, von Braun's team at White Sands used variants of the V-2 up until The world's first successful large, liquid-fueled rocket, the V-2 broke new ground and was the basis for the rockets later used in the American and Soviet space programs. Share Flipboard Email. Kennedy Hickman. Military and Naval History Expert. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. Facebook Facebook. Updated March 16, ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our. This Family Salvages World War II Tanks for a Living The idea of green U. Army M1 Abrams tanks with big white stars on their sides, huge American flags flying on top, and art on the hull depicting a turtle wearing a World War II-era tanker uniform, running over a pile of cars sounds like something straight out of a s arcade game. SinceNATO allies and other friendly nations have sent teams of tankers to Grafenwoehr for the eventwhich the United States and Germany host together. The gathering involves a number of different activities for crews in and out of their vehicles. The goal is to offer the armor troops an opportunity to train together and build both professional and interpersonal relationships to foster better ties between the participating countries. This was the first time the British and Swedish Armies had ever participated in the event. Each country supplies its own tanks. The U. The division, which has a storied history dating back to World War I, is also known as "The Big Red One," and its insignia was another prominent part of the special paint scheme on the participating American Abrams. The videos above and below give a good sense of the diversity of the Strong Europe Tank Challenge's events. Beyond crushing cars, teams also conduct conventional gunnery training and precision maneuvering in their vehicles and run through obstacle courses and compete in " Iron Man " style endurance challenges while carrying heavy tank ammunition and tires while Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 foot. The United States and its allies and partners are hardly the only ones to host this sort of event. Every year sincethe Russias have held what they call the Tank Biathlon, which brings together tank crews from all over the world. That gathering is much more akin to a sporting competition, though, and often involves vehicles painted in lurid colors. Participants don't have to supply their own vehicles either, with most countries receiving Russian Tseries tanks in order to compete, giving the event the air of an arms show, as well. There's no official connection, but the Strong Europe Tank Challenge does seem to be a response of sorts to the Tank Biathlon. The United States has received two unofficial invitations to the Russian event, one in and another inbut has never sent any teams to participate. The Germans have now placed first twice, in and in There's something more than a little ironic about that given the near constant reports about the poor state of the German Army and the low availability of working tanks. Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported in February that the only nine of the country's 44 Leopard 2s were operational. The Germans were also runner-up to the Austrians, who took the top slot, in Winning the event earns a team a Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 on the event's signature trophy, as well as another one shaped like a round of tank ammunition that the crew gets Repairing the Panzers: Volume 2: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 keep.