Launch Lug, Bomb, Guided, Fritz X (X-1)

The Fritz X, also known as the Ruhrstahl X-1, was a German precision-guided, armor-piercing bomb used to deadly effect against Allied ships in the Mediterranean in 1943. Based on the PC 1400 (1400 kg) bomb, the Fritz X used the same joystick radio-command system employed on the Henschel Hs 293 missile. The control forces were exerted by spoilers on the cruciform tail, a system developed by Dr. Max Kramer at the Luftwaffe experimental establishment in Berlin-Adlershof. The Fritz X had its first and most spectacular success on 9 September 1943 when Do 217 aircraft used it to sink the Italian battleship Roma and damage the battleship Italia as they were sailing to surrender to the Allies. But Allied air defenses soon made further use very difficult.

This artifact is the original launch lug for the Fritz-X, which was used to hang the bomb from the rack. It may have been given to the Smithsonian by the Navy Explosive Ordnance and Disposal School at Indian Head, Maryland.