Hitler Tested an Atomic Bomb?

[sophia8]

The Seoul Times (http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/news/international/europe/europe.php)
A German historian has claimed in a new book presented on Monday that Nazi scientists successfully tested a tactical nuclear weapon in the last months of World War II.
Rainer Karlsch said that new research in Soviet and also Western archives, along with measurements carried out at one of the test sites, provided evidence for the existence of the weapon.
"The important thing in my book is the finding that the Germans had an atomic reactor near Berlin which was running for a short while, perhaps some days or weeks," he told the BBC.
Opnions? Would this have been possible?

[The Central Scrutinizer]

No

[Bikewer]

In all my WWII reading, it was always the opinion of the experts that the Germans had been led down the wrong path to nuclear fusion, and the sabotage of the heavy-water plant in Norway pretty well put the nix on their efforts.

A small reactor running for some weeks would not provide sufficient fissile material for a bomb. No doubt they had the technical expertise....

I read a book a few years ago on the Japanese efforts to produce a nuclear bomb. They too had the expertise; one of the close aides to Fermi was a Japanese. However, they did not have the infrastructure or industrial capacity.
The author convincingly recounts efforts to start up a gaseous-diffusion extractor, with disastrous results. (Uranium Hexaflouride is a very nasty substance; corrosive, explosive, etc.)

Still, who knows. Clever fellows, those Germans.

[Donks]

Recently I watched a show on PBS about a civilian ship, transporting some heavy water, that had been sunk by the Norwegian resistance at the expense of many civilians. The conclusion was that Germany had decided early on in the war that the bomb would not help them, that they could not stay in the war for long enough to develop the bomb, so it was a waste of resources. So the nuclear project was civilian, to develop reactors.

[Chaos]

Shouldn´t a nuke test site be, like, radioactive or something? I guess if it is, and there was one, it would have been noticed long ago.

Besides, there aren´t any out-of-way places like Los Alamos in Germany, where a nuke can detonate without being noticed.

[Kiwiwriter]

They never got that close. There are a number of good books on the German scientific war, and the atomic research program was an unholy mess. The Nazi leadership bickered over who was going to do it. Even Hitler didn't think it would work. Like Fermi, he believed an A-bomb would just ignite that atmosphere and wipe out all life. So he opposed atomic research.

Nazi Science and Education Minister Bernhard Rust, a schoolteacher fired for chasing little girls, didn't think much of it, either, and he never actually reported to Hitler on anything. Hitler preferred to rule by having his lieutenants feud amongst themselves for overlapping spheres of power, so they couldn't unite and take him on. Instead, they had to "work towards the Fuehrer" by putting his dreams and ideas into practice. That, along with the euthanasia fiasco, is a big reason why there is no written order on the Holocaust.

Nazi Labor Minister Robert Ley, who never met a bottle of chianti he didn't like, was big in pushing all kinds of wierd Nazi technology, most of it never working. He sneered at orthodox science, saying that street sweepers were better than scientists. "A street sweeper kills thousands of germs with his broom. A scientist is proud if he finds one germ." Ley, drunk to the gills, hanged himself before standing trial at Nuremberg on charges of running the Nazi slave labor program.

Ultimately, the unwanted mess of atomic research was handed to the German Post Office. After the fiasco at Vermork, they dumped the whole program.

They may have done tests of "dirty bombs," using radioactive material in ordinary explosives, late in the war, though.

[Luke T.]

If the Germans had tested a nuke, we'd have seen it with our satellites.






























I'm joking. I know we didn't have satellites. Just like the Germans didn't have nukes. Geez, do I have to explain every joke?

[Polaris]

Shouldn´t a nuke test site be, like, radioactive or something? I guess if it is, and there was one, it would have been noticed long ago.

Besides, there aren´t any out-of-way places like Los Alamos in Germany, where a nuke can detonate without being noticed.

Why? America can detonate a nuke in San Francisco at Port Chicago because the black dock-workers made perfect guinea pigs.

http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/sinope.htm

Woooooooooooo!

(No, I don't subscribe to this crap.)

