Stuka: Hitler’s Lethal Dive Bomber (Images of War)

It had its twin stabilisers removed and a single tail fin installed due to fears over stability. All these delays set back testing until 25 February Although the testing went well, and the pilot, Flight Captain Hesselbach, praised its performance, Wolfram von Richthofen told the Junkers representative and Construction Office chief engineer Ernst Zindel that the Ju 87 stood little chance of becoming the Luftwaffe's main dive bomber, as it was underpowered in his opinion.

Stuka: Hitler's Lethal Dive Bomber

Udet cancelled the order the next day, and development continued. According to this version of the story, Heinkel warned Udet about the propeller's fragility. Udet failed to consider this, so in a dive, the engine oversped and the propeller broke away. Despite being chosen, the design was still lacking and drew frequent criticism from Wolfram von Richthofen.

Testing of the V4 prototype A Ju 87 A-0 in early revealed several problems. Richthofen pushed for a more powerful engine. Pilots also complained that navigation and powerplant instruments were mixed together, and were not easy to read, especially in combat. Despite this, pilots praised the aircraft's handling qualities and strong airframe. These problems were to be resolved by installing the Daimler-Benz DB engine, but delays in development forced the installation of the Jumo D inverted V engine. Flight testing began on 14 August The Ju 87 was a single-engined all-metal cantilever monoplane.

It had a fixed undercarriage and could carry a two-person crew. The main construction material was duralumin , and the external coverings were made of duralumin sheeting. Parts that were required to be of strong construction, such as the wing flaps , were made of Pantal a German aluminium alloy containing titanium as a hardening element and its components made of Elektron. Bolts and parts that were required to take heavy stress were made of steel. The Ju 87 was fitted with detachable hatches and removable coverings to aid and ease maintenance and overhaul. The designers avoided welding parts wherever possible, preferring moulded and cast parts instead.

Large airframe segments were interchangeable as a complete unit, which increased speed of repair. The airframe was also subdivided into sections to allow transport by road or rail. The wings were of standard Junkers double-wing construction. This gave the Ju 87 considerable advantage on take-off; even at a shallow angle, large lift forces were created through the aerofoil , reducing take-off and landing runs. In accordance with the Aircraft Certification Centre for "Stress Group 5", the Ju 87 had reached the acceptable structural strength requirements for a dive bomber.

Performance in the diving attack was enhanced by the introduction of dive brakes under each wing, which allowed the Ju 87 to maintain a constant speed and allow the pilot to steady his aim. It also prevented the crew from suffering extreme g forces and high acceleration during "pull-out" from the dive. The fuselage had an oval cross-section and housed, in most examples, a Junkers Jumo water-cooled inverted V engine.

The cockpit was protected from the engine by a firewall ahead of the wing centre section where the fuel tanks were located. At the rear of the cockpit, the bulkhead was covered by a canvas cover which could be breached by the crew in an emergency, enabling them to escape into the main fuselage. The canopy was split into two sections and joined by a strong welded steel frame. The canopy itself was made of Plexiglas and each compartment had its own "sliding hood" for the two crew members. The engine was mounted on two main support frames that were supported by two tubular struts. The frame structure was triangulated and emanated from the fuselage.

The main frames were bolted onto the engine's top quarter. In turn, the frames were attached to the firewall by universal joints. The firewall itself was constructed from asbestos mesh with dural sheets on both sides. All conduits passing through had to be arranged so that no harmful gases could penetrate the cockpit. The fuel was injected via a pump from the tanks to the engine. Should this shut down, it could be pumped manually using a hand-pump on the fuel cock armature. A further container of litre 5. The control surfaces operated in much the same way as other aircraft, with the exception of the innovative automatic pull-out system.

Releasing the bomb initiated the pull-out, or automatic recovery and climb, upon the deflection of the dive brakes. The pilot could override the system by exerting significant force on the control column and taking manual control. The wing was the most unusual feature. It consisted of a single centre section and two outer sections installed using four universal joints. The centre section had a large negative dihedral anhedral and the outer surfaces a positive dihedral. This created the inverted gull, or "cranked", wing pattern along the Ju 87's leading edge.

Stuka: Hitler's Lethal Dive Bomber : Alistair Smith :

The shape of the wing improved the pilot's ground visibility and also allowed a shorter undercarriage height. The offensive armament was two 7. The heavy bomb was swung down clear of the propeller on crutches prior to release. The pilot moved the dive lever to the rear, limiting the "throw" of the control column. Red tabs protruded from the upper surfaces of the wing as a visual indicator to the pilot that, in case of a g-induced black-out , the automatic dive recovery system would be activated.

