A Brief History
On May 17, 1943, RAF Squadron 617, later known as The Dambusters, embarked on Operation Chastise, a plan to bomb and destroy two dams to flood the Ruhr Valley in Germany. They were successful, largely because of the wacky weapon they used, a barrel like bomb that was rotated on a carriage under the bomber and then dropped to skip across the water to the dam, and then roll down the face of the dam to blow up right against the structure. Many times in wartime nations will stretch the limits of the imaginations of their inventors in an effort to achieve an advantage. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they do not. Here are 10 weapons that definitely stretch the imagination.
10. Balloon Bombs (Japan).
The idea here is to launch a balloon carrying several small incendiary bombs up into the jet stream and have them fly over the Western US and Canada where timers would release the bombs which would in turn start forest fires. Some of them made it and dropped their bombs, but no appreciable damage took place.
9. Grand Slam (Earthquake) Bomb (UK).
Developed by Barnes Wallis, the idea was to make a bomb that was big enough and when dropped would penetrate deep enough into the ground that when the giant explosion took place the shock waves would collapse structures like dams, bridges, tunnels, underground factories, submarine pens, and others. Dropped from 25,000 feet, the 10 ton Grand Slam would attain supersonic speed by the time it buried itself deep in the earth and blew up, destroying the target by landing near it instead of right on it. These bombs were used to attack the German submarine pens, railroad tunnels, battleship Tirpitz, and bury the V-3 giant guns located at Calais. Cracked note: The US developed their own 43,000 pound bomb called the T-12 after the war, but never used it since atom bombs became available.
8. Krummlauf (Germany).
Meaning “curved barrel” in English, it follows that this was a curved barrel! Designed for use with the world’s first assault weapon, the Sturmgewehr 44, this device would allow the user to shoot around corners, or more likely, from inside an armored vehicle, spraying the outside of that vehicle through a barely opened hatch. This would defend the tank from infantrymen armed with explosives or Molotov cocktails. Although the bullets would break up inside the curve of the barrel, the short ranged nature of the weapon actually made its use more effective. It came in different varieties with various angles of curves and a small periscope attachment was designed so the operator could see what he was shooting at. In any case, the barrels would wear out after only about 300 rounds.
7. Me-163 Komet (Germany).
A short stubby rocket powered fighter made in desperation toward the end of the war while Germany was getting pounded by Allied bombers, the Komet was meant to clear the air of those bombers. Capable of 700 mph (test flight) the Komet could not fly very far, but if located near the target it could get up to altitude more quickly than any other fighter and make a high speed pass that could not be stopped by Allied fighters or the bombers machine guns. The tailless rocket plane was armed with 2 X 30 mm cannons, but of the 300 or so made, they accounted for only 9 to 16 Allied aircraft shot down. Most Komets were destroyed by their own pilots just trying to land the hard to handle airplane, or by Allied fighter planes shooting them up while the Komet was landing (they landed without power, having expended their fuel) or on the ground. Cracked fact: The Germans gave the Japanese plans for this plane and the Japanese designed their own version of it.
6. Bat Bombs (US).
Development was halted before they were used in combat, but by that time the “bugs” had been fairly well worked out, and they probably would have worked if used. The idea was to drop a cylinder of sleeping bats from a bomber, the cylinder containing dozens of bats each with a tiny incendiary bomb attached. As the bomb fell to an altitude where the bats would not suffocate or freeze, they would be released at which time they were expected to seek shelter in the eaves of Japanese buildings, starting thousands of fires in the mostly wooden Japanese architecture. Merely designing a firebomb and timer small enough for a tiny bat to fly with was a real challenge, as was keeping the bats, preparing the bombs, and keeping the bats alive in flight.
5. Dambuster Bomb (UK).
As described above, weapon designer Barnes Wallis created a depth charge bomb shaped like a 55 gallon drum that was made to rotate at 500 rpm, and when dropped would skip over the surface, therefore not being stopped by anti-torpedo nets, and roll down the face of the dam when it got that far. Special aiming devices were created so the bombers could release the bombs at just the right distance from the dams and special lights were used to project beams down onto the water, so that when they met, the pilot knew he was at exactly the right height. The 9,250 pound bombs worked, but damage was largely repaired within about 4 months and more than half of the fatalities were of prisoners and slave laborers in the valley.
4. V-3 Cannon (Germany).
Two super guns 430 feet long and buried at the Pas-de- Calais in France to shoot 310 pound shells at England with a 100 mile range. These totally impractical weapons were dearly loved by Adolf Hitler and the resources to design and build them would have been much more effective used elsewhere. They were buried by Grand Slam bombs before they ever fired. The method of operation was to use rocket boosters instead of a single powder charge, with ports along the length of the gun, each one firing as the shell moved past it down the barrel. The problems were that once built, the gun could not be re-aimed as it was in a fixed position, and the 310 pound shell was too small to inflict major damage. Finally, its stationary nature made it a sure target of Allied bombers, which in fact destroyed them.
