Test Stand VII
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, partof = Army Research Center Peenemünde,
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, location =
Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It is north of the Szczeci ...
island , coordinates = , image = Peenemunde-165515.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = 23 June 1943 RAF reconnaissance photo of Test Stand VII , image2 = Pruefstand-VII-Peenemuende.jpg , image2_size = 300px , caption2 = Diorama at Peenemünde Historical and Technical Information Centre , type =
bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
, code= , built = 1938 , builder = HVP , materials = sand, concrete, brick, steel , height = hohe Bóschung , used =
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, demolished = 1961 , condition = demolished , ownership= , open_to_public
Peenemünde Historical and Technical Information Centre
, controlledby= , past_commanders = Engineers in Charge: Fritz Schwarz (1943), Hartmut Kuechen (through May 1944), followed by Dieter Huzel, then Dr. Kurt H. Debus. , battles=
Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The main V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket – these were launched against Brita ...
, Operation Hydra , events=DERA rocket model club launchesDeutsche Experimental Raketen Arbeitsgruppe
, garrison= , current_commander= , occupants= Test Stand VII (german: Prüfstand VII, P-7) was the principal
V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...
testing facility at
Peenemünde Airfield Peenemünde Airfield is an airfield along the Baltic Sea north of Peenemünde, Germany. Today round trips in light aircraft take place from Peenemünde Airfield. Bus tours are also available, on which one can visit the former shelters of the NVA ...
and was capable of static firing of rocket motors up to 200 tons thrust. Notable events at the site include the first successful V-2 launch on 3 October 1942, visits by German military leaders, and Allied reconnaissance overflights and bombing.


Description

Two distinguishing features of P-7 were the 670-yard-long elliptical high-sloped sand wall and the wide concrete-lined trench (flame pit) with a large symmetrical water-cooled flame deflector of
molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...
-steel pipes. The concrete trench, nearly wide with concrete walls, sloped gradually away from each side of the flame deflector to a depth of , rising again symmetrically toward the side of the arena. Beside the flame pit was a long underground room where diameter delivery pipes were housed to route cooling water at 120 gallon per second from three huge pumps in the pumphouse to the flame deflector in the pit. While the elliptical sand wall was for blocking high sea winds and blown sand, concrete structures were integrated into the wall and under the ground to protect equipment and personnel from rocket explosions and enemy bombing (a sand-filled dummy warhead, called "the elephant", was normally used). A large gap in the wall allowed easy entry by vehicles (particularly railcars with propellants), and an open tunnel through the ellipse wall at the narrower southern end also allowed entry. Integrated into the ellipse wall next to the tunnel was a massive observation and measuring
blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
containing the control center. The control center had a double door with a bulletproof glass window from which an observer maintained telephone communication with the Telemetering Building at a remote location from P-7. A receiver in a lighthouse near
Koserow Koserow is a municipality on Usedom Island, in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. A small coastal bathing resort, Koserow lies on an isthmus on the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea, near the border with Pola ...
provided telemetry from rockets with the Wolman System :: For automatic motor cutoff, in 1940-1941 Professor Wolman of Dresden created an alternative of his tracking system to use a ground signal transponded by the A-4 to measure the velocity of the missile and, by triangulating from multiple sites, determined the trajectory. for Doppler tracking. For rockets that used radio control for V-2 engine cutoff, the Brennschluss equipment included a transmitter on the bank of the
Peene The Peene () is a river in Germany. Geography The Westpeene, with the Ostpeene as its longer tributary, and the Kleine Peene/Teterower Peene (with a ''Peene '' without specification (or ''Nordpeene'') as its smaller and shorter affluent) flo ...
about from P-7 and the
Doppler radar A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target and analyzing how the object's motion has altered the f ...
at
Lubmin Lubmin () is a coastal resort in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Lubmin is situated near Greifswald and on the Bay of Greifswald. Apart from tourism, Lubmin is a major transport and industry hub and investment location in the German e ...
(a motorized
Würzburg radar The low-UHF band Würzburg radar was the primary ground-based tracking radar for the Wehrmacht's Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Initial development took place before the war and the apparatus entered service in 1940 ...
, the "rhinoceros").


Control room

The control room also had switchboards, a row of four
periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
s,
manometer Pressure measurement is the measurement of an applied force by a fluid (liquid or gas) on a surface. Pressure is typically measured in units of force per unit of surface area. Many techniques have been developed for the measurement of pressur ...
s, frequency gauges,
voltmeter A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. Ana ...
s and
ammeter An ammeter (abbreviation of ''Ampere meter'') is an instrument used to measure the current in a circuit. Electric currents are measured in amperes (A), hence the name. For direct measurement, the ammeter is connected in series with the circuit ...
s, green/red/white signal lamps, and switches at the propulsion console and guidance panel to dynamically display approximately 15 measurement points within the rocket. Additionally, the control room had a big "X-time"
countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
clock that displayed the time until launch, which was announced via loudspeakers as "''X minus four minutes''", etc. In addition to the control room, the blockhouse also contained offices, a conference room, a small dormitory with double bunks and an adjoining shower, a wash room, and a workshop. A long underground corridor led from the measurement blockhouse to a room in the concrete foundation by the flame pit, and multiple rows of measurement cables covered the walls of the tunnel. A different gradually rising tunnel led from the long flame pit room to the exterior of the arena near the pumphouse (german: Pumpenhaus). Near the pumphouse were high wooden towers to cool the water, and high tanks for the recooling water were integrated into the ellipse wall.