The pilot released the bomb and initiated the automatic pull-out mechanism by depressing a knob on the control column. The pilot regained control and resumed normal flight. The coolant flaps had to be reopened quickly to prevent overheating. The automatic pull-out was not liked by all pilots. Helmut Mahlke later said that he and his unit disconnected the system because it allowed the enemy to predict the Ju 87's recovery pattern and height, making it easier for ground defences to hit an aircraft. Physical stress on the crew was severe. Human beings subjected to more than 5g in a seated position will suffer vision impairment in the form of a grey veil known to Stuka pilots as "seeing stars".

They lose vision while remaining conscious; after five seconds, they black out. The Ju 87 pilots experienced the visual impairments most during "pull-up" from a dive. Sometimes with the dive-bombers The Stuka was in a class of its own. Extensive tests were carried out by the Junkers works at their Dessau plant. It was discovered that the highest load a pilot could endure was 8. At less than 4g, no visual problems or loss of consciousness were experienced.

After more than three seconds, half the subjects passed out. The pilot would regain consciousness two or three seconds after the centrifugal forces had dropped below 3g and had lasted no longer than three seconds. In a crouched position, pilots could withstand 7. The pressurised cabin was of great importance during this research. Testing revealed that at high altitude, even 2g could cause death in an unpressurised cabin and without appropriate clothing.

This new technology, along with special clothing and oxygen masks, was researched and tested. When the United States Army occupied the Junkers factory at Dessau on 21 April , they were both impressed at and interested in the medical flight tests with the Ju The concept of dive bombing became so popular among the leadership of the Luftwaffe that it became almost obligatory in new aircraft designs.

Later bomber models like the Junkers Ju 88 and the Dornier Do were equipped for dive bombing. Once the Stuka became too vulnerable to fighter opposition on all fronts, work was done to develop a replacement. None of the dedicated close-support designs on the drawing board progressed far due to the impact of the war and technological difficulties. So the Luftwaffe settled on the Focke-Wulf Fw fighter aircraft, with the Fw F becoming the ground-attack version. The Fw F started to replace the Ju 87 for day missions in , but the Ju 87 continued to be used as a night nuisance-raider until the end of the war.

The first A series variant, the A-0, was of all-metal construction, with an enclosed cockpit under a "greenhouse" well-framed canopy; bearing twin radio masts on its aft sections, diagonally mounted to either side of the airframe's planform centreline and unique to the -A version. To ease the difficulty of mass production, the leading edge of the wing was straightened out and the ailerons ' two aerofoil sections had smooth leading and trailing edges.

The pilot could adjust the elevator and rudder trim tabs in flight, and the tail was connected to the landing flaps, which were positioned in two parts between the ailerons and fuselage. The A-0 also had a flatter engine cowling, which gave the pilot a much better field of vision. In order for the engine cowling to be flattened, the engine was set down nearly 0. The fuselage was also lowered along with the gunner's position, allowing the gunner a better field of fire.

The RLM ordered seven A-0s initially, but then increased the order to Early in , the A-0 was tested with varied bomb loads. The underpowered Jumo A, as pointed out by von Richthofen, was insufficient, and was quickly replaced with the Jumo D engine. The A-1 differed from the A-0 only slightly. The gunner had a single 7.

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This represented a round increase in this area over the Ju 87 A The A-1 was also fitted with a larger 3. The Ju 87 A-2 was retrofitted with the Jumo Da fitted with a two-stage supercharger. The new, more powerful, Ju 87B model started to replace the Ju 87A at this time. The Ju 87 B series was to be the first mass-produced variant.

A total of six pre-production Ju 87 B-0 were produced, built from Ju 87 An airframes. This new design was again tested in Spain, and after proving its abilities there, production was ramped up to 60 per month. The B-1 was also fitted with "Jericho trumpets", essentially propeller-driven sirens with a diameter of 0.

This was used to weaken enemy morale and enhance the intimidation of dive-bombing. After the enemy became used to it they were withdrawn. Instead, some bombs were fitted with whistles on the fin to produce the noise after release. The Ju 87 B-2s that followed had some improvements and were built in several variants that included ski-equipped versions the B-1 also had this modification [45] and at the other end, with a tropical operation kit called the Ju 87 B-2 trop.

Italy's Regia Aeronautica received B-2s and named them the "Picchiatello", while others went to the other members of the Axis , including Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. The B-2 also had an oil hydraulic system for closing the cowling flaps. This continued in all the later designs. Production of the Ju 87 B started in Production would be carried out by the Weserflug company after April , but Junkers continued producing Ju 87 up until March A long range version of the Ju 87B was also built, known as the Ju 87R, the letter being an abbreviation for Reichweite , " operational range".

