Russian Rockets in WWI

NapoleonXIV

Banned
In 1905 a book published in 1903 by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky comes to the attention of the Russian Imperial Army. By 1910 Tsiolkovsky is launching test rockets in Siberia.

In 1914 the first reports of Russian war rockets are coming in from the German Army on the Eastern front. By 1915 Russian V2 rockets are devastating Berlin.

Assuming Russia has the resouces and know how to launch about as many V2 as could Germany 30 years later what effect will this have on WWI?
 
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MrP

Banned
I accuse you of deliberately pushing people to consider what is and is not ASB. :p :D
 

Hnau

Banned
Nicholas has far more important things to worry about than such crackpot theories. When Goddard published his book (that was fortunately recognized unlike Tsiolkovsky's) the criticisms of his work became so offensive that Goddard retreated into isolation. That was in 1920! In 1905, there will virtually no one praising his work. Who is going to stand up for him in the Imperial Government? Tell me why the Russian Empire will invest in this radical new technology, and then I can begin to question if it was even possible with the inferior scientific knowledge at that time.
 

Hnau

Banned
Actually, it seems that everything was already there to begin rocket development... if you can convince someone it is a worthy cause to invest in, instead of just more advanced artillery. The de Laval nozzle, fuel injector designs, hyperbolic propellant ignition... Tsiolkovsky will need to come up with his regenerative cooling idea much sooner, but its workable. Some more work will have to go into the stabilization gyroscopes, which were a new idea in the early 1900s.

The problem lies in the fact that there are going to be a lot of failures during the testing, which might convince the Imperial Government that they are wasting time and money on a project that will never bear fruit. But, if all of this manages to work out... I'd say the Russians could start producing V2-esque rockets within 15 years. But that's too long for your timeline.

Anyone have a second opinion? Considering how many tests were conducted between the first rocket test in 1926 to 1943... you'd be hard pressed to have actual rockets being produced for the Eastern Front in less than 15 years. 14 years I can understand, 12/13... its possible with enough investment into the program... but 10 years? That's moving far too quickly technologically than I'm willing to accept.
 
I agree with Hnau that this whole thing is unlikely. It may be physically possible, but it is ASB for people to decide to give the amount of investment necessary to occur to make this possible in time.
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Actually, it seems that everything was already there to begin rocket development... if you can convince someone it is a worthy cause to invest in, instead of just more advanced artillery. The de Laval nozzle, fuel injector designs, hyperbolic propellant ignition... Tsiolkovsky will need to come up with his regenerative cooling idea much sooner, but its workable. Some more work will have to go into the stabilization gyroscopes, which were a new idea in the early 1900s.

The problem lies in the fact that there are going to be a lot of failures during the testing, which might convince the Imperial Government that they are wasting time and money on a project that will never bear fruit. But, if all of this manages to work out... I'd say the Russians could start producing V2-esque rockets within 15 years. But that's too long for your timeline.

Anyone have a second opinion? Considering how many tests were conducted between the first rocket test in 1926 to 1943... you'd be hard pressed to have actual rockets being produced for the Eastern Front in less than 15 years. 14 years I can understand, 12/13... its possible with enough investment into the program... but 10 years? That's moving far too quickly technologically than I'm willing to accept.

Rasputin is behind it:p:D And not just him but many of the Russian Army who realize that they're not really ready for the coming conflict and are caught up in the allure of having a secret weapon. It creates an atmosphere in which each failure is a tantalizing clue to ultimate success and the excitement of discovery never flags. More and more money is poured into the program and the resources of all the Russias are not small.
 

Hnau

Banned
Bishop said:
I agree with Hnau that this whole thing is unlikely. It may be physically possible, but it is ASB for people to decide to give the amount of investment necessary to occur to make this possible in time.

Well, wait now, Rasputin would be perfect to support Tsiolkovsky's theories. How he would receive and read the book is a different matter... let's say that as Gregori Rasputin is entering the inner Imperial circles, there is a noble reading Tsiolkovsky's book, and Rasputin asks him about it. Rasputin becomes interested... well, wait, that wouldn't work, because Rasputin was morally opposed to war, and when it became a necessity his view was to simply bless the troops and let God take care of it. He doesn't seem the type that would commit to such a project.

Have the Russian Army believe they are inferior? Even after the Russo-Japanese War they still believed they were invincible. They Russians were by nature ridiculously overconfident in themselves by being the 'Russian steamroller', commanding the 'innumerable hordes of the East'. It would be totally against their doctrine to believe they were unprepared for a war against Germany.
 
Lesser scale of rockets?

Suppose that the idea was seen as good, but perhaps overly ambitious. However, the fact that rockets can be launched without huge and HEAVY (and expensive) super sized cannons is also apparent. So...as the first few tests fail, though with tantalizing hints of future possibilities, they don't throw everything out. There's potential.
And rockets for war are old news...but perhaps their time has come at last. How would Germany do on the Russian Front with Katyushka's raining down on them. Big rockets can be carried by muel and horse and sledge, while the Germans can't move their big guns as easily.
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Well, wait now, Rasputin would be perfect to support Tsiolkovsky's theories. How he would receive and read the book is a different matter... let's say that as Gregori Rasputin is entering the inner Imperial circles, there is a noble reading Tsiolkovsky's book, and Rasputin asks him about it. Rasputin becomes interested... well, wait, that wouldn't work, because Rasputin was morally opposed to war, and when it became a necessity his view was to simply bless the troops and let God take care of it. He doesn't seem the type that would commit to such a project.

Have the Russian Army believe they are inferior? Even after the Russo-Japanese War they still believed they were invincible. They Russians were by nature ridiculously overconfident in themselves by being the 'Russian steamroller', commanding the 'innumerable hordes of the East'. It would be totally against their doctrine to believe they were unprepared for a war against Germany.

True, but couldn't a simple peasant mystic become enamored of a showy new technology? And weren't there any Russian officers who were forward thinking and realized some changes were needed?

Let's say Tsiolkovsky goes to America at some point for some reason. He runs into this Serb (and the Russians have always regarded the Serbs as brothers) inventor, highly disaffected by his recent experiences with Edison and Westinghouse. Expert on turbines but just general physics whiz besides, name of Tesla :D:p
 
Let's say Tsiolkovsky goes to America at some point for some reason. He runs into this Serb (and the Russians have always regarded the Serbs as brothers) inventor, highly disaffected by his recent experiences with Edison and Westinghouse. Expert on turbines but just general physics whiz besides, name of Tesla :D:p


:D:cool::D:cool::D
 

Vault-Scope

Banned
Imperial Russian army was the firstn to attempt using radios to guide aircrafts and they had the heaviest bomber of WW1.
Problem was that the country was still under-developped, with for example 90% of the population living in the countryside and less than 3 millions factory workers.

If WW1 starts in 1926, hovewer...
 
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