Aphrodite (code word)
Aphrodite was the code name of a USAAF experiment. Towards the end of the World War II, the USAAF tried an experimental method of destroying V weapon production and launch facilities and gave it this code name. Several old B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were stripped of all nonessential gear (such as armour, guns, bomb racks, radio, seats, etc), thus relieving the bomber of about 12,000 lbs of weight, and then packed with explosives and a remote control system. The aircraft took off, piloted by a Pilot and a Flight Engineer, who, once in the air and just before the North Sea, primed the 20,000 lbs of Torpex and bailed out. The aircraft was then flown by remote control from an accompanying control aircraft, designated CQ17, and crashed into the target. The explosion was colossal, the destruction radius extending six miles. TV cameras on board relayed signals back to the control aircraft. Aircraft used for this purpose were designated type BQ17. It remained no more than an experiment, and was only used on a small number of occasions, the first one taking off on 4th August 1944, followed by 14 more. Several targets were tried, including Heligoland, Heide and Hemmingstedt, but the drones repeatedly missed their targets due to mechanical failure, poor visibility or deficiencies in the remote control system. Finally, an Aphrodite drone crashed without exploding, leaving the Germans with a complete unit that they could study at leisure. A further variation using B-24 Liberators, codenamed 'Anvil' and designated BQ8, were built but never used in practice after an accident on the maiden flight on 12th August 1944 by 562nd Squadron based at Honington in Suffolk, aimed at the V-1 site in Pas-de-Calais, when the Torpex exploded in mid flight before the crew could bail out. Two more missions were tried with no success and the concept was abandoned. One contributing factor to the difficulties may well have been the changed flight characteristics due to the different weight distribution.
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