They were primarily intended for anti-shipping missions. The Ju 87 R-1 had a B-1 airframe with the exception of a modification in the fuselage which enabled an additional oil tank. This was installed to feed the engine due to the increase in range with the extra fuel tanks. Only a few were built. The R-3 was an experimental tug for gliders and had an expanded radio system so the crew could communicate with the glider crew by way of the tow rope.

The R-4 differed from the R-2 in the Jumo J powerplant. The Ju 87 C was intended to be a dive and torpedo bomber for the Kriegsmarine. The type was ordered into prototype production and available for testing in January Testing was given two months and was to begin in February and end in April The prototypes were Ju 87 B-0 airframes powered by Jumo A engines. It first flew on 17 March and was designated Ju 87 C By 15 December , arrested landings on dry land had been made. It was found that the arresting gear winch was too weak and had to be replaced. It was fitted out with standard Ju 87 C-0 equipment and better wing-folding mechanisms.

Among the "special" equipment of the Ju 87 C was a two-seat rubber dinghy with signal ammunition and emergency ammunition. Despite the cancellation, the tests continued using catapults. On 18 May , production of the C-1 was switched to the R Despite the Stuka's vulnerability to enemy fighters having been exposed during the Battle of Britain , the Luftwaffe had no choice but to continue its development, as there was no replacement aircraft in sight. A Daimler-Benz DB powerplant was to be installed in the Ju 87 D-1, but it did not have the power of the Jumo and performed "poorly" during tests and was dropped.

The D-series also introduced an aerodynamically refined cockpit with better visibility and space. The D-2 was a variant used as a glider tug by converting older D-series airframes. It was intended as the tropical version of the D-1 and had heavier armour to protect the crew from ground fire. The armour reduced its performance and caused the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe to "place no particular value on the production of the D-2". The D-4 was to be converted from D-3 airframes and, in place of the carrier-specific Ju 87C series designs, operated from the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin.

The Ju 87 D-5 was based on the D-3 design and was unique in the Ju 87 series as it had wings 0. The window in the floor of the cockpit was reinforced and four, rather than the previous three, aileron hinges were installed. The D-6, according to "Operating instructions, works document ", was built in limited numbers to train pilots on "rationalised versions". Due to shortages in raw materials, it did not go into mass production.

Production of the D-1 variant started in with ordered. These aircraft were delivered between May and March The RLM wanted machines produced from February The Weserflug company was tasked with their production. From June to September , 40 Ju 87 Ds were expected to be built, increasing to 90 thereafter. One of the planned 48 was produced in July. Of the 25 the RLM hoped for in August , none were delivered.

Over Ju 87s had not been delivered and production was only 23 Ju 87 Ds per month out of the 40 expected. By the spring of to the end of production in , 3, Ju 87s, mostly D-1s, D-2s and D-5s had been manufactured. At the start of , the coastal Luftwaffe Erprobungsstelle test centre at Tarnewitz tested this combination from a static position.

Wolfgang Vorwald noted the experiments were not successful, and suggested the cannon be installed on the Messerschmitt Me Stepp also noted that the aircraft was also less agile than the existing D variants. With the G variant, the ageing airframe of the Ju 87 found new life as an anti-tank aircraft. This was the final operational version of the Stuka, and was deployed on the Eastern Front.

The reverse in German military fortunes after and the appearance of huge numbers of well-armoured Soviet tanks caused Junkers to adapt the existing design to combat this new threat. The Henschel Hs B had proved a potent ground attack weapon, but its large fuel tanks made it vulnerable to enemy fire, prompting the RLM to say "that in the shortest possible time a replacement of the Hs type must take place.

On 3 November, Erhard Milch raised the question of replacing the Ju 87, or redesigning it altogether. Furthermore, the armoured protection of the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik - a feature pioneered by the origin Junkers J. These gun pods were fitted to a Ju 87 D-1, W.

In April , the first production Ju 87 G-1s were delivered to front line units. With these weapons, the Kanonenvogel "cannon-bird" , as it was nicknamed, proved very successful in the hands of Stuka aces such as Rudel. The G-1 was converted from older D-series airframes, retaining the smaller wing, but without the dive brakes.

The G-2 was similar to the G-1 except for use of the extended wing of the D Only a handful of production Gs were committed in the Battle of Kursk. Pilots were also asked to complete the new "Blind Flying Certificate 3", which was especially introduced for this new type of operation. Pilots were trained at night, over unfamiliar terrain, and forced to rely on their instruments for direction.

