V-2 Facts

V-2 Facts

The German V-2 rocket story at a glance.

  1. Its full name was Vergeltungswaffe 2, meaning Vengeance Weapon 2.

  2. It traveled at 3,500 mph, had a 2,200-pound warhead, and had a range of about 200 miles.

  3. The single most destructive attack by a V-2 was when it fell on a cinema in Antwerp, Belgium, killing 561 moviegoers.

  4. The Germans spent more than $3 billion (in 1954 money) on its development – more than twice what the Americans spent on the ‘Manhattan Project’ that created the atomic bomb.

  5. More than 10,000 forced laborers died building the V-2 rockets, about twice as many people than were killed by being hit by the V-2.

  6. The people of London and Antwerp referred to the V-2 as “Phantom Thunder”, due to the sudden devastation brought on by the rockets.

  7. It was estimated that more than 60,000 changes were made to the V-2 rocket engine’s design before it was ready for operational production.

  8. The engine burned 33 gallons of liquid oxygen every second to create the rocket’s 56,600 pounds of thrust.

  9. To toss a 27,000-pound missile 50 miles into the sky, the V-2 engine had to develop more than 500,000 horsepower – three times the power produced by the turbines of the ocean liner Queen Mary.

  10. The engine was barely over five feet long.