Fritz X

Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was the world's first precision guided weapon ever deployed in combat, and the first to sink a ship in combat. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternate names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400 (the latter, along with the unguided PC 1400 ordnance's Fritz nickname, is the origin for the name "Fritz X"). Along with the USAAF's similar Azon weapon of the same period in World War II, it is one of the precursors of today's anti-ship missiles and precision-guided weapons.

History

The Fritz X was a further development of the PC 1400 (Panzersprengbombe, Cylindrisch 1400 kg) armour-piercing high-explosive bomb, itself bearing the nickname Fritz. It was a penetration weapon intended to be used against heavily protected targets such as heavy cruisers and battleships. It was given a more aerodynamic nose, four stub wings, and a box shaped tail unit, consisting of a roughly 12-sided annular set of fixed surfaces, and a cruciform tail with thick surfaces within the annulus, which themselves contained the Fritz X's aerodynamic controls. The Luftwaffe recognized the difficulty of hitting moving ships during the Spanish Civil War.Dipl. engineer Max Kramer, who worked at the DVL, had been experimenting since 1938 with remote-controlled free-falling 250 kg bombs, and in 1939 fitted radio-controlled spoilers. In 1940, Ruhrstahl was invited to join the development, since they already had experience in the development and production of unguided bombs.

Fritz

Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (der alte Fritz was a nickname for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor), as well as for similar names including Fridolin. Fritz was also a name given to German troops by the British and others in the first and second world wars, equivalent to Tommy, as the British troops were called by German and other troops. Other common bases for which the name Fritz was used include the surnames Fritsche, Fritzsche, Fritsch, and Frisch(e).

Notable people with the name include:

Surname

Fritz (chess)

Fritz is a German chess program developed by Gyula Horváth and published by ChessBase. Versions prior to 14 were written by Frans Morsch and Mathias Feist.

The latest version of the consumer product is Fritz 15. This version now supports 64-bit hardware and multiprocessing by default.

History

Morsch and his friend Ed Schröder produced a chess program in the early 1980s. In the early 1990s, the German company ChessBase asked Morsch to write the Fritz chess programs (called Knightstalker in the USA). In 1995, Fritz 3 won the World Computer Chess Championship in Hong Kong, surprisingly beating a prototype version of Deep Blue.

In 2002, Deep Fritz drew the Brains in Bahrain match against the classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik 4–4.

In November 2003, X3D Fritz, a version of Deep Fritz with a 3D interface, drew a four-game match against Garry Kasparov.

On June 23, 2005, in the ABC Times Square studios, the AI Accoona Toolbar, driven by a Fritz 9 prototype, drew against the then FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

Devon (sausage)

Devon is a type of manufactured meat product sold in Australia and New Zealand. It is usually served in a sandwich, often with tomato sauce and can also be fried in slices.

Typical commercial preparations list the major ingredient as "Meat including Pork". It is usually composed of several types of pork, basic spices, and a binder. One popular Australian brand, Primo, uses the same ingredient list for both Luncheon and Veal German, with the exception being the addition of red wine powder to the latter, a more expensive product.

It is referred to as "polony" in Western Australia, "luncheon meat" in northern areas of New Zealand, "fritz" in South Australia and far western areas of New South Wales, "Belgium" and "devon" in Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and East New South Wales, as well as "Belgium" in southern areas of New Zealand. It is also referred to as "bung" in some parts of Tasmania, and Windsor Sausage in Queensland. Devon would be classed as "luncheon meat" in the UK. Originally known in some parts of Australia as "German sausage", this name fell out of favour during World War I when Australia was at war with Germany. It is similar in appearance and taste to the bologna sausage and the cooked pork sausage known in Australia as Berliner. In Hungary, it is called "párizsi" or rarely "parizer", and can be bought sliced or in sticks. It is considered to be a cheap meat product.