Hermes was the second missile program by the United States Army. In May 1944 the Army contracted with the California Institute of Technology's Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratories to start the ORDCIT project to research, test and develop guided missiles.[6] The Hermes program was to originally have three phases: the first would be a literature search, the second a research group would be dispatched to Europe to investigate the German Missiles, and the third "would design and develop its own experimental systems."[7]
Basically, this project covered every phase of missile technology with the exception of large-scale development and production of warheads and fuzes. However, ... these many areas may be grouped within three general categories, namely, the A1 and A2 missiles, the A3 missiles, and all other Hermes missiles and supporting research.
On November 20, 1944, the Ordnance Corps signed a contract with General Electric.[4][5] "The contractor agreed to perform investigations, research, experiments, design, development, and engineering work in connection with the development of long-range missiles for use against ground targets and high-altitude aircraft."[7] General Electric was also to investigate ramjets, solid rocket motors, liquid propellant rocket engines, and hybrid propellants.[8] "The contract also required the General Electric Company to develop remote control equipment, ground equipment, fire control devices, and homing devices."[7]
In December 1944, the Hermes program was tasked with studying the German V-2 rocket. Subjects which were to be addressed were "transporting, handling, unpacking, classifying (identifying), reconditioning and testing components of German rockets as well as assembling and testing subassemblies and complete rockets, manufacturing new parts, modification of existing parts, conducting special tests, constructing temporary test equipment not available at the Proving Ground procuring and handling of propellants and supervision of launching rockets."[9]
The project's mandate created a need for an extensive area where missiles could be safely tested. The Army moved to create the White Sands Proving Grounds in south central New Mexico as a place to test the new missiles.[10]
When the United States Army captured the Peenemünde engineers, including Wernher von Braun, Dr. Richard W. Porter of Project Hermes was close behind.[11] Following the capture by American forces of the Mittelwerk V-2 factory, Special Mission V-2 swept in and scooped up enough components to assemble 100 V-2s. The components were quickly removed to New Mexico.[12] Three hundred rail cars of V-2 parts and documentation arrived at the White Sands Proving Grounds and General Electric personnel started the task of inventorying the components.[10] For the next five years overhauling and manufacture of parts, assembly, modification and launching V-2 rockets would be the major part of Project Hermes. Many of the V-2 components were in poor condition or unusable.[13]
After the German V-2 parts and technology were imported into the United States, the U. S. Army formed the Upper Atmosphere Research Panel in early 1946 to oversee experiments both about their technology and their use for upper atmosphere research. One-third of the panel members were General Electric scientists. The Hermes project was expanded to include testing of the V-2 sounding rockets.[3] General Electric employees, with the help of German specialists, assembled V-2s at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico where the Army constructed a blockhouse and Launch Complex 33, now a National Historical Landmark.[14][15] The first V-2 launch there was on April 16, 1946, but reached only 3.4 miles' altitude. The maximum altitude reached by a Project Hermes V-2 was 114 miles achieved by V-2 #17 on 17 December 1946.[16] There were 58 standard V-2s, 6 Bumper" V-2s with a WAC Corporal second stage, and 4 drastically modified V-2s launched as Hermes IIs (Hermes B) by Project Hermes. The last Hermes flight was by V-2 #60 on 29 October 1951, carrying a Signal Corps Electronic Laboratory payload.[17] Most photos of American V-2s show the common white and black markings. The first two flown were painted in yellow and black. Others had combinations of white, black, silver and red. The last two fired by Project Hermes were black, white, and red with a big "Buy Bonds" logo (V-2 #52) and white, black, and silver with a small "Buy Bonds" logo.[18]
The Project Hermes V-2 program had achieved its objectives. First, it had gained experience in handling and firing large missiles and trained Army personnel to launch them (the last 4 American V-2 flights were not part of Project Hermes, they were Army launched "Training Flights"). Second, Hermes had provided vehicles for experiments which aided the design of future missiles. Third, Hermes had tested components for future missiles. Fourth, Hermes had obtained ballistic data on high-altitude trajectories as well as developing various means of tracking such trajectories. Fifth, the V-2 program had provided vehicles for upper atmosphere and biological research.[19] Additionally many components had to be manufactured due to shortages and deteriorated condition. Most notable was the inertial guidance system and mix computer.[20] After the termination of V-2 flights by Hermes there were 5 final flights by V-2s from White Sands. They were training flights launched by Detachment 2 of the 1st Guided Missile Support Battalion.[21] Between 22 August 1951 and 19 September 1952 the 74th and final flight of a V-2 from White Sands was launched.[22]
