Battle of the Ruhr
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Ruhr was a 5-month long campaign of strategic bombing
during the Second World War
against the Nazi Germany
Ruhr Area
, which had coke plants, steelworks, and 10 synthetic oil plants
. The campaign bombed twenty-six major Combined Bomber Offensive
targets.
The targets included the Krupp armament works (Essen
), the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant (Gelsenkirchen), and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf
. The latter was safely evacuated during the Battle of the Ruhr.Although not strictly part of the Ruhr area, the battle of the Ruhr included other cities such as Cologne which were within the Rhine-Ruhr
region and considered part of the same "industrial complex". Some targets were not sites of heavy industrial production but part of the production and movement of materiel
.
Although the Ruhr had always been a target for the RAF from the start of the war, the organized defences and the large amount of industrial pollutants produced that gave a semi-permanent smog
or industrial haze hampered accurate bombing. Before the Battle of the Ruhr ended, Operation Gomorrah began the "Battle of Hamburg". Even after this switch of focus to Hamburg, there would be further raids on the Ruhr area by the RAF—in part to keep German defences dispersed, just as there had been raids on areas other than the Ruhr during the battle.
medium bomber
and the four-engined "heavies"
, the Short Stirling
, Handley Page Halifax
and Avro Lancaster
. The Wellington and Stirling were the two oldest designs and limited in the type or weight of bombs carried. The Stirling was also limited to a lower operational height. Bombers could carry a range of bombs - Medium Capacity bombs of about 50% explosive by weight, High Capacity "Blockbusters
" that were mostly explosive, and incendiary devices. The combined use of the latter two were most effective in setting fires in urban areas.
British raids were by night - the losses in daylight raids having been too heavy to bear. By this point in the war, RAF Bomber Command
were using navigation aids, the Pathfinder force and the bomber stream
tactic together. Electronic navigation aids such as "Oboe"
, which had been tested against Essen in January 1943, meant the Pathfinders could mark the targets despite the industrial haze and cloud cover that obscured the area by night. Guidance markers put the main force over the target area, where they would then dropping their bombloads on target markers. The bomber stream
concentrated the force of bombers into a small time window, such that it overwhelmed fighter defences in the air and firefighting attempts on the ground. For most of the Battle of the Ruhr the Oboe Mosquitoes came from one squadron No. 109
. The number of Oboe aircraft that could be used at any time was limited by the number of ground stations.
The USAAF had two 4-engined heavy bombers available: the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator
- neither carried a bomb similar to the blockbuster bomb. USAAF raids were by daylight, the closely massed groups of bombers covering each other with defensive fire against fighters. Between them, the Allies could mount "round the clock" bombing. The USAAF forces in the UK were still increasing during 1943 and the majority of the bombing was by the RAF.
The German defence was through anti-aircraft weapons and day and night fighters. The Kammhuber Line
used radar to identify the bomber raids and then controllers directed night fighters onto the raiders. During the battle of the Ruhr, Bomber Command estimated about 70% of their aircraft losses were due to fighters. By July 1943, the German night fighter force totalled 550.
Through the summer of 1943, the Germans increased the ground-based anti-aircraft defences in the Ruhr Area ; by July 1943 there were more than 1,000 large flak guns (88 mm
calibre or greater) and 1,500 lighter guns (chiefly 20 mm and 37 mm calibre). This was about one-third of all anti-aircraft guns in Germany. Six-hundred thousand personnel were required to man the AA defences of Germany. The British crews called the area scarcastically "Happy Valley" or the "valley of no Return".
During the battle other German targets received large attacks.
stated that during the Battle of the Ruhr, Bomber Command severely disrupted German production. Steel production fell by 200,000 tons. The armaments industry was facing a steel shortfall of 400,000 tons. After doubling production in 1942, production of steel increased only by 20 percent in 1943. Hitler and Speer were forced to cut planned increases in production. This disruption caused resulted in the Zulieferungskrise (sub-components crisis). The increase of aircraft production for the Luftwaffe also came to an abrupt halt. Monthly production failed to increase between July 1943 and March 1944. "Bomber Command had stopped Speer's armaments miracle in its tracks".
At Essen after more than 3,000 sorties and the loss of 138 aircraft, the "Krupps works...and the town...itself contained large areas of devastation" Krupps never restarted locomotive production after the second March raid.
