View source for Henschel Hs 293

{{Use British English|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Henschel Hs 293
| image              = Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin February 2008 0096.JPG
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = Hs 293 on display at the [[Deutsches Technikmuseum]] in [[Berlin]], Germany, with added "Kopfring" (lit. "head ring") on the nose for nautical targets
| origin             = [[Nazi Germany]]
| type               = [[Anti-ship missile|Anti-ship]] [[glide bomb]]
 <!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged          = 
| is_bladed          = 
| is_explosive       = 
| is_artillery       = 
| is_vehicle         = 
| is_missile         = yes
| is_UK              = <!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1943–1945
| used_by            = [[Luftwaffe]]
| wars               = [[World War II]]
 <!-- Production history -->| designer           = [[Herbert A. Wagner]]
| design_date        = 1940–1943
| manufacturer       = [[Henschel & Son|Henschel Flugzeug-Werke AG]]
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 1942 - ?
| number             = 1,000
| variants           = <!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = {{convert|1045|kg|lb}}
| length             = {{convert|3.82|m|ft}}
| part_length        = 
| width              = {{convert|3.1|m|ft}}
| height             = 
| diameter           = {{convert|0.47|m|ft}}
| crew               = <!-- Explosive specifications -->
| filling            = explosive
| filling_weight     = {{convert|295|kg|lb}}
| detonation         = 
| yield              = <!-- Vehicle/missile specifications -->
| armour             = 
| primary_armament   = 
| secondary_armament = 
| engine             = [[liquid-propellant rocket]]  [[Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft|HWK]] 109-507 motor, {{convert|5.9|kN|abbr=on}} thrust for 10 s; subsequently glided to target
| engine_power       = 
| transmission       = 
| payload_capacity   = 
| fuel_capacity      = 
| pw_ratio           = 
| suspension         = 
| clearance          = 
| vehicle_range      = at {{convert|2.2|km|ft}} altitude:<br /> {{convert|4|km|ft}} <br /> at {{convert|4|km|ft}} altitude:<br /> {{convert|5.5|km|ft}} <br /> at {{convert|5|km|ft}} altitude:<br /> {{convert|8.5|km|ft}}
| speed              = maximum: {{convert|260|m/s}} <br /> average: {{convert|230|m/s}}
| guidance           = Kehl-Strassburg FuG 203/230; [[MCLOS]] using a [[joystick]]
}}

The '''Henschel Hs 293''' was a [[World War II]] [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Command guidance|radio-guided]] [[glide bomb]]. It is the first operational [[anti-shipping missile]], first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, damaging or sinking at least 25 ships. Allied efforts to jam the radio control link were increasingly successful despite German efforts to counter them. The weapon remained in use through 1944 when it was also used as an air-to-ground weapon to attack bridges to prevent the Allied breakout after [[D-Day]], but proved almost useless in this role.

== Development ==
[[File:Henschel HS 293.jpg|thumb|left|A schematic drawing of a Hs 293]]
[[File:HWK 109-507.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft|Walter]] 109-507 rocket motor unit with propellant tanks, removed from its nacelle under the Hs 293]]
[[File:Hs 293 A-1 UdvarHazy.jpg|left|thumb|An Hs 293 A-1 on display at the [[Udvar-Hazy Center]]]]

The Hs 293 project started in 1940, based on the "Gustav Schwartz Propellerwerke" pure [[glide bomb]] designed in 1939. The Schwartz design did not have a terminal guidance system; instead, it used an [[autopilot]] to maintain a straight course. It was intended to be launched from a bomber at sufficient distance to keep the aircraft out of range of [[anti-aircraft artillery|anti-aircraft]] fire. A [[Henschel]] team, under [[Herbert A. Wagner|Herbert Wagner]],<ref>Christopher, John.  ''The Race for Hitler's X-Planes'' (The Mill, Gloucestershire:  History Press, 2013), p.134.</ref> developed it the following year by adding a [[Walter HWK 109-507]] [[rocket engine]] underneath, providing {{convert|590|kgf|lbf kN|abbr=on}}<ref name="Christopher, p.134">Christopher, p.134.</ref> thrust for ten seconds. This allowed the bomb to be used from a lower altitude and at an increased range. Some examples used a BMW 109-511 engine, with {{convert|600|kgf|lbf kN|abbr=on}} of thrust.<ref name="Christopher, p.134"/>

The first flight attempts took place between May and September 1940, with unpowered drops from [[Heinkel He 111]] aircraft; the first Walter rocket motor-powered tests had been conducted by the end of 1940.

