Sunday, July 1, 2012

Aboard the Jormungand.

Once again: Nazi Super Weapons! Make sure to click and enlarge.

The second world war exhibit at the Berlin Museum of Super-War has a timeline which stretches from 1938 to December 1949, four years after the official end of the war. This was the year the Jormungand was sunk.




At Port. The U-1 Jormungand, named for the world-circling serpent of norse mythology, was the largest submarine ever constructed. The vessel was made up of 350 meter segments, which interlocked electromagnetically. When it was (allegedly) sunk by the british fleet, one witness described it as just "going on and on", and for all intents and purposes it might just as well have. The engines were diesel/magic hybrids, with one of the German's synthesized Jesus-relic standards supplying the magic for each of the segments. The Jormungand was docked secretly at a specially constructed port on the Polish coast. The PL-50 Höllenfeuer -  the largest tarp ever constructed - was used to cover it. According to German engineers there were no hard limits on the time the Jormungand could stay submerged.


The Captain. Wilhelm Friedrich von Bocker ( 1909 - 49?) was a German aristocrat who fell into favour with Adolf Hitler during the "Hitler Killings" in the years before the war. von Bocker personally shot and killed at least seven time-travelling American soldiers and "bit one's face off, like a magnificent blonde lion" according to a letter Hitler sent to Luftwaffe leader Hermann Göring. von Bocker was awarded an Iron Cross in 1939 for his efforts.

von Bocker was a tremendous naval talent and devout member of the Nazi party and was made admiral  in 1940 at the age of 31. Together with Hitler and Großadmiral Karl Dönitz he formulated the guidelines for Germany's super-sub program in 1942. von Bocker became the leader of the Jormungand project and the subsequent captain of the carrier-submarine.

The officer uniforms of the Jormungand were signified by the black bowtie and double-buttoned jacket. Higher officers carried little gilded harpoons.


Insignia. The Jormungand tail-swallowing serpent and swastika insignia was worn by the crew of the submarine. The serpent was inspired by runic depictions of dragons, and von Bocker saw it as a symbol for the eternal continuation of the Reich.


The Wolf Pack. This is a cockpit view of one of the Jormungand's infamous and numerous Rudeljäger submarines. The manned torpedoes were deployed from tubes on the carrier-submarine's flanks. The pilots worked in closely coordinated "packs" of ten submarines, which could circle and sink much larger vessels. The Hunters were able to perform kilometer-high "rocket jumps" above the surface, and drop bomb payloads or shoot directly at the decks of enemy ships. von Bocker himself fought in a Rudeljäger during several missions, and once used one to "shoot a whale and several large fish". Similar vehicles were used by the Luftwaffe in the famous "Rocket-Battle of Britain".



Diving suit. The Jormungand standard issue diving suit came with an air-recycling system, a bullet-proof glass helmet, an electric harpoon, a miniaturized propaganda-and-Wagner radio and mechanical grippers for fine manipulation even under high pressure. Officers also carried Water-Lugers, the first sidearms functional at 10 000 meters. Excursions in these suits were made routinely for reparations or harpoon hunting. The Berlin museum of Super-War owns two of the five known remaining suits.



The Eye of Odin. The Jormungand's main periscope, often called the Eye of Odin, was located on the head segment of the submarine. Like its cousins on the other segments, the Eye doubled as an observation tower, and lookouts climbed to the platform on ladders inside the periscope tube. The main lenses were made by the Bremer Glasfabrik who also made the much larger lenses in the orbital Laser Eins.





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