Operation Chastise caused some temporary effect on industrial production, through the disruption of the water supply and hydroelectric power. The Eder Valley dam "had nothing whatsoever" to do with supplying the Ruhr Area
. A backup pumping system had already been put in place for the Ruhr, and Speer's Organisation Todt
rapidly mobilized repairs, taking workers from the construction of the Atlantic Wall
. The destruction of the Sorpe dam would have caused significantly more damage but since it was a stronger design less likely to be breached it was effectively a secondary target.
Strategic bombing during World War II
Strategic bombing during World War II is a term which refers to all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature between 1939 and 1945 involving any nations engaged in World War II...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
against the Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
, which had coke plants, steelworks, and 10 synthetic oil plants
Oil Campaign of World War II
The Allied Oil Campaign of World War II was directed at facilities supplying Nazi Germany with petroleum, oil, and lubrication products...
. The campaign bombed twenty-six major Combined Bomber Offensive
Combined Bomber Offensive
The Combined Bomber Offensive was an Anglo-American offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. The primary portion of the CBO was against German Air Force targets which was the highest priority from June 1943 to 1944...
targets.
The targets included the Krupp armament works (Essen
Bombing of Essen in World War II
During World War II, the industrial town of Essen, was a target of Allied strategic bombing.The Krupp factory was an inmportant industrial target, Essen was a "primary target" designated for area bombing by the February 1942 British Area bombing directive....
), the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant (Gelsenkirchen), and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. The latter was safely evacuated during the Battle of the Ruhr.Although not strictly part of the Ruhr area, the battle of the Ruhr included other cities such as Cologne which were within the Rhine-Ruhr
Rhine-Ruhr
The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is the largest metropolitan region in Germany with about 10,100,000 inhabitants. It is of polycentric nature and the only megacity in Germany. It covers an area of 7,110 square kilometers and lies entirely within the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia...
region and considered part of the same "industrial complex". Some targets were not sites of heavy industrial production but part of the production and movement of materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
.
Although the Ruhr had always been a target for the RAF from the start of the war, the organized defences and the large amount of industrial pollutants produced that gave a semi-permanent smog
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
or industrial haze hampered accurate bombing. Before the Battle of the Ruhr ended, Operation Gomorrah began the "Battle of Hamburg". Even after this switch of focus to Hamburg, there would be further raids on the Ruhr area by the RAF—in part to keep German defences dispersed, just as there had been raids on areas other than the Ruhr during the battle.
Offence and defence
The British bomber force was made up in the main of the twin-engined Vickers WellingtonVickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
medium bomber
Medium bomber
A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...
and the four-engined "heavies"
Heavy bomber
A heavy bomber is a bomber aircraft of the largest size and load carrying capacity, and usually the longest range.In New START, the term "heavy bomber" is used for two types of bombers:*one with a range greater than 8,000 kilometers...
, the Short Stirling
Short Stirling
The Short Stirling was the first four-engined British heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Stirling was designed and built by Short Brothers to an Air Ministry specification from 1936, and entered service in 1941...
, Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
and Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
. The Wellington and Stirling were the two oldest designs and limited in the type or weight of bombs carried. The Stirling was also limited to a lower operational height. Bombers could carry a range of bombs - Medium Capacity bombs of about 50% explosive by weight, High Capacity "Blockbusters
Blockbuster bomb
Blockbuster or "cookie" was the name given to several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force...
" that were mostly explosive, and incendiary devices. The combined use of the latter two were most effective in setting fires in urban areas.
British raids were by night - the losses in daylight raids having been too heavy to bear. By this point in the war, RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
were using navigation aids, the Pathfinder force and the bomber stream
Bomber stream
The bomber stream was a tactic developed by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command to overwhelm the German aerial defences of the Kammhuber Line during World War II....
tactic together. Electronic navigation aids such as "Oboe"
Oboe (navigation)
Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards...