Hermes II
The initial goals of Project Hermes included Hermes B, a ramjet-powered cruise missile. Hermes B was soon split into a Hermes B-1 test vehicle and a Hermes B-2 operational missile. Hermes B-1 soon evolved into Hermes II.[23] In June 1946 General Electric's contract was amended to include a two-stage missile which used a V-2 as its first stage, with a ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile as the second stage.[16] The ramjet was assigned to the Von Braun team of which less than 40 were employed in the V-2 launching program.[14] Design on the ramjet began on 10 December 1945. The Von Braun team dubbed the ramjet the "Comet."[24] Though the Peenemünde engineers had no experience with ramjets, and some members were scattered across the country, work progressed. On 11 January 1946 Von Braun presented his cruise missile design to Major General Barnes and the program was underway.[25] Hermes II (aka RTV-G-3 & RV-A-3) was an attempt to produce a high-velocity ramjet-powered cruise missile. A V-2 would boost the cruise missile called the "Comet," or "Ram." to mach 3.3 at 66,000 feet where the ramjets would start.[26] The Hermes II was an unusual design. It had two rectangular "wings" which doubled as the ramjets. It was described as a "two-dimensional, split-wing ramjet.[26] The Hermes II, with its large rectangular wings, required enlarged tail fins. Still aerodynamic data was scant, and indicated that the Hermes II was unstable at most velocities which required more development of the guidance system.[27] Another concern was the fuel intended, carbon disulfide, which was easy to ignite, but had a low specific impulse.[26] At peak employment the Hermes II program employed 125 Germans, 30 Army officers, 400 enlisted personnel, 75–100 civil service personnel and 175 G.E. employees.[28]
A V-2 was modified to carry a test device called the "Organ," a series of test diffusers (ramjet air intakes) which was to make measurements of pressures. That first Hermes II test missile (missile 0) was launched on 29 May 1947 and landed in Mexico causing an international incident.[27] WSPG V-2 #44 carried a test ramjet diffuser. The successful flight returned data from Mach 3.6 and made GE confident it could proceed with a two-stage test.[29] Progress was slow which frustrated Von Braun.[30] The next Hermes II, (missile 1), the first to have the wings containing the ramjets, was launched by GE on 13 January 1949 and broke up shortly after liftoff due to unanticipated vibrations.[27] There were two further Hermes flights missile #2 on 6 October 1949, which suffered the fate of missile 1. Missile 2-A on November 9, 1950.[17] Missile 2-A did not break up, but the ramjet never started.[31] When the Von Braun team transferred to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, their primary mission was still a Mach 3.3 ramjet cruise missile.[32] In May 1950 Hermes II was reduced to research only status. At that time Ordnance transferred the Mach 4 Hermes B from the General Electric grounds to Huntsville.[26][31] September 1950 saw General Electric's Hermes C-1 study transferred to Huntsville where it evolved into the very successful PGM-11 Redstone short-range ballistic missile.[32] The Hermes ramjet cruise missile faded into obscure history as it was terminated in 1953.[33]
Hermes B
Hermes B was a Mach 4 ramjet-powered cruise missile design study undertaken by General Electric.[34] It was later transferred to the Von Braun team at the Redstone Arsenal.[31] Hermes B was also designated SSM-G-9 and SSM-A-9.[23]
The Surface to Air and Surface to Surface Missiles
The development of the 25-foot (7.6m) Hermes A-1 (CTV-G-5/RV-A-5) rocket was begun by General Electric in 1946. Constructed mostly of steel, it was an American version of the German Wasserfall anti-aircraft missile; the latter was about half the size of the German V-2 rocket.[23] The Wasserfall's aerodynamic shape was later adopted for the North American NATIV. Hermes A-1 had one major difference from the Wasserfall. The Peenemünde nitric acid/visol (vinyl isobutyl ether)-fueled P IX engine was replaced by a General Electric pressure fed 13,500 lb. thrust liquid oxygen/alcohol-fueled engine.[35][36] Beginning in 1947, the engine of the A-1 was tested at General Electric's Malta Test Station in New York.[37] The General Electric engine had a novel fuel injector which had great influence on future engine development in the United States. Combustion instability problems delayed engine development.[38]
Hermes A-1 components such as guidance and telemetry were tested on several V-2 flights at White Sands Proving Grounds in 1947 and 1948.[39] Plans to develop Hermes A-1 as an operational surface to air missile were dropped in favor of the more suitable Nike.[40] On 18 May 1950 the Army switched emphasis for Project Hermes to the surface to surface mission. The next day the Hermes A-1 first flew. The launch failed when thrust was lost shortly after lift-off.[39] The second flight failed after 41 seconds when the hydraulic servo covers were burned through by engine exhaust. None of the three subsequent Hermes A-1 flights were totally successful, though "they demonstrated the functional capability of the missile system."[39] Those last three launches achieved apogees of 14 miles.[41]
