The Serpent of Midgard. How the Third Reich wanted to get Britain out of the ground
Today on the Internet and in various media you can find a fairly large number of references to projects of underground boats, many consider them newspaper ducks and are classified as "News from British scientists, ”however, there really were similar projects. Many of them remained in the form of paper documents and drawings. Moreover, in Nazi Germany, projects of such mechanisms were even patented before the Second World War.
In the imagination of engineers and science fiction, underground boats were self-propelled mechanisms that could move underground, independently making their way. During the 20th century, the idea of building an underground boat was addressed in many countries of the world, projects of varying degrees of realism and scale were born, especially in the USSR and Germany. At the same time, it should be noted that the underground boats have not advanced further than the projects and fantastic works of various authors.
Most of the currently known projects and experimental models of "underground boats" were specific variants of the tunnel-boring complex (TPK or tunneling shield). Mainly, they were adapted for military use, including the conduct of the underground war, which actively declared itself during the First World War and probably left its mark in the minds of designers and engineers of the first half of the 20th century. Long periods of positional warfare on the Western Front and a high density of troops of the opposing sides led to the fact that the positions of the opponents were well protected and prepared in fortification. Ground attacks such fortifications turned into a real meat grinder, claiming a huge number of human lives. Under these conditions, the idea of underground warfare flourished, as a variant of breaking into a well-prepared enemy defense. Only the British in the 1916 year organized for the conduct of the underground war 33 separate mine (tunnel) company with a total number of 25 thousands of people. There was an underground war on the Eastern Front, mainly in those areas where the enemy managed to create powerful fortifications.
Naturally, the experience of the First World War then turned into a variety of projects in the field of science and technology. Including models of underground boats, however, these projects were practically doomed to failure from the very beginning. First, the Second World War destroyed all perceptions about the future conflict, preserved from the times of the First World War, it was a war of engines, rapid breakthroughs and operations on a deep environment, in such a war slow slow-moving mechanisms, and underground boats simply could not be fast, could be used extremely limited. Secondly, the main obstacle in their creation was the problem of providing the “boats” with enormous power (tens of MW) and large reserves of energy that were necessary for the destruction of rocks. And in the future, for example, in the case of installation of the required power on an underground nuclear reactor, another intractable task inevitably arose - its cooling.
The project of the underground boat Trebleva
Perhaps the first who thought of the project of the underground boat was the Russian inventor Peter Rasskazov, it happened at the beginning of the XX century. However, he published his ideas and thoughts in one of the English magazines. What happened to Rasskazov after the 1917 revolution of the year in Russia is unknown; the engineer disappeared along with his designs. The idea of creating a similar apparatus returned in the Soviet Union before the start of World War II. The car, capable of moving underground, was developed by engineer Alexander Treblev.
The principle of operation of his subway, Treblev borrowed from moles. And the Soviet inventor approached the project very thoroughly. Before starting to create an underground boat, he studied the animal's behavior at the time when it dug underground passages with the help of X-rays. The engineer paid the most attention to the movements of the mole’s head and paws. Only after carrying out the relevant observations did Alexander Treblev begin to translate his project into metal.
In its form, the underground boat of Trebelev was most of all like a capsule, on the nose of which a special auger was located. The installation also had a screw and two pairs of stern jacks. The jacks in the stern of the “boat” according to Treblev’s plan were to perform the function of the mole's paws. It was possible to operate this device both from outside, and from within. Control of the underground submarine from the surface was planned to carry out using a special cable. According to him, the underground machine was supposed to receive the necessary power supply for operation. The sample developed by Alexander Treblev was quite viable, it could move at a speed of 10 meters per hour, but the project needed a lot of improvements. A substantial amount of funds was needed to eliminate them, so the designer ultimately refused from his development. There is a version that shortly before the start of the war with Hitler Germany, the project of Treblev was going to be finalized, focusing directly on the military use of such an underground boat, but the outbreak of war pushed this semi-fantastic project far to the shelf.
