WesWorld

April 2, 1935 - Hamburg

The HAPAG ship SS Braunschweig has set sail from Hamburg bound for Newport News. In her holds she carries 9 aircraft purchased by the USAAC (6 Bf-109s, 3 Fw-187s), along with spare parts for the planes. Several technicians from BFW and Focke-Wulf will be leaving for the US in the near future to support the aircraft while the USAAC technicians and mechanics learn how to maintain the aircraft.


April 2, 1935 - Berlin

Questions have been raised with the Lithuanian and Russian governments about the recently announced defences that Lithuania has chosen to begin building. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "We are not questioning Lithuania's right to do this, only whether it was prompted by something Germany has done and whether the reported long-range guns will be sited such that they threaten East Prussia."


April 4, 1935 - Wangerooge

Krupp technicians have begun installing a new test site here on the outer island, apparently to begin testing of a new coast gun.


April 8, 1934 - Bremen

Focke-Wulf has announced plans for a second series of the Fw-200 long-range transport, to be powered by the new Jumo-208 diesel radial. The expectation is that the improved fuel economy will more than compensate for the engine's greater weight, compared to the BMW-132s currently powering the aircraft. Additionally, the company has announced plans to fly a test flight from Berlin to New York and return later this year, a test for future passenger service in Luft Hansa colors.

pays a visit to the Foreign Ministry

"Sir. The new Lithuanian Fortified Region will be approximately 80 kilometers from Lithuania's border with East Prussia, and about 50 kilometers from Lithuania's border with Poland.

The maximum range of the A-19 122mm field gun is 20,800 meters.

The Lithuanian government's decision, so far as I am aware, is not related to the Lithuanian government's relations with the German government.

April 3, 1935 - Berlin

The deputy foreign minister sighs and nods in relief at the Russian military attache's explanation. "Ah, good. In that case, the German government has no concerns. Thank you for the quick response to our inquiry on this matter."

April 19, 1935 - Newport News

The HAPAG ship SS Braunschweig has docked in Newport News, and all passengers have disembarked. Cargo unloading is expected to continue through tomorrow, while cargo loading for the return trip will begin on the 21st of the month.

April 24th, 1935 - Berlin

Sources inside the Foreign Ministry have reported an increase in diplomatic cable traffic between the Foreign Ministry, Karlskrona, Warsaw, Moscow, Kaunas (the capital of Lithuania). When asked about this traffic, a Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to confirm or deny the traffic and said, "If there is any heavier than normal cable traffic, it would be merely discussions amongst neighbors."

April 26th, 1935 - Berlin

The Heer has released a request for proposals for a new submachinegun, to be chambered in 9mm Parabellum, to replace the Great War vintage Bergmann M1918 in service with the Heer.

April 29, 1935 - Bremen

Focke-Wulf has announced the first flight of the Fw-200 V-4, the prototype for the Fw-200B series, a version of the aircraft for military purposes designed for a foreign customer. Designed for long-range patrol duties, the aircraft is fitted with a dorsal machinegun turret and a ventral gondola that mounts machineguns in the front and rear. Additionally, bomb racks are fitted between the engines on both wings.

May 2, 1935 - Dessau

Junkers has announced the first flight of the Junkers Ju-90 V-1, a large transport aircraft derived from the cancelled Ju-89 heavy bomber project. A wide-bodied aircraft, the Ju-90 has the potential to increase passenger comfort in the air, or, in a cargo version, to carry bulkier cargo than the run-of-the-mill transports such as the Ju-52.


May 6, 1935 - Grunau

First test flight of the Flettner Fl-265 helicopter. Funding for the development of this small (1 person, with a small payload) helicopter was provided by the Kriegsmarine. The flight was not completely succesful, as as the aircraft was landing the two intermeshing rotor blades impacted one another and caused the aircraft to crash. Luckily the pilot was able to escape with only broken bones, but the aircraft itself was destroyed in the ensuing fire.

May 8, 1935 - Berlin

Motorization was the topic on the table at the meeting of the Heer's commander, General von Rundestedt, and the Generalstab. The Panzer Corps, currently being formed, was intending to be entirely motorized, even if that goal wouldn't be reached immediately, but the question on the table was what other units of the Heer should be as well. Around Europe and even outside of Europe, armies were replacing their horses with trucks and purchasing trucks to replace boot leather and allow infantry to move more rapidly along roads. Yugoslavia, for instance, was buying trucks from Germany for exactly that purpose.

"There are, effectively, two ways we can begin motorizing the Heer. That is, we can either begin motorizing by unit, whether that unit is regiment, division, or corps doesn't really matter except in degree and cost, or we can motorize by branch, ie, motorize the artillery, the infantry, the support, and so on."

"The former method gets the whole unit ready to move more rapidly, but it also means that it is held back by any portions of the larger unit it is a part of in any large scale maneuvers. A motorized regiment that's part of a division that hasn't completed motorization cannot make use of all it's capabilities, lest it get ahead of it's fellows and be defeated in detail."

