Project Hermes / V-2 Launch Programme
Prepared from General Electric's Final Report, Project Hermes V-2 Missile Program (TU1-2000A), September 1952, and related resources.
Rev 0 : 17 November 2004
Total Launches US V-2 Rocket Use by Project
Year No Project Launchings Other Uses Total
1946 16 Hermes V-2 49 2 51
1947 15 GE Special 1 .. 1
1948 16 TF 4 1 5
1949 14 Hermes II 4 .. 4
1950 6 Blossom 9 .. 9
1951 6 Bumper 8 .. 8
1952 3 Sandy & Pushover 1 2 1
Total 76 Sub-Totals 76 5 81
                 
Test V-2 Date Site Time Agency Altitude Launch Comments
Seq # US #     LCT   st. miles wt lbs  
1 15 March 1946 WSPG n/a GE n/a 57s static test. Subsequently used in Operation Pushover late autumn 1948
1 2 16 April 1946 WSPG  LC-33 14:47 GE 3.4 Radio cut-off @ 19.5s. Fin # 4 failed prior to cut-off.
2 3 10 May 1946 WSPG  LC-33 14:15 GE 70.0 27,850 Nominal flight.
3 4 29 May 1946 WSPG  LC-33 14:10 GE 69.7 27,800 Nominal flight.
4 5 13 June 1946 WSPG  LC-33 16:40 GE 73.0 28,396 Nominal flight.
5 6 28 June 1946 WSPG  LC-33 12:03 NRL 67.0 27,850 Nose separation failure.
6 7 09 July 1946 WSPG  LC-33 12:30 GE 83.5 27,850 Nominal performance.
7 8 19 July 1946 WSPG  LC-33 12:11 GE 3.0 28,340 Oxygen pump exploded
8 9 30 July 1946 WSPG  LC-33 12:40 APL 100.4 28,600 Nominal performance.
9 10 15 August 1946 WSPG  LC-33 11:00 PU 4.0 Radio-cutoff signal @ 16.5s.
10 11 22 August 1946 WSPG  LC-33 10:15 ARDC 0.0 Control failure led to cut-off command at 6.5s.
11 12 10 October 1946 WSPG  LC-33 11:02 NRL 108.0 28,959 Nominal performance.
12 13 24 October 1946 WSPG  LC-33 12:18 APL 65.0 28,277 Sub-normal propulsion performance.
13 14 07 November 1946 WSPG  LC-33 13:31 PU 0.2 Guidance failure preceeded emergency cut-off @ 31s.
14 15 21 November 1946 WSPG  LC-33 10:00 ARDC 63.0 28,240 Sub-normal propulsion performance.
15 16 05 December 1946 WSPG  LC-33 13:08 NRL 95.0 28,727 Control system failed at altitude.
16 17 17 December 1946 WSPG  LC-33 22:18 APL 114.0 29,199 Rocket exploded at 440s.
17 18 10 January 1947 WSPG  LC-33 14:13 NRL 72.2 28,355 Degraded performance led to roll rate of 60 rpm.
18 19 23 January 1947 WSPG  LC-33 17:22 GE 31.0 28,355 Degraded performance led to roll rate of 80 rpm.
19 20 20 February 1947 WSPG  LC-33 11:16 ARDC 68.0 28,455 Blossom 1 -  Propulsion degraded @ 55.5s.
20 21 07 March 1947 WSPG  LC-33 11:23 NRL 101.0 28,030 Nominal performance.
21 22 01 April 1947 WSPG  LC-33 13:10 APL 80.3 28,095 Nominal performance.
22 23 08 April 1947 WSPG  LC-33 17:13 APL 63.5 27,480 Nominal performance.
23 24 17 April 1947 WSPG  LC-33 14:22 GE 88.5 27,776 Successful test of ram-jet payload.
24 26 15 May 1947 WSPG  LC-33 16:04 NRL 84.0 29,492 Internal explosion at 64.3s.
25 H-II # 0 29 May 1947 WSPG  LC-33 Army 49.3 Hermes II prototype with dummy Organ ramjet test. Lost control after 4s and crashed outside range nr Juarez, Mexico. 