Test tower

The prominent tower within the arena was a mobile test frame/crane (''Fahrbare Kranbühne'') which could be moved over the flame pit to position the rocket nozzle 25 feet above the deflector, and which allowed an entire missile to be gimbaled in two directions up to five degrees from vertical. The tower included an elevator and a German-made Toledo scale for thrust measurements. Actual launches were from a steel table-like structure (firing stand, ''Brennstand'') across the railway from the flame pit on the test stand's large concrete foundation. Under the concrete foundation were the recorder room, a small shop, an office, compressed nitrogen storage cylinders, and catch tanks. The arena also included an engine cold-calibration pad for conducting flow test measurements by pumping water (instead of
Liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an applica ...
) and
alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...
(which was recovered afterward) via the turbopump through the combustion chamber. Since the V-2 motor had no controller for the turbopump, cold-calibration allowed the determination of "freak cases" of equipment.


Hangar

Outside of the arena was the 150x185x100h foot assembly and preparation hall/
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
(german: Montagehalle), which had been designed to be able to handle a larger A9/A10
multi-stage rocket A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...
that was planned, but never built. The roof of the hangar had camera stations for filming events.


Allied reconnaissance and bombing

On 15 May 1942 after photographing German destroyers berthed at the port of
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
,
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
pilot Flight Lieutenant D. W. Stevenson photographed 'heavy construction work' near the Peenemünde aerodrome. Later in the month
Constance Babington Smith Constance Babington Smith MBE, FRSL (15 October 1912 – 31 July 2000) was a British journalist and writer, but is probably best known for her wartime work in imagery intelligence. Early life Constance Babington Smith was born on 15 Octo ...
decided ''the scale was too small ... then something unusual caught my eye ... some extraordinary circular embankments ... I then dismissed the whole thing from my mind.'' Then a year later on 22 April 1943, Bill White and Ron Prescott in RAF
de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...
DZ473 were sent from
Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; gd, Luachar "rushes") is a small town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Popula ...
to photograph damage from Allied bombing at the
Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
railyards: "On leaving Stettin, we left our cameras running all down the north coast of Germany, and when the film was developed, it was found to contain pictures of Peenemünde." The Medmenham interpreters studied the elliptical earthworks (originally photographed in May 1942) and noticed an "object" long projecting from what was thought to be a service building, although it had mysteriously disappeared on the next frame. On 22 April 1943 a large cloud of steam was photographed near the embankments, which was later identified as coming from a rocket engine being test fired.
Duncan Sandys Edwin Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys (; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law of Winston Churchill and played a key ro ...
' first photographic reconnaissance report on Peenemünde was circulated on 29 April 1943, which identified that the lack of power-station activity (Germany had installed electrostatic dust and smoke removers on the power station near Kölpin) indicates that "''The circular and elliptical constructions are probably for the testing of explosives and projectiles. ... In view of the above, it is clear that a heavy long-range rocket is not an immediate threat.''" Then on 14 May, an "''unusually high level of activity''" was visible at "the Ellipse" on photos from two sorties on 14 May, which was the date the Reich Director of Manpower (Gauleiter
Fritz Sauckel Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel (27 October 1894 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Thuringia from 1927 and the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (''Arbeitseinsatz'') from March 1942 unti ...
) was a distinguished visitor at a launch. The first solid evidence of the existence of a rocket came with a sortie (N/853) on 12 June, when a
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
flown by Sqn Ldr Gordon Hughes photographed Peenemünde: one photograph included an object on a railway truck.
Reginald Victor Jones Reginald Victor Jones , FRSE, LLD (29 September 1911 – 17 December 1997) was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in by solving scientific and technical pr ...
identified the object on 18 June as "''a whiteish iccylinder about 35 feet long and 5 or so feet in diameter with a blueish nose and fins at the other end...I had found the rocket.''"
:: On 13 June, Dr Jones sent a note to Sandys and "''two or three days later an addendum was added the report by from Sandys' interpreter, saying that an object was visible on the photograph without any mention that anyone but himself had found it. This experience certainly confirmed my impression that my help was being avoided.''"
After Operation Hydra bombed other areas of
Peenemünde Peenemünde (, en, "Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The communi ...
in 1943, the P-7 blockhouse roof was reinforced, and in a 1944 raid, the blockhouse occupants suffered one injury when a periscope fell. (Hermann Weidner's Test Stand 8 was lost in the 1944 July and August raids). The last V-2 launch at Peenemünde was in February 1945, and on 5 May 1945, the 2nd Belorussian Front under General
Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who becam ...
captured the port of Swinemünde and the
Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It is north of the Szczeci ...
island. Russian infantry under Major Anatole Vavilov stormed Peenemünde and found it "75 per cent wreckage" (the research buildings and test stands had been demolished.) A former adjutant at Peenemünde, Oberstleutnant Richard Rumschöttel, and his wife were killed during the attack, and Vavilov had orders to destroy the facility.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Test Stand Vii Peenemünde Army Research Center and Airfield German V-2 rocket facilities Rocket launch sites in Germany V-weapon subterranea World War II sites in Germany World War II sites of Nazi Germany Military installations established in 1938 Buildings and structures demolished in 1961 Demolished buildings and structures in Germany Ruins in Germany 1938 establishments in Germany 1961 disestablishments in Germany V-2 missile launch sites