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 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2020) |
| Meillerwagen | |
|---|---|
 V-2 rocket on Meillerwagen[1] for Operation Backfire near Cuxhaven in 1945 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Gollnow & Son |
| Assembly | Germany |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | trailer |
| Related | Sd.Kfz., Vidalwagen |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 9.8 metres (32 ft 2 in) |
| Length | 14.7 metres (48 ft 3 in) |
| Width | 2.8 metres (9 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 3.27 metres (10 ft 9 in) |
| Curb weight | 11.3 kilograms (25 lb) |
The Meillerwagen (English: Meiller vehicle) was a German World War II trailer used to transport a V-2 rocket from the 'transloading point'[1][a] of the Technical Troop Area to the launching point, to erect the missile on the Brennstand (English: firing stand),[b] and to act as the service gantry for fuelling and launch preparation.
The unofficial 'Meillerwagen'[c] name was often used in official documents and refers to a parts supplier for the trailer, Meiller-Kipper GmbH of Munich, Germany (founded 1850). The Peenemünde Army Research Center designed the Meillerwagen, and the Gollnow & Son company assembled the Meillerwagen from supplied components. The Meillerwagen was assembled with Italian and Russian prisoner laborers of the Lager Rebstock. The Meillerwagen was vehicle code number 102 of several vehicles in a V-2 launching battery,[2] which included an 8-ton half-track launch control vehicle. Launching of V-2s from mobile equipment was studied under code name Regenwurm ("Earthworm") to replace bunkers such as at the Watten bunker.[3]
| External images | |
|---|---|
| Launch vehicles |
- ^ a b Kennedy, Gregory P. (1983). Vengeance Weapon 2: The V-2 Guided Missile. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 44, 45, 48.
- ^ Klee, Ernst; Merk, Otto (1965) [1963 (original German version)]. The Birth of the Missile: The Secrets of Peenemünde. Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling Verlag.
- ^ Huzel, Dieter K (1960). Peenemünde to Canaveral. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 93.
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