The weapon consisted of a modified standard 500 kilogram [[SC500 bomb|''Sprengbombe-Cylindrisch''-class SC 500 "general purpose" bomb]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19751506000 | title = Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum – Collections – Objects – Missile, Air-to-Surface, Henschel Hs 293 A-1 | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | publisher = Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | access-date = August 1, 2013}}</ref> with an added "Kopfring" on the nose for maritime use, to help ensure a relatively perpendicular axis of impact,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/TM/pdfs/TM9-1985-2-German.pdf | title = U.S. Army Technical Manual #TM 9-1985-2, German Explosive Ordnance | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | publisher = ibiblio.org/hyperwar | page = 15 | access-date = August 1, 2013}}</ref> with a thin metal shell and a high explosive charge inside, equipped with a rocket engine beneath the bomb, a pair of aileron-fitted wings, and the receiving FuG 230 component of the [[Kehl-Strasbourg radio control link|''Kehl-Straßburg'']] [[MCLOS]] guidance and control system, shared with the contemporary [[Fritz X]] gravity-propulsion, [[Precision-guided munition|PGM]] armour-piercing bomb. The [[elevator (aircraft)|elevator]] was operated with an electrically powered [[jackscrew]] as the only proportional control, while the [[aileron]]s were operated with [[solenoid]]s. Remote flight control was provided through the ''Kehl-Straßburg'' link, with the Hs 293's control setup having no movable rudder on the ventral tailfin. The 109-507 monopropellant booster rocket provided for only a short burst of speed making range dependent on the launch altitude. 

The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships,<ref name="Christopher, p.134"/> unlike the Fritz X. Five coloured flares were attached to the rear of the weapon to make it visible at a distance to the operator. During night operations flashing lights instead of flares were used.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.1jma.dk/articles/1jmaluftwaffegroundweapons.htm |title=Guided German air to ground weapons in WW2 |access-date=2006-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112101425/http://www.1jma.dk/articles/1jmaluftwaffegroundweapons.htm |archive-date=2008-01-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After the missile was launched, the bomber flew parallel to the target so as to be able to maintain a slant line of sight.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jt8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+mechanics+July+1932+airplane&pg=PA48 "Pilot Sights Rocket Bomb By Tail Light"]'' Popular Mechanics, July 1944'' - World War Two illustration of Hs 123A-1 and flight path for attacking shipping</ref>

===Electronic countermeasures===
The Allies put considerable effort into developing devices which [[Radio jamming|jammed]] the radio link between ''Kehl'' transmitter and ''Straßburg'' receiver. Jammers aboard U.S. Navy [[destroyer escort]]s were ineffective at first, as the frequencies selected for jamming were incorrect. On balance, the probability that a Hs 293 launched (and seen as responding to operator guidance) would strike a target (or achieve a damage-inflicting near-miss) was about the same at the [[Battle of Anzio]] as it was during [[Operation Avalanche (World War II)|Operation Avalanche]].

As attacks were taking place at Anzio, the United Kingdom began to deploy its Type 650 transmitter which employed a different approach to interfering with the FuG 203/230 radio link, by jamming the ''Straßburg'' receiver's [[intermediate frequency]] section, which operated at 3&nbsp;MHz. This appears to have been quite successful, especially because the operator did not have to attempt to find which of the eighteen selected ''Kehl-Straßburg'' [[carrier frequency|command frequencies]] were in use and then manually tune the jamming transmitter to one of them. The Type 650 defeated the receiver no matter which radio frequency had been selected.

