FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 10 265
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FIGURE 9.—The 20-cm rocket of 1905: 1, Rocket body. 2, Warhead. 4, Rounded tip. 5, Front
cover of tip. 6, Balance ring. 7, Threads for cover of propellant during storage. 8, Intermediate
wall. 12, Ring which transfers the propulsion thrust from the turbine to the rocket body.
13, Edge on which the turbine rests. 14, Turbine. 15, Exhaust orifices. 16, Space for igniter.
17, Igniter cover. 18, Holder of igniter. 19, Rounded center body of the turbine. 20, Ignition
channel. 21, Ring for holding the end-plate. 22, End plate of combustion chamber. 23, Orifice
of combustion chamber. 24, Cartouches. 25, Combustion chamber. 26, End cone of combustion
chamber. 28, Edge to carry felt plate (29) and wooden plate (30). 31, Charge of explosive.
33, Impact fuse. 34, Ring for holding the charge.
The rocket as completed (Figure 9) showed good
accuracy at test launchings. The maximum range
was about 4 kg (2.5 mi) for the 10-cm rocket and
7 km (5 mi) for the 30-cm rocket. The spread was
generally within an area of 100 m (300 ft) times 50
m (150 ft), 50 m along the trajectory. Measurements
and dimensions of the rockets were as follows:
Model
1905
1909
1905
1905
Caliber
(cm)
10
10
20
30
Rocket
Length
(cm)
90
88
155
235
Warhead
2
4.1
15.8
58.0
Weight (kg)
o, F-
4.4
5.1
30.9
116.0
17
18.3
135.5
363.5
Launch barrel
Length
(m)
Weight
(*g)
2.5 64
1.7 66
4.6 235
7.0 708
New types of barrels were designed for such different
purposes as mountain artillery and man-carried
artillery. The prices were about 60 dollars for the
10-cm rocket and up to 600 dollars for the 30-cm
rocket. The price of the barrel for the 10-cm rocket
was about 240 dollars. Though different countries
expressed some interest, no large-scale production
was started, mainly because the Swedish military
authorities were completely indifferent.
The German company Friedrich Krupp in Essen
became interested in the rockets designed by Unge,
and in 1908 Krupp bought all seven rocket patents
and a large number of rockets from Unge for tests
at their Meppen testing ground in Germany. A few
years later Krupp ceased the experiments with
Unge's rockets because of their inaccuracy, accord-