WW2 German Amerikabombers | The Secret Aircraft That Aimed At Bombing The United States | PART 1

DroneScapes
DroneScapes
67,888
0
Published 2024-05-03
Amerikabombers. Nazi Germany plan to bomb the United States. Part 1
PART 2:    • WW2 German Amerikabombers | The Secre...  

The Amerikabomber (English: America bomber) project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the United States (specifically New York City) from Germany, a round-trip distance of about 11,600 km (7,200 mi). The concept was raised as early as 1938, but advanced plans for such a long-range strategic bomber design did not begin to appear before Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring until early 1942. Various proposals were put forward, but these plans were all eventually abandoned as they were too expensive, too reliant on rapidly diminishing materiel and production capacity, and/or technically infeasible.

According to Albert Speer's book, Spandau: The Secret Diaries, Adolf Hitler was fascinated with the idea of New York City in flames. In 1937, Willy Messerschmitt hoped to win a lucrative contract by showing Hitler a prototype of the Messerschmitt Me 264 that was being designed to reach North America from Europe. On 8 July 1938, barely two years after the death of Germany's main strategic bombing advocate, Generalleutnant Walter Wever, and eight months after the Reich Air Ministry awarded the contract for the design of the Heinkel He 177, Germany's only operational heavy bomber during the war years, the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief Hermann Göring gave a speech saying, "I completely lack the bombers capable of round-trip flights to New York with a 4.5-tonne bomb load. I would be extremely happy to possess such a bomber, which would at last stuff the mouth of arrogance across the sea." Canadian historian Holger H. Herwig claims the plan started as a result of discussions by Hitler in November 1940 and May 1941 when he stated his need to "deploy long-range bombers against American cities from the Azores." Due to their location, he thought the Portuguese Azores islands were Germany's "only possibility of carrying out aerial attacks from a land base against the United States." At the time, Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar had allowed German U-boats and navy ships to refuel there, but from 1943 onwards, he leased bases in the Azores to the British, allowing the Allies to provide aerial coverage in the middle of the Atlantic.

Requests for designs, at various stages during the war, were made to the major German aircraft manufacturers (Messerschmitt, Junkers, Focke-Wulf, and the Horten Brothers) early in World War II, coinciding with the passage of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom in September 1940. Heinkel's bid for the project occurred sometime shortly after February 1943, by which time the RLM had issued the Heinkel firm the airframe type number 8-277 for what essentially became its entry.

The Amerikabomber project plan was completed on April 27, 1942, and submitted to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring on May 12, 1942. The 33-page plan was discovered in Potsdam by Olaf Groehler, a German historian. Ten copies of the plan were made, with six going to different Luftwaffe offices and four held in reserve. The plan specifically mentions using the Azores as a transit airfield to reach the United States. If utilized, the Heinkel He 277, Junkers Ju 390, and the Messerschmitt Me 264 could reach American targets with a 3-tonne, 5-tonne, and 6.5-tonne payload, respectively. Although it is apparent that the plan itself deals only with an attack on American soil, it is possible the Nazis saw other interrelated strategic purposes for the Amerikabomber project. According to military historian James P. Duffy, Hitler "saw in the Azores the ... possibility for carrying out aerial attacks from a land base against the United States.

Watch more aircraft, heroes, and their stories and missions ➤    / @dronescapes  
To support/join the channel ➤ youtube.com/channel/UCTTqBgYdkmFogITlPDM0M4A/join

IG ➤ www.instagram.com/dronescapesvideos
FB ➤ www.facebook.com/Dronescapesvideos
X/Twitter ➤ dronescapes.video/2p89vedj
THREADS ➤ www.threads.net/@dronescapesvideos

#amerikabomber #aviation #aircraft
All Comments (21)
  • @joeblow6568
    20 ,minutes on U-boats, 10 on the actual title, then an hour on the B-29?
  • @briankistner4331
    It's amazing that Boeing, designer of the B-17 & B-29, has gone to shit in the last decade.
  • @mikehart5619
    Well, IF they could have been produced in a significant number and IF there were pilots to fly them and IF there was fuel to keep them flying then maybe it would have made a difference in the war. But even if the bomber could have gotten off the drawing board and if it could have actually flown to New York and back, there are all the previous IFs. Besides, while bombing the east coast of the US would be tragic for those living there, it would have barely made a dent in US industrial capacity.
  • @senormedia
    so, 30 minutes of what the video is titled, and then an hour on the 29?
  • @rustycann6887
    i thought this was about german bombers not the B29
  • @Ma007rk
    Perhaps if Germany would have produced such bombers in the mid to late 30s, then they might have made a difference. Nazi Germany just had too many things going against them. No doubt they produced exquisite airplanes, tanks, etc. It just took way too much in the way of specialized labor to produce what they produced. And it costs too much per item.
  • @farmrrick
    Raiding New York wouldn't have done much strategically. US industry is very spread out. Especially once you get us on a war footing .
  • @josephd6203
    Such good information. I thought I knew a lot about WW2, but I was wrong, I learned a lot today!
  • @Kirkee7
    YES WE GET , it the distance.
  • @litestuffllc7249
    Actually the Nazi's did have access to an aircraft that could have bombed the USA from day 1; the Zeppilin. One might think initially; they were too easy to shoot down; the USA having denied Nazi Germany Helium for just this reason. But, even a Hydrogen Zepplin is not that easy to shoot down; they had Bombed England in WWI. A Zeppilin has another massive advantage - loiter time. A group of Zeppilins could wait far out of the range of fighters until fog or clouds gave them cover to attack anywhere in Canada or the USA. In order to counter the threat large amounts of aircraft would need to be made and deployed for defence instead of offense.
  • @benjaminrapp7418
    "Boeing... shortcuts had to be taken..." Oh boy, that sure hits differently in 2024.
  • @glennquagmire1747
    Its purpose was not to use bombs but to drop radioactive radiation or a dirty bomb.
  • @GeorgeRuffner-iy7bm
    As a subscriber, I suggest you could take the B-29 stuff and make a separate video. There were things mentioned and shown I never was aware of, and I'm 79 years old! Thanks for sharing. 🙈🙉🙊 😎 🇺🇸
  • @ArmyVet82ndAbn
    To make a dull long story short: America kicked Germanys ass, end of story.