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| n | 57 | The drifts were angled at 50 degrees, reaching a depth of {{convert|105|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Owing to technical problems with the gun prototype, the scope of the project was reduced;<ref name="Zaloga16">Zaloga, p. 16.</ref> drifts I and II were abandoned at an early date and only III, IV and V were taken forward. They came to the surface at a concrete slab or ''Platte'' {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|5.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} thick, in which there were narrow openings to allow the projectiles to pass through. The openings in the slab were protected by large steel plates, and the railway tunnel entrances were further protected by armoured steel doors.<ref name="Sanders7">{{harvnb|Sanders|1945|p=7}}.</ref> Each drift was oriented on a bearing of 299°, to the nearest degree – a direct line on [[Westminster Bridge]]. Although the elevation and direction of the guns could not be changed, it would have been possible to alter the range by varying the amount of propellant used in each shot. This would have brought much of London within range.<ref name="Sanders9" /> | n | 57 | The drifts were angled at 50 degrees, reaching a depth of {{convert|105|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Owing to technical problems with the gun prototype, the scope of the project was reduced;<ref name=autogenerated1>Zaloga, p. 16.</ref> drifts I and II were abandoned at an early date and only III, IV and V were taken forward. They came to the surface at a concrete slab or ''Platte'' {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|5.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} thick, in which there were narrow openings to allow the projectiles to pass through. The openings in the slab were protected by large steel plates, and the railway tunnel entrances were further protected by armoured steel doors.<ref name="Sanders7">{{harvnb|Sanders|1945|p=7}}.</ref> Each drift was oriented on a bearing of 299°, to the nearest degree – a direct line on [[Westminster Bridge]]. Although the elevation and direction of the guns could not be changed, it would have been possible to alter the range by varying the amount of propellant used in each shot. This would have brought much of London within range.<ref name="Sanders9" /> |
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| 77 | [[File:Sprenggranate4481.jpg|right|thumb|upright|alt=Two soldiers in US Army uniforms hold between them a long, slim projectile that is somewhat taller than them, with a finned tail|Two US Army soldiers with a captured ''Sprenggranate 4481'' projectile, which would have been fired from the V-3 at a rate of 600 an hour.]] | 77 | [[File:Sprenggranate4481.jpg|right|thumb|upright|alt=Two soldiers in US Army uniforms hold between them a long, slim projectile that is somewhat taller than them, with a finned tail|Two US Army soldiers with a captured ''Sprenggranate 4481'' projectile, which would have been fired from the V-3 at a rate of 600 an hour.]] | ||
| t | 78 | In 1943 French agents reported that the Germans were planning to mount an offensive against the United Kingdom that would involve the use of secret weapons resembling giant mortars sunk in the ground and served by rail links.<ref name="Henshall">{{harvnb|Henshall|2002|p=41}}.</ref> The first signs of abnormal activity at Mimoyecques were spotted by analysts at the [[RAF Medmenham|Allied Central Interpretation Unit]] in September 1943, when aerial reconnaissance revealed that the Germans were building railway loops leading to the tunnels into the eastern and western sites. Further reconnaissance flights in October 1943 photographed large-scale activity around the tunnels.<ref name="Sanders5">{{harvnb|Sanders|1945|p=5}}.</ref> An analyst named André Kenny discovered a series of shafts when he saw from a reconnaissance photograph that a haystack concealing one of them had disintegrated, perhaps through the effects of a gale, revealing the entrance, a [[windlass]] and [[pulley]].<ref name="Powys-Lybbe 1983 210"/> The purpose of the site was unclear, but it was thought to be some kind of shelter for launching rockets or flying bombs. An [[MI6]] agent reported that "a concrete chamber was to be built near one of the tunnels for the installation of a tube, 40 to 50 metres long, which he referred to as a 'rocket launching cannon{{' "}}.<ref name="Hinsey">{{harvnb|Hinsley|1984|page=435}}.</ref> The shafts were interpreted as "air holes to allow for the expansion of the gases released by the explosion of the launching charge." The Allies were unaware of the HDP gun and therefore of the Mimoyecques site's true purpose. Allied intelligence believed at the time that the V-2 rocket had to be launched from tubes or "projectors", so it was assumed that the inclined shafts at Mimoyecques were intended to house such devices.<ref name="Hinsey" /> | t | 78 | In 1943 French agents reported that the Germans were planning to mount an offensive against the United Kingdom that would involve the use of secret weapons resembling giant mortars sunk in the ground and served by rail links.<ref name="Henshall">{{harvnb|Henshall|2002|p=41}}.</ref> The first signs of abnormal activity at Mimoyecques were spotted by analysts at the [[RAF Medmenham|Allied Central Interpretation Unit]] in September 1943, when aerial reconnaissance revealed that the Germans were building railway loops leading to the tunnels into the eastern and western sites. Further reconnaissance flights in October 1943 photographed large-scale activity around the tunnels.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{harvnb|Sanders|1945|p=5}}.</ref> An analyst named André Kenny discovered a series of shafts when he saw from a reconnaissance photograph that a haystack concealing one of them had disintegrated, perhaps through the effects of a gale, revealing the entrance, a [[windlass]] and [[pulley]].<ref name="Powys-Lybbe 1983 210"/> The purpose of the site was unclear, but it was thought to be some kind of shelter for launching rockets or flying bombs. An [[MI6]] agent reported that "a concrete chamber was to be built near one of the tunnels for the installation of a tube, 40 to 50 metres long, which he referred to as a 'rocket launching cannon{{' "}}.<ref name="Hinsey">{{harvnb|Hinsley|1984|page=435}}.</ref> The shafts were interpreted as "air holes to allow for the expansion of the gases released by the explosion of the launching charge." The Allies were unaware of the HDP gun and therefore of the Mimoyecques site's true purpose. Allied intelligence believed at the time that the V-2 rocket had to be launched from tubes or "projectors", so it was assumed that the inclined shafts at Mimoyecques were intended to house such devices.<ref name="Hinsey" /> |
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