PRESENTATION OUTLINE
WEAPONS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Weapons of the war were immensely modernized throughout it. Jets, modern tanks, modern assault rifles, semi-automatic rifles, and guided missiles, these are a few new /important weapons,but the list goes on.
Jets
Jets are used all over the world, and lots of people have flown in one. Jets were invented by Germany, and were faster and better than monoplanes.
Tanks
World War 2 is the first major war that tanks had turrets. The most commonly known are the Panzer VI Tiger and the M4 Sherman.
Modern assault rifles
Thought to be one of the most important inventions of the war is the Sturmgewehr 44. (STG44)
It is the predecessor to the AK 47.
Semi-auto rifles which are very common today but were put into full effect during WW2. They can fire much faster than bolt action rifles.
Another important invention is guided bombs that are used to hit targets with precision. They were guided by radio frequencies but the frequencies could be changed mid flight by its target so it would miss.
Computers
The colossus computer was invented in World War 2. It was used to help decifer the enigma code. The enigma code is the code used by the German high command. It included over 1,500 valves connecting it together and it was the size of a small room.
Space technologies
Rocket engines also invented by Germany were used to fire explosives at long ranges, it wasn’t till later that they would be used to go to space.
Machine guns
Machine guns evolved into pure killing machines. A German machine gun the MG42, the most famous machine gun of the war, could fire up to 1,500 rounds per minute.
Flamethrowers
Flamethrowers were popular in close combat such as in cities or trenches.
Flamethrowers were extremely effective for clearing out defensive buildings.
Now we come to the scariest invention of the war. The world really could’ve ended because the US made Little Boy and Fat Man. They are the nukes that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war. Just one of these bombs killed 80,000 people instantly.
Night vision
Night vision may have been invented too late in the war to be used very much but it was still used by the Nazis. It was more specifically infrared vision where you can see body heat through a special scope.
The B-29 this bomber is one of the biggest if not the biggest bomber of the war.
It is the bomber that carried the nuclear bombs to Japan to end the war. It has a 10 man crew for just the one plane.
Radar
Radar is a key component in the war. It detected incoming enemy planes. Shortly after sonar was invented. It does the same thing as radar but it detects submarines.
Medical penicillin
It is one of the most used drugs in the practice of medicine. The scientist who created it won the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Some of the weirdest weapons that worked are remote control tanks. They are small 3-5 foot long tanks that are packed full of explosives and remotely exploded in the enemy lines.
Another insane weapon is one of the biggest artillery guns in the world. It is called the gustav cannon and it is manned by 500 people.
Another Nazi artillery cannon is the v3 cannon. It was designed to shoot over the English Channel and into England. It was built into the side of a hill and could fire 58miles.
In our groups opinion the bat bombs or the pigeon guided missiles have to be the craziest weapons we have seen.
Bat bombs
Bat Bombs are large bombs that carry hundreds of bats in them. Once the bomb is dropped the compartment opens and they fly out. Each bat has a time bomb attached to it. The hope was that they would hide in buildings and explode.
Pigeon guided missiles are exactly what they say they are, missiles guided by pigeons. A professor from Harvard trained these pigeons to guide these missiles from the inside.
