From Wiki: Fritz X was first deployed on 21 July 1943 in a raid on Augusta harbour in Sicily. A number of additional attacks around Sicily and Messina followed, though no confirmed hits were made and it appears the Allies were unaware that the large bombs being dropped were radio-guided weapons.[10] On 9 September, the Luftwaffe achieved their greatest success with the weapon. After Pietro Badoglio publicly announced the Italian armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, the Italian fleet had steamed out from La Spezia and headed to Tunisia. To prevent the ships from falling into Allied hands, six Do 217K-2s from III. Gruppe of KG 100 (III/KG 100) took off, each carrying a single Fritz X. The Italian battleship Roma, flagship of the Italian fleet, received two hits and one near miss, and sank after her magazines exploded. 1,393 men, including Admiral Carlo Bergamini, died. Her sister ship, Italia, was also seriously damaged but reached Tunisia.[8] The American light cruiser USS Savannah was hit by Fritz Xs at 10:00 on 11 September 1943 during the invasion of Salerno, and was forced to retire to the United States for eight months-worth of repairs. A single Fritz X passed through the roof of "C" turret and killed the turret crew and a damage control party when it exploded in the lower ammunition handling room. The blast tore a large hole in the ship's bottom, opened a seam in her side, and blew out all fires in her boiler rooms. Savannah lay dead in the water with her forecastle nearly awash, and eight hours elapsed before her boilers were relit for the Savannah to get underway for Malta.[8] USS Savannah lost 197 crewmen in this attack. Fifteen other sailors were seriously wounded, and four more were trapped in a watertight compartment for 60 hours. These four sailors were not rescued until Savannah had already arrived at Grand Harbor, Valletta, Malta on 12 September. Fritz X - Wikipedia Tim
Cheers tim. For that made good reading. Did the German's use the fritz bomb anywhere else in the war. It would be a surprising if they didn't. Baz
Found a little bit about the fritz bomb it was used at anzio the british made a type 650 transmitter automatically jamming all radio frequency signals to the fritz bomb. Cheers Baz
III/KG-100 used the Fritz against Naval forces near Plymouth on 30th April 1944, off Normandy on 5th July 1944 and against forces off the south coast of France on the 15th & 17th August 1944.
Great. Information .Cheers. Were their any allied damages to ships and men. At Salerno. Some ships were damaged. Baz
No hits on the four dates I mentioned. A few ships were hit at Salerno by the Fritz, including HMS Warspite & HMS Uganda, although far more were hit by the Hs-293 guided missile during that weapons service life.
Bazz. Yes but they went for quality over quantity. The Allies won because the US provided quantity. The Germans got their equipment strategy wrong. Equipment too complex at times. Regards Frank
Too true. It was same with tanks tiger's where very good tanks, but took too long to manufacture. The Russians knocked out tanks like no tomorrow in production .and had the men to man them. Baz
The father of a friend of mine was was a Leading Seaman on the Warspite when hit by a remote controlled bomb. The stern was very badly damaged resulting in running repairs and a trip to the US for substantive repairs. Regards Tom
As a tragic aside to the tale another member of the crew was a 18 yr old cousin of the Leading seaman. He was trapped in the stern with a small air pocket in a flooded compartment for over 24 hours until rescued. Any further damage would have been the end of those tapped, but luck prevailed. At the end of the war Wars pie returned. The crew were given leave and on route back to the Shetland he stopped over at relatives in Glasgow. He must have been suffering from what is now termed PASS and he committed suicide by using the gas oven. A tragic end to a young life. Regards Tom
One of many lives lost that way. And many more locked it away deep in side themselves and not being able to talk about it. Ruined alot of people. Baz