Following several [[Intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] coups, including a capture of an intact Hs 293 at Anzio and recovery of important components of the ''Kehl'' transmitter from a crashed [[Heinkel He 177]] on [[Corsica]], the Allies were able to develop far more effective countermeasures, in time for the [[invasion of Normandy]] and [[Operation Dragoon]]. These included AIL's Type MAS jammer, which employed sophisticated signals to defeat the Kehl transmission and to take over command of the Hs 293, steering it into the sea via a sequence of right-turn commands. In contrast to the experience at Anzio, the jammers seemed to have had a major impact on operations after April 1944, with significant degradation observed in the probability that a Hs 293 missile could achieve a hit or damaging near miss.<ref name="Bollinger">Martin J. Bollinger,  ''Warriors and Wizards: Development and Defeat of Radio-Controlled Glide Bombs of the Third Reich,'' Annapolis: Naval Institute Press(2010).</ref>

To improve control of the weapon and reduce vulnerability of the launching aircraft, wire-guided Hs 293B and television-guided Hs 293D variants were planned; neither was operational before the war ended.<ref name="Christopher, p.135">Christopher, p.135.</ref> There was also a tailless [[delta wing]]ed Hs 293F.<ref name="Christopher, p.135"/> In addition, there was a Hs 293H air-to-air model.<ref name="Christopher, p.135"/> Over 1,000 were built, from 1942 onwards. The closest Allied weapon system in function and purpose to the Hs 293 series was the US Navy's [[Bat (guided bomb)|Bat]] unpowered, autonomously radar-guided unit.

=== Later developments ===
The Hs 293 served as the basis for a number of developments, none completed. These included the [[Henschel Hs 294|Hs 294]], "designed specifically to penetrate the water and strike a ship below the waterline", with a long, conical shaped forebody<ref>http://www.airwar.ru/image/i/weapon/hs294sh.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> and a pair of the Hs 293A's standard [[Walter HWK 109-507]] booster engines at the wing roots; the Hs 295, with longer fuselage, larger warhead and Hs 294 wings; the Hs 296, with Hs 294 afterparts, Hs 295 warhead and Hs 293 ''Kehl-Straßurg'' MCLOS control systems.<ref name="Christopher, p.134"/>

== Operational history ==
[[File:HS293.pdf|thumb|right|U.S. military intelligence datasheet on the Henschel Hs 293]]
On 25 August 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, striking the sloop {{HMS|Bideford|L43|6}}; the warhead did not detonate, and the damage was minimal.  On 27 August, the sinking of the British sloop {{HMS|Egret|L75|6}} by a squadron of 18 [[Dornier Do 217]] carrying Hs 293s led to anti-[[U-boat]] patrols in the [[Bay of Biscay]] being temporarily suspended.<ref>[[Marc Milner|Milner, Marc]] (1994). ''The U-boat hunters: the Royal Canadian Navy and the offensive against Germany's submarines''. University of Toronto Press, p. 57</ref> On 26 November, an Hs 293 sank the troop transport {{ship|HMT|Rohna}} killing over 1,000 personnel.

