|
in retrospect, this all seems almost quaint, but it wasn't merely interesting to Londoners having V1s & V2s fall upon them.
"The Wehrmacht, in planning for the British invasion, developed some types of airborne and amphibious tanks and other special heavy armour, later considered for an eventual invasion of America. The Kriegsmarine ordered the design of some aircraft carriers (Based on Akagi-Type Great Japanese Navy Flag-Carriers):
Graf Zeppelin Carrier
Peter Strasser/Deutschland Carrier
Europa Carrier(Project)
Potsdam Carrier(Project)
Carrier based aircraft were created for the invasion of Britain and later, America. Such units were intended for equipping the Luftwaffe/Kriegsmarine 650th Geschwader.
The Luftwaffe also arranged for the ultra-heavy giant armed assault glider Junkers Ju 322 "Mammut" to transport airborne forces and light vehicles. Such vehicles were supposed to be used in an invasion of America alongside the Messerschmitt Me 321 "Gigant" heavy transport glider."
The Messerschmitt Me 264, part of the "Amerika Bomber" program, was developed to bomb the continental United States from Germany. Only three prototypes were built... A similar design was the Junkers Ju 390. It was intended to strike America, particularly New York City. This gave it the name "The New York Bomber." It is alleged that such a bomber was tested in 1944, flying an unarmed test flight to within 100 miles of the East Coast of the United States, but this has never been confirmed. (reported by The History Channel in 2001.)
The Horten brothers were also working on an Amerika Bomber toward the end of the war, the all-wing Horten 18 turbojet. According to one researcher, the aircraft may have been meant to deliver a rudimentary atomic bomb to New York City or Washington, D.C., despite the fact that German scientists had not yet learned how to produce a chain reaction. [1]
Another plan called for V-1 and V-2 rockets to be fitted to U-Boats and launched on New York City, and Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 290 planes armed with four V-1 under their wings. The Germans also considered using long-range missiles launched from France to hit the American mainland."
|