Fritz-x Hitler's secret weapon

Fritz-x is name given by allied for a German 3,450-pound armor-piercing bomb fitted with a radio receiver and control surfaces in the tail.This bomb designed by Max Kramer .It can destroy enemy ship for only two times hit,and it several times better than normal bomb.

It was a penetration weapon intended to be used against heavily protected targets such as heavy cruisers and battleships.

Fritz-X was steered by the bombardier in the launching aircraft over a radio link between the aircraft's Kehl transmitter and the weapon's Straßburg receiver. The bombardier had to be able to see the target at all times, and the bomb had a flare in the tail so it could be seen from the controlling aircraft for its MCLOS-form guidance to control it properly. The disadvantage with this — in comparison to self contained glide bombs like the slightly later VB-6 Felix — were that the aircraft had to be flown toward the target on a steady course and that as the missile neared its target it became possible to misguide by jamming its radio channel.




 
This bomb had destroy Italia Battleship "Roma" on Aug. 29, 1943 over the Mediterranean after German-Italia alliance break.The bomb drop by nazi bomber and after they drop two bomb the ship burned and shank and light cruiser Savannah at 10:00 on 11 September 1943 during the invasion of Salerno, and was forced to retire to the United States for repairs. A single Fritz-X passed through the roof of "C" turret and killed the turret crew and a damage control party when it exploded in the lower ammunition handling room. The blast tore a large hole in the ship's bottom, opened a seam in her side, and blew out all fires in her boiler rooms. Savannah lay dead in the water with the forecastle nearly awash and took eight hours to relight boilers and get underway for 

Between April 1943 and December 1944, about 1,386 of these weapons were produced; 602 were expended in testing and training. Its combat use was limited by the small number of Luftwaffe aircraft available to carry it and by its relatively poor accuracy, which averaged about 20 percent against Allied shipping.


                                                                                                            The USS Savanah hit by Fritz-x 
                                                                                                            during Invasion of Salerno


Type                     Anti-ship missile / Guided bomb
Place of origin     Nazi Germany
In service             1943 - 1944
Used by                Nazi Germany (Luftwaffe)
Wars                     World War II
Designer               Max Kramer
Manufacturer       Ruhrstahl
Weight                  1,362 kg (3,000 lb)[1]
Length                  3.32 m (11 ft)
Width                   1.40 m (5 ft)
Diameter              85.3 cm (2 ft 8 in)
Warhead              amatol explosive, armour-piercing
Warhead weight   320 kg (705 lb)
range                   5 km (3.1 mi)
Speed                  343 m/s (1,235 km/h or 770 mph)
system                 Kehl-Straßburg FuG 203/230; MCLOS