To help the pilot see his instrument panel, a violet light was installed. In the first half of , 12 Nachtschlachtgruppen "night battle groups" had been formed, flying a multitude of different types of aircraft, including the Ju 87, which proved itself ideally suited to the low-level slow flying needed. Despite teething problems with the Ju 87, the RLM ordered Ju 87 A-1s into production and wanted to receive delivery of all machines between January and The Junkers production capacity was fully occupied and licensing to other production facilities became necessary.

According to audit records in Berlin, by the end of the financial year on 30 September , 3,, RM had been spent on Ju 87 airframes. Another R-1s and seven R-2s had been built. The range of the B-2 was not sufficient, and it was dropped in favour of the Ju 87 R long-range versions in the second half of The R-1s were converted to R-2 status and a further production R-2s were ordered.

In May , the development of the D-1 was planned and was ordered into production by March The expansion of the Junkers Ju 88 production lines to compensate for the withdrawal of Dornier Do 17 production delayed production of the Ju 87 D. The Weserflug plant in Lemwerder experienced production shortfalls. Junkers were able to supply German workers to the Weserflug factory, and as an interim solution, Soviet prisoners of war and Soviet civilians deported to Germany.

WFG received an official commendation. Chief of Procurement General Walter Herthel found that each unit needed Ju 87s as standard strength and an average of 20 per month to cover attrition. Not until June—December did production capacity increase, and 80 Ju 87s were produced per month. Production now reached Ju 87 D airframes per month, but spare parts were failing to reach the same production levels. Undercarriage parts were in particularly short supply.

Milch ordered production to Ju 87s per month in September This was not achievable due to the insufficient production capacity in the Reich. The RLM considered setting up production facilities in Slovakia. But this would delay production until the buildings and factories could be furnished with the machine tools. These tools were also in short supply, and the RLM hoped to purchase them from Switzerland and Italy.

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The Slovaks could provide 3,—4, workers, but no technical personnel. In October, production plans were dealt another blow when one of WFGs plants burned down, leaving a chronic shortage of tailwheels and undercarriage parts. Junkers director and member of the Luftwaffe industry council Carl Frytag reported that by January only Ju 87s could be produced at Bremen and at Berlin-Tempelhof. General der Schlachtflieger "General of Close-Support Aviation" Ernst Kupfer decided continued development would "hardly bring any further tactical value". Adolf Galland , a fighter pilot with operational and combat experience in strike aircraft, said that abandoning development would be premature, but machines per month would be sufficient.

On 28 July , strike and bomber production was to be scaled down, and fighter and bomber destroyer production given priority. On 3 August , Milch contradicted this and declared that this increase in fighter production would not affect production of the Ju 87, Ju , Ju and Ju This was an important consideration as the life expectancy of a Ju 87 had been reduced since from 9. Milch finally agreed and ordered the minimal continuance of Ju 87 D-3 and D-5 production for a smooth transition period.

In the next six months, Ju 87 Ds and Gs were added to the Ju 87 force as new or repaired aircraft. It is unknown whether any Ju 87s were built from parts unofficially after December and the end of production. Production of the Ju 87 R and D variants was transferred to the Weserflug company, which produced 5, of the 6, Ju 87s produced in total. Attacks throughout caused little lasting damage and succeeded only in damaging some Ju 87 airframes, in contrast to the Focke-Wulf plant in Bremen.

The WFG again went unscathed. The Junkers factory at Dessau was heavily attacked, but not until Ju 87 production had ceased. The Ju 87 repair facility at the Wels aircraft works was destroyed on 30 May , and the site abandoned Ju 87 links. The only known information pertaining to its combat career in Spain is that it was piloted by Unteroffizier Herman Beuer, and took part in the Nationalist offensive against Bilbao in Presumably the aircraft was then secretly returned to Germany. Several problems became evident - the spatted undercarriage sank into muddy airfield surfaces, and the spats were temporarily removed.

These aircraft supported the Nationalist forces and carried out anti-shipping missions until they returned to Germany in October A few days later several German soldiers came to the villages to photograph and study the results of the bombardment. There was no battle going on in the region and it appears that it was a mission only to test the airplanes. It was claimed that the rebel forces of Franco did know nothing of it and that it was ordered directly by the Luftwaffe.

