Editing Hellmuth Walter

{{Short description|German rocket scientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Hellmuth Walter
| image             = Hellmuth Walter.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| image_upright     = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = Hellmuth Walter
| birth_date        = {{birth date |1900|8|26|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Wedel]], [[Province of Schleswig-Holstein|Schleswig-Holstein]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age |1980|12|16 |1900|8|26|df=y}}
| death_place       = Upper [[Montclair, New Jersey]], [[United States]]
| nationality       = [[Germany|German]]
| fields            = [[Engineering]]
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = [[Technische Universität Berlin]]
| doctoral_advisor  = <!--(or  | doctoral_advisors = )-->
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = {{ill|Walter engine|de|Walter-Antrieb}}
| awards            = 
}}

'''Hellmuth Walter''' (26 August 1900 – 16 December 1980) was a German [[engineer]] who pioneered research into [[rocket engine]]s and [[gas turbine]]s. His most noteworthy contributions were rocket motors for the [[Messerschmitt Me 163]]<ref name=Reitsch>{{cite book |last=Reitsch |first=H. |year=1955 |title=The Sky My Kingdom |location=London |publisher=Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn |isbn=1-85367-262-9 }}</ref>{{rp|174}} and [[Bachem Ba 349]] [[interceptor aircraft]], so-called [[JATO|''Starthilfe'']] jettisonable rocket propulsion units used for a variety of [[Luftwaffe]] aircraft during [[World War II]], and a revolutionary new propulsion system for [[submarine]]s known as [[air-independent propulsion]] (AIP).

== Early life ==

Walter began training as a [[machinist]] in 1917 in [[Hamburg]] and in 1921 commenced studies in [[mechanical engineering]] at the [[Technische Hochschule]] in Charlottenburg (now [[Technische Universität Berlin]]). He left before completing these studies, however, in order to take up a position at the [[Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan]], a major [[shipyard]]. Walter's experience with [[marine steam engine|marine engines]] here led him to become interested in overcoming some of the limitations of the [[internal combustion engine]]. He reasoned that an [[engine]] powered by a [[fuel]] source already rich with [[oxygen]] would not require an external supply of oxygen (from the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]] or from tanks). This would have obvious advantages for powering submarines and [[torpedo]]es.

Research suggested that [[hydrogen peroxide]] was a suitable [[monopropellant]] fuel—in the presence of a suitable [[catalyst]] it would break down into oxygen and [[steam]] at high [[temperature]]. The [[heat]] of the [[Chemical reaction|reaction]] would cause the oxygen and steam to expand, and this could be used as a source of [[pressure]]. Walter also realised that another fuel could be injected into this hot mixture of [[gas]]es to provide [[combustion]] and therefore more [[Power (physics)|power]]. He [[patent]]ed this idea in 1925.

== Entrepreneur ==
After working for some time at the [[Germaniawerft]] shipyard in [[Kiel]], Walter branched out on his own in 1934 to form his own company, [[Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft]] (''HWK'', or ''Walter-Werke''), to further [[research and development]] of his ideas. That same year, he made a proposal to the ''Oberkommando der [[Kriegsmarine]]'' (OKM – Naval High Command) suggesting that a submarine powered by one of these engines would have considerable speed advantages over the conventional combination of diesel engine(s) for surface running and electric motor(s) while submerged. The proposal was met with much scepticism, but Walter persisted, and in 1937 showed his plans to [[Karl Dönitz]], who was able to assist in obtaining a contract to produce a prototype. Construction started in 1939 on a small research submarine designated the [[V-80 submarine|V-80]]. When it was launched in 1940, the submarine demonstrated a top speed of 23 knots submerged, twice that of any submarine in the world at the time. Despite these spectacular results, problems with the production, supply, and safe handling of hydrogen peroxide prevented wide-scale implementation of Walter's revolutionary engine. In the end, only a handful of [[German Type XVII submarine]]s were built using this engine, and none saw combat.