[antihippy]

Weren't they further along than people thought though? I seem to dimly remember that a set of plans was for a bomb recently discovered which were pretty far along. Can't remember if it was verified and I may be talking complete bollocks.

[Zep]

They certainly had plans for a lot of very advanced stuff that was quite feasible although fantastic then, not only nuclear. Three-stage rockets that could deliver a hit on New York from inside the homeland, high-speed jet bombers with many thousands of kilometres range and huge payloads, high-speed computers, etc, etc.

So speculative designs for atomic weapons and their delivery systems did exist, although the scientists interviewed in 1945 admitted freely they were years away from any realistic result. Due mainly to the disinterest, stuff-ups and sabotage in the supply and management lines, as described above.

It's worth noting by comparison that the US Air Force had plans for atomic-powered aircraft from the late 1940's onwards, but it seems these have yet to reach fruition too. Maybe in Area 51??

[Kiwiwriter]

Why? America can detonate a nuke in San Francisco at Port Chicago because the black dock-workers made perfect guinea pigs.

http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/sinope.htm

Woooooooooooo!

(No, I don't subscribe to this crap.)

Glanced at her page.

This woman must be seeing a whole team of psychiatrists. :boggled: :eye-poppi

[Chaos]

Glanced at her page.

This woman must be seeing a whole team of psychiatrists. :boggled: :eye-poppi

I´d rather say she must be *not* seeing them ;)

[bjb]

It's worth noting by comparison that the US Air Force had plans for atomic-powered aircraft from the late 1940's onwards, but it seems these have yet to reach fruition too. Maybe in Area 51??

There's quite a lot of information out there on atomic propulsion. It's a matter of finding a material (usually ceramic) that can take the high temperatures. For example:

http://www.vought.com/heritage/products/html/slam.html

The technology was proven to be feasible, but conventional solid-fuel ICBM's are much easier to deal with. In the 80's, there was interest in using atomic rockets for a mission to Mars and I put together a small collection of papers that were being published at the time. I thought it was science fiction but eventually I realized the technology is for real.

[headscratcher4]

If the Germans had tested a nuke, we'd have seen it with our satellites.




I'm joking. I know we didn't have satellites. Just like the Germans didn't have nukes. Geez, do I have to explain every joke?


You forgot that we would have taken the site out with our stealth technology...which is probably why no trace can be found.

[Spindrift]

Weren't they further along than people thought though? I seem to dimly remember that a set of plans was for a bomb recently discovered which were pretty far along. Can't remember if it was verified and I may be talking complete bollocks.

They weren't as far along as was thought.

They had captured Heisenberg and brought him to England with some co-workers. They let them hear of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and because the room was bugged their captors listened to their conversations and it was obvious that they weren't close.

The Germans had grossly overestimated the amount of fission material they thought they would need. IIRC they were thinking tons instead of kilos.

[headscratcher4]

They weren't as far along as was thought.

They had captured Heisenberg and brought him to England with some co-workers. They let them hear of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and because the room was bugged their captors listened to their conversations and it was obvious that they weren't close.

The Germans had grossly overestimated the amount of fission material they thought they would need. IIRC they were thinking tons instead of kilos.

Heisenberg and his fellow scientists were, of course, lying. They knew they were being bugged. They didn't want to spill the beans about the secret Nazi lab in the tropical jungle where they were not only mass producing atomic weapons but breading a new race of Aryian supermen. Fortunately, we had superman (or maybe it was the Flash or Sargent Rock) on our side...he mopped up the whole operation (which had to remaine secret so we could use the Nazi scientists to get us to the moon and the Aryan supermen to breed super models).

Its true.

[Kiwiwriter]

Heisenberg and his fellow scientists were, of course, lying. They knew they were being bugged. They didn't want to spill the beans about the secret Nazi lab in the tropical jungle where they were not only mass producing atomic weapons but breading a new race of Aryian supermen. Fortunately, we had superman (or maybe it was the Flash or Sargent Rock) on our side...he mopped up the whole operation (which had to remaine secret so we could use the Nazi scientists to get us to the moon and the Aryan supermen to breed super models).

Its true.

Just remember, in his first appearance, Sgt. Rock was "Sgt. Rocky."

