August 1944

The German scientist Werner Von Braun had developed a 2-stage missile, weighing 100 metric tons, and 30 metres tall, designed to cover the distance from Peenemunde to New York in just 36 minutes. Better known as the V-3, its target was Manhattan, New York, using a planted radio beacon on top of a skyscraper for guidance, due to its extreme low accuracy.

This awesome missile had a 1000 kilo payload which had the potential to cause untold casualties. No US city had been bombed in the war so far, and Nazi Command believed that the demoralising effect of the missile attack would make the American people drop out of the war. This plan was dubbed “Project America”.

Even though the US Strategic Service Department (SSD) learned of this plan, their attacks were unable to affect the development and testing of the V-3, since it was being carried out in secret underground facilities.

August 29th, 1944

The Nazis successfully completed the test launch of the second stage of the V-3. In response, the SSD decided the main objective was to recover exact technical parameters of the missile guidance system from the crashed V-3 test launch and return it to Britain for analysis. An Allied special operations squad, codename “Condor”, was dropped off by the submarine Trident on the coast of France near Dunkerque.