Haunebu-V

The Haunebu-V is a type of aerospace craft in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

Overview[]

Despite its technologically advanced nature the Haunebu seems to be very simple to operate: William J. Blazkowicz was able to fly one successfully from Venus to Earth the very first time he used it, despite having no prior training in the piloting of such vehicles and minimal experience with the operation of spacecraft in general. If landed on water the saucer is capable of floating.

Maintenance of these craft involves the use of massive bell-shaped chambers powered by nuclear reactors. The only such chamber encountered in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is present in Area 52 in direct proximity to the vault housing the fruits of Da'at Yichud anti-gravity research; from this it can be extrapolated that the chamber plays a role in recharging or refueling the craft's anti-gravity propulsion system.

History[]

Before 1961[]

Development of what would eventually become the Haunebu-V can be traced back to before the Nazi occupation of the United States, when the Da'at Yichud allowed the US government to access caches of advanced technology hidden in North America. One such cache, in an underground vault in New Mexico, contained research pertaining to anti-gravity technology; the Americans had completed a prototype anti-gravity propelled vehicle by 1947 but it crashed near the town of Roswell and the technology did not enter serial production in time to affect the outcome of the war.

When New Mexico became part of the Nazis' conquered American territories they seized the open safekeep and continued to investigate the anti-gravity technology, constructing Area 52 to facilitate this research. The capacity to produce anti-gravity engines for atmospheric flight was achieved as early as 1951 but it would take until 1961 for it to be used for interplanetary spaceflight, as rocket-propelled shuttles were still being used for transport between Earth and the Nazi lunar base as late as November-December 1960. The Germans never managed to mass-produce the vehicle, mostly because the technology was unstable and highly dangerous, as seen when Blazkowicz caused the reactor in Area 52 to explode.

The New Colossus[]

When Area 52 was attacked by William J. Blazkowicz and subsequently destroyed in a nuclear explosion in July 1961, the high-ranking personnel of the Oberkommando used Haunebu-V saucers alongside more conventional rockets in their evacuation of the facility. B.J. would later travel on board a Haunebu-V to the Aerostat habitat on Venus while impersonating the actor Jules Redfield; after compromising the Oberkommando for a second time he stole another saucer from their facility on the surface of Venus and flew it back to rendezvous with the Eva's Hammer on earth. This appropriated vehicle would continue to be used by the resistance when B.J. was sent to assassinate Übercommanders stationed on Venus. However, only one of them is left as the facility used to manufacture them was destroyed and the Da'at Yichud artifacts inside it were vaporized by the explosion. Furthermore, the vehicles that the Oberkommando used to evacuate Area 52 were also destroyed by Blazkowicz along with the Venus Base, leaving the last Haunebu-V with the American Resistance on the Eva's Hammer.

In the Freedom Chronicles[]

Curtis Everton's comic book The Diaries of Agent Silent Death briefly depicts a Haunebu-V. Jessica Valiant stows the vehicle in order to reach the moon during her mission to assassinate Gerhardt Dunkel.

Trivia[]

The Haunebu-V is a reference to the Nazi UFO conspiracy theory, which claims that the Third Reich developed advanced saucer-like aircraft in the 1940s. However, the design seen in the game is sleeker and more futuristic in its aesthetic than many other artistic depictions of such vehicles.
The use of a bell-shaped device in the Haunebu-V's maintenance process is likely a reference to the multitude of conspiracy theories centred on a device known as Die Glocke. Some versions of the theory suggest that this device was the result of Nazi experiments into gravity manipulation, tying it directly to the saucers with their anti-gravity engines.
Unlike the more conventional shuttles, the Haunebu vehicles are only used near Area 52 or on the Venus Base, therefore reserving them for high ranking Oberkommando personnel, except in special events where other people required access to the base.
The fact that only one Haunebu-V is left in existence explains why they are not seen in Youngblood like many other vehicles from The New Colossus.