Peenemünde Visit

Took a day off for myself in order to visit a place that I had always wanted to visit, especially as it is now a museum.

The place was Peenemünde, which was a WW2 German Rocket and Aeronautical research stationon the Baltic island of Usedom, about 55 miles NW of Stettin (now Szczecin, in Poland).

Development of the V2 Rocket was carried out here, together with the later development of the V1 flying bomb.

The Me 163 was also tested initially at Peenemünde and a PR Spitfire actually took a photo of one (Last photo on reel) which was only interpreted some months later.

It was bombed by the RAF on the 17/18 August 1943 with 597 aircraft causing considerable damage, killing 750 workers, (unfortunately mostly forced labourers and included those who helped to smuggle out details of the rocket and instalation).

A few Rocket scientists were killed and the project put back several months.

This was the spur to build underground factories in the Harz mountains, to prevent disruption.

The area of the site covers many square miles, much of which is still off limits to the individual and so you cannot visit the sites of the launch pads and test facilities, which are just foundations now.

The airfield still exists on the North tip of the island and is used by light planes and sight seeing trips.

The engine and propeller are from a Lancaster Bomber that failed to return that night and was dug up several years ago.

The dock area was the later HQ of the DDR Navy and a patrol boat is part of the museum exhibits.

The Russian Submarine is a seperate place to visit and unfortunately was closing as I left the museum.
I had to be content with a couple od camera shots from long range.

The red train, is the one used by Von braun and his staff to travel to Bavaria, before he surrendered to the Americans.

I enjoyed my day out and hope that you may find the photographs of interest.

Regards
Tom

 

Thanks for the pics Tom, seems to have been a good day out.


JULIETT U-461

 

Thanks Tom. There is something so interesting in the V Weapons.
Also Middlebrook's book is a very good read on the raid of Peenemünde.

 

Great photos Tom & some where I would like to go
Can I ask how you got there & how long it took ?
Thanks in advance

 

TCS - good looking pics and quite the comlplex - I always imagined this was nearer the North Sea coast - don't know why - just never looked it up !

Cheers

 

Tom -- what a great day you had seeing a very interesting piece of the war story. These photos are superb. Thanks for sharing them.

What is the aircraft in 0754 image? A Mig 17?

cheers.
phil

 

Thanks for share these photos, Tom!.

From many years, I am a fan of Cosmonautic -possibly 35 or more-.


I found a very interesting link:
Peenemuende
V-2 As you could seen, is very complet an documented about the matter. Technic, chronology, history, photos, diagrams.....

The following link is a photo in the Google-LIFE archive:
LIFE: Members of US 7th Army, 44th Infantry Di... - Hosted by Google

Phil: Posibly this aircraft is a post direct development based in the tecnology of V-2 (As you must known, both countries, USA & old URSS, share and catch/caugth intact missiles for his respectives arsenals/gunneries at the end of War and more scientist, documentation, technicians and workers)

And this link is the drector computer on V-2: Helmut Hoelzer's Fully Electronic Analog Computer used in the German V2 (A4) rockets






Jan.

 

Great photos Tom & some where I would like to go
Can I ask how you got there & how long it took ?
Thanks in advance

The final new motorway link was not open, only last year and so it took me about 4 hours with a small stop from Berlin.

Regards
Tom

 

Tom -- what a great day you had seeing a very interesting piece of the war story. These photos are superb. Thanks for sharing them.

What is the aircraft in 0754 image? A Mig 17?

cheers.
phil


Correct Phil,
An old Mig 17.

Regards
Tom

 

The two V2 nose cones were positione at the foot of a large stairwell on the ground floor of the Museum housed in the old Power station.

One is a new nose cone and the other is a damaged one.

If you look at the damaged one it appears that it may have been from the well documented test failure where the rocket takes off and after a few metres stalls and returns to earth followed by a great explosion as all the propulsion liquid explodes.

Due to the shape of the bent cone it could well be from this accident or another similar.

YouTube - 1944 V2 Prototypes Launching Failures

YouTube - 1944 V2 and young Von Braun-Color Footage-Original Sound

Regards
Tom

 

Tom:

One of your photos most interested me is DSCN0786. Simultaneously, by the mirrors, can able the front and rear view......





Jan.

 

Tom:

One of your photos most interested me is DSCN0786. Simultaneously, by the mirrors, can able the front and rear view......

Jan.

Jan,
That is a combustion chamber from a V2 Rocket.

Various V2 Components on Display

Technical data V2 rocket

V-2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On this site there is a underground factory, where a whole tunnel is full of combustion chambers.

RAFA Eastern Area - V2 Rocket Site


The item was exhibited well in the museum using the mirror to ba able to see the reverse side, but it is pretty symetrical.

Regards
Tom

 

An interesting collection of history from behind the iron curtain, unaccessible for the bulk of people in the west until the fall of the GDR and the Soviet Union.

Looking back,its existence was a bone of contention despite intelligence gathered from the air and "friendly" observers.All through the summer of 1943 the intelligence was mounting up but Lindemann,Churchill's chief scientific adviser (later Lord Cherhill) refused to accept that the Germans had the capability to deliver long range rockets.He was reported to have retorted "it is a mare's nest".(David Irving reflected this in his excellent informative publication "The Mare's Nest" which was devoid of his usual revisionist approach).

It is revealing that for all the criminal activities undertaken by the Germans in pursuing their rocket development and production,no German associated with the work at Peenmunde and later at Nordhausen Dora was charged with war crimes.The research and development teams all found employment in the west which put the Soviet Union at a disadvantage in that they fell behind it the race to conquer space and to harness long range rockets for miliary use. However the former criminal activities of one was to catch up with him.Arthur Rudolph,a propulsion specialist who later worked on the US Saturn project became subject to an investigation of the US Office of Special Investigations (OSI).He was a former member of the Nazi Party from 1931, he was vouched for and entered the US in December 1945 and was granted US citizenship in November 1954.By the early 1980s he was forced to renounce his US citizenship and the threat of being tried as a war criminal was withdrawn.(He was then assessed as being a past ambitious Nazi.) He returned to Germany in March 1984 after first being declared stateless by the West German government. He died in January 1996 in Hamburg, still protesting his innocence after failing to be admitted to Canada. Not surprisingly he had his supporters in the likes of people such as Ernst Zundel and the like.

Getting back to the Peenemunde establishment. All through the summer of 1943,air intelligence evidence such as the working up of the power station was recorded.(Coal ships at the quayside, coal stocks being built up and emissions from the two chimneys erected at the time.)The establishment had its own power station but I would think that would have been connected into the German electricity network for support but with the ability to run on its own, supplying the establishment load disconnected from the network.

Power stations, generally, were not attacked by Bomber Command to the extent that economic warfare should have dictated they should have been.The reason was that it was generally thought that the German electrical system was more interconnected and therefore much more able to maintain security of supplies if power stations were knocked out. After the defeat of Germany, it was found that had B.C strategy been to bomb power stations at a higher level of priority,then the degree of German war economy decline would have been more severe.

During the Cold War,the Peenemunde airfield was an important base for the GDR Air Force and until late 1990, the base housed the MIG 23 JG-9 unit and early in the Cold War had the ZDK-33 with its Ill 28s (an equivalent type to the Canberra) based there.

Strange that the present day Luftwaffe should give up such an excellent 2400 metre x 50 metre concrete runway, 13/310 which heads directly out over the Baltic.It is probably rated as relief landing ground.There is also a 1800 metre x 40 metre grass runway which is the one probably used for social flying as mentioned.

Added Comment.

Apparently one of the reasons why the Germans were able to resume production at Dora without serious technical difficulties was because of office discipline they imposed.At the end of each working day,one of Von Braun's secretaries had the responsibility of depositing the complete master set of blueprints in the local bank's safe so ensuring techical drawing were safeguarded overnight.Thus on the night of the raid, the master blueprints were elsewhere in a safe secure place.

 

Harry,
A good post regarding Peenemünde and the Later Politics!

Whilst there I visited the museum shop and treated myself to a DVD all about Peenemünde from when the rocket project was deemed too far advanced for many witnesses to see the launchings as it was on the outskirts of Berlin.

It is a place I will revisit as there is a lot of room for expansion and I am sure it will get much better over the years.
It certainly gets the crowds there, especially in the summer months due to its baltic coast location.

Regards
Tom

 

Tom you have visited a few great places in the last while - lucky man
Thanks for posting the photos - as always enjoy seeing them and reading your observations on places.

js

 

I took a photograph of an electric loco and carriage on my visit to Peenemünde.

I was led to believe that this was the same electric unit that Von Braun used to travel down to Bavaria before surrendering to the Americans.

The attached links provide all the information on the decision to surrender only to the Americans.

The text of most reports states that Von Braun stole a train to travel with up to 500 members of staff.

If so, the loco I photographed would not accommodate so many personnel, unless there were more carriages attached.

Does anyone have any more information on the train used by the rocket scientists?

The V-2 Rocket - Wernher Von Braun

Wernher von Braun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wernher von Braun

Regards
Tom

 

I took a photograph of an electric loco and carriage on my visit to Peenemünde.

I was led to believe that this was the same electric unit that Von Braun used to travel down to Bavaria before surrendering to the Americans.

The attached links provide all the information on the decision to surrender only to the Americans.

The text of most reports states that Von Braun stole a train to travel with up to 500 members of staff.

If so, the loco I photographed would not accommodate so many personnel, unless there were more carriages attached.

Does anyone have any more information on the train used by the rocket scientists?



Regards
Tom


Perhaps these matters are secrets of the Operation Paperclip.



In serious form, Tom, I will investigate in next days, if I discover anything of interest, I post here.




Jan.

 

Perhaps these matters are secrets of the Operation Paperclip.



In serious form, Tom, I will investigate in next days, if I discover anything of interest, I post here.

Jan.


Thanks Jan.

 

That train looks more modern than 1940's to be honest. Great photos Tom. Its a pity you missed out on the Sub. i'd say that would be worth a visit!

 

That train looks more modern than 1940's to be honest. Great photos Tom. Its a pity you missed out on the Sub. i'd say that would be worth a visit!

Gotthard, the implantation and technological advances of electrical lines in these epochs, are higher in Germany. In a rapid seek, I think/seem that is a model made by Brown Bovery & Co, with work plants in Switzerland, and of course in Germany. Precisely this concept, motor units and tow units, is a invent very, very old, and in contraposition the conventional railways of the UK and Dominions -Steam Power-.


What is the gauge, Tom? Metric?, or other?





Again, I will take a look at my Wermacht Album 1941 in PDF.






Jan.