26 29 10 July 1947 WSPG  LC-33 12:18 NRL 10.1 28,187 Early yaw led to termination at 32s.
27 30 29 July 1947 WSPG  LC-33 05:55 NRL 99.9 27,023 Near vertical trajectory.
28 06 September 1947 USS Midway USN Operation Sandy. Aircraft carrier launch successful. Exploded at 5,000 ft (see Note 2)
29 27 09 October 1947 WSPG  LC-33 12:15 GE 97.0 28,772 Internal explosion at 83.5s 
30 GE-Sp 20 November 1947 WSPG  LC-33 16:47 GE 16.6 GE technology proving flight.
31 28 08 December 1947 WSPG  LC-33 14:42 ARDC 65.0 29,050 Stable flight but less than planned altitude.
32 34 22 January 1948 WSPG  LC-33 13:12 NRL 99.0 29,013 Payload separation failure.
33 36 06 February 1948 WSPG  LC-33 10:15 GE 69.0 28,454 Successfully manoeuvred by ground control for first 40s of flight.
34 39 19 March 1948 WSPG  LC-33 16:10 GE 3.4 29,074 Low altitude flight prevented any data recovery.
35 25 02 April 1948 WSPG  LC-33 06:40 SCEL 89.5 29,100 Three previous launch attempts failed in year prior. Excellent performance.
36 38 19 April 1948 WSPG  LC-33 12:54 NRL 34.8 28,287 Faulty steering led to high roll rate and then flight termination.
37 B-1 13 May 1948 WSPG  LC-33 79.1 Bumper 1 Premature cut-off of WAC 2nd stage.
38 35 27 May 1948 WSPG  LC-33 07:16 APL 86.8 29,868 Steady flight with low roll rate.
39 37 11 June 1948 WSPG  LC-33 03:22 ARDC 38.7 29,529 Blossom 2 - Cut-off at 57.7s; payload separation at 96s.
40 40 26 July 1948 WSPG  LC-33 11:03 APL 54.0 29,510 Turbine overspeed led to premature propellad cut-off @ 61s. 2rpm roll began @ 70s
41 43 05 August 1948 WSPG  LC-33 05:07 NRL 103.0 28,885 Nominal performance.
42 B-2 19 August 1948 WSPG  LC-33 8.3 Bumper 2 First stage failed due to propellant flow interuption.
43 33 02 September 1948 WSPG  LC-33 18:00 SCEL 93.6 27,840 Vehicle broke-up at 370s at 52.2 miles altitude.
44 B-3 30 September 1948 WSPG  LC-33 93.4 Bumper 3 WAC stage failed.
45 B-4 01 November 1948 WSPG  LC-33 3.0 Bumper 4 Explosion in tail of V-2
46 44 18 November 1948 WSPG  LC-33 15:34 GE 90.3 28,376 First Hermes B 'Organ' test of ramjet diffuser in place of payload section. Nominal performance.
47 42 09 December 1948 WSPG  LC-33 09:08 SCEL 67.4 28,106 Vane failure @ 22s caused erratic flight.
48 H-II # 1 13 January 1949 WSPG  LC-33 13:26 Army 1st Hermes II test
49 45 28 January 1949 WSPG  LC-33 10:20 NRL 37.2 29,452 Defective performance.
50 48 17 February 1949 WSPG  LC-33 10:00 APL 62.5 29,217 Nominal performance.
51 B-5 24 February 1949 WSPG  LC-33 80.0 Successful flight. Separation of stages at 20 miles.
52 41 21 March 1949 WSPG  LC-33 23:43 ARDC 83.0 29,636 Blossom 3 - Parachute not ejected.
53 50 11 April 1949 WSPG  LC-33 15:05 SCEL 54.2 28,973 Degraded performance from 43s.
54 B-6 21 April 1949 WSPG  LC-33 31.0 Premature V-2 cut-off; WAC stage failed to fire.
55 46 05 May 1949 WSPG  LC-33 08:15 GE 5.5 28,940 Second Hermes II 'Organ' test of ramjet diffuser in place of payload section.