"The latter method, probably to be applied first to the artillery, then to the support and supply troops, then lastly to the infantry themselves, would speed up the units that support the infantry first, allowing the infantry to advance as rapidly as the men can, rather than hurrying to advance then having to wait for their support units to catch up to them. Historically this has been a pattern that causes advances to run out of steam: even if the infantry could advance as fast as the men could march, because the enemy was flying before them, their supporting forces could not keep up, the horse-drawn wagons and guns simply could not move that rapidly."

"So which method do we have the budget to support?"

"Either, actually. If we choose to spend money on motorization, then we have sufficient funds to begin to motorize a corps, or to begin to motorize the artillery. We've already begun motorizing the artillery, of course, the prospect of towing 21cm howitzers or 15cm guns with horses was rejected years ago and the artillery has been buying half-tracks to tow those guns, but if the decision was made to motorize the artillery, then we'd be buying more half-tracks or trucks to motorize the 15cm and 10.5cm howitzers. If we were motorizing the infantry, the money would still be spent on half-tracks or trucks. The differences come in when we look at how many units can be motorized: we can motorize 1 to 2 artillery regiments for the cost of motorizing a single infantry regiment."

"So what are the advantages of the half-tracks over trucks?"

"The half-tracks offer better off-road mobility, for the disadvantages of higher cost and lower on-road speed. For the artillery, half-tracks are a clear win for the larger guns, since the size of truck needed to pull them is very limited off-road when they are pulling a large cannon or howitzer. For smaller guns, like field howitzers or flak guns, medium trucks are an option, since the smaller guns don't weigh so much."

"Hmmmm. Let's start with the artillery, then. Meanwhile, while we're buying trucks or half-tracks for the artillery, let's look into how well those same vehicles can be used by to replace the supply and support wagons, and for carrying infantry. I'm sure someone will say we should use those armored half-tracks the panzer infantry are getting, but those are too expensive and the production line is slow, at the rate Guderian's been getting them we'd still be waiting in 1950. Now, what's this about a rocket weapon?"

"Well, we've heard rumors of something the Dutch have been working on, something that involves, essentially, a number of spigot mortars mounted on a single mounting. Relatively light, covers an area reliably, but terribly short ranged. So, someone thought of using rockets instead of spigot mortars. A series of prototype 15cm rockets have been built, along with some launch tubes, and we think it's got potential, both as an assault weapon and as a means of launching smoke or gas shells. For now, it's being called the 15cm Nebelwerfer as a means of camouflage. The prototype rockets have a range of about 7 km, and the launcher, with 6 tubes, weighs less than 600 kilos. All six tubes can be fired within a 10 second period. The projectiles, because they're rocket-propelled, are quite lightly constructed, so a relatively large amount of payload can be carried."

"What's the artillery's thought on these?"

"They're not overly impressed, except by the amount of payload. Too short ranged, in the artillery's opinion, and the smoke trails from the black powder propellant are an issue."

"What about the infantry, and the panzers I suppose?"

"The infantry is much more interested than the artillery: they see the light weight as a large advantage, along with the rate of fire and the ability to lay down a heavy barrage easily. The panzer troops.... haven't actually seen a demonstration yet, it hasn't gone to Grafenwohr."

"Is the infantry willing to pay for some of these Nebelwerfers?"

"Yes, they feel that they would be a useful supplement to the mortars they already have."

"In that case, we can order some for the infantry, and perhaps spend some more money on additional research."

May 12, 1935 - Berlin

The Heer, having looked at the panzers it is buying and the tanks being built outside Germany, has released an request for proposals for an antitank gun to supplement the SPzb 34. Light weight and maneuverability are significant pluses in such a design, but penetration at range superior to that of the SPzb 34 is required.


May 13, 1935 - Berlin

The Luftwaffe has requested proposals for a 12-seat assault glider and a transport glider capable of carrying 3.5 metric tons of cargo for the Fallschirmjaegers.

Unfortunately, the Dutch haven't delved into rocket research, so Nebelwerfers are beyond us The "Sonic" cluster-mortar is merely a limited application assault weapon.

Yep. Germany has been working on rocket weapons for some time now, and the idea of the multiple tubes in a common mounting, all pointed at the same target, made sense in people's heads.

May 15, 1935 - Dessau

Junkers has begun design work on a successor to the Ju-52. Currently given the internal designation EF-77, the design is expected to finally leave behind the corrugated skin construction and fixed landing gear of it's predecessor, but other details, such as what engines are to be used, how many are to be used, etc, are still to be decided. The intent is to build a passenger aircraft with more capability, in both carrying capacity and speed, than the Ju-52.