The demise of the Hermes A-1 did not end two other design studies. Work on the Hermes A-1E-1 and Hermes A-1E-2 continued. They were tactical missile designs 25 and 29 feet (7.6 and 8.8m) long, respectively. Both were to have 1,450-pound (660kg) warheads. The competing Corporal (XSSM—G-7/XSSN-A-7) showed better development and Hermes A-1E-2 was cancelled in April 1952 and was followed by the A-1E-1 in October of that year.[39]
The original Hermes A-2 was projected to be a wingless A-1, but that missile was abandoned to be followed by another rocket called A-2 (RV-A-10). The RV-A10 was a short range solid fuel test vehicle, with plans to develop a tactical missile (SSM-A-13), which were soon abandoned.[23]
The slightly larger Hermes A-3A (SSM-G-8, RV-A-8) followed.[23] Progress on the Hermes A-3 until it was divided into an A-3A (RV-A-8) test vehicle and the A-3B (SSM-A-16) which was intended to be an operational missile with a W-5 nuclear warhead.[42] A total of seven RV-A-8 were launches and five of them were either partial or total failures.[23]
The A-3B (SS-A-16) was slightly larger than the RV-A-8 and the last produced and tested vehicle of the Hermes missile program.[23][43] It was designed as a tactical surface-to-surface missile carrying a 1,000-pound (450kg) warhead with a 150-mile (240km) range but never achieved that range in practice. It had a thrust of 22,600 pounds-force (101,000N). By 1954 six A-3Bs were test launched at White Sands, with five of the launches performed successfully. One of the developments of the Hermes A-3 program was the first inertial guidance system tested on a ballistic missile.[44][45] None of the Hermes missiles became operational, but did provide experience in the design, construction, and handling of large-scale missiles and rocket engines. The Hermes program was canceled in 1954.[23]
There were Hermes missiles which never flew. Work on a ramjet cruise missile continued after the end of the RTV-3 program. It was an ambitious program intended to produce a cruise missile, the Hermes II the RV-A-6 (Hermes B-1?), cable of flying mach 4.5 at 2,500 miles per hour (4,000km/h) at 80,000 feet (24,000m). There was a SS-G-9, Hermes B-2 which was never built.[23]
The Hermes C program was composed of a series of studies, one of which was the Hermes C-1, which led directly to the SM-A-14 (GM-11) Redstone.[46]
The V2, with the technical name Aggregat 4 (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a "vengeance weapon" and assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings of German cities. The V2 rocket also became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944.
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German-American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, and later a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States.
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a host to over 75 tenant agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and NASA's largest field center, the Marshall Space Flight Center.
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was formed to develop the U.S. Army's first large ballistic missile. The agency was established at Redstone Arsenal on 1 February 1956, and commanded by Major General John B. Medaris with Wernher von Braun as technical director.
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test, Hardtack Teak.
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity test site lay at the northern end of the Range, in Socorro County near the towns of Carrizozo and San Antonio. It then became the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945.
The Saturn family of American rockets was developed by a team of former German rocket engineers and scientists led by Wernher von Braun to launch heavy payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. The Saturn family used liquid hydrogen as fuel in the upper stages. Originally proposed as a military satellite launcher, they were adopted as the launch vehicles for the Apollo Moon program. Three versions were built and flown: the medium-lift Saturn I, the heavy-lift Saturn IB, and the super heavy-lift Saturn V.
The Rocketdyne H-1 was a 205,000 lbf (910 kN) thrust liquid-propellant rocket engine burning LOX and RP-1. The H-1 was developed for use in the S-I and S-IB first stages of the Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets, respectively, where it was used in clusters of eight engines. After the Apollo program, surplus H-1 engines were rebranded and reworked as the Rocketdyne RS-27 engine with first usage on the Delta 2000 series in 1974. RS-27 engines continued to be used up until 1992 when the first version of the Delta II, Delta 6000, was retired. The RS-27A variant, boasting slightly upgraded performance, was also used on the later Delta II and Delta III rockets, with the former flying until 2018.
The North American SM-64 Navaho was a supersonic intercontinental cruise missile project built by North American Aviation (NAA). The final design was capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the USSR from bases within the US, while cruising at Mach 3 at 60,000 feet (18,000 m) altitude. The missile is named after the Navajo Nation.
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company. The Sergeant was the third and last in a series of JPL rockets for the US Army whose names correspond to the progression in Army enlisted ranks, starting with Private and Corporal.