Midgard Serpent and Underground Boats for Operation Sea Lion
In parallel with the Soviet Union, the creation of underground boats puzzled in Germany. For example, the German engineer Horner von Werner patented an underwater underground apparatus under the designation Subterrine. His car was supposed to move underground at speeds up to 7 km / h and carry 5 people and up to several hundred kilograms of explosives. The project patented in 1933 quickly went to the shelf. But he was remembered again in 1940. The project caught the eye of Count Klaus von Stauffenberg, who informed the Wehrmacht command of the unusual machine. At this time in Germany seriously developed a plan of invasion of the British Isles - the famous operation "Sea Lion". Her plan was approved 16 July 1940 of the year. According to the plan, Hitler's forces were to force the English Channel, landing between Dover and Portsmouth as part of the 25 (later 40) divisions. The purpose of the offensive from the bridgehead was London. The start date of the operation was constantly postponed, and after the defeat of Germany in the air battle for Britain, 9 January 1941, Hitler ordered the cancellation of the operation.
It was for this operation that the German military might need underground submarines that could pass under the English Channel and participate in sabotage operations in the UK, striking important defense targets. Von Werner even allocated money for the implementation of his project, but everything was stalled at the stage of drawings and laboratory experiments. In addition, the military leadership of Germany made the calculation of the victory over Britain in the air war, so the project von Werner quickly faded into the background, and then was closed.
At the same time, von Werner was not the only German who seriously considered the possibility of building an underground boat. Another project belonged to engineer Ritter, who wanted to implement an even more ambitious project - Midgard Schlange (Midgard Snake), the name was a reference to an ancient mythical creature. According to legend, it was a serpent that encircled the entire Earth. The project proposed by Ritter in the summer of 1934 was supposed to be used to destroy the fortifications of the French Maginot Line, as well as attacks on strategic sites of France, Belgium, and the UK, including ports and naval bases.
Project Ritter assumed decent versatility, except that he could not fly. Conceived by him the car had to move freely on the ground, as well as underground and under water. The designer expected that his submarine could move in solid ground at speeds up to 2 km / h, in soft ground, in black soil - up to 10 km / h. On earth, his creation was supposed to reach speeds in 30 km / h. The size of the device also looked impressive. Ritter dreamed of creating a real underground train with tracked caravans. The maximum length reached 500 meters (could vary depending on the number of used cell-compartments). That is why the project got its name "Midgard Serpent". According to the calculations made by the engineer, the weight of his colossus reached several tens of thousands of tons. In theory, the crew consisting of an 30 man would have to cope with his management.
The underground movement of an unusual machine should have provided 4 main drills with a diameter of 1,5 meters each. The borax should have driven 9 electric motors with a total power of 9 thousand hp. The author of the project provided for three sets of drills for various types of rocks. The undercarriage of this car was tracked. The tracks were driven by 14 electric motors with a total power of almost 20 thousand hp. The electric current for the engines were to produce 4 diesel generators with a capacity of 10 thousand hp. Especially for them, the fuel tanks with a capacity of 960 m3 were provided on board.
Since the project was initially considered as a military, sufficiently powerful weapons were envisaged. The Midgard serpent was supposed to carry up to a thousand 250-kg mines, a thousand 10-kg mines and 12 MG coaxial machine guns. Also specifically for the underground boat were designed specific means of destruction - underground torpedoes Fafnir 6 meters long (named after a dragon in Scandinavian mythology), special Mjolnir projectiles (Thor's Hammer) for blasting rocks and facilitating the “boat” movement and even reconnaissance torpedo with microphones and periscope - Alberich.
In total, Ritter proposed to build up to 20 "underground submarines" the cost of 30 of millions of marks each. His project “Serpent Midgagrd” provoked a wave of criticism from experts, since the calculated justification of the project was extremely weak. Already 28 in February 1935, he was returned to Ritter for revision, then the fate of his project is lost. The Midgard Snake project has remained completely paper. This is not surprising, given the scale of the project and the flight of imagination of its author.