But it wasn't the same "Easy Company" as in "Band of Brothers."

[Spindrift]

Heisenberg and his fellow scientists were, of course, lying. They knew they were being bugged. They didn't want to spill the beans about the secret Nazi lab in the tropical jungle where they were not only mass producing atomic weapons but breading a new race of Aryian supermen. Fortunately, we had superman (or maybe it was the Flash or Sargent Rock) on our side...he mopped up the whole operation (which had to remaine secret so we could use the Nazi scientists to get us to the moon and the Aryan supermen to breed super models).

Its true.

Ah, those tricky Nazis! I should have known that.

But I believe it was Wonder Woman that destroyed the operation and then she bred (or is it bread?) with the Aryan supermen to create supermodels.

And how does one serve "breaded Aryian supermen"? With a little marinara?

[Kiwiwriter]

Ah, those tricky Nazis! I should have known that.

But I believe it was Wonder Woman that destroyed the operation and then she bred (or is it bread?) with the Aryan supermen to create supermodels.

And how does one serve "breaded Aryian supermen"? With a little marinara?

Sometimes I want to ask a neo-Nazi, "If you guys are such supermen, how come the Jews run the world?" :D

[antihippy]

I new I had about this somewhere recently.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4598955.stm

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Weren't they further along than people thought though? I seem to dimly remember that a set of plans was for a bomb recently discovered which were pretty far along. Can't remember if it was verified and I may be talking complete bollocks.

No. Having just completed a 4 week lecture series on Oppenheimer and the bomb, they were no where close.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

But I believe it was Wonder Woman that destroyed the operation and then she bred (or is it bread?) with the Aryan supermen to create supermodels.

I would have liked to have bred with Linda Carter 20 years ago!

[Kiwiwriter]

I would have liked to have bred with Linda Carter 20 years ago!


...Except that I'm told that dates with her mostly consisted of Bible lectures. :boggled:

[headscratcher4]

Aftre reading many comics, I'm pretty sure that Hitler had lasars, robot soldiers and time teleportation equipment. He used none of it, in so far as I can tell. So, clearly, he wasn't willing to go the extra-mile and bring total distruction down upon Germany and his regime...oh, wait, he pretty much did bring total distruction down on his regime and Germany...

[kevin]

If I remember correctly, at the end of Richard Rhodes' Making of the Atomic Bomb he said Germany was building a small pile but hadn't managed to make it go critical yet. This would've put them at about where the US was at the start of the Manhattan project.

I belive Japan was even further behind that deciding it wasn't possible although they did have some papers on it.

[kevin]

Fortunately, we had superman (or maybe it was the Flash or Sargent Rock) on our side...he mopped up the whole operation (which had to remaine secret so we could use the Nazi scientists to get us to the moon and the Aryan supermen to breed super models).

Hitler had the spear of destiny to keep those superheroes off his back. I can't believe you forgot your history. geez, it's even on the internets.

[Rob Lister]

Just too add, I once read (on the internet, of course) that the confederacy had a nuke. You google it. I refuse to see that link again.

[Bikewer]

The Mythbusters did a segment on a rumored Confederate rocket that supposedly flew about a hundred miles to strike a target from Virginia. Liquid-fueled, no less.

They constructed an impressive device, using technology that would have been available at the time. Fuel was not liquid, but parrafin wax and nitrous oxide for the oxidizer.

Thing did go nearly a thousand yards, but no winner....

[tom m.]

confederacy had a nuke.

Funniest thing I ever heard.

[infornography]

If I remember correctly, at the end of Richard Rhodes' Making of the Atomic Bomb he said Germany was building a small pile but hadn't managed to make it go critical yet. This would've put them at about where the US was at the start of the Manhattan project.

Awesome book by the way. For anyone curious about the politics and personalities involved in the Manhattan Project, I would consider it to be probably the best source. Very thorough, though very long too.

[chance]

The Seoul Times (http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/news/international/europe/europe.php)

Opnions? Would this have been possible?

No, I highly recommend reading “uranium, the deadly element”, covers most of what you ask plus a whole lot more. Well out of print by now but should be in some libraries.