launching V-1s from an aircraft carrier

"steve gallacci" wrote in message
...
Allied bombings had little to do with delays in getting V-1s
operational, so presuming an early debut of them is unrealistic. (same
thing with jets, buggy and immature technology combined with limits in
the industrial base kept them delayed)

More to the point the project wasnt even sanctioned until June 1942
and then only as a result of the unsustainable losses that had forced
the Luftwaffe to abandon its air attacks on the UK

The bombing of Peenemunde didnt happen until August 1943
so it hardly be claimed that it would have been in service earlier
had it never happened. Indeed bereft of the need to build a
weapon to attack London its hard to imagine it would have
ever been built at all.

Keith

"Keith Willshaw" wrote

More to the point the project wasnt even sanctioned until June 1942
and then only as a result of the unsustainable losses that had forced
the Luftwaffe to abandon its air attacks on the UK

The weapon still flew by December 1942.


--
Et qui rit des cures d'Oc?
De Meuse raines, houp! de cloques.
De quelles loques ce turqe coin.
Et ne d'anes ni rennes,
Ecuries des cures d'Oc.

"Keith Willshaw" wrote

It is and changing the C of G by putting the fuel that far forward in
flight
would likely overwhelm the flight control system as the c of g
changed. In any event fuel was far from being the only limit on
the Fi-103's range. The supply of compressed air for the flight
control system was limited as was battery power and the engine
shutters on the pulse jet engiine.

Interesting. Sounds like adding range would have been tricky.

The fact that the Germans reverted to firing these weapons from
aircraft rather than modifying them as you suggest after the launch
sites were overrun further points to the impracticality of the notion

I think they had other things on their mind at that point. V-1s did perform
a useful task, even in small numbers, in tying down air defence assets which
would have been more useful elsewhere...which is what my what-if is
exploring.

The USN and USAAF had radar equipped aircraft operating 24/7
as well as suface ships and submarines, they could no more expect
to be undetected than Bismarck was

They don't necessarily need to be undetected. They just need to be
underestimated as a threat at the range in question.

The US occupied Iceland and Greenland in 1941

Would they have done that if there were no Battle of the Atlantic going on?

Trouble she couldnt beat Russia

Another thread...

and there's no reason whatever to assume
Canada would stop fighting, particualrly with the US in the war

Only against Japan. I am assuming that the Commonwealth as a whole would
have accepted sufficiently generous terms. AFAIK there was a substantial
lobby in Britain post-France to do just that.

most important of all you have assumed the US would not react to
such events. a poor asumption IMHO

No, I'm just assuming they'd underestimate or misapprehend the precise
threat posed by 2 German CVs and would be geared to meet air attacks on
shipping, rather than a long-range raid on a militarily useless target. The
raid would be unrepeatable but the idea is to tie down forces to make sure
of that.


--
Et qui rit des cures d'Oc?
De Meuse raines, houp! de cloques.
De quelles loques ce turqe coin.
Et ne d'anes ni rennes,
Ecuries des cures d'Oc.

"The Blue Max" wrote in message
s.com...

"Keith Willshaw" wrote

It is and changing the C of G by putting the fuel that far forward in
flight
would likely overwhelm the flight control system as the c of g
changed. In any event fuel was far from being the only limit on
the Fi-103's range. The supply of compressed air for the flight
control system was limited as was battery power and the engine
shutters on the pulse jet engiine.

Interesting. Sounds like adding range would have been tricky.

The fact that the Germans reverted to firing these weapons from
aircraft rather than modifying them as you suggest after the launch
sites were overrun further points to the impracticality of the notion

I think they had other things on their mind at that point. V-1s did
perform
a useful task, even in small numbers, in tying down air defence assets
which
would have been more useful elsewhere...which is what my what-if is
exploring.

The USN and USAAF had radar equipped aircraft operating 24/7
as well as suface ships and submarines, they could no more expect
to be undetected than Bismarck was

They don't necessarily need to be undetected. They just need to be
underestimated as a threat at the range in question.


The USN NEVER underestimated a carrier group after Pearl Harbor

The US occupied Iceland and Greenland in 1941

Would they have done that if there were no Battle of the Atlantic going
on?


Yes , it was an obvious staging point for a transatlantic raid and an
invaluable air base.

Trouble she couldnt beat Russia

Another thread...

and there's no reason whatever to assume
Canada would stop fighting, particualrly with the US in the war

Only against Japan. I am assuming that the Commonwealth as a whole would
have accepted sufficiently generous terms. AFAIK there was a substantial
lobby in Britain post-France to do just that.

most important of all you have assumed the US would not react to
such events. a poor asumption IMHO

No, I'm just assuming they'd underestimate or misapprehend the precise
threat posed by 2 German CVs and would be geared to meet air attacks on
shipping, rather than a long-range raid on a militarily useless target.
The
raid would be unrepeatable but the idea is to tie down forces to make sure
of that.


The chances of the USN underestimating the threat posed by the
Kriegsmarine, especially equipped with carriers is precisely zero.

Keith

"The Blue Max" wrote in message
s.com...

"Keith Willshaw" wrote

More to the point the project wasnt even sanctioned until June 1942
and then only as a result of the unsustainable losses that had forced
the Luftwaffe to abandon its air attacks on the UK

The weapon still flew by December 1942.


A prototype flew , sort of, in December 1942 but not very far.

It was a LONG hard slog to get from that to a deployable weapons
system. The flights consisted of one failure after another as weapons
crashed shortly after launch and mass production didnt start until April
1944

Keith