Information sources:
https://diletant.media/articles/37407297
http://russian7.ru/post/zmey-midgard-kak-rabotala-nemeckaya-p
https://matveychev-oleg.livejournal.com/7756000.html
Open source materials
In the imagination of engineers and science fiction, underground boats were self-propelled mechanisms that could move underground, independently making their way. During the 20th century, the idea of building an underground boat was addressed in many countries of the world, projects of varying degrees of realism and scale were born, especially in the USSR and Germany. At the same time, it should be noted that the underground boats have not advanced further than the projects and fantastic works of various authors.
Most of the currently known projects and experimental models of "underground boats" were specific variants of the tunnel-boring complex (TPK or tunneling shield). Mainly, they were adapted for military use, including the conduct of the underground war, which actively declared itself during the First World War and probably left its mark in the minds of designers and engineers of the first half of the 20th century. Long periods of positional warfare on the Western Front and a high density of troops of the opposing sides led to the fact that the positions of the opponents were well protected and prepared in fortification. Ground attacks such fortifications turned into a real meat grinder, claiming a huge number of human lives. Under these conditions, the idea of underground warfare flourished, as a variant of breaking into a well-prepared enemy defense. Only the British in the 1916 year organized for the conduct of the underground war 33 separate mine (tunnel) company with a total number of 25 thousands of people. There was an underground war on the Eastern Front, mainly in those areas where the enemy managed to create powerful fortifications.
Naturally, the experience of the First World War then turned into a variety of projects in the field of science and technology. Including models of underground boats, however, these projects were practically doomed to failure from the very beginning. First, the Second World War destroyed all perceptions about the future conflict, preserved from the times of the First World War, it was a war of engines, rapid breakthroughs and operations on a deep environment, in such a war slow slow-moving mechanisms, and underground boats simply could not be fast, could be used extremely limited. Secondly, the main obstacle in their creation was the problem of providing the “boats” with enormous power (tens of MW) and large reserves of energy that were necessary for the destruction of rocks. And in the future, for example, in the case of installation of the required power on an underground nuclear reactor, another intractable task inevitably arose - its cooling.
The project of the underground boat Trebleva
Perhaps the first who thought of the project of the underground boat was the Russian inventor Peter Rasskazov, it happened at the beginning of the XX century. However, he published his ideas and thoughts in one of the English magazines. What happened to Rasskazov after the 1917 revolution of the year in Russia is unknown; the engineer disappeared along with his designs. The idea of creating a similar apparatus returned in the Soviet Union before the start of World War II. The car, capable of moving underground, was developed by engineer Alexander Treblev.
The principle of operation of his subway, Treblev borrowed from moles. And the Soviet inventor approached the project very thoroughly. Before starting to create an underground boat, he studied the animal's behavior at the time when it dug underground passages with the help of X-rays. The engineer paid the most attention to the movements of the mole’s head and paws. Only after carrying out the relevant observations did Alexander Treblev begin to translate his project into metal.
In its form, the underground boat of Trebelev was most of all like a capsule, on the nose of which a special auger was located. The installation also had a screw and two pairs of stern jacks. The jacks in the stern of the “boat” according to Treblev’s plan were to perform the function of the mole's paws. It was possible to operate this device both from outside, and from within. Control of the underground submarine from the surface was planned to carry out using a special cable. According to him, the underground machine was supposed to receive the necessary power supply for operation. The sample developed by Alexander Treblev was quite viable, it could move at a speed of 10 meters per hour, but the project needed a lot of improvements. A substantial amount of funds was needed to eliminate them, so the designer ultimately refused from his development. There is a version that shortly before the start of the war with Hitler Germany, the project of Treblev was going to be finalized, focusing directly on the military use of such an underground boat, but the outbreak of war pushed this semi-fantastic project far to the shelf.
