It's a well-known point that the Nazis never came anywhere close to developing an atomic bomb, but even if someone dropped the plans for Little Boy (as well as the critical mass of uranium) in their lap, how much uranium did they actually have and how many bombs could they have made from that amount?
Question regarding Nazi nuclear project
- Thread starter Tom Colton
- Start date
According to K Rhoades 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' in April - June 1945 the US Army collected between 1,200 & 1,300 tons of Uranium ore from several locations in Germany. That matches other sources which claim some 1,300 -1,400 tons of ore were accquired by the Germans in either Belgium or France after the June 1940 campaign. There seem to have been other small quantities or ore already in Germany at assorted university physics laboratories & possiblly a chemical firms laboratories.
Also a little over a half ton of Uranium Oxide was captured by the US in May 1945 aboard a German submarine that was enroute to Japan. Other small quantities of the oxide were collected from laboratories.
From Rhoades & John Cornwell 'Hitlers Scientists' it is clear the Germans had the ability to separate the bomb grade Uranium isotope in the laboratory. Both authors dismiss that the ability to separate the isotope at production levels or bomb quantity existed. I've not seen any one else produce credible evidence of that.
The "Fat Man" bomb used Plutonium. Accquiring that requires a breeder reactor. Again I've seen no credible evidence of any such facility in Axis controled Europe.
Building Uranium processing plants & isotope seperators, or breeder reactors like the US and British built required approx 30 months from the first large scale test with Fermis "atomic pile" to sustained production of either the Uranium isotope or Plutonium.
Also a little over a half ton of Uranium Oxide was captured by the US in May 1945 aboard a German submarine that was enroute to Japan. Other small quantities of the oxide were collected from laboratories.
From Rhoades & John Cornwell 'Hitlers Scientists' it is clear the Germans had the ability to separate the bomb grade Uranium isotope in the laboratory. Both authors dismiss that the ability to separate the isotope at production levels or bomb quantity existed. I've not seen any one else produce credible evidence of that.
The "Fat Man" bomb used Plutonium. Accquiring that requires a breeder reactor. Again I've seen no credible evidence of any such facility in Axis controled Europe.
Building Uranium processing plants & isotope seperators, or breeder reactors like the US and British built required approx 30 months from the first large scale test with Fermis "atomic pile" to sustained production of either the Uranium isotope or Plutonium.
By February 1945, when the design for Little Boy was finally completed, time had already ran out.
Saphroneth
Banned
As far as they knew, it would take several tons. Heisenberg either sabotaged his own calculations or got them wrong, but either way the opinion was that it took ~3-4 tons of U-235 for a viable bomb - thus making a U-bomb undoable. They thought a P-bomb was the only possibility, AFAIK.
No worries - I'd also like to find out more about these thermobaric bombs. It sounds like they tested a few in 1943-1944 but there isn't much other information out there.
Is there any possibility in the least that they could have used these in a kind of MAD doctrine?
thaddeus
Donor
that's my theory of how the Axis could have survived, use Fuel Air Bombs on Soviet targets (Operation Eisenhammer? and the remaining Soviet fleet) and declare victory in the East.
would have little or no constraints on the number of bombs they could then build versus nuclear program where they were extremely constrained by resources.
The soviets looted another six tons of uranium oxide from Berlin after the city fell.
If a metric ton of raw Uranium ore gives up a Kg of U235 isotope I wonder what six tons of refined oxide will yield?
...
Excuse me while I laugh long and hard at the prospect of the Germans achieving a victory in the East at any point after Stalingrad.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
The Germans have Fuel-Air Bombs? Good for them, they have achieved a marginally greater effectiveness in terms of conventional air capability against area ground targets. Will that make any appreciable dent in Soviet defense-in-depths or be able to fill multi-hundred kilometer holes Soviet offensives tended to tear into German lines? Nope.
Also excuse me while I completely dismiss Eisenhammer since it requires German bombers to fly out to the limits of their effective range completely unescorted and therefore at the mercy of Soviet fighter craft all the way. Even at its low points in 1941 and 1942, the Red Air Force was still able to inflict considerable losses against German bomber formations that flew outside the range of fighter escorts. Against the resurgent Red Air Force of 1943 and after? Such unescorted aircraft will be torn to pieces.
Oh, and once the technology is demonstrated all of the major Allied powers will probably copy them and use them in far greater numbers.
Saphroneth
Banned
Operation Bagration is pretty amazing. Of the USSR summer offensives, that's the most impressive... and that did pretty much tear a huge hole in the German lines.
Bagration is hardly the only example. Several offensives in Western Ukraine during late-43 and early-44 saw the Soviets blasting giant holes in the German lines which they then exploited aggressively. And then there is the Vistula Oder offensive...