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The Fritz-X was a 1400 kg (3,300 lb) armor-piercing bomb with control fins and a radio data link usually launched from Do 217 and He 177 bombers. This weapon was the first operational guided bomb and proved quite effective. Released from an altitude of 16,000 to 20,000ft (4875 - 6095 m) the bomb reached a terminal velocity approaching sound. Half of the pre-production Fritz X bombs hit within a 197 in ( 5m square. ) III/KG 100, formed from Lehr und Erprobungskommano 21, was the first unit to use the Fritz-X. Equipped with Do 217K-2s each plane could carry two of the guided bombs on ETC 2000/XII racks. On September 9, 1943 two hits scored on the Italian battleship Roma sent her to the bottom. The Italia, also part of this fleet sailing out to surrender to the Allies, was hit and severely damaged. A British battleship, the Warspite was knocked out of the war for a year when a single Fritz-X penetrated all six decks and blew a hole through the bottom. The new weapon also sank the cruiser Spartan and damaged the cruisers Savannah and Uganda. Aggressive fighter patrols and electronic jamming disrupted the control signals from the launch aircraft to the bomb. A total of 1,386 Fritz-X bombs were manufactured, 602 of these being expended in tests.
http://www.ww2guide.com/missiles.shtml#fritzx
DaveB.inVa said:PB4Y-2 Privateers (the Naval Liberator with the single big tail) dropped a glide bomb called the Bat. This thing was one of the most technological innovations of the war as it was a radar guided homing glide bomb. Set it and forget it.... it did not have to be guided at all by an operator like the Azon and Fritz X.
On the open ocean it was deadly as when dropped the radar only had one real target to home in on, the ship. If dropped near land however the radar was easily confused and would glide toward the object with the largest return, like mountains and land. These were used with pretty good success from January 1945 onward.
a fleet of zepplins...They have greater payloads then Lancs
the lancaster kicks ass said:a fleet of zepplins...They have greater payloads then Lancs
my God! you actually believe that!! there's no way a zepplin could carry a grand slam.......