On the morning of 21 January , 34 Heinkel He , along with some escorts and three Ju 87B, attacked the Port of Barcelona , five days before the city was captured by the Fascists. That was the only time a Stuka attacked the capital of Catalonia. During the attack the Republican ground defenders, equipped with a quadruple PM M mounting, hit one pilot Heinz Bohne in both legs and the Stuka crashed, seriously injuring Bohne, and his machine gunner, Albert Conrad.

Those two were the only Stuka casualties of the war. As with the Ju 87 A-0, the B-1s were returned discreetly to the Reich. The Ju 87 had not been tested against numerous and well-coordinated fighter opposition; this lesson was learned later at great cost to the Stuka crews. All Stuka units were moved to Germany's eastern border in preparation for the invasion of Poland. On the morning of 15 August , during a mass-formation dive-bombing demonstration for high-ranking commanders of the Luftwaffe at Neuhammer training grounds near Sagan , 13 Ju 87s and 26 crew members were lost when they crashed into the ground almost simultaneously.

The planes dived through cloud, expecting to release their practice bombs and pull out of the dive once below the cloud ceiling, unaware that the ceiling was too low and unexpected ground mist formed, leaving them no time to pull out of the dive. Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe records indicate a total force of Ju 87 A and Bs were available for operations on 31 August To do this, Ju 87s were ordered to perform a low-level attack on the Polish Army Garrison headquarters.

The Stukas attacked 11 minutes before the official German declaration of hostilities and hit the targets. The Ju 87s achieved complete success. The mission failed as the German Army delayed their advance allowing the Poles to carry out repairs and destroy all but one of the bridges before the Germans could reach them.

In air-to-air combat, Ju 87 formations were well protected by German fighter aircraft and losses were light against the tenacious, but short lived opposition. The Ju 87s reverted to ground attack missions for the campaign after the opening air attacks. The lack of anti-aircraft artillery in the Polish Army magnified the impact of the Ju Troop trains were also easy targets. StG 77 destroyed one such target at Radomsko. Demoralised, the Poles surrendered.

The Stukas also participated in the Battle of Bzura which resulted in the breaking of Polish resistance. The Luftwaffe had a few anti-shipping naval units such as 4. This unit performed effectively, sinking the ton destroyer Wicher and the minelayer Gryf of the Polish Navy both moored in a harbour. The Polish naval units trapped in the Baltic were destroyed by Ju 87 operations. Once again, enemy air opposition was light, and the Stukawaffe Stuka force lost 31 aircraft during the campaign.

Denmark capitulated within the day; Norway continued to resist with British and French help. Instead, the Germans relied on paratroops transported by Junkers Ju 52s and specialised ski troops. The Ju 87s were given the role of ground attack and anti-shipping missions; they proved to be the most effective weapon in the Luftwaffe's armoury carrying out the latter task. On 9 April, the first Stukas took off at As a result, the German naval operation failed. The Stukas had numerous successes against Allied naval vessels and in particular the Royal Navy which posed a formidable threat to German naval and coastal operations.

The heavy cruiser Suffolk was attacked on 17 April. Her stern was virtually destroyed but she limped back to Scapa Flow with 33 dead and 38 wounded crewmen. The light cruiser squadron consisting of the sister ships Curacoa and Curlew were subjected to lengthy attacks which badly damaged the former for one Ju 87 lost. A witness later said, "they threatened to take our masthead with them in every screaming nerve-racking dive". On 27 April, a bomb passed through the quarterdeck, a wardroom, a water tank and 4-inch The muffled explosion limited the damage to her hull.

Black Swan fired 1, rounds, but failed to shoot any of her attackers down. Bison ' s forward magazine was hit, killing of the crew. Afridi , which attempted to rescue Bison ' s survivors, was sunk with the loss of 63 sailors. Armed trawlers were used under the German air umbrella in an attempt to make smaller targets. Such craft were not armoured or armed. The Ju 87s demonstrated this on 30 April when they sank the Jardine tons and Warwickshire tons.

On 15 May, the Polish troopship Chrobry 11, tons was sunk. The Stukas also had an operational effect, even when little damage was done. The carriers mounted fighter patrols over the ships evacuating troops from Andalsnes. The Stuka waves accompanied by He s achieved several near misses, but were unable to obtain a hit. Nevertheless, Wells ordered that no ship was to operate within range of the Ju 87s' Norwegian airfields.

The Ju 87s had, in effect, driven British sea power from the Norwegian coast. Moreover, Victor reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet Admiral, Charles Forbes , that carrier operations were no longer practical under the current conditions. In the following weeks, StG 1 continued their sea operations.

The Ju 87s then took to bombing the town and the airstrip to support the German forces under the command of Eduard Dietl.

