Henschel Hs 293 | |
---|---|
Hs 293 on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin, Germany, with added "Kopfring" (lit. "head ring") on the nose for nautical targets | |
Type | Anti-ship glide bomb |
Place of origin | Nazi Germany |
Service history | |
In service | 1943–1945 |
Used by | Luftwaffe |
Wars | World War II |
Production history | |
Designed | 1940–1943 |
Manufacturer | Henschel Flugzeug-Werke AG |
Produced | 1942 - ? |
No. built | 1,000 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 1,045 kilograms (2,304 lb) |
Length | 3.82 metres (12.5 ft) |
Width | 3.1 metres (10 ft) |
Diameter | 0.47 metres (1.5 ft) |
Warhead | explosive |
Warhead weight | 295 kilograms (650 lb) |
Engine | liquid-propellant rocket HWK 109-507 motor, 5.9 kN (1,300 lbf) thrust for 10 s; subsequently glided to target |
Operational range | at 2.2 kilometres (7,200 ft) altitude: 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) at 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) altitude: 5.5 kilometres (18,000 ft) at 5 kilometres (16,000 ft) altitude: 8.5 kilometres (28,000 ft) |
Maximum speed | maximum: 260 metres per second (850 ft/s) average: 230 metres per second (750 ft/s) |
Guidance system | Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS using a joystick |
The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, ultimately damaging or sinking at least 25 ships. Allied efforts to jam the radio control link were increasingly successful despite German efforts to counter them. The weapon remained in use through 1944 when it was also used as an air-to-ground weapon to attack bridges to prevent the Allied breakout after D-Day, but proved almost useless in this role.
The Hs 293 project was started in 1940, based on the "Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke" pure glide bomb that was designed in 1939. The Schwartz design did not have a terminal guidance system; instead, it used an autopilot to maintain a straight course. It was intended to be launched from a bomber at sufficient distance to keep the aircraft out of range of anti-aircraft fire. A Henschel team, under Dr. Herbert Wagner, [1] developed it the following year by adding a Walter HWK 109-507 rocket engine underneath, providing 590 kgf (1,300 lbf; 5.8 kN) [2] thrust for ten seconds. This allowed the bomb to be used from a lower altitude and at an increased range. Some examples used a BMW 109-511 engine, with 600 kgf (1,300 lbf; 5.9 kN) of thrust. [2]
The first flight attempts took place between May and September 1940, with unpowered drops from Heinkel He 111 medium bombers used as carrier aircraft; the first Walter rocket motor-powered tests had been conducted by the end of 1940.
The weapon consisted of a modified standard 500 kilogram Sprengbombe-Cylindrisch-class SC 500 "general purpose" bomb [3] with an added "Kopfring" on the nose for maritime use, to help ensure a relatively perpendicular axis of impact, [4] with a thin metal shell and a high explosive charge inside, equipped with a rocket engine beneath the bomb, a pair of aileron-fitted wings, and the receiving FuG 230 component of the Kehl-Straßburg MCLOS guidance and control system, shared with the contemporary Fritz X gravity-propulsion, pioneering PGM armor-piercing bomb. The elevator was operated with an electrically powered jackscrew as the only proportional control, while the ailerons were operated with solenoids. Remote flight control was provided through the Kehl-Straßburg link, with the Hs 293's control setup having no movable rudder on the ventral tailfin. The 109-507 monopropellant booster rocket provided for only a short burst of speed making range dependent on the launch altitude.
The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships, [2] unlike the unpowered, armour-piercing Fritz X, which used the same Kehl-Straßburg system. Five coloured flares were attached to the rear of the weapon to make it visible at a distance to the operator. During night operations flashing lights instead of flares were used. [5]
After the missile was launched, the bomber flew parallel to the target so as to be able to maintain a slant line of sight. [6]
The Allies put considerable effort into developing devices which jammed the radio link between Kehl transmitter and Straßburg receiver. Jammers aboard U.S. Navy destroyer escorts were ineffective at first, as the frequencies selected for jamming were incorrect. On balance, the probability that a Hs 293 launched (and seen as responding to operator guidance) would actually strike a target (or achieve a damage-inflicting near-miss) was about the same at the Battle of Anzio as it was during Operation Avalanche.