Midgard Serpent and Underground Boats for Operation Sea Lion
In parallel with the Soviet Union, the creation of underground boats puzzled in Germany. For example, the German engineer Horner von Werner patented an underwater underground apparatus under the designation Subterrine. His car was supposed to move underground at speeds up to 7 km / h and carry 5 people and up to several hundred kilograms of explosives. The project patented in 1933 quickly went to the shelf. But he was remembered again in 1940. The project caught the eye of Count Klaus von Stauffenberg, who informed the Wehrmacht command of the unusual machine. At this time in Germany seriously developed a plan of invasion of the British Isles - the famous operation "Sea Lion". Her plan was approved 16 July 1940 of the year. According to the plan, Hitler's forces were to force the English Channel, landing between Dover and Portsmouth as part of the 25 (later 40) divisions. The purpose of the offensive from the bridgehead was London. The start date of the operation was constantly postponed, and after the defeat of Germany in the air battle for Britain, 9 January 1941, Hitler ordered the cancellation of the operation.
It was for this operation that the German military might need underground submarines that could pass under the English Channel and participate in sabotage operations in the UK, striking important defense targets. Von Werner even allocated money for the implementation of his project, but everything was stalled at the stage of drawings and laboratory experiments. In addition, the military leadership of Germany made the calculation of the victory over Britain in the air war, so the project von Werner quickly faded into the background, and then was closed.
Plan of operation "Sea lion"
At the same time, von Werner was not the only German who seriously considered the possibility of building an underground boat. Another project belonged to engineer Ritter, who wanted to implement an even more ambitious project - Midgard Schlange (Midgard Snake), the name was a reference to an ancient mythical creature. According to legend, it was a serpent that encircled the entire Earth. The project proposed by Ritter in the summer of 1934 was supposed to be used to destroy the fortifications of the French Maginot Line, as well as attacks on strategic sites of France, Belgium, and the UK, including ports and naval bases.
Project Ritter assumed decent versatility, except that he could not fly. Conceived by him the car had to move freely on the ground, as well as underground and under water. The designer expected that his submarine could move in solid ground at speeds up to 2 km / h, in soft ground, in black soil - up to 10 km / h. On earth, his creation was supposed to reach speeds in 30 km / h. The size of the device also looked impressive. Ritter dreamed of creating a real underground train with tracked caravans. The maximum length reached 500 meters (could vary depending on the number of used cell-compartments). That is why the project got its name "Midgard Serpent". According to the calculations made by the engineer, the weight of his colossus reached several tens of thousands of tons. In theory, the crew consisting of an 30 man would have to cope with his management.
The underground movement of an unusual machine should have provided 4 main drills with a diameter of 1,5 meters each. The borax should have driven 9 electric motors with a total power of 9 thousand hp. The author of the project provided for three sets of drills for various types of rocks. The undercarriage of this car was tracked. The tracks were driven by 14 electric motors with a total power of almost 20 thousand hp. The electric current for the engines were to produce 4 diesel generators with a capacity of 10 thousand hp. Especially for them, the fuel tanks with a capacity of 960 m3 were provided on board.
Since the project was initially considered as a military, sufficiently powerful weapons were envisaged. The Midgard serpent was supposed to carry up to a thousand 250-kg mines, a thousand 10-kg mines and 12 MG coaxial machine guns. Also specifically for the underground boat were designed specific means of destruction - underground torpedoes Fafnir 6 meters long (named after a dragon in Scandinavian mythology), special Mjolnir projectiles (Thor's Hammer) for blasting rocks and facilitating the “boat” movement and even reconnaissance torpedo with microphones and periscope - Alberich.
In total, Ritter proposed to build up to 20 "underground submarines" the cost of 30 of millions of marks each. His project “Serpent Midgagrd” provoked a wave of criticism from experts, since the calculated justification of the project was extremely weak. Already 28 in February 1935, he was returned to Ritter for revision, then the fate of his project is lost. The Midgard Snake project has remained completely paper. This is not surprising, given the scale of the project and the flight of imagination of its author.
Information sources:
https://diletant.media/articles/37407297
http://russian7.ru/post/zmey-midgard-kak-rabotala-nemeckaya-p
https://matveychev-oleg.livejournal.com/7756000.html
Open source materials
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