Oberraderach

For the nearby Raderach neighborhood, see Friedrichshafen and de:Raderach.

Oberraderach (English: Upper Raderach) was the World War II location of Prüffeld-Anlage Raderach, a V-2 rocket test facility code named "Porcelain Factory" (German: Porzellanfabrik).^[1]:99 Oberraderach testing ensured V-2 turbopumps did not overpressure combustion chambers (there was no controller) and was planned for rocket motors to be installed by the nearby Zeppelin Works (German: Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH) as part of the Eastern Works (V-2 facilities in the Vienna-Freidrichshafen area). Firings were visible in Switzerland across Lake Constance and testing ended shortly after the facility began operation.^[2]:207

The first design sketches for the Oberraderach facility were prepared by Bernhard Tessmann of the Peenemünde Army Research Center, and Captain König was the military representative at Raderach.^[1]:95 By mid-1942, the German Army had started construction of the Raderach motor test stand,^[2]:174 and a nearby liquid oxygen (A-stoff) plant produced up to 900 tons/month.^[1]:99 On July 25, 1943, British V-2 intelligence reported that aerial photographic reconnaissance of Friedrichshafen depicted rocket firing sites like those at the Peenemünde Army Research Center.^[3] On August 3, 1944, the test facility and the ZF Friedrichshafen at Friedrichshafen were bombed. The 461st Bombardment Group's primary target was the "Raderach Chemical Works", and the Zahnradfabrik (English: gearwheel factory) secondary target was also bombed.^[4] The 485th Bombardment Group attacked the "Ober chemical works" on August 16.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Ordway, Frederick I, III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979). The Rocket Team. Apogee Books Space Series 36. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. p. 74,95,99. ISBN 1894959000. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Neufeld, Michael J. (1995). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press. p. 174,207. 
3. ^ Irving, David (1964). The Mare's Nest. London: William Kimber and Co. pp. 65, 81. http://www.fpp.co.uk/books/MaresNest/index.html. 
4. ^ "Our Missions: The 464 BG Mission List". http://www.zplace2b.com/464/sortie.htm. 
5. ^ "485th Missions". 485th Bomb Group Association. http://www.485thbg.org/485th_Missions.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-27.