, which had been tested against Essen in January 1943, meant the Pathfinders could mark the targets despite the industrial haze and cloud cover that obscured the area by night. Guidance markers put the main force over the target area, where they would then dropping their bombloads on target markers. The bomber stream
Bomber stream
The bomber stream was a tactic developed by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command to overwhelm the German aerial defences of the Kammhuber Line during World War II....
concentrated the force of bombers into a small time window, such that it overwhelmed fighter defences in the air and firefighting attempts on the ground. For most of the Battle of the Ruhr the Oboe Mosquitoes came from one squadron No. 109
No. 109 Squadron RAF
No. 109 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It operated Wellington VIs.-History:The squadron first formed on 1 November 1917 as 109 Squadron Royal Flying Corps at South Carlton in 1917 operating the de Havilland DH.9 until it was disbanded on 19 August...
. The number of Oboe aircraft that could be used at any time was limited by the number of ground stations.
The USAAF had two 4-engined heavy bombers available: the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
- neither carried a bomb similar to the blockbuster bomb. USAAF raids were by daylight, the closely massed groups of bombers covering each other with defensive fire against fighters. Between them, the Allies could mount "round the clock" bombing. The USAAF forces in the UK were still increasing during 1943 and the majority of the bombing was by the RAF.
The German defence was through anti-aircraft weapons and day and night fighters. The Kammhuber Line
Kammhuber Line
The Kammhuber Line was the name given to the German night air defense system established in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber.- Description :...
used radar to identify the bomber raids and then controllers directed night fighters onto the raiders. During the battle of the Ruhr, Bomber Command estimated about 70% of their aircraft losses were due to fighters. By July 1943, the German night fighter force totalled 550.
Through the summer of 1943, the Germans increased the ground-based anti-aircraft defences in the Ruhr Area ; by July 1943 there were more than 1,000 large flak guns (88 mm
88 mm gun
The 88 mm gun was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. It was widely used by Germany throughout the war, and was one of the most recognizable German weapons of the war...
calibre or greater) and 1,500 lighter guns (chiefly 20 mm and 37 mm calibre). This was about one-third of all anti-aircraft guns in Germany. Six-hundred thousand personnel were required to man the AA defences of Germany. The British crews called the area scarcastically "Happy Valley" or the "valley of no Return".
Bombing during the Battle
| Date | Target location | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 March | Essen |  Bombing of Essen in World War II During World War II, the industrial town of Essen, was a target of Allied strategic bombing.The Krupp factory was an inmportant industrial target, Essen was a "primary target" designated for area bombing by the February 1942 British Area bombing directive.... , the primary city targeted by the British Area bombing directive Area bombing directive The Area Bombing Directive was a directive from the wartime British Government's Air Ministry to the Royal Air Force which ordered RAF bombers to attack the German industrial workforce and the morale of the German populace through bombing German cities and their civilian inhabitants.- Background... . Three waves of bombers (a mixture of Wellingtons, Halifaxes, Stirlings and Lancasters) dropped their incendiary and time-delayed bombs in under an hour. Only 153 aircraft bombed within three miles (5 km) of the aiming point despite the target area marking by Pathfinders using Oboe Oboe (navigation) Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards... . Fourteen aircraft were lost.1943: January, February, March, April, May, June, July |
| 9/10 March | Ruhr | |
| 10/11 March | Essen and Mulheim | |
| 12/13 March | Essen | |
| 26/27 March | Duisburg | |
| 29/30 March | Bochum Bochum Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:... |
|
| 3/4 April | Essen | |
| 8/9 April | Duisburg Duisburg - History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC... |
|
| 9/10 April | Duisburg Duisburg - History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC... |
|
| 26/27 April | Duisburg | |
| 30 April/1 May | Essen | |
| 17 May | Möhne Möhne Reservoir The Möhne Reservoir is an artificial lake in North Rhine-Westphalia, some 45 km east of Dortmund. The dam was built between 1908 and 1913 to help control floods, regulate water levels on the Ruhr river downstream, and generate hydropower. Today, the lake is also a tourist attraction... and Eder Dams Edersee The Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam constructed between 1908 to 1914 across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, it lies at the northern edge of the Kellerwald... |
