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Oberraderach

For the nearby Raderach neighborhood, see Friedrichshafen and de:Raderach.

Raderach (English: Raderach) was the World War II location of Prüffeld-Anlage Raderach, a V-2 rocket test facility code named "Porcelain Factory" (German: Porzellanfabrik).[1]: 99  Raderach testing ensured V-2 turbopumps did not overpressure combustion chambers (there was no controller) and was planned for rocket motors to be installed by the nearby Zeppelin Works (German: Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH) as part of the Eastern Works (V-2 facilities in the Vienna-Freidrichshafen area). Firings were visible in Switzerland across Lake Constance and testing ended shortly after the facility began operation.[2]: 207 

The first design sketches for the Raderach facility were prepared by Bernhard Tessmann of the Peenemünde Army Research Center, and Captain König was the military representative at Raderach.[1]: 95  By mid-1942, the German Army had started construction of the Raderach motor test stand,[2]: 174  and a nearby liquid oxygen (A-stoff) plant produced up to 900 tons/month.[1]: 99  On July 25, 1943, British V-2 intelligence reported that aerial photographic reconnaissance of Friedrichshafen depicted rocket firing sites like those at the Peenemünde Army Research Center.[citation needed] On August 3, 1944, the test facility and the ZF Friedrichshafen at Friedrichshafen were bombed. The 461st Bombardment Group's primary target was the "Raderach Chemical Works", and the Zahnradfabrik (English: gearwheel factory) secondary target was also bombed.[3] The 485th Bombardment Group attacked the "Ober chemical works" on August 16.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ordway, Frederick I III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979). The Rocket Team. Apogee Books Space Series 36. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. p. 74,95,99. ISBN 1-894959-00-0.
  2. ^ a b Neufeld, Michael J. (1995). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press. p. 174, 207. ISBN 978-0-02-922895-1.
  3. ^ "Our Missions: The 464 BG Mission List".[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "485th Missions". 485th Bomb Group Association. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-12-27.