Other ships sunk or damaged by the Hs 293 include:
* {{HMCS|Athabaskan|G07|6}}, Tribal-class destroyer (heavily damaged by confirmed hit with ''Egret'' in [[Bay of Biscay]] 27 August 1943)<ref>{{cite web   | title =ATHABASKAN page   | url =http://webhome.idirect.com/~kettles/uncle/athabask.htm   | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080705143051/http://webhome.idirect.com/~kettles/uncle/athabask.htm   | archive-date =2008-07-05   | url-status =dead   }}</ref>
* [[Italian destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi|Italian destroyer ''Ugolino Vivaldi'']] (heavily damaged and scuttled off [[Sardinia]] on 10 September 1943)
* SS ''Bushrod Washington'' (sunk 14 September 1943 during [[Operation Avalanche (World War II)|Operation Avalanche]])<ref name="proceedings">Bogart, Charles H. "German Remotely Piloted Bombs" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' November 1976 pp.62-68</ref>
* SS ''Delius'' (damaged)
* {{HMS|Dulverton|L63|6}} , Hunt-class destroyer. (heavily damaged and scuttled)
* SS ''Elihu Yale'' (sunk off Anzio during [[Operation Shingle]] 16 February 1944 – ''LCT 3''5 alongside was also destroyed)<ref name="proceedings"/>
* {{USS|Herbert C. Jones|DE-137|6}} (damaged off Anzio during [[Operation Shingle]] 15 February 1944)<ref name="proceedings"/>
* SS ''Hiram S. Maxim'' (damaged)
* {{HMS|Inglefield|D02|6}} , I-class destroyer leader (sunk)
* SS ''James W. Marshall'' (damaged 15 September 1943 during Operation Avalanche and subsequently used as part of the [[Mulberry harbour]] – possibly hit by a "Fritz X")<ref name="proceedings"/>
* {{HMS|Janus|F53|6}} , J-class destroyer (sunk—possibly by an Hs 293, Fritz X or a torpedo)
* {{HMS|Jervis|F00|6}} (damaged off Anzio during [[Operation Shingle]] 23 January 1944)<ref name="proceedings"/>
* SS ''John Banvard'' (damaged)
* {{sclass|Banff|sloop|1}} {{HMS|Landguard}} (slightly damaged with ''Bideford'' in [[Bay of Biscay]] 25 August 1943)<ref name="Blair">Blair, Clay ''Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunted 1942–1945'' Random House (1998) {{ISBN|0-679-45742-9}} p.405</ref>
* {{HMS|LST-79}} (sunk)
* {{USS|LST-282}} (sunk during [[Operation Dragoon]])<ref>{{cite book |last = Zaloga |first = Steven J. |title = Operation Dragoon 1944: France's other D-Day |url = https://archive.org/details/operationdragoon1944zalo |url-access = limited |publisher = Osprey |year = 2009 |isbn = 978-1-84603-367-4|page= [https://archive.org/details/operationdragoon1944zalo/page/n26 50]}}</ref>
* {{HMS|Lawford|K514|6}} (sunk—probably by an Hs 293, official report states "aerial torpedo")
* MV ''Marsa'' (sunk)
* {{HMCS|Matane|K444|6}} (damaged)
* {{USS|Mayo|DD-422|6}} (damaged—possibly by an Hs 293 or a mine)
* {{ship|HMHS|Newfoundland}} , a [[hospital ship]] carrying Red Cross markings at the time. (heavily damaged and later scuttled by US Navy destroyer {{USS|Plunkett|DD-431|2}})
* {{USS|Prevail|AM-107|6}} (damaged—possibly by an Hs 293)
* {{HMS|Rockwood|L39|6}} (damaged slightly, later written off)
* SS ''Samite'' (damaged)
* {{SS|Samuel Huntington}} (sunk off Anzio during [[Operation Shingle]] 29 January 1944)<ref name="proceedings"/>
* SS ''Selvik'' (damaged)
* {{HMS|Spartan|95|6}} (sunk off Anzio during [[Operation Shingle]] 29 January 1944)<ref name="proceedings"/>
* {{USS|Tillman|DD-641|6}} (slightly damaged 6 November 1943 while escorting [[Mediterranean]] convoy KMF-25A)<ref name="proceedings"/> although more likely a torpedo was the cause)<ref>See'' Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships''. This indicates that the three Hs 293 missiles targeted at ''Tillman'' exploded without damage but that a torpedo exploding in the ship's wake did cause damage.</ref>

Although designed for use against ships, it was also used in [[Normandy]] in early August 1944 to attack bridges over the [[Sée]] and [[Sélune]] rivers. One bridge was slightly damaged for the loss of six of the attacking aircraft.<ref>[http://www.simonawhite.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/HS%20293.html The Henschel HS 293 Radio-controlled glider bomb] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120910165612/http://www.simonawhite.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/HS%20293.html |date=2012-09-10 }}</ref> The attack on 7 August 1944 at [[Pontaubault]], by Do 217 of III./KG 100, was the first usage of a [[standoff missile]] against a land target.<ref name=do217>Scutts, Jerry: ''Dornier Do 217'', Warpaint Series No.24, Hall Park Books Ltd: Milton Keynes, p.16-21</ref> {{Efn|On  28 May 1944, 113 American [[GB-1]] autopiloted glide bombs were launched from B-17 bombers against railway yards at Cologne; 42 reached the target}}On 12 April 1945 Hs 293A bombs were used once more, against bridges on the [[Oder]], by Do 217 bombers of [[KG 200]].<ref name=do217/>

The Hs 293 was carried on [[Heinkel He 111]], [[Heinkel He 177]], [[Focke-Wulf Fw 200]], and [[Dornier Do 217]] planes.  Only the He 177 (of I and II.''Gruppen''/KG 40), certain variants of the Fw 200 (of III./KG 40) and the Do 217 (of II./KG 100 and III./KG 100) used the Hs 293 operationally in combat.

