Description
Physical description
missile
This V2 Rocket was brought back from Germany at the end of the Second World War, and after display at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, was transferred to the Museum in 1946.
The alcohol and oxygen tanks can be seen, as can the rocket engine itself (note that one half of the outer skin has been fretted to reveal the tanks, and two of the fins have been removed, exposing the engine
Label
The V2 had a launch weight in excess of 12650kg, of which the warhead was about 1000kg. It had a range of 300km, was powered by a liquid fuelled rocket engine that used alcohol and liquid oxygen as propellant, and was 14.3m high.
The first successful operational V2 was launched from Holland and landed in Paris, near the Porte d'Italie on 8 September 1944. The same night two V2 rockets fired from the Ardennes landed on London, one of them killing three people and injuring ten others.
On 12 October 1944 Hitler ordered that the V2 campaign should be concentrated on Britian and Belgium.
At its peak in December 1944 over a hundred V2 rockets a week were landing on the port of Antwerp. No effective defence against the V2 could be found, for unlike its predecessor, the V1, it arrived unseen and unheard, delivering nearly a ton of high explosive at a speed of 3,500 feet per second.
The development of this long range ballistic missile had a lasting effect on the nature of warfare.
History note
Production V2 rockets weighed about 2.8ton, less fuel and warhead. The warhead itself weighed 2190lb, and the take-off weight was about 12650kg
The V2 had a launch weight in excess of 12650kg, of which the warhead was about 1000kg. It had a range of 300km, was powered by a liquid fuelled rocket engine that used alcohol and liquid oxygen as propellant, and was 14.3m high.
The first successful operational V2 was launched from Holland and landed in Paris, near the Porte d'Italie on 8 September 1944. The same night two V2 rockets fired from the Ardennes landed on London, one of them killing three people and injuring ten others.
On 12 October 1944 Hitler ordered that the V2 campaign should be concentrated on Britian and Belgium.
At its peak in December 1944 over a hundred V2 rockets a week were landing on the port of Antwerp. No effective defence against the V2 could be found, for unlike its predecessor, the V1, it arrived unseen and unheard, delivering nearly a ton of high explosive at a speed of 3,500 feet per second.
The development of this long range ballistic missile had a lasting effect on the nature of warfare.