Dive fighter
Dive combat aircraft (mostly known as dive bombers or dive bombers ) were relatively light combat aircraft (mostly single-engine bombers ), which, in contrast to the multi-engine horizontal bombers, were usually equipped with lighter bomb loads in order to be able to attack point targets in a dive . The dive resulted in a higher accuracy of hits. The preferred targets were mainly bunkers or ships , but also unfortified targets such as industrial plants, troop assemblies and columns . The first missions with specialized aircraft of this type took place in the Spanish Civil War , then especially at the beginning of the Second World War .
The name Stuka is usually associated with the German Junkers Ju 87 dive combat aircraft , which was used on a massive scale at the beginning of the Second World War and subsequently became the most famous aircraft of this type.
principle
The name comes from the way in which attacks on enemy targets took place. In a dive from a 70 ° to 90 ° inclination, these aircraft usually plunged down on their targets from a height of several thousand meters, with the dive fighter itself aimed at the target. As a result, the bombs could be dropped with comparative accuracy (see sketch).
The speed of the dive was reduced by special airbrakes so that the maneuverability of the machine was maintained and the pilots could also keep moving targets in their sights . The bomb load was then dropped about a thousand meters above the target and the machine intercepted up to about 500 m above the ground. Later, through improved aiming equipment, flatter dives with bombs dropped only shortly after the interception curve had been initiated.
The interception or the flight in the interception curve was the most dangerous part of the dive because it was physically the most stressful due to the strong acceleration forces. It is reported that some pilots fainted for seconds. In order to avoid the resulting accidents, the aircraft were equipped with an automatic interception system (also known as an automatic dive system ). Along with the bombing, the airbrakes were retracted and the elevator assumed a preset position. The machine ended the dive without any action on the part of the pilot.
history
The beginnings
In the German Air Force , the idea of fall combat tactics was popularized by Ernst Udet (1896–1941), who had learned about this concept in the USA in the early 1930s. The accuracy achieved by dive fighter aircraft with simple target devices far exceeded the accuracy achievable with the most modern bomb target devices from level flight, but the operating range of the single-engine machines was limited. In addition, the demands on the pilots were very high: Udet, himself an outstanding and risk-taking aviator, was often accused of having overwhelmed the pilots with the design, especially the Ju 87, and was responsible for high losses.
The Henschel Hs 123 (1935–1937), which was designed as a biplane and was also used alongside the first versions of the Junkers Ju 87 (1937–1944) in the Spanish Civil War, is the first operational German dive fighter aircraft .
Second World War
Use in Europe
Dive-fight aircraft, Stuka for short , of the Junkers Ju 87 type , along with the tank units, formed the backbone of the German Blitzkrieg in World War II . The German Stukas achieved a high level of accuracy and, starting with the improved B model, were equipped with a wind siren (also known as the " Jericho trumpet "), which produced a high-pitched , screeching sound when it fell, which had an immense psychological effect on the opposing soldiers on the ground exercised.
After great success with the "Ju 87 Stuka" at the beginning of the war, the Reich Ministry of Aviation (RLM) ordered that all new bombers and attack aircraft must be suitable for dive bombers. This resulted in many problems with the newly introduced aircraft types such as the twin-engine Dornier Do 217 or even the four-engine Heinkel He 177 . The first twin-engine German bomber with the ability to fall, the Junkers Ju 88 , was able to prove itself to some extent in this role due to its robust construction, but was clearly better in use as a horizontal bomber .
However, the Ju 87 could only be used if it had an air superiority. Their relatively low speed made them an easy target for enemy fighters . Therefore, the Ju 87 were from 1943 gradually by fighter-bombers replaced, but remained for night attacks (night battle plane ) until the war ended in use. For night operations, the slowness was an advantage, allied night fighters could hardly fly so slowly to have enough time for location and shooting.
On April 10, 1940, a large warship was sunk for the first time by dive bombers. The German light cruiser Königsberg was anchored in the port of Bergen when it was attacked by British Blackburn Skua and so badly damaged that it sank three hours later.
Use in the Pacific
In the Pacific theater of war , carrier-based dive - bomber aircraft in particular played a crucial role in many sea-to-air battles . After evaluating some German machines, the Japanese built a number of these aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force , while the Army Air Force was not enthusiastic about this idea and at no time did they have dive fighters in their fleet . Bomb hits by Japanese naval dive bombers of the Aichi D3A Kanbaku ( Allied code name : Val ) type contributed to the sinking of many ships in the attack on Pearl Harbor . American Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers were able to sink four Japanese aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway .
A special feature was the Japanese Aichi B7A Ryusei ( allied code name : Grace ), which was designed from the start for use as a torpedo bomber (i.e. for a double role, so to speak) due to increasingly scarce resources . This powerful machine was one of the few dive combat aircraft that could also fly attacks from the horizontal without any problems. The B7A, built from May 1944 onwards, of which only 114 units could be completed due to the war situation, proved itself very well in use.
In the last year of the Pacific War, dive combat aircraft were increasingly used on the Japanese side for kamikaze missions - from the dive. The Yokosuka D4Y Suisei ( Allied code name : Judy ) deserves a special mention here , as it was very fast for a dive fighter aircraft. However, this operated in its actual role due to the lack of armor for the pilot and self-sealing tanks, but was quite successful as a kamikaze aircraft and severely damaged various US warships.
