Submarines and their Weapons - Aircraft of World War II

SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES
secured to it. While the power and test cables were
being run out from the generator and control trucks,
two of the three straps retaining the missile on its
trailer bed were removed, leaving the topmost in
place, and the nose fuze was then inserted. An auxiliary
motor provided power for the hydraulic rams
which then raised the missile to the vertical position -
a process which took about 12 minutes - and when it
was hanging vertically over the launch platform, the
latter was jacked up to take the missile's weight and
the top retaining strap was removed.
The various cables were then connected up, the
transporter withdrew a short distance so that hinged
platforms on its gantry could be deployed as work stations,
and the testing procedure began. Once this had
been successfully completed, the fuelling crews went
to work, filling the main tanks with liquid oxygen and
methanol and the smaller tanks with hydrogen peroxide
and the permanganate catalyst. Then the launch
78
platform was rotated on its base to align the missile
with the target (the process of tipping it in flight was
carried out by spinning a drum around its horizontal
axis, thus causing the missile to rotate slowly in the
opposite direction; the axis of the drum had, therefore,
to be precisely at right-angles to the azimuth of
the target). Lastly, the igniter - a small firework, set
off electrically - was wedged into the tail pipe, and
the set-up crews withdrew.
Right: In addition to the 'Meillerwagen' and its fleet of
associated vehicles, A4 launch teams also employed
special trains. They were somewhat less flexible
logistically but smoother in operation.
Below: The A4 rocket - even without its 975kg (2150lb)
warhead filled with amatol mix- could make a very large
hole in the ground indeed... This crater was the result of
a test firing at White Sands.