Spaceflight as a practical endeavor began during World War II with the development of operational liquid-fueled rockets. Beginning life as a weapon, the V-2 was pressed into peaceful service after the war at the United States' White Sands Missile Range as well as the Soviet Union's Kapustin Yar. This led to a flourishing of missile designs setting the stage for the exploration of space. The small American WAC Corporal rocket was evolved into the Aerobee, a much more powerful sounding rocket. Exploration of space began in earnest in 1947 with the flight of the first Aerobee, 46 of which had flown by the end of 1950. These and other rockets, both Soviet and American, returned the first direct data on air density, temperature, charged particles and magnetic fields in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
Konrad Dannenberg was a German-American rocket pioneer and member of the German rocket team brought to the United States after World War II.
The Redstone Test Stand or Interim Test Stand was used to develop and test fire the Redstone missile, Jupiter-C sounding rocket, Juno I launch vehicle and Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle. It was declared an Alabama Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1979 and a National Historic Landmark in 1985. It is located at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama on the Redstone Arsenal, designated Building 4665. The Redstone missile was the first missile to detonate a nuclear weapon. Jupiter-C launched to test components for the Jupiter missile. Juno I put the first American satellite Explorer 1 into orbit. Mercury Redstone carried the first American astronaut Alan Shepard into space. The Redstone earned the name "Old Reliable" because of this facility and the improvements it made possible.
The year 1951 saw extensive exploration of space by the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) using suborbital rockets. The Soviets launched their first series of biomedical tests to the 100-kilometre (62 mi) boundary of space. Several American agencies launched more than a dozen scientific sounding rocket flights between them. The US Navy launched its Viking sounding rocket for the seventh time since 1949, this time to a record-breaking 136 miles (219 km) in August 1951.
Major General Holger Nelson Toftoy was a United States Army career officer instrumental to the development of the United States' early rocketry after World War II, such as the Redstone missile. He persuaded senior officers to bring German scientists to the US after the war, to make use of their expertise, and supervised the relocation of more than 119 scientists.
Kurt Heinrich Debus was a German-American rocket engineer and NASA director. Born in Germany, he was a member of the Schutzstaffel (SS) during World War II, where he served as a V-weapons flight test director. Following the war, he was brought to the United States via Operation Paperclip, and directed the design, development, construction and operation of NASA's Saturn launch facilities. He became the first director of NASA's Launch Operations Center, and, under him, NASA conducted 150 launches of military missiles and space vehicles, including 13 launches of the Saturn V rocket as part of the Apollo Moon landing program.
Werner Karl Dahm was an early spaceflight scientist of the Peenemünde Future Projects Office who emigrated to the US under Operation Paperclip and was the Marshall Space Flight Center Chief Aerodynamicist.
Dieter Grau was a German-born American aerospace engineer and member of the "von Braun rocket group", at Peenemünde (1939–1945) working on the V-2 rockets in World War II. He was among the engineers who surrendered to the United States and traveled there, providing rocketry expertise via Operation Paperclip, which took them first to Fort Bliss, Texas. Grau was sent by the U.S. Army to White Sands in 1946 to work on the assemblage and testing of the V-2. His wife joined him there in 1947. While von Braun was on standby at Fort Bliss, Grau and other German aerospace engineers busily launched V-2s for U.S. scientists to analyze. A total of 67 V-2s were launched at White Sands.
The SSM-N-6 Rigel was a proposed United States Navy submarine-launched, nuclear-capable ramjet-powered cruise missile.
Cornett, Lloyd H. (1993). History of Rocketry and Astronautics AAS History Series, Volume 15. San Diego, California: American Astronautical Society. ISBN0-87703-377-3.
Hansen, Chuck (1995). The Swords of Armageddon. Vol.VII. Sunnyvale, California: Chucklea Publications.
Kennedy, Gregory P. (2009). The Rockets and Missiles of White Sands Proving Ground. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-3251-7.
McMurran, Marshall William (2008). Achieving Accuracy: A Legacy of Computers and Missiles. Xlibris Corp. ISBN978-1-4363-8106-2. OCLC302388811.
Parsch, Andreas (2003). "SSM-A-16". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
Pocock, Rowland F. (1967). German Guided Missiles of the Second World War. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc.
Sutton, George P. (2006). History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines. Reston, Virginia: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN1-56347-649-5. OCLC63680957.
White, L. D. (1952). Final Report, Project Hermes V-2 Missile Program. Schnectady, New York: Guided Missile Department, Aeronautic and Ordnance Systems Division, Defense Products Group, General Electric.
Zucro, M. J. (1950-03-17). Report on Survey of the National Ramjet Program(PDF). Panel on Propulsion and Fuels Committee on Guided Missile Research and Development Board. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