As attacks were taking place at Anzio, the United Kingdom began to deploy its Type 650 transmitter which employed a different approach to interfering with the FuG 203/230 radio link, by jamming the Straßburg receiver's intermediate frequency section, which operated at a 3 MHz frequency and appears to have been quite successful, especially because the operator did not have to attempt to find which of the eighteen selected Kehl-Straßburg command frequencies were in use and then manually tune the jamming transmitter to one of them. The Type 650 defeated the receiver no matter which radio frequency had been selected.
Following several intelligence coups, including a capture of an intact Hs 293 at Anzio and recovery of important components of the Kehl transmitter from a crashed Heinkel He 177 on Corsica, the Allies were able to develop far more effective countermeasures, in time for the invasion of Normandy and Operation Dragoon. These included AIL's Type MAS jammer, which employed sophisticated signals to defeat the Kehl transmission and to take over command of the Hs 293, steering it into the sea via a sequence of right-turn commands. In contrast to the experience at Anzio, the jammers seemed to have had a major impact on operations after April 1944, with significant degradation observed in the probability that a Hs 293 missile could achieve a hit or damaging near miss. [7]
To improve control of the weapon and reduce vulnerability of the launching aircraft, wire-guided Hs 293B and television-guided Hs 293D variants were planned; neither was operational before the war ended. [8] There was also a tailless delta winged Hs 293F. [8] In addition, there was a Hs 293H air-to-air model. [8] Over 1,000 were built, from 1942 onwards. The closest Allied weapon system in function and purpose to the Hs 293 series was the US Navy's Bat unpowered, autonomously radar-guided unit.
The Hs 293 also served as the basis for a number of developments, none completed. These included the Hs 294, "designed specifically to penetrate the water and strike a ship below the waterline", with a long, conical shaped forebody [9] and a pair of the Hs 293A's standard Walter HWK 109-507 booster engines at the wing roots; the Hs 295, with longer fuselage, larger warhead and Hs 294 wings; the Hs 296, with Hs 294 afterparts, Hs 295 warhead and Hs 293 Kehl-Straßurg MCLOS control systems. [2]
On 25 August 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, striking the sloop HMS Bideford; however, as the warhead did not detonate, the damage was minimal. On 27 August, the sinking of the British sloop HMS Egret by a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 carrying Hs 293s led to anti-U-boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay being temporarily suspended. [10] On 26 November, an Hs 293 sank the troop transport HMT Rohna killing over 1,000 personnel.
Other ships sunk or damaged by the Hs 293 include:
Although designed for use against ships, it was also used in Normandy in early August 1944 to attack bridges over the Sée and Sélune rivers. One bridge was slightly damaged for the loss of six of the attacking aircraft. [16] The attack on 7 August 1944 at Pontaubault, performed by Do 217 of III./KG 100, was the first usage of a standoff missile against a land target. [17] [lower-alpha 1] On 12 April 1945 Hs 293A bombs were used once more, against bridges on the Oder, by Do 217 bombers of KG 200. [17]
The Hs 293 was carried on Heinkel He 111, Heinkel He 177, Focke-Wulf Fw 200, and Dornier Do 217 planes. However, only the He 177 (of I and II.Gruppen/KG 40), certain variants of the Fw 200 (of III./KG 40) and the Do 217 (of II./KG 100 and III./KG 100) used the Hs 293 operationally in combat.
An anti-ship missile is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A large number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat that is emitted by a ship; it is also possible for anti-ship missiles to be guided by radio command all the way.
A wire-guided missile is a missile that is guided by signals sent to it via thin wires connected between the missile and its guidance mechanism, which is located somewhere near the launch site. As the missile flies, the wires are reeled out behind it. This guidance system is most commonly used in anti-tank missiles, where its ability to be used in areas of limited line-of-sight make it useful, while the range limit imposed by the length of the wire is not a serious concern.