May 15, 1935 - Munich

The 18-cylinder radial BMW-139, a 1550 hp two-row development of the BMW-132, itself a development of the Pratt & Whitney Hornet, roars to life. Initial deliveries of early production engines to Heinkel and Junkers are expected in late summer.

Something like the Ju 252 would probably work reasonably well. An incremental advance rather than a great leap in capability, but performance improves in all areas.

<nod> Yep, the Ju-252 is a very likely result of this work. It's possible that a WW Ju-252 would be powered by Jumo-208s vs the historical Jumo-211Fs, but that would be a relatively minor change.

[Note: edited to move up the date, so as to allow a response to the events of June 18 in Lithuania.]

June 17th, 1935 - Berlin

Heer commander General von Rundestedt and the Generalstab were discussing the surprising news from Lithuania.

"The announcement pointed to an over 200% increase in their military strength. Before, we had approximate parity between the Lithuanian army and the 5th Corps at Koenigsburg, while there were more men in the Lithuanian forces some would have to watch the Polish and Russian borders. Now, though, if they use all those cavalry divisions to watch the border they still will have over 13 divisions to throw at 5th Corps. The fortresses help, but that's over 4-1 odds overall, not to mention local superiority and if some of our troops must be posted to watch the Polish border."

"I assume there's a suggestion on the table?"

"Yes. Transfer the 4th Corps from Nuremberg to Koenigsburg to reinforce 5th Corps and the fortress units. That will change the odds from over 4-1 to closer to 2-1, much more manageable on the defensive, and it shouldn't cause a panic amongst either the Poles or the Lithuanians. After all, both will still outnumber us in divisions in the region."

"General Guderian, should we, instead, send 1st Panzer Corps?"

"No, sir. Not, at least, until 2nd Panzer and 1st Light have panzers, and preferably not until all three divisions have some number of the new Panzer IIIs and IVs. 1st Panzer Division could go, however, though it has been very useful as a training cadre for the new formations."

"No matter which units go, they'll have to go by ship. The new railway through Poland isn't done yet, and it's not clear really whether we could send troops on it, or what the political ramifications would be if we did."

"True, that is a serious problem for defending East Prussia. Very well, get the orders cut for 4th Corps to start moving to Stralsund, and start making arrangements for them to take ship from there to Koenigsburg. Let the KM know as well, they can do something with all the money they've been getting for a change and escort the troops."

June 18th, 1935 - Berlin

The Foreign Ministry has announced a foreign trip by President Eckener and Foreign Minister Stressemann. The two will be leaving for Stockholm in the afternoon of the 19th of June, ie, tomorrow, aboard Focke-Wulf's new Fw-200 aircraft. When asked if this was not more than a little sudden, the spokesman nodded and said, "Yes, it is, but sometimes in foreign affairs events move rapidly. This is one of those cases." When asked if Chancellor Jarres would be going as well, the spokesman shook his head. "Events to the east require that the Chancellor remain in Berlin, so they can be monitored and Germany can react if necessary."

June 19th, 1935 - Munich

The final specifications and mounting requirements for the BMW-139 engines have been sent from BMW to Junkers and Heinkel, while it's expected that their first pre-production engines will be shipped late in August. The testbed engines are running well, but when cowled are showing signs of cooling problems. The engineering team is beginning to discuss the possibility of developing a more modern two-row radial, one based less closely on the BMW-132. Given the cooling problems that appear to be developing on the -139, this new engine might be a 14-cylinder design rather than an 18-cylinder design.


June 19th, 1935 - Stockholm

The Fw-200 carrying the President and Foreign Minister of Germany has touched down safely, after an uneventful flight from Berlin. President Eckener, a former Zeppelin pilot, had this to say about his large aircraft experience: "The speed of the plane was much more evident than speed aboard a Zeppelin, as was the effect of different airmasses. A plane seems to move between airmasses, with resulting bumps and pitches, where a Zeppelin moves with them and generally rides them smoothly. The cabin was also somewhat louder than a Zeppelins, but that should be expected since the engines are much closer. The speed, though! We cruised at over 3 times the speed of a Zeppelin, so if this plane could cross the Atlantic, and I'm told that Focke-Wulf intends to demonstrate just that later this year, it could be a very interesting alternative for those that are interested in speed, like the mail or" he smiled, "our Foreign Minister."

June 22, 1935 - Berlin

Argus Motoren announces the availability of it's new As-411 engine, to supplement the existing As-8, As10, As-401, and As-410 engines in the line. The As-411, like the As-410, is a twelve-cylinder aircooled inverted-V engine, but improvements in the design have allowed it to reach peak power outputs of up to 600 hp at 3300 rpm. The Argus engineers have now begun work on a larger engine project.

[The "larger engine project" is an H-block 24-cylinder version of the As-411, the As-412. Historically merely prototyped, who knows what future the engine has in WW.]

Maybe Argus could consult with Isotta to field a new engine... the AS-IS.