Operation Chastise Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis... ; 14 bombers in attack. Bouncing bomb Bouncing bomb A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined... s breach the Möhne Möhne Reservoir The Möhne Reservoir is an artificial lake in North Rhine-Westphalia, some 45 km east of Dortmund. The dam was built between 1908 and 1913 to help control floods, regulate water levels on the Ruhr river downstream, and generate hydropower. Today, the lake is also a tourist attraction... and Eder Dam Edersee The Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam constructed between 1908 to 1914 across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, it lies at the northern edge of the Kellerwald... s, but fail to disrupt the water supply or hydroelectrical power to the Ruhr Area Ruhr Area The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany... more than briefly. Aircraft loss was 40%. |
| 4/5 May | Dortmund | Dortmund Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union.... . |
| 13/14 May | Bochum Bochum Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:... |
|
| 23/24 May | Dortmund | |
| 25/26 May | Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the... |
|
| 27/28 May | Essen | |
| 29/30 May | Wuppertal Wuppertal Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land... |
Firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and wildfires... takes hold. "Five of the six major factories" were destroyed and the homes of 100,000. |
| 11/12 June | Düsseldorf | |
| 12/13 June 1943 | Bochum | |
| 14/15 June | Oberhausen Oberhausen Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the... |
|
| 16/17 June | Cologne | H2S H2S may refer to:* Hydrogen sulfide , a chemical compound* H2S radar, the first airborne ground-mapping radar used during World War II... . Cloud cover and equipment trouble gave scattered bombing. 14 bombers lost. |
| 17/18 June | Cologne and Ruhr | |
| 19/20 | Cologne, Duisburg and Düsseldorf | |
| 21/22 June | Krefeld Krefeld Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine... |
|
| 22 June | Huls |  USAAF daylight raid on synthetic rubber plant1943:March, April, May, June, July |
| 22/23 June | Mülheim Mülheim Mülheim an der Ruhr, also called "City on the River", is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen... |
|
| 24/25 June | Wuppertal | |
| 25/26 June | Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000.... , Nordstern oil plant |
Oboe (navigation) Oboe was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system in World War II, based on radio transponder technology. Oboe accurately measured the distance to an aircraft, and gave the pilot guidance on whether or not they were flying along a pre-selected circular route. The route was only 35 yards... -equipped Mosquitoes De Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"... |
| 28/29 June | Cologne | |
| 9/10 July | Gelsenkirchen | |
| 25/26 July | Essen | Bombing of Essen in World War II During World War II, the industrial town of Essen, was a target of Allied strategic bombing.The Krupp factory was an inmportant industrial target, Essen was a "primary target" designated for area bombing by the February 1942 British Area bombing directive.... over a period of less than an hour. Goebbels Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism... recorded in his diary "last raid....complete stoppage of production in the Krupps works". |
| 30/31 July | Remscheid Remscheid Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on south side of the Ruhr area.... |
|
During the battle other German targets received large attacks.
- Berlin 27/28 March, 29/30 March
- Stettin (now Szczecin in modern Poland) 20/21 April
Outcome
However in his study of the German war economy Adam ToozeAdam Tooze
Adam Tooze is a British historian and was Reader in Modern European Economic History at the University of Cambridge. In 2002, he was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize for Modern History. As of Summer 2010, he is a professor of history at Yale University.He is currently best known for his economic...
stated that during the Battle of the Ruhr, Bomber Command severely disrupted German production. Steel production fell by 200,000 tons. The armaments industry was facing a steel shortfall of 400,000 tons. After doubling production in 1942, production of steel increased only by 20 percent in 1943. Hitler and Speer were forced to cut planned increases in production. This disruption caused resulted in the Zulieferungskrise (sub-components crisis). The increase of aircraft production for the Luftwaffe also came to an abrupt halt. Monthly production failed to increase between July 1943 and March 1944. "Bomber Command had stopped Speer's armaments miracle in its tracks".
At Essen after more than 3,000 sorties and the loss of 138 aircraft, the "Krupps works...and the town...itself contained large areas of devastation" Krupps never restarted locomotive production after the second March raid.
Operation Chastise caused some temporary effect on industrial production, through the disruption of the water supply and hydroelectric power. The Eder Valley dam "had nothing whatsoever" to do with supplying the Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
. A backup pumping system had already been put in place for the Ruhr, and Speer's Organisation Todt
Organisation Todt
The Todt Organisation, was a Third Reich civil and military engineering group in Germany named after its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi figure...
rapidly mobilized repairs, taking workers from the construction of the Atlantic Wall
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
. The destruction of the Sorpe dam would have caused significantly more damage but since it was a stronger design less likely to be breached it was effectively a secondary target.