<P> In 1943, production of the V - 2 rocket began in Germany . It had an operational range of 300 km (190 mi) and carried a 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) warhead, with an amatol explosive charge . It normally achieved an operational maximum altitude of around 90 km (56 mi), but could achieve 206 km (128 mi) if launched vertically . The vehicle was similar to most modern rockets, with turbopumps, inertial guidance and many other features . Thousands were fired at various Allied nations, mainly Belgium, as well as England and France . While they could not be intercepted, their guidance system design and single conventional warhead meant that they were insufficiently accurate against military targets . A total of 2,754 people in England were killed, and 6,523 were wounded before the launch campaign was ended . There were also 20,000 deaths of slave labour during the construction of V - 2s . While it did not significantly affect the course of the war, the V - 2 provided a lethal demonstration of the potential for guided rockets as weapons . </P> <P> In parallel with the guided missile programme in Nazi Germany, rockets were also used on aircraft, either for assisting horizontal take - off (RATO), vertical take - off (Bachem Ba 349 "Natter") or for powering them (Me 163, etc .). During the war Germany also developed several guided and unguided air - to - air, ground - to - air and ground - to - ground missiles (see list of World War II guided missiles of Germany). </P> <P> At the end of World War II, competing Russian, British, and US military and scientific crews raced to capture technology and trained personnel from the German rocket program at Peenemünde . Russia and Britain had some success, but the United States benefited the most . The US captured a large number of German rocket scientists, including von Braun, and brought them to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip . In America, the same rockets that were designed to rain down on Britain were used instead by scientists as research vehicles for developing the new technology further . The V - 2 evolved into the American Redstone rocket, used in the early space program . </P> <P> After the war, rockets were used to study high - altitude conditions, by radio telemetry of temperature and pressure of the atmosphere, detection of cosmic rays, and further research; notably the Bell X-1, the first manned vehicle to break the sound barrier . This continued in the US under von Braun and the others, who were destined to become part of the US scientific community . </P>

Who made the first ship in a bottle