A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target rather than right over it, allowing a successful attack without exposing the launching aircraft to anti-aircraft defenses near the target. Glide bombs can accurately deliver warheads in a manner comparable to cruise missiles at a fraction of the cost—sometimes by installing flight control kits on simple unguided bombs—and they are very difficult for surface-to-air missiles to intercept due to their tiny radar signatures and short flight times. The only effective countermeasure in most cases is to shoot down enemy aircraft before they approach within launching range, making glide bombs very potent weapons where wartime exigencies prevent this.
Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed in combat and the first to sink a ship in combat. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternative names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400.
HMS Egret was a sloop of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was built by J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight, was launched on 31 May 1938, and entered service on 11 November that year. Egret served as a convoy escort with the Western Approaches Command from 1940 until her loss in August 1943: She was on anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay when she was sunk by a guided missile in combat, the first ship to be lost in this manner.
The Wasserfall Ferngelenkte FlaRakete was a German guided supersonic surface-to-air missile project of World War II. Development was not completed before the end of the war and it was not used operationally.
The Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling was a radio-guided German surface-to-air missile project developed during World War II. There was also an air-to-air version, the Hs 117H.
HMS Inglefield was an I-class destroyer leader built for the Royal Navy that served during World War II. She was the navy's last purpose-built flotilla leader. She was named after the 19th century Admiral Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield (1820–1894), and is so far the only warship to carry the name of that seafaring family. In May 1940, her pennant number was changed to I02.
HMS Janus, named after the Roman god, was a Javelin or J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited at Wallsend-on-Tyne as part of the 1936 Build Programme and laid down on 29 September 1937, launched on 10 November 1938 and commissioned on 5 August 1939.
HMS Jervis, was a J-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. She was named after Admiral John Jervis (1735–1823). She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 26 August 1937. The ship was launched on 9 September 1938 and commissioned on 8 May 1939, four months before the start of the Second World War.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1943:
Wunderwaffe is a German word meaning "wonder-weapon" and was a term assigned during World War II by Nazi Germany's 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. 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. 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.
The Henschel Hs 294 was a guided air-to-sea missile developed by Henschel Flugzeug-Werke in Germany during World War II.
HMS Lawford (K514) was a Royal Navy converted Captain class frigate, built in the US in 1944. She was converted into an HQ ship for the Normandy landings. On 8 June 1944, whilst operating off Juno Beach, she was hit by enemy fire during an air attack and sunk. Thirty-seven of her crew died. The Royal Navy's damage summary report states that the ship was hit by an "aerial torpedo", which has been taken to mean a torpedo dropped from an aircraft. However, a survey of the ship undertaken as part of the Channel 4 TV series "Wreck Detectives" found evidence that the vessel was broken up and sunk by an internal explosion, indicating a hit from one or more bombs or from an early guided missile such as an Hs-293 or a Fritz X.
Herbert Alois Wagner was an Austrian scientist who developed numerous innovations in the fields of aerodynamics, aircraft structures and guided weapons. He is most famous for Wagner's function describing unsteady lift on wings and developing the Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb.
The Henschel Hs 298 was a 1940s German rocket-powered air-to-air missile designed by Professor Herbert Wagner of Henschel.
Kampfgeschwader 100 was a Luftwaffe medium and heavy bomber wing of World War II and the first military aviation unit to use a precision-guided munition in combat to sink a warship on 9 September 1943.
Television guidance (TGM) is a type of missile guidance system using a television camera in the missile or glide bomb that sends its signal back to the launch platform. There, a weapons officer or bomb aimer watches the image on a television screen and sends corrections to the missile, typically over a radio control link. Television guidance is not a seeker because it is not automated, although semi-automated systems with autopilots to smooth out the motion are known. They should not be confused with contrast seekers, which also use a television camera but are true automated seeker systems.
The Kehl-Straßburg radio control link was a German MCLOS radio control system of World War II. The system was named for Strasbourg, the French/German city on the Rhine and Kehl, at the time a suburb of Strasbourg. It was used by the Fritz X guided bomb and the Henschel Hs 293 guided missile, and would also be trialled in test of the Henschel Hs 298 MCLOS-guidance air-to-air missile.