Junkers Ju 88
Encyclopedia
The Junkers
Ju 88 was a World War II
German Luftwaffe
twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers
' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early operational roles, but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Affectionately known as "The Maid of all Work" (a feminine version of "jack of all trades
"), the Ju 88 proved to be suited to almost any role. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it was used successfully as a bomber
, dive bomber
, night fighter
, torpedo bomber
, reconnaissance aircraft
, heavy fighter
, and even as a flying bomb
during the closing stages of conflict.
Despite its protracted development, the aircraft became one of the Luftwaffes most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German
aircraft of the period. Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged, proof of the outstanding quality of the original design.
s (Werknummer 4941 and 4942). The first two aircraft were to have a range of 2,000 km (1,240 mi) and were to be powered by two DB 600s
. Three further aircraft, (Werknummer 4943, 4944 and 4945), were to be powered by Jumo 211
engines. The first two prototypes, Ju 88 V1 and V2, were different from the V3, V4 and V5 in that the latter three models were equipped with three defensive armament positions to the rear of the cockpit
, and were able to carry two 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs, one under each inner wing panel.
The first five prototypes had conventionally operating dual-strut leg rearwards-retracting main gear
, but starting with the V6 prototype, a main gear design that twisted the new, single-leg main gear strut through 90° during the retraction sequence debuted, much like the American Curtiss P-40
fighter
design used. This feature allowed the main wheels to end up above the lower end of the strut when fully retracted and was adopted as standard for all future production Ju 88s, and only minimally modified for the later Ju 188 and 388 developments of it. These single-leg landing gear struts also made use of stacks of conical Belleville washer
s inside them, as their main form of suspension for takeoffs and landings.
By 1938 radical modifications from the first prototype began to produce a "heavy" dive bomber. The wings were strengthened, dive brakes were added, the fuselage
was extended and the number of crewmembers was increased to four. Due to these advances, the Ju 88 was to enter the war as a medium bomber
.
The choice of annular radiator
s for engine cooling on the Ju 88, which placed these radiators immediately forward of each engine, and directly behind each propeller, allowed the cooling lines for the engine coolant and oil
-cooling radiators (integrated within the annular design) to be just about as short as possible. The concept may have led to a number of other German military aircraft designs adopting the same solution, such as the Arado Ar 240
, Heinkel He 177
, Heinkel He 219
, the inline powered developments of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190
and the twin engined Focke-Wulf Ta 154
.
The aircraft's first flight was made by the prototype Ju 88 V1, which bore the civil registration D-AQEN, on 21 December 1936. When it first flew, it managed about 580 km/h (360 mph) and Hermann Göring
, head of the Luftwaffe was ecstatic. It was an aircraft that could finally fulfill the promise of the Schnellbomber
, a high-speed bomber. The streamlined fuselage was modeled after its contemporary, the Dornier Do 17
, but with fewer defensive guns because the belief still held that it could outrun late 1930s-era fighters. The fifth prototype set a 1,000 km (620 mi) closed-circuit record in March 1939, carrying a 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) payload at a speed of 517 km/h (320 mph). However, by the time Luftwaffe planners had had their own "pet" features added (including dive-bombing), the Ju 88's top speed had dropped to around 450 km/h (280 mph).
The Ju 88 V7 was fitted with cable-cutting equipment to combat the potential threat of British barrage balloon
s, and was successfully tested in this role. The V7 then had the Ju 88 A-1 "beetle's eye" faceted nose glazing installed, complete with the Bola undernose ventral defensive machine gun
emplacement, and was put through a series of dive-bombing tests with 250 kg (550 lb) and 500 kg (1,100 lb) bombs, and in early 1940, with 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs.
The Ju 88 V8 (Stammkennzeichen of DG+BF, Wrk Nr 4948) flew on the 3 October 1938. The A-0 series was developed through the V9 and V10 prototypes. The A-1 series prototypes were Wrk Nrs 0003, 0004 and 0005. The A-1s were given the Jumo 211B-1 or G powerplants.
Dr. Heinrich Koppenberg (managing director of Jumo) assured Göring in the autumn of 1938 that 300 Ju 88s per month was definitely possible. Göring was in favour of the A-1 variant for mass production.
Production was delayed drastically with developmental problems. Although planned for a service introduction in 1938, the Ju 88 finally entered squadron service (with only 12 aircraft) on the first day of the attack on Poland in 1939. Production was painfully slow with only one Ju 88 manufactured per week, as problems continually kept cropping up. The Ju 88C series of heavy fighter was also designed very early in 1940, but kept secret from Göring, as he only wanted bombers.
had ordered the development of the Ju 88 as a heavy dive bomber. This decision was influenced by the success of the Ju 87
Stuka in this role. The Junkers development center at Dessau
gave priority to the study of pull-out systems, and dive brake
s.
