Fritz X Most Deadly weapon of the Nazi Arsenal

      Probably the first guided anti-ship missile deployed by the Nazi's in WW2 and commonly referred to as the Fritz X. Although the information relating to this weapon as always been available, it's only recently the true destructive power of this weapon is coming to light. With armour piercing capabilities, it was designed to be deployed by the Luftwaffe against larger and heavily armored targets such as main battle fleet ships.  
      Recognizing the difficulty of being able to hit a moving target with a conventional bomb without precision bombing, the Fritz X evolved from a fairly standard bomb, by the edition of  stabilizing wings, a boxed tail and a flight control system. The weapon could only be launched from a height of about 13000 feet and had a range of about 3 miles. The first version of the weapon was controlled by a radio operator upon the launch craft usually a Dornier 217 aircraft and the operator had to maintain site of the weapon and the target, at all times.
      On 9 September 1943 With the Italian Armistice six German aircraft armed with the Fritz X set out to intercept the Italian Fleet, bound for Tunisia. The Italian Battleship Roma and flagship of the fleet, received two direct hits from the missiles and promptly sank with the explosion of her magazine, killing 1393 men and Admiral Carlo Bergamini. Also her sister ship The Italia was badly damaged, but managed to reach port.
      On September 11 1943 during the allied invasion of Salerno, the USS Savanna, also received a direct hit from a Fritz X killing 197 crew and putting the ship out of action for around eight months. Also The Royal Navy ship HMS Uganda was hit by a Fritz X but survived when the bomb passed through the ship's seven decks but exploded in the water beneath, killing sixteen crew. There were also two other US Naval ships hit at Salerno, but it's uncertain if they were struck by the Fritz X
      Also at Salerno The British Battleship HMS Warspite was struck by two Fritz X The first penetrating six decks without major damage, the second missing but holing the ship below the waterline, total losses being nine crew killed and the ship being out of action for 9 months, but able to return to action in time for Operation Overlord. There were two other ships damaged at Salerno, by the Fritz X the Dutch sloop Flores and the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Loyal.
      If anything the early missile suffered from the flaw of being a guided bomb, where the launch plane had to remain close to the target for the bombardier to guide the projectile to it's target. Often allowing escort aircraft to locate the launch plane and shoot it down before the missile had reached it's target. This was overcome with the installation of a powered guidance system, yet before the weapon could be used to any meaningful affect, the allies had gained air superiority and had also gone someway to breaking the codes of the guidance systems.