The town fell in the first week of May. In the remaining four weeks of the campaign in Norway, the Ju 87s supported German forces in containing the Allied land forces in Narvik until they withdrew in early June. The Ju 87 units had learned lessons from the Polish and Norwegian campaigns. The failures of Poland and the Stukas of I. This was to pay off in the Western campaign. The Stuka demonstrated its accuracy when the small building was destroyed by four direct hits.

As a result, only one of the three bridges was destroyed, allowing the German Army to rapidly advance in the opening days of the Battle of Belgium. In pitched battles against French armoured forces at Hannut and Gembloux Ju 87s effectively neutralised artillery and armour. The Ju 87s also assisted German forces in the Battle of the Netherlands. The British Valentine was crippled, beached and scuttled while Winchester , Whitley and Westminster were damaged. A dive bomber was vulnerable to low-level ground fire as it dived towards its target, since it was often headed in a straight line directly towards the defenders.

At higher levels, this was less of a problem, as larger AA anti-aircraft shells were fused to explode at specific altitudes, which is impossible to determine while the plane is diving. In addition, most higher-altitude gunners and gunnery systems were designed to calculate the lateral movement of a target; while diving, the target appears almost stationary.

Also, many AA mounts lacked the ability to fire directly up, so dive bombers were almost never exposed to fire from directly ahead. Dive brakes were employed on many designs to create drag which slowed the aircraft in its dive and increased accuracy. Air brakes on modern aircraft function in a similar manner in bleeding off excessive speed. It is difficult to establish how dive bombing originated. Some recorded altitude at the top and bottom of their dive in log books and in squadron records, but not the steepness of the dive. It was certainly not near-vertical, as these early aircraft could not withstand the stresses of a sustained vertical dive.

The Royal Naval Air Service was bombing the Zeppelin sheds in Germany and in occupied Belgium and found it worthwhile to dive onto these sheds to ensure a hit, despite the increased casualties from ground fire. Again, the angle of dive in these attacks was not recorded. The "TF" stood for "Trench Fighter", and the aircraft was designed to attack enemy trenches both with Vickers. Of the 37 Salamanders produced before the end of October , only two were delivered to France, and the war ended before those planes saw action. It had armoured protection for the pilot and a fuel system to attack at low level, but lacked dive brakes for a vertical dive.

Heavy casualties resulting from air-to-ground attack on trenches set the minds of senior officers in the newly-formed Royal Air Force against dive bombing. So not until did the Air Ministry issue specifications for both land-based and carrier-based dive bombers. It had dive brakes that doubled as flaps for carrier landings. The American and Japanese navies and the Luftwaffe chose vertical dive bombers whose low speed had dire consequences when they encountered modern fighters. The Royal Naval Air Service developed dive bombing as a tactic against Zeppelin hangars and formed and trained a squadron at Manchester for this task.

As Zeppelins were tethered close to stores of hydrogen, results were often spectacular. The Royal Flying Corps developed strafing with diving aircraft using both machine guns and small bombs as a deliberate tactic. The cost in pilots was very high, with casualties on some days reaching 30 percent. The Sopwith Salamander was developed as the first dedicated ground attack fighter. Based on the Sopwith Snipe it had pounds kilograms of armour in the front end to protect the pilot and fuel against ground fire. While 1, were ordered, only two were delivered to France before the Armistice.

Only were produced. The initial impact at Cambrai was highly successful. Fuller published findings which were later taken up by Heinz Guderian to form the basis for the blitzkrieg tactics of using dive bombers with tanks employed by the Germans in — He was awarded the Military Cross for this and other exploits. But the heavy casualties to unprotected pilots cast a pall over the results and influenced RAF thinking for 20 years.

The Royal Flying Corps was initially impressed with the potential of the dive bomber, but was aware of its suicidal nature. It ran a series of tests at the Armament Experimental station at Orfordness in Suffolk. In principle, it obviated the need for a vertical dive. But they were not considered good enough to justify the expected casualties.

The Royal Air Force , which took over both army and naval aviation in April , retired its Sopwith Salamander dive bombers at the end of the war. The later Salmson 4 was to be a ground attack and dive bomber, but production was cancelled at the end of the war. Mitchell became a strong advocate of dive bombers after witnessing British and French aerial attacks. Opposite conclusions were drawn by the RAF and USAS, from two very different tests regarding the usefulness of dive bombers, with the RAF concluding that the cost in pilots was too high to justify the results and the USAS considering it as a potent anti-ship weapon.

Both naval staffs opposed the view taken by the respective airmen. Sanderson mounted a rifle in front of the windshield of his Curtiss JN-4 a training aircraft as an improvised bomb sight , loaded a bomb in a canvas bag attached to the plane's underside, and made a solo attack in support of US Marines trapped by Haitians during the United States occupation of Haiti.

Sanderson's bomb hit its target and the raids were repeated. During , Sanderson familiarized aviators of USMC units on the Atlantic coast with dive bombing techniques [24] Dive bombing was also used during the United States occupation of Nicaragua. As aircraft grew more powerful, dive bombing became a favoured tactic particularly against small targets such as ships.

The Imperial Japanese Navy ordered the Heinkel He 50 in as a floatplane and carrier-based dive bomber and embarked some on new carriers from in a developed form as the Heinkel He 66 , from which the Aichi D1A was further developed in Japan. The Luftwaffe confiscated a Chinese export shipment and ordered more. Navies increasingly operated carriers, which had a limited number of aircraft available for attack, each with only a small bomb load.

Targets were often likely to be a small or fast-moving and the need for accuracy made dive bombers essential. Udet, then a stunt pilot, flew one in aerobatic displays during the Berlin Olympic Games. Due to his connections with the Nazi party , he became the development director of the Ministry of Aviation Nazi Germany , where he pushed for dive bomber development.

Dive bombing would allow a low-cost Luftwaffe to operate effectively in the tactical role. Against small targets, a single-engine dive bomber could achieve four times the accuracy at one tenth of the cost of a four engine heavy bomber, such as the projected Ural bomber , [30] and it could reach the battlefield well ahead of field artillery. Soon the Luftwaffe issued a contract for its own dive bomber design, resulting in the Junkers K 47 , which, following extensive trials, would in turn result in the gull-winged Junkers Ju 87 Stuka a contraction of Sturzkampfflugzeug , literally "diving combat airplane".

Several problems appeared, including the tendency of the fixed undercarriage to sink into soft ground and an inability to take-off with a full bomb load. Condor Legion experience in Spain demonstrated the value of dive bombers especially on the morale of troops or civilians unprotected by air cover.

Udet was impressed with the Stuka's performance in Spain, so he ordered that the Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber should also be retrofitted as a dive bomber. He also insisted, against the advice of Ernst Heinkel , that the Heinkel He bomber, ordered in November , be able to dive bomb. Lack of a sufficiently powerful, reliable powerplant fatally compromised its utility, it never performed in the dive bomber role, and the requirement was eventually dropped. The Skua had a secondary function [34] of intercepting attacks by unescorted long-range bombers.

Just were built and it was relegated to target towing. Five airframes left behind in Halifax later reached the RAF, who quickly relegated them to the status of ground instructional airframes for the training of mechanics. It was to prove a potent weapon against surface ships. Only the Wehrmacht learned from the Battle of Cambrai in using dive bombers in conjunction with tanks.

The writings of Colonel J. Fuller a staff officer and Basil Liddell-Hart a military journalist propounded the concept of mobile tank forces supported by ground-attack aircraft creating a breakthrough. These were eagerly studied by Heinz Guderian , who created the combination of Panzers and Junkers Ju 87s that proved so potent in Poland and France. The Stuka could be used as aerial artillery moving far ahead of the main forces with Panzers to smash enemy strong points without waiting for the horse-drawn artillery to catch up.

It was central to the concept of Blitzkrieg which required close co-ordination between aircraft and tanks by radio. Both were level bombers with similar bomb-loads and entered service in Many were also supplied to the Soviet Air Force, which also used the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft in huge numbers. None of these were dive bombers. The invasion of Poland and the Battle of France saw the Stuka used to devastating effect. German blitzkrieg tactics utilised dive bombers in place of artillery to support highly mobile ground troops.

The British Expeditionary Force had set up strong defensive positions on the west bank of the Oise River to block rapidly advancing German armour. Stukas quickly broke the defences, and a crossing was forced long before German artillery arrived. This enabled German forces to make a fast and unexpected breakthrough of the French lines, eventually leading to the German advance to the Channel and the cutting off of much of the Allied army.

The skies over Sedan also showed the Stuka's weakness when met with fighter opposition; six French Curtiss Hs attacked a formation of unescorted Ju 87s and shot down 11 out of 12 without loss. Losses were such that it was rapidly withdrawn from operations over the United Kingdom.

The Stuka had 7. Some were modified to destroy tanks with heavy calibre, 37mm Bordkanone BK 3,7 autocannons mounted in gun pods below the wings. They were very successful in this role in the early days of Operation Barbarossa before the Red Army Air Force countered with modern fighters, such as the Yakovlev Yak-1 and later Yakovlev Yak-3 [44]. The most successful dive bomber pilot was Hans-Ulrich Rudel who made 2, sorties.