== Rocket engines ==

At the same time that Walter was developing submarine engines, he was also applying his ideas to rocketry. The high-pressure gas mixture created by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide could not only be used in a [[turbine]], but if simply directed out of a [[nozzle]], created considerable [[thrust]]. [[Wernher von Braun]]'s rocketry team working at [[Peenemünde]] expressed interest in Walter's ideas, and in 1936 began a programme of installing Walter rockets into [[aircraft]]. The experimental results obtained by von Braun created interest among Germany's aircraft manufacturers, including [[Heinkel]] and [[Messerschmitt]], and in 1939, the [[Heinkel He 176]] became the first aircraft to fly on liquid-fuelled rocket power alone. This type of engine went on to become the cornerstone of the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered fighter, when married to [[Alexander Lippisch]]'s revolutionary [[airframe]] design. Throughout the course of [[World War II]], Walter's aircraft engines became increasingly powerful and refined. The original design of simply decomposing hydrogen peroxide was soon changed to its use as an oxidizer (much like [[dinitrogen tetroxide]] would be used later) when combined with a hydrazine/methanol true rocket fuel designated [[C-Stoff]], into the hot, high-pressure gases, and in later, never-deployed developments, a second, 400&nbsp;kg (880 lb) thrust "cruising" combustion chamber, nicknamed a ''Marschofen'', was added below the main chamber to allow for more precise control of the engine. Versions of this engine were intended to power a variety of aircraft design proposals and [[missile]] projects and was also licence-built in [[Japan]] (see [[HWK 109-509]]).

Another Walter engine was used to assist heavily laden aircraft to take off ([[JATO]] or RATO). When the rockets' fuel had run out, they would separate from the aircraft and return to the ground by [[parachute]] for refurbishment and re-use (see [[Walther HWK 109-500]]).

In 1945, Walter was awarded the [[Iron Cross|Knight's Cross]] for his wartime service. Walter was captured by a British Army unit named [[T-Force]] following a 60-mile advance behind German lines to prevent his research falling into the hands of the advancing Russians.<ref>{{cite book |title=T-Force: The Forgotten Heroes of 1945 |first=Sean |last=Longden |location=London |publisher=Constable & Robinson |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84901-297-3 }}</ref> His factory was then investigated by [[30 Assault Unit]], a unit of Royal Marines which had been established by ''[[James Bond]]'' author [[Ian Fleming]].

== Post-war career ==

The end of the war saw all of his research materials confiscated by the British military and Walter and his colleagues taken to the [[United Kingdom|UK]] to work for the [[Royal Navy]]. With Walter's co-operation, one of the German submarines using his drive, the [[Unterseeboot 1407|U-1407]] was raised from where it had been scuttled and re-commissioned as [[HMS Meteorite|HMS ''Meteorite'']]. The Royal Navy constructed two more submarines using AIP engines before abandoning research in this direction in favour of [[nuclear power]].

Allowed to return to Germany in 1948, Walter worked for the Paul Seifert Engine Works. In 1950 he emigrated to the [[United States]] and joined the [[Worthington Pump Corporation]] of [[Harrison, New Jersey]], eventually becoming vice president of research and development. In 1956 he founded the company Hellmuth Walter GmbH in Kiel, and in 1967 constructed a civilian submarine, STINT, with Walter propulsion.<ref>{{cite book | last = Vitzthum| first = Wolfgang | title = Der Rechtsstatus des Meeresbodens | publisher = Duncker & Humblot | year = 1972 | page = 102 | isbn = 3-428-02715-9 }}</ref>

== See also ==
*{{ill|Walter engine|de|Walter-Antrieb}}
*[[List of German inventors and discoverers]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book |first=Karl G. |last=Strecker |title=Vom Walter-U-Boot zum Waffelautomaten |language=de |publisher=Köster |location=Berlin |year=2001 |isbn=3-89574-438-7 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Giuseppe |last=Ciampaglia |title=Il prof. Helmut Walter e l'acqua ossigenata |language=it |pages=82–92 |journal=Rivista Italiana Difesa |publisher=Chiavari |location=Genova |date=October 2013 }}
* {{cite book |first=Margaret |last=Bourke-White |title=Deutschland April 1945 |language=de |pages=148 ff |publisher=Schirmer-Mosel |year=1979 |isbn=3-88814-162-1 }}

== External links ==
* {{DNB portal|12363976X|TYP=}}
* [http://www.walterwerke.co.uk/walter/index.htm "The Hellmuth Walter Website"]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Hellmuth}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Engineers from Schleswig-Holstein]]
[[Category:German rocket scientists]]
[[Category:Emigrants from West Germany to the United States]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross]]
[[Category:People from Wedel]]