Messerschmitt Me 323

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Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant"
Messerschmitt Me 323
Type: Transport plane
Design country:

German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire

Manufacturer:

Messerschmitt

First flight:

January 20, 1942

Commissioning:

1942

Production time:

1942 to 1944

Number of pieces:

at least 198

Loading a Me 323 in Italy in 1943
Interior of the Me 323

The Me 323 "Gigant" was a transport aircraft of the German Air Force and the largest land-based transport aircraft of the Second World War .

It was the further development of the heavy cargo glider Me 321, initially equipped with four and then six engines . The designer was Josef Fröhlich .

Construction and use

On January 20, 1942, the four-engine Me 323 made its maiden flight. Four-engine machines of series A, B and C were built in very small numbers. The first six-engine series machines Me 323 D-1 were delivered from the production facilities in Leipheim and Obertraubling from September 1942 , followed by the Me 323 D-2 with two-bladed propellers and the Me 323 D-6 with more powerful defensive armament. The Me 323 E-1 and E-2 had more powerful engines and more defensive armament. Production in Leipheim and Obertraubling ended in April 1944. A few more Me 323 Fs , a slightly improved version of the E series, were probably built at Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH in Friedrichshafen . The drawings of the F version were completed by Messerschmitt on July 6, 1943 and then handed over to the Zeppelin works. In 1943 it was decided to move the production of the Me 323 to the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen.

The machines were used from November 1942 at I./KG z. b. V. (for special use) 323 in the Mediterranean area for the transport of supplies for the German and Italian troops fighting in North Africa . This often happened in larger groups of up to 100 aircraft (together with Ju 52 / 3m ), which were accompanied by Bf 110 . Since the Allied air forces in this area gained air superiority in the course of the months, there were sometimes heavy losses. On April 22, 1943 alone, 14 Me 323s were shot down during a fuel transport at Cap Bon .

Until September 1943, the operations took place in the Mediterranean area. About 65 Me 323 were lost and another 25 were damaged. The crews were mostly hopelessly lost when they were shot down over the Mediterranean. From October 1943 the unit, renamed Transportgeschwader 5 in May 1943, was relocated to the Eastern Front. The successor version Me 323 E-1 with additional weapon stands was also used there. From October 1944 up to 14 machines were used in the IV. Group of Transportgeschwader 4 .

As a starting aid at overload starts with payloads of up to 22 tons - instead of 11 tons normally provided - payload were, among other things start boosters or 111 Z Heinkel (the twin -called five-engined double hull design of the He 111 ) was used.

The high-mounted engines posed a design problem: in the event of a go-around, the increased tractive effort of the engines affected the overall structure and pushed the aircraft nose down. This led to crashes several times when landing was canceled.

Series production figures for the Me 323 up to April 30, 1944
Type Leipheim Obertraubling TOTAL
D-1 21st 32 53
D-2 1 33 34
D-6 25th 30th 55
E-1 46 10 56
TOTAL 93 105 198

  • A Me 323 transporting the wounded in Italy

  • Air-transportable Opel mule , payload 2 t

  • Unloading a Renault tank in Tunisia

  • Machine guns on the wings

Trial samples and further plans

The original planning for the Me 323 provided for the construction of 15 test models (V1 – V15, W.-No. 800–814) (no documents can be found for the V1). The aircraft were to be largely equipped with French engines, with the V2, V5 and V6 being equipped with four engines, the rest with six engines. Exceptions were the V13 with four Alfa Romeo engines and the V14 with Jumo 211 J engines . It cannot be proven whether all the test samples were actually built. The V16 (W.-Nr. 160001, DU + QZ) is the prototype for the F series. The V18 was the W.-Nr. 130027. Among other things, it was used at the Rechlin test center for the dropping of specimens when testing high-speed braking parachutes. A Me 323 was built as the Me 323 WT (WT for weapon carriers) with the heaviest anti-aircraft armament. This machine was not intended to fly cargo, but to accompany Me-323 transport aircraft and, with its many machine-gun positions in the fuselage and on the wings, offer fire protection against attacking enemy fighters .

At Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen, the Z Me 323 G (Z for Zeppelin) was designed in 1943 . It should be able to carry a minimum payload of 12.7 tons. In May 1944, the company presented the design for the Z Me 323 H for a minimum payload of 16.2 tons. The hunter emergency program ended the construction of the Messerschmitt Gigant .

Technical specifications

"Gigant" on an Italian field airfield (August 1943)
Parameter Data Me 323 D-1 Data Me 323 E
crew 5 5-7
length 28.50 m
span 55.24 m
height 9.60 m 8.00 m
Wing area 300.50 m²
Wing extension
payload 11,000 kg
Empty mass 27,000 kg 29,600 kg
Takeoff mass 43,000 kg 45,000 kg
Cruising speed 210 km / h
Top speed 250 km / h 285 km / h
Climbing time to 4000 m 35 min
practical summit height 4700 m 4800 m
Range normal 700 km
maximum 1100 km		 normal 1095 km
Engines 6 × air-cooled 14-cylinder radial engines Gnome-Rhône 14N 48/49 , each 1,180 PS (868 kW) starting power 6 × radial engines Gnôme-Rhône 14R , each 1,180 PS (868 kW)
Armament 5 × 7.92 mm MG 15
optionally additional 7.92 mm or 13 mm MG in side windows		 5 × 13 mm MG 131
two additional turrets in the fuselage with 20 mm MG 151/20 or 13 mm MG 131

Whereabouts

Of the 200 or so Me 323s that have been produced, there has only been one rediscovered specimen that is about five kilometers from the north Sardinian coast near La Maddalena in about 60 meters of water. It was shot down by a British aircraft on July 26, 1943 and is still relatively well preserved.

See also

literature

  • Karl R. Pawlas: The Giants Me 321 / Me 323. A documentation. Publizistisches Archiv publishing house, Nuremberg 1974.
  • Peter Schmoll : Messerschmitt giants and the Regensburg-Obertraubling air base. MZ-Buchverlag, Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-934863-09-4 .

Web links

Commons : Messerschmitt Me 323  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ War diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (Wehrmacht Command Staff) , Volume I 1943, study edition, Herrsching 1982, pages 373, 419 (reports from the General Staff of the Air Force, April 22 and May 2, 1943).
  2. ↑ Operating instructions Me 323
  3. ↑ Otmar Rhomberg: Everyone has to go to Rishikesh . Berenkamp, ​​1999, ISBN 978-3-85093-107-6 .
  4. ↑ Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv , Freiburg, RL 3, production programs
  5. ↑ Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg, RL 3, production programs
  6. ↑ letter Christoph rule, Jet & Prop 05/03, p. 12
  7. ↑ Kenneth Munson: The World War II Planes . Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart, 1977, ISBN 3-87943-302-X , p. 194 .
  8. ↑ Messerschmitt "Gigant": Giant Luftwaffe aviator discovered , in: Augsburger Allgemeine , article from September 26, 2012.
  9. ↑ Report with photo of the wreck off Sardinia (Italian)