The HS 293 was used in combat as early as 1942. The HS 293 was for ships with less armour however.
On August 27, 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, sinking the British sloop HMS Egret. On November 26, 1943 an Hs 293 caused the sinking of the HMT Rohna.
The Fritz X was used in combat for the first time in 1943.
The Fritz X was deployed on 29 August 1943. On 9 September 1943 the Luftwaffe achieved their greatest success with the weapon. After the Italian armistice with the Allies, the Italian fleet had steamed out from La Spezia and headed to Malta. To prevent the ships from falling into Allied hands, 12 Dornier Do 217s from the III. Gruppe of KG100 took off; each carrying a single Fritz X. The Italian battleship Roma, the flagship of the Italian fleet, received several hits and sank after her ammunition magazines exploded. 1,455 men, among them Admiral Carlo Bergamini died. Her sister ship Italia was damaged.
One week later, the Germans scored another three hits with Fritz X on the British battleship Warspite at Salerno. One bomb penetrated six decks before exploding against the bottom of the ship, blowing a large hole in her. The ship took on a total of 5,000 tonnes of water, lost steam (and thus all power, both to the ship herself and to all her systems) but casualties were few. She had to be taken in tow to Malta and then returned to Britain via Gibraltar and was out of action for near 9 months; she was never completely repaired, but returned to action to bombard Normandy for the invasion of Europe.
The control system used for the Fritz-X, known as the Kehl (and also used by the Hs 293 missle), was susceptible to electronic countermeasures - either straightforward jamming, which blocked the control signals from the bomber, or spoofing, in which the missile was given a signal that sent the control surfaces to an extreme position, eg hard left or full down, sending it out of control into a stall or spiralling dive. By the time of the Normandy landings the combination of allied fighters that kept bombers at bay and ship-mounted jammers meant the missiles had no significant effect on the invasion fleet. Some accounts say that the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner was hit by a Fritz X at dawn, D-Day.
If it worked properly, the missile was able to pierce more than 20 inches of steel armor plate.
Other ships, which were damaged by the Fritz X included:
the American cruiser USS Philadelphia
the American cruiser USS Savannah
the British cruiser HMS Uganda
the British anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Spartan (sunk)
the British destroyer HMS Janus (sunk)
the military hospital ship HMHS Newfoundland (sunk)
Fritz X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On August 27, 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, sinking the British sloop HMS Egret. On November 26, 1943 an Hs 293 caused the sinking of the HMT Rohna.
The Fritz X was used in combat for the first time in 1943.
The Fritz X was deployed on 29 August 1943. On 9 September 1943 the Luftwaffe achieved their greatest success with the weapon. After the Italian armistice with the Allies, the Italian fleet had steamed out from La Spezia and headed to Malta. To prevent the ships from falling into Allied hands, 12 Dornier Do 217s from the III. Gruppe of KG100 took off; each carrying a single Fritz X. The Italian battleship Roma, the flagship of the Italian fleet, received several hits and sank after her ammunition magazines exploded. 1,455 men, among them Admiral Carlo Bergamini died. Her sister ship Italia was damaged.
One week later, the Germans scored another three hits with Fritz X on the British battleship Warspite at Salerno. One bomb penetrated six decks before exploding against the bottom of the ship, blowing a large hole in her. The ship took on a total of 5,000 tonnes of water, lost steam (and thus all power, both to the ship herself and to all her systems) but casualties were few. She had to be taken in tow to Malta and then returned to Britain via Gibraltar and was out of action for near 9 months; she was never completely repaired, but returned to action to bombard Normandy for the invasion of Europe.
The control system used for the Fritz-X, known as the Kehl (and also used by the Hs 293 missle), was susceptible to electronic countermeasures - either straightforward jamming, which blocked the control signals from the bomber, or spoofing, in which the missile was given a signal that sent the control surfaces to an extreme position, eg hard left or full down, sending it out of control into a stall or spiralling dive. By the time of the Normandy landings the combination of allied fighters that kept bombers at bay and ship-mounted jammers meant the missiles had no significant effect on the invasion fleet. Some accounts say that the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner was hit by a Fritz X at dawn, D-Day.
If it worked properly, the missile was able to pierce more than 20 inches of steel armor plate.
Other ships, which were damaged by the Fritz X included:
the American cruiser USS Philadelphia
the American cruiser USS Savannah
the British cruiser HMS Uganda
the British anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Spartan (sunk)
the British destroyer HMS Janus (sunk)
the military hospital ship HMHS Newfoundland (sunk)
Fritz X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia