One of the more interesting weapons of the war was the German Fritz-X, the first guided anti-ship glide bomb and the first to sink a ship in combat. Used very effectively in late summer 1943 against surrendering Italian ships and some American ships during the invasion of Salerno. Dropped by special fitted Dornier-217's at a preferred height of about 18,000 feet and with it's 3,450 pound warhead was very lethal against capital ships such as the Italian battleship Roma, which was struck by two of them and quickly sank with a loss of 1,393 lives. Some 1,400 examples were built.
Along with the Hs293 it was used in the second half of 1943. By June 1944 the allies had developed electronic counter measures that prevented the Germans from achieving any significant success off the coast of Nomandy. An interesting weapon and precursor to modern smart bombs but deployed prematurely.
HMS Warspite was seriously damaged by a Fritz X. Will add some data tomorrow. (Can't lay hands on the book I am looking for, trusting to memory the damage was never completely repaired, more patched up.) The Italian battleship Roma was sunk by Fritz X , she was sailing to Malta at the time,her wreck was recently discovered.
Imagine the damaged these could of inflicted during D-Day...good thing counter measures were discovered before then.
Fritz X as seen at the RAF Museum Hendon. (Please excuse the rather badly taken photo of the information board.( I give myself a generous 4/10 for that !). The attached is from V.E. Tarrant's "Battleship Warspite" ( Arms and Armour Press. 1990). This company did some very good books in the 1980's=90's. Warspite motto. "Belli Dura Despicio" ("I despise the hardships of war"). The two Fritz X hits on her. Warspite was lucky, Roma was not.