56 47 14 June 1949 WSPG  LC-33 15:35 ARDC 83.0 30,443 Blossom 4 - Nominal performance.
57 32 16 September 1949 WSPG  LC-33 16:19 ARDC 2.6 29,195 Blossom 5 - payload. Explosions led to early termination.
58 49 29 September 1949 WSPG  LC-33 09:58 NRL 93.7 28,911 Nominal performance.
59 H-II # 2 06 October 1949 WSPG  LC-33 Army 2nd Hermes II test.
60 56 18 November 1949 WSPG  LC-33 08:03 SCEL 77.0 Nominal performance.
61 31 08 December 1949 WSPG  LC-33 12:14 ARDC 81.0 29,595 Blossom 6 - Excellent performance.
62 53 17 February 1950 WSPG  LC-33 11:01 NRL 92.4 29,433 Nominal performance.
63 B-8 24 July 1950 Cape Canaveral 10.0 Low-angle atmospheric flight over 200 miles range.
64 B-7 29 July 1950 Cape Canaveral 10.0 Low-angle atmospheric flight over 200 miles range.
65 51 31 August 1950 WSPG  LC-33 10:09 ARDC 84.8 30,178 Blossom 7- Nominal performance.
66 61 26 October 1950 WSPG  LC-33 16:02 NRL 5.0 28,180 Explosion @ 50s at Mach 3 terminated flight.
67 H-II # 3 11 November 1950 WSPG  LC-33 Army 3rd and Final Hermes II test.
68 54 18 January 1951 WSPG  LC-33 13:14 NRL 1.0 29,227 Stalled on pad for 13s then rose slowly for 38s before exploding.
69 57 08 March 1951 WSPG  LC-33 20:16 ARDC 1.9 30,067 Blossom 8 - Three explosions at 15.5; 18.5 and 19.5s destroying til section.
70 55 14 June 1951 WSPG  LC-33 NRL 0.0 Exploded on pad at start of main-stage thrust after rising 6-inches.
71 52 28 June 1951 WSPG  LC-33 14:43 ARDC 3.6 29,431 Blossom 9 - Tail explosion @ 8s and then cut-off signal given @ 22s.
72 TF-1 22 August 1951 WSPG  LC-33 12:00 Army 132.6 Army training test
73 60 29 October 1951 WSPG  LC-33 14:04 SCEL 87.6 30,639 Army training test. Payload released but damaged on impact.
74 59 * 20 May 1952 WSPG  LC-33 09:06 SCEL 64.3 Army training test. * Also designated TF-2
75 TF-3 22 August 1952 WSPG  LC-33 00:33 NRL 48.5 28,000 Army training test. Thrust decreased after 53s. Tail separation @ 217s.
76 TF-5 19 September 1952 WSPG  LC-33 08:49 SCEL 16.8 29,701 Army training test. Tail explosion at 27s terminating thrust.
58 not launched n/a End status unknown.
  TF-4 not launched n/a Army training test set for Oct 1952 but subsequently cancelled.
NOTES              
1 Operating under the name Operation Overcast (as from 19 July, 1945), renamed for security reasons 
Operation Paperclip from 16 March, 1946, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff authorised the collection 
of some 250 German civilian scientists and engineers (100 experienced in rocketry) to facilitate
the transfer of German rocket technology to the US under Project Hermes managed by General Electric.
As part of this effort the US Army collected enough parts to construct some 100 V-2s from field dumps.
Using 341 rail wagons the parts were moved from Nordhaused to Antwerp where they were then
   transferred by 16 Liberty ships that sailed to New Orleans from 22 May 1945.     
2 Following the Sandy launch two V-2's were purposely exploded on a carrier deck 
  mock-up at WSMR Complex 36 to determine adverse effects of launch failure at sea.    
3 Brennschluss Over the Desert - V-2 Operations at White Sands, 1946-1952 by John R London III, 
  Florida Institute of Technology, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico