Germans Couldn't Understand How American VT Fuzes Destroyed 82% Of Their V-1s In One Day

[bucolic_frolic]

In the summer of 1944, Hitler's V-1 flying bomb, a terrifying new "wonder weapon," began its assault on London. German scientists were confident their creation was nearly invincible, calculating the odds of it being shot down by anti-aircraft fire at less than 1 in 10,000. Yet, in a shocking turn of events, Allied defenses began destroying the V-1s at an impossible rate, culminating in one day where 82% of the incoming buzz bombs were annihilated before reaching their target.

This documentary delves into one of World War II's most decisive and closely guarded secrets: the American VT fuze, also known as the proximity fuze. Discover the story of the ingenious technology that allowed artillery shells to "think" for themselves, detonating when they were near a target rather than requiring a direct hit. We explore the massive American industrial effort, involving over 110 factories, that mass-produced this "impossible" device on a scale Germany couldn't comprehend.

Learn how this tiny piece of technology, kept as secret as the atomic bomb, turned the tide against Hitler's V-1 campaign, saved London from devastation, and proved that in modern warfare, industrial ingenuity could be more powerful than any single wonder weapon. The Germans never knew what hit them, and this is the story of why.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Recommending w/o watching bc I know this is an important bit of history. Thanks for posting. . . . nt

[usonian]

2. For the video-challenged

Intro
https://www.historynet.com/proximity-fuze/

Techie (yes, schematic diagram)
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/09/retrotechtacular-a-closer-look-at-the-vt-proximity-fuze/




Manual
https://maritime.org/doc/vtfuze/index.php

Design handbook
https://archive.org/details/proximity-fuze-technical-manuals/AMCP%20706-210%2C%20Fuzes/mode/1up

[mitch96]

3. As a side note the "VT" proximity fuze helped reduce the death rate from Kamikaze suicide planes during the

battle of Okinawa in the Pacific war...The Kamikaze still took a horrific toll on the US Navy and it could have been worse...
"It was important in defense from Japanese kamikaze attacks in the Pacific. Bush estimated a sevenfold increase in the effectiveness of 5-inch anti-aircraft artillery with this innovation.[56]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_fuze