Authors: Andrew Wood
Spook's Gold (51 page)
The prototypes that were developed comprised a V2 rocket within a submersible water-tight vessel trimmed for neutral buoyancy that could be towed by a submarine. The container was designed at 120 feet in length and displacing 500 tons. It would be equipped with (as well as the missile), the fuel and control and launch systems. Once in position and range of the target, the container ballast would be adjusted for upright buoyancy (i.e. nose tip just above the surface), the nose hatch opened, the missile would be fuelled and the gyroscopes programmed and then launched remotely.
One completed prototype and the plans were captured by Russian forces at the end of hostilities in 1945. It was subsequently used successfully as the basis for the early Russian ICBM program under the codename
Golem
.
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Hitler’s intentions to pursue a ‘scorched earth’ policy in the event of defeat are well documented. These culminated in his issue of the standing order
Demolitions on Reich Territory
(also referred to as the ‘Nero Decree’) that was entrusted to Albert Speer.
Hitler was particularly brutal regarding the fate of ordinary German citizens, believing that the defeat of Germany would be a failure of the German people and thus they would have no right to live. "If the war is lost, the people will also be lost…. It is not necessary to worry about their needs for elemental survival.” His behaviour during the final days and hours of the defence of Berlin is ample evidence. Despite the fact that the Russian forces had entirely surrounded Berlin and were already advancing through the streets, he insisted on the commitment of the Hitler Youth and Volkssturm (elderly conscripted civilians) into the final fray.
Table of Contents
Selected Historical References to Spook’s Gold
PROLOGUE – April 1943, Indian Ocean, 200 kilometers east of Madagascar
A note from the author and acknowledgements
Sequel SPOOK’s REVENGE – Author’s Notes, First Chapter and Historical References