3. Kaiten (Japan).
A torpedo armed with 3000 to 4000 pounds of explosives (depending on model) and modified to have a suicide operator piloting it, this manned torpedo could be launched from a submerged submarine or a destroyer. A smaller version was designed for coastal defense. Over 300 were built, but only a couple small US vessels were sunk, with regular torpedoes having a much higher success rate than Kaitens. Amazingly, the combat range of the torpedoes was 40 or more miles.
2. MXY-7 Okha (Japan).
Japanese for “Cherry Blossom,” the Okha was a rocket propelled human guided bomb, a missile with a man in it, designed to attack American ships or other targets after being dropped by a bomber aircraft. Obviously a suicide weapon, the rocket plane was packed with 2,600 pounds of explosives, and flew at 400 mph in level flight, or around 600 mph in a dive, meaning it could not be stopped by US fighters. Americans called them “Baka Bombs,” using the Japanese word for crazy. Although they did hit a few smaller US warships and transports, no large ship was ever hit or sunk by one, making their contribution negligible. The main reason for their ineffectiveness was that the twin engine “Betty” bombers that carried one apiece slung under the bomber were so laden that they were un-maneuverable and slow, allowing US fighter planes to shoot them down before they got into the range where the Okhas could be launched.
1. The Atom Bomb (US).
Nothing like it had ever been made or used before one was dropped on Hiroshima and a second was dropped on Nagasaki, destroying those 2 cities within seconds. Now instead of a thousand bombers dropping 20,000 bombs, the US could have one bomber drop one bomb and attain similar or even greater results. The results were so horrific that no nuclear weapon has been used since, almost 70 years now, and that is with 8 to 10 countries having developed such weapons.
Question for students (and subscribers): What do you think was the most bizarre weapon from World War II? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Barnes, G.M. Weapons of World War II: A Photographic Guide to Tanks, Howitzers, Submachine Guns, and More Historic Ordnance. Skyhorse Publishing, 2014.
You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2243 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=2243">69 Comments
My thoughts exactly.
What do you mean? Seems fine to me.
My grandpa fought in WWII and i think it’s crazy to think that he used some of these own weapons.
These weapons are all interesting. It’s always seemed crazy to me that people are willing to guide a suicide weapon and blow themselves up.
The human imagination cannot be reined in easily. It’s kind of a shame that we don’t always put our brain power to use in more constructive areas instead of aiming to make such destructive weaponry. The atomic bomb devastated those Japanese cities and though America accomplished what they wished to accomplish, the end of the war, we also ended the lives of so many innocent people. The pictures and media coverage of the bombing is absolutely sickening.
The bat bomb is the most bizarre and obscure idea I have ever heard. With so many variables and the difficulty of dealing with the bats, who ever would have imagined that this could be a viable option?
I am interested to know if the Grand Slam bomb would of worked; it would produce a large amount damage, I am glad it was never used.
I think it was cruel to use animals, no matter how desperate either side was.
How did they know for sure that the bats would have gone in the directions they wanted? Glad they stopped that project before tons of innocent bats were killed.
I find it interesting that countries would have inventors come up with crazy things just to achieve an advantage.
Balloon bombs don’t seem like the best idea to me. Funny how they were used though!
So many crazy inventions to try an win a war
It’s crazy to think how strong the Atom bombs the US dropped were, and now today there are nukes that are so much powerful than those and make them look like nothing compared to them.
some of these inventions they were trying to portray are so weird such as the bat bomb
These weapons are named very weird and I have not heard of many of them.
I’ve never heard of any of these.
I thought that the bat bomb within this article was extremely interesting and bizarre to say the least. Too bad these bombs didn’t work out.
There were some bizarre weapons designed. The bat bomb was really weird and unusual. I wonder what made the inventor think about using bats.
I am not very familiar with any of these weapons used during WWII but I received the point that cannons/bombs were a part of the commonly used.
I did not realize that there are so many different types of bombs.
The weapons that I found most interesting were the Balloon Bombs used to start forest fires, the Krummlauf which allowed people to shoot around corners, and Bat Bombs. I think Bat Bombs are most interesting, but are not human. The Atom Bomb was also very destructive and was devastating for Japan when it was dropped on them.
I found the bat bombs most interesting. I have never heard of those and would have never thought of something like that being used.
I am not very knowledgeable about weaponry. I actually thought a lot of these sounded pretty bizarre and funny.
I had only ever heard of the atom bomb before reading this article. I never knew there were so many different kinds of bombs like balloon bombs and the earthquake bomb.
The bomb that really “jumped,” out to me was the atom bomb. The fact that two cities were destroyed in two seconds is really sad and devastating considering the thousands of lives that vanished. The fact that this type of bomb has never been used again shows how detrimental it really was.