Role after 1945
With the end of the Second World War, the advent of jet-powered fighter aircraft (which within a few years should almost completely replace conventional propeller -driven aircraft ), improved anti-aircraft defenses and self-steering bombs , specialized dive-fighting aircraft became superfluous. However, fighter-bombers continue to use similar attack methods from diving or interception.
List of dive fighter aircraft
Note : In some cases, aircraft that were not designed as dive combat aircraft were also used as such. Particularly noteworthy are the Italian attack aircraft Breda Ba.65 Nibbio ("Habicht") and the Japanese fighter aircraft Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate ("Stormwind" - allied code name: Frank ).
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| Junkers K 47 | Version of the Junkers A 48 (first flight 1928) |
| Heinkel He 50 | 1933–1944 (first flight 1931) |
| Henschel Hs 123 | Double-decker - 1936-1945 |
| Heinkel He 118 | (13 prototypes) |
| Junkers Ju 87 Stuka | 1937–1945 (the most famous dive fighter aircraft) |
| Junkers Ju 88 | 1938-1945 (fallable twin-engine bomber) |
| Junkers Ju 287 | (remained a draft) |
| Henschel Hs 132 | (three prototypes with turbine jet engines that were no longer completed at the end of the war in 1945 ) |
| Loire-Nieuport LN.40 | 1940 only moderately successful in 23 copies Battle of France used |
| Blackburn B-24 Skua | 1938-1941 |
| Fairey P. 4/34 | (two prototypes) |
| Fairey Barracuda | 1942-1945 |
| Savoia-Marchetti SM.85 | (31 prototypes in 3 series) |
| CAB AP.1 | actually attack aircraft - four machines converted into dive combat training aircraft and used in 1938 |
| Savoia-Marchetti SM.86 | (1 prototype - order of 97 copies canceled in favor of the German Ju 87 Stuka ) |
| CANSA FC12 | (1 prototype - actually a fighter training aircraft but also suitable for use as a dive bomber) |
| CAB Approx. 355 Tuffo | (a prototype) |
| Breda Ba201 | (two prototypes successfully tested but ultimately not built in series) |
| Breda Ba.88M | (three prototypes converted from the unsuccessful twin-engine attack aircraft Ba.88 ) |
| Savoia-Marchetti SM.93 | (two prototypes successfully tested but ultimately not built in series) |
| Aichi D1A | Double-decker - 1935–1942 ( Allied code name : Susie ) |
| Aichi D3A Kanbaku | 1940–1945 ( Allied code name : Val ) |
| Mitsubishi Ki-51 | 1940-1945 - actually attack aircraft ( Allied code name : Sonia ) |
| Yokosuka D4Y Suisei | "Comet" - 1942–1945 - z. T. also called Aichi D4Y ( Allied code name : Judy ) |
| Yokosuka D3Y-K Myojo | "Venus" - 1943–1945 dive combat training aircraft (Allied code name not assigned) |
| Aichi B7A Ryusei | "Shooting Star" - 1943–1945 in a double role also torpedo bombers ( Allied code name : Grace ) |
| Yokosuka P1Y Ginga | "Galaxie" - 1943–1945 - also horizontal and torpedo bombers ( Allied code name : Frances ) |
| Aichi E16A Zuiun | "Cheap cloud" - 1944/45 - dive bombers with floats ( allied code name : Paul ) |
| Aichi M6A Seiran | "Mountains Haze" - 1943-1945 - with floats on the use of submarines of I-400 class |
| IAR-37 | Single-engine biplane from 1937. 50 copies made. |
| IAR-38 | Further development of the IAR-37 from 1938 with German BMW engines. 75 copies |
| IAR-39 | Further development of the IAR-37 from 1939/40 with Romanian engines. 160 copies including modifications. |
| Saab 17 | 1942–1950 - in use in Ethiopia until 1968 |
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| Tupolev Ar-2 | 1939–1942 - 200 copies were created from the redesign of the twin-engined Tupolev SB-2 bomber |
| Petlyakov Pe-2 | 1940–1948 - twin-engine horizontal and dive bomber ( NATO code name : Buck ) |
| Tupolev Tu-2 | 1942–1954 - actually more of a twin-engine horizontal bomber (NATO code name: Bat ) |
| Curtiss F8C Helldiver | Biplane - 1928–1937 - one of the first dive fighter aircraft |
| Curtiss F11C Goshawk (Hawk II as export version) | Biplane - (D-3165 / D-IRIS and D-IRIK were used by Ernst Udet ) |
| Vought SB2U Vindicator | |
| Douglas SBD Dauntless | (USAAF version: A-24 Banshee ) |
| Curtiss SB2C Helldiver | (USAAF version: A-25 Shrike ) |
| Vultee A-31 Vengeance | |
| North American A-36A Apache | 1942–1945 - Version of the P-51 Mustang - also known as the A-36A Invader |
literature
- Christian Möller: The operations of the night battle groups 1, 2 and 20 on the Western Front from September 1944 to May 1945. With an overview of the formation and use of the interference and night battle groups of the German Air Force from 1942 to 1944. Dissertation (358 p., 196 fig .), Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-938208-67-0 .
- Hans Peter Eisenbach: Front operations of a Stuka pilot. Mediterranean and Eastern Front 1943-44. Helios Verlag Aachen ISBN 978-3-938208-96-0 . The book describes the training and deployment of a Stuka pilot between 1940 and 1944.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Martin Schulz: The British Stuka . In: Aviation Classics . No. 5 , 2012, p. 10-17 .