== Variants ==
[[File:Henschel Hs 293B at the 2013 AWM open day.jpg|thumb|Henschel Hs 293B guided bomb on display at the 2013 Australian War Memorial open day]]
* '''Hs 293A-0''', the first production version.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293A-1''', main production version <ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293A-2''', steel construction rather than aluminium.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293A-v5''' A-1 with shortened wings.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293B''' wire-guided to prevent jamming; although jamming would eventually make the Hs 293 ineffective, it was never put into production.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293C''' (production version designated '''Hs 293A-2''') had the detachable warhead of the Hs 294.
* '''Hs 293D''' was [[television guidance#German efforts|television-guided]], with a large [[Yagi antenna]] transmitting back to the launch aircraft.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" /> Seventy were built and tested, but it was never used operationally.
* '''Hs 293E''', an experimental model to test [[spoiler (aeronautics)|spoiler]] controls as a replacement to [[aileron]]s; never put into series production. This modification was put into the final version of the '''Hs 293A-2''' but by then the [[Luftwaffe]] had no aircraft available for anti-shipping operations and it was never deployed.
* '''Hs 293F''', a tailless delta-wing variant; never got further than the design phase.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293H''', an experimental variant designed to be launched from one aircraft and controlled from another. Abandoned because allied air superiority had reached the point where it was felt that the second aircraft would be unable to remain in the vicinity of the ship for long enough. Used the Schmidding solid-fuel rocket motor. It was also considered as an anti-aircraft missile.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />
* '''Hs 293-U6''', the short wingspan variant, fitted with a solid fuel motor and intended for launching from the [[Arado Ar 234]] jet bomber at 720&nbsp;km/h (447&nbsp;mph). The missile did not proceed past the design stage.<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" />

==Operators==
*[[Luftwaffe]]

==See also==
* [[List of World War II guided missiles of Germany]]
* [[Azon]] - gravity-propulsion American 1,000 lb. laterally-steerable guided ordnance
* [[Henschel Hs 294]] – further development of the Hs 293
* [[Kampfgeschwader 100]], the pioneering PGM-deployment bomber wing of the Luftwaffe

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References== 
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name="Hogg, Hs-293" >{{Cite book
  |title=German Secret Weapons of World War 2
  |section=Hs-293
  |last=Hogg  |first=Ian V.
  |author-link=Ian V. Hogg
  |year=1970
  |isbn=085368-053-1
  |publisher=Arms and Armour Press
  |pages=23–25
}}</ref>

}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last = Munson |first = Kenneth |title = German Aircraft Of World War 2 in colour |location = Poole, Dorset, UK |publisher = Blandford Press |year = 1978 |isbn = 0-7137-0860-3}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-air-surface-henschel-hs-293-1-0 Smithsonian NASM's Hs 293A-1 page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127085011/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-air-surface-henschel-hs-293-1-0 |date=2016-11-27 }}
* [http://www.ausairpower.net/WW2-PGMs.html The Dawn of the Smart Bomb]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gFlloCcPQ Video about the Hs293d]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080112101425/http://www.1jma.dk/articles/1jmaluftwaffegroundweapons.htm German guided air to ground weapons in WW2]
* "[http://www.lonesentry.com/blog/how-radio-controlled-bombs-were-jammed.html How Radio-Controlled Bombs Were Jammed]", C.I.C. (Combat Information Center), U.S. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Dec. 1945.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=fScDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+1943+there%27s+one+thrill+no+soldier&pg=PA67 '' "Rocket Glider Bomb Is New Nazi Weapon" '', December 1943, Popular Science] One of the first public articles on the Hs 293, including speculation as to what it looked like and how it operated.
{{Henschel aircraft}}
{{RLM aircraft designations}}
{{WWIIGermanAerialWeapons}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:World War II guided missiles of Germany]]
[[Category:Guided bombs]]
[[Category:Anti-ship missiles of Germany]]
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1942]]