The bat bombs were very interesting to me. The thought of having living animals carry bombs is frightening because of the randomness of where the bats would travel.
I had no idea there were so many different bombs used during this war. I think the most interesting weapon to me is the Sturmgewchr 44. I like the idea of shooting around corners!
The bat bombs surprised me. Collecting the bats, putting bombs on them, then hoping they would go where you want them to go seems like a lot of effort and is based more on luck then strategy.
I never thought that a curved barrel was possible yet the force around the curve makes sense that it wore out so fast.
I think that the Grand Slam bomb is quite interesting as it can mimic the effects of an entire earthquake! I cannot imagine seeing one of these being set off and exploding. I did not know that the bombs were this powerful!
The Bat Bomb was an interesting concept. How does the U.S. go from Bat Bombs to Atom bombs?
It is an interesting article. I like these Bizarre World War II Weapons. The only one I have heard before is the Atom Bomb. The Atom Bomb is an important turning point of World War II.
I don’t have many knowledge about these weapons and bombing. But I know all these weapons were evils.
I have heard about the Balloon Bomb and of course the Atom Bomb. I don’t know much about military weaponry, but I found this article to be interesting.
I had no idea that there were that many different bombs that were used throughout the war.
These different types of bombs were crazy, especially the bat bombs.
This was an interesting article to read about the different bombs and how they were used throughout the war.
A lot of these weapons seem impractical. This reminded me of the scene in the book “American Sniper” where the enemy crossed the river with beach balls and all Chris had to do was shoot the beach balls.
I do not see why anyone would want to use a few of these weapons. I also would not want to be on the other side of a few of these weapons.
Truly weird weapons, Especially the “Bat Bomb”.
I find the Bat Bomb and the Earthquake Bomb to be the most interesting.
Very interesting read to see and hear about all the crazy weapons people were grasping for to win the war.
The bat bomb is super cool, I guess you could say. While harming the animal it would be super effective in accomplishing civilian disasters.
It is news to me that there were so many bombs used during World War II!
These weapons are definitely bizarre and really cool to read about. I especially like the balloon bombs and the Krummlauf! A curved barrel to shoot around corners…what a neat concept.
I’ve read about the massive guns before. What a spectacularly terrible idea and waste of resources. But, Hitler was a nutjob, so it’s not that surprising.
I’d love to see some of these weapons in person.
I hate reading about weapons of war. So disturbing.
I guess you can’t top the Atomic Bomb.
Very disturbing to read about these weapons.
Great innovations that led to some of the most sophisticated weapons in the modern day arsenals of our military.
The atom bomb defiantly deserves to be number one on this list. It was so destructive that people are afraid of starting a world nuclear war if one was used today.
The above weapons were interesting and how the people who created them thought they would work. Technology has made weapons a lot more advance compared to that time period.
During wartime, inventors are focused on creating the best weapon to help advance military success. I have never heard of many of these inventions. Obviously, the atom bomb is the most known military weapon of WWII.
The curved barrel gun just seems like an accident waiting to happen to me. Seems like it would be easy to shoot yourself while trying to shoot the enemy. The bat bombs were the most crazy idea. Thankfully they never got it figured out. Those poor little bats would be blown up at our expense, just to try to catch some buildings on fire. I think there is a reason that no other weapon like the atom bomb has been used again. It may how won us the war but it was truly detrimental for so many people for such a long time.
What we know about wartime, is in some respects it brings out the best of the nation. Creativity and scientific advancements always occur during these times, and technologically thwart the nation forward. No idea is a dumb one, just ask those who worked on the atomic bomb.
What in the world could they have been thinking creating a human guided bomb, this is astounding to me.
It is insane to think of using bats to put explosive devices into or ever a human guided bomb. It is unbelievable what people will think of and even worse what they will do.
Is there one device that has changed the course of history as dramatically as #1 did?
Obviously, the Atomic bomb was the most intense weapon of the Pacific conflict. The two weapons in the European conflict that I found interesting were the bat bomb and the gun with the curved barrel.
The floating balloon bompbs bring drones to mind. If Amazon can deliver packages, who says that they can’t be used to drop bombs….
This is very interesting as I did not even know what most of them were but have now learned. Nonetheless I was shocked a few weapons were not listed on here.
Very interesting weapon choices. Also, Autum makes a great point if we could use balloon bombs, why not drone bombs?
this was interesting. Im just not one to be captivatd by weapons of war. Leaves an unsettling feeling inside.
I wonder what the work description was for the Kaiten? What was the payoff besides death?
It is terrifying to think about how much destruction the atom bomb can cause!
This was very interesting. Makes you wonder what kind of weapons are out there now that we don’t know about.
it’s so interesting, their thinking we didn’t understand,haha
It is interesting by know people were putting bomb on ballon.