Later, using a tank buster Stuka with 20mm cannon, he claimed over Soviet tanks destroyed, mostly at the Battle of Kursk in July The Ju 87G Kanonenvogel equipped with two 37mm BK 3,7 anti-tank guns, as suggested by Rudel, proved to be a lethal weapon in skilled hands. In the Soviet counter-offensive, Operation Kutuzov , which concluded Kursk, the Luftwaffe claimed 35 tanks destroyed in a single day. When Italy joined the war on the Axis side, Breda Ba 65s were shipped to North Africa for use against the British but they also proved vulnerable.

By February , most had been shot down by British fighters. The United States Army Air Force took delivery of a few North American Mustangs from a British order but, as there were no funds to buy more fighters, they were modified as dive bombers with a new wing and dive brakes. The aircraft was very fast at low altitude. Sadly, it was also accident-prone, achieving the highest casualty rate during training of any USAAF aircraft and was officially restricted to no more than a degree dive. It proved to be an excellent dive bomber and a good fighter, creating one ace in Italy who shot down five German fighters [50].

The Royal Navy's Fairey Swordfish and Albacore torpedo-dive bombers and Blackburn Skua dive bombers were replaced by Fairey Barracuda torpedo-dive bombers, which made repeated diving attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz which lay protected by torpedo nets in a Norwegian fjord, during The Vultee Vengeance was developed in the US as a private venture dive bomber for export.

It first flew in March It had a zero incidence wing, which was perfect for vertical dives as there was no lift from wing or tailplane in a dive. But it had to fly in a nose up attitude to maintain level flight, which made landings difficult. Initial orders were for France, but France fell before they could be delivered. It was considered too vulnerable to German fighters for use in Europe or North Africa, but large numbers flew in Burma from March It flew close support for General William Slim 's Burma campaign bombing Japanese supply routes, bridges and artillery.

Japan started the war with a very good design, the carrier-borne Aichi D3A "Val". As the war progressed, the design became outdated due to its limited speed, due in part to the limited horsepower of its power plant and to the greater drag of its fixed main landing gear a shortcoming shared by the Stuka. Both American airplanes were ubiquitous, with 6, Dauntlesses and over 7, Helldivers built. They were attacked by a large number of Aichi D3As and both were sunk.

The Combat Air Patrol of formidable Mitsubishi A6M Zeros had been drawn away, chasing torpedo bombers and escorting fighters, leaving a clear sky. Soryu and Kaga were ablaze within six minutes, while Akagi , hit only once, suffered fatal damage as the single bomb ignited fuel and bombs in the hangar. Later on 4 June, Yorktown and Enterprise dive bombers inflicted fatal damage on the fourth Japanese carrier "Hiryu". Within hours the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost four of its aircraft carriers and many experienced naval airmen, both of which Japan would have difficulty in replacing.

In crates headed for the Philippines, they were diverted to Australia and operated from Charters Towers in Queensland. On 26 July , just seven Banshees were sent to intercept a Japanese convoy supplying forces occupying New Guinea. Six were shot down. With a sleek fuselage, retracting landing gear and a powerful licensed Daimler-Benz engine, it could outpace pursuing Grumman F4F Wildcats. To maximise speed and range, the Japanese had dispensed with armour protection and self-sealing fuel tanks, which proved to be very costly when the US Navy deployed the new Essex-class aircraft carriers , which each carried 36 of the faster Grumman F6F Hellcats.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19—20 June was a failure in terms of Japanese carriers hit, but the losses of Vals and Judies and their crews were enough to destroy the Japanese navy's ability to strike by air ever again. Henceforward attacks were mostly confined to kamikaze.

Japan's industrial output dropped from a peak in , while that of the US increased by a quarter in two years from to After World War II , the rise of precision-guided munitions and improved anti-aircraft defences — both fixed gunnery positions and fighter interception — led to a fundamental change in dive bombing. New weapons, such as rockets, allowed for better accuracy from smaller dive angles and from greater distances. They could be fitted to almost any aircraft including fighters , improving their effectiveness without the inherent vulnerabilities of dive bombers, which needed air superiority to operate effectively.

However, the British Government's Chief Scientist, Henry Tizard , formed a panel of experts, which recommended using rockets. A rocket has a much flatter trajectory than a bomb, allowing it to be launched with reasonable accuracy from a shallow dive, and could be fitted on existing aircraft.

These rockets were fitted with iron spikes and fired at a shallow angle into the sea.