Rheinbote

Rheinbote (lit. 'Rhine Messenger'), also known as Rh Z 61/9 and Raketen-Sprenggranate 4831, was a German four-stage, solid-fuel, unguided ballistic artillery rocket developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig during the Second World War. Sometimes referred to in postwar literature as V-4, by analogy with the V-1 and V-2 vengeance weapons, the weapon was assigned the code name Meteor by the Wehrmacht. This short-range ballistic rocket was intended to provide long-range mobile artillery fire without the logistical burden of railway guns or very heavy artillery. Unlike the liquid-fuelled V-2, Rheinbote used a sequence of solid-fuel stages. It carried only a small warhead and its unguided ballistic flight made it too inaccurate for effective military use. Rheinbote was the first multi-stage rocket used operationally in warfare. It was used against Antwerp at a time when the city’s port functioned as one of the principal Allied logistical bases in north-west Europe. These launches were conducted from the occupied Netherlands in December 1944 and January 1945. Later calculations indicate that the rockets fired from the Nunspeet area overshot Antwerp by more than 50 km (31 mi) and fell in the Ghent area. Historical studies generally concluded that the missile was militarily ineffective because of its small warhead, wide dispersion and poor practical accuracy. The concept of a long-range solid-fuel battlefield rocket remained undeveloped after the war.