1945 - During the year - Launch Vehicle: A9/A10/A11, A9/A10/A11/A12. -
 Von Braun documents plans for future uses of rocket power. Nation: Germany. Spacecraft: Von Braun Station. As part of a summary of his work on rockets during World War II, Wernher von Braun speculated on future uses of rocket power. These included an observatory in space, the construction of space stations in earth orbit, a space mirror, and interplanetary travel, beginning with trips to the moon.
References: 16.
January 1945 - Launch Site: Heidekraut. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. - V-2 test site moved from Heidkraut in face of Russian advances. A total of 107 V-2 launches were made from Heidekraut. Nation: Germany. At the end of December Dornberger made his last visit to Heidekraut. By then the Russian Army was approaching, and the test launch area had to be moved south of Wolgast, with the impact area being in the Tucheler Heide. But in fact the test battery never shot again. It was moved to the forest near Wolgast in mid February, then again to Rethen an der Weser, with an impact area off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein.
References: 693.
1945 January 12 - Launch Site: Peenemuende. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. - Arbeitstab Dornberger Nation: Germany. Speer puts Dornberger in charge of an office within the Munitions Ministry to oversee further development of the A4 and other rockets, drawing on staff from Peenemuende. Everyone knew the war would be over in a few months -- nothing could be accomplished. Kammler still made sure that Dornberger was only responsible for technical aspects. All further developments of the A4 had been on hold for years, and any further work was now impossible. Only simple things could be worked on, such as converting 6 cm smoke rockets to use as an air-to-air weapon. In the short turnaround typical of the times, the team drove to Kummersdorf and built a 21-cm diameter pipe that could fire a barrage of four smoke rockets. Two days later, it was reported back that the device was used successfully in combat, and it was put into production. It was first used against allied bombers over Schweinfurt in January 1945.
References: 693.
1945 January 15 - Launch Site: Peenemuende. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. - Train-launched A4 abandoned. Nation: Germany. Allied air superiority made the train-launched version unviable as a weapon, compared to the truck-towed missile, which was more easily moved and concealed. Further work on the system was abandoned. References: 693.
1945 January 15 - Launch Vehicle: Rheinbote. - Rheinbote in service. Nation: Germany. A battery is set up in Holland, and 200 rockets are fired on Antwerp harbour. References: 693.
January 1945 - Launch Vehicle: V-3. - V-3 in action. Nation: Germany. Apogee: 30 km (18 mi). Two shortened test versions of the gun with a 60 km range were used to bombard Antwerp and Luxembourg. Only a few shots were accomplished before the barrels blew up. References: 693.
1945 January 18 - LV Configuration: 105Kh. -
 Soviet Union begins development of copy of the V-1 missile. Nation: USSR. People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry Decree 7350 'On tasking OKB-51 to develop a copy of the Fi-103 missile' was issued. References: 474.
1945 January 27 - Launch Vehicle: Schmetterling, Wasserfall, X4. - First meeting of Arbeitstab Dornberger in Berlin Nation: Germany. The group's first priority was to evalute the prospects for rapid development of an effective surface-to-air missile to combat the incessant Allied bombing raids. It had to be beam-riding instead of optically guided, in order to be effective at night and in bad weather. The group found there was no single 'wonder weapon' that would end the war in a few months. But Kammler still believed the Reich still could hold out for six months, enough time to develop and deploy a new weapon. Dornberger's team disagreed, but they had to try nevertheless. Therefore the Schmetterling, Wasserfall, and X4 missiles went into simultaneous final development and production. But realistically none of them could be mature enough to be sent to the front until early 1946. If the Reich could hold out that long, then it was possible it could slowly win back territory.
References: 693.
End January 1945 - Launch Vehicle: V-2. - V-2 summary for January Nation: Germany. During January, the fifth month of the V-2 combat campaign, there were from 574 to 620 combat launches on the Western Front. The final 19 training launches from made from Heidekraut before it was abandoned in the face of Russian advances on the Eastern Front. 700 missiles were manufactured at Mittelwerk. See V-2 launches for a list of known combat launches.
1945 February 1 - - Kammler put in charge of jet engine production. Nation: Germany. In addition to responsibility for the V-weapons, Kammler was tasked with producing jet engines for manned aircraft in the northern section of the Mittelwerk. He was successful in keeping production going, but in the end, with the cities of Germany in ruins, its air bases were full of new jet fighters, but there was no fuel to operate them. There was no longer fuel for trucks, and horses had to be used for transport. There was an even bigger backlog of aircraft and missile hardware in the tunnels of Mittelwerk, but they remained there due to lack of transport. As a weapon for the jet fighters, the 5 cm R4M powder rocket was used. Each fighter had 48 of these rockets, each of which weighed 7 kg and could propel 500 g of explosive at 400 m/s to a range of 1200 to 1500 m.
References: 693.
1945 February 7 - Launch Site: Peenemuende. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. - Submarine-launched A4 abandoned. Nation: Germany. Evacuation of Peenemuende brought work on the submarine-towed version to an end. References: 693.
Late February 1945 - Launch Site: Peenemuende. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. - Final Von Braun visit to Peenemuende Nation: Germany. All launch activity has been shut down.
End February 1945 - Launch Vehicle: V-2. - V-2 summary for February Nation: Germany. During February, the sixth month of the V-2 combat campaign, there were from 528 to 644 combat launches on the Western Front. 617 missiles were manufactured at Mittelwerk. This was the peak month of the campaign and the first month that launches exceeded production. See V-2 launches for a list of known combat launches.
1945 March 15 - Launch Vehicle: EA 1941. FAILURE: Exploded after 5 seconds. -
 EA 1941 Nation: France. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). Launched from Toulon, France. Intended to take a 25 kg payload to 100 km altitude, the rocket instead veered off course and crashed after 5 seconds of flight. References: 2.
1945 March 16 - Launch Vehicle: EA 1941. FAILURE: Exploded on pad. - EA 1941 Nation: France. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). Launched from Toulon, France. The rocket exploded on the launch pad, destroying it. References: 2.
End March 1945 - Launch Vehicle: V-2. - V-2 summary for March Nation: Germany. During March, the seventh and final month of the V-2 combat campaign, there were from 617 to 775 combat launches on the Western Front. 362 missiles were manufactured at Mittelwerk. The collapse of the German rail network under allied bombing led to disruptions of supplies of component parts to Mittelwerk, of missiles from Mittelwerk to the Front, and production and distribution of rocket propellants and motor vehicle fuel needed by the launch units. By the end of the month Allied advances on the Western Front had forced all of the V-2 firing batteries to abandon their positions. See V-2 launches for a list of known combat launches.
Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments.
Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.
© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.
|
|