Gordon wrote:

I have a signed photo of the pilot of the Dornier getting the Knights Cross for
spearing the Roma with the Fritz X glide bomb.

That's *way* cool.

"These first true guided missiles, by current definition, are virtually unknown
today. They were Henschel's Hs 293A and Ruhrstahl's SD1400X, known as "Fritz
X." Both missiles were air-launched from mother bombers and radio-controlled
primarily against maritime targets. It is interesting to note that of the
fifteen battleships lost to airpower (seven in the open sea) one of these, the
41,650-ton Italian flagship, Roma, was sunk by a Fritz X. Later, the British
battleship, Warspite, was hit by a Fritz X and put out of action for six
months. Fritz Xs also sunk the Royal Navy light cruiser, Spartan, heavily
damaged the cruiser USS Savannah, and hit the cruiser USS Philadelphia. The
Hs-293, meanwhile, was responsible for military history's first successful
guided missile attack sinking the British sloop, Egret, on 27 August 1943."

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargra...ermany_hr.html

Superb link! Thanks a ton, Gordon.

--
Thomas Winston Ping