The first prototype to be tested as a dive bomber was the Ju 88 V4 followed by the V5 and V6. These models became the planned prototype for the A-1 series. The V5 made its maiden flight on 13 April 1938, and the V6 on 28 June 1938. Both the V5 and V6 were fitted with four-blade propellers, an extra bomb bay and a central "control system".
As a dive bomber, the Ju 88 was capable of pinpoint deliveries of heavy loads; however, despite all the modifications, dive bombing still proved too stressful for the airframe, and in 1943, tactics were changed so that bombs were delivered from a shallower, 45° diving angle. Aircraft and bomb sights were accordingly modified and dive brakes were removed. With an advanced Stuvi dive-bombsight
, accuracy remained very good for its time. Maximum bomb load of the A-4 was 2,500 kg (5,510 lb), but in practice, standard bomb load was 1,500-2,000 kg (3,310-4,410 lb). Junkers later used the A-4 airframe
for the A-17 torpedo carrier. However, the variant lacked a ventral gun position.
and therefore assigned to bomber units. As a reaction to the increasing number of attacks on German shipping, especially on U-boats in the Bay of Biscay
, from July 1942 started flying anti-shipping patrols and escort missions from bases in France. V/.Kampfgeschwader 40 being formed to operate the C-6.
The aircraft of V./KG 40 (which was redesignated I./Zerstörergeschwader 1
in 1943) were a significant threat to the antisubmarine aircraft and operated as escort fighters for the more vulnerable Focke-Wulf Fw 200
Condor bombers. Between July 1942 and July 1944, the Ju 88s of KG 40 and ZG 1 were credited with 109 confirmed air-to-air victories, at a cost of 117 losses. They were finally deployed against the Allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944, incurring heavy losses for little effect before being disbanded on 5 August 1944.
, designed starting from 1942 and produced in small numbers. The prototype, derived from a standard Ju 88 A-4, was armed with a 7.5 cm anti-tank gun derived from the 7.5 cm PaK 40 installed in a large conformal gun pod
under the fuselage. This was followed by a small batch of Ju 88 P-1, which standardized the solid sheet metal nose of the C version for all known examples of the P-series, and used the new 7.5 cm PaK 40L semi-automatic gun, also known as BK 7,5. which was also meant for use in the later Henschel Hs 129B-3 dedicated anti-armor aircraft. The Ju 88P-1 was produced in some 40 units, but with the massive cannon installation resulting in a slow and vulnerable aircraft, it was soon replaced by the Ju 88 P-2, featuring two 3.7 cm BK 37
guns, whose higher muzzle velocity proved useful against the Russian tanks in the Eastern Front. This aircraft was used by Erprobungskommando 25. The Ju 88 P-3 added further armor for the crew, and was delivered at one Staffel of the Nachtschlachtgruppen 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 for night attacks in the Eastern Front, in northern Norway (NSGr 8) and Italy (NSGr 9). Finally, the Ju 88 P-4 mounted a smaller-volume ventral gun pod housing a 5 cm auto-loading BK 5 cannon and, in some cases, 6.5 cm solid propellant rockets.
The first night fighter version of the Ju 88 was the C-2, based on the A-1 and armed with one 20 mm MG FF cannon
and three 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
s placed in a new metal nose. These examples entered service in Zerstörerstaffel of KG 30 and the unit was renamed II./NJG 1 in July 1940.
The C-6b version was the C-6 Zerstörer plane equipped with FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC
low-UHF band airborne intercept radar
, using the complex 32-dipole Matratze antennas. The first four C-6b fighters were tested in early 1942 by NJG 1
. The trials were successful and the aircraft was ordered into production. In October 1943, many C-6bs were upgraded with new radar systems. The first new radar equipment was the FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, followed in 1944 by the VHF-band FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2.
A small number of the C-series fighters had their new solid-metal noses specially painted to resemble the bomber A-series' "beetle's eye" faceted clear view nose glazing, in an attempt to deceive Allied pilots into thinking the fighters were actually bombers; the unusual "camouflage" attempt did result initially in a number of Allied aerial losses.
radial engines. The R-1 had 1,560 PS BMW 801L engines and the R-2 had 1,700 PS BMW 801 G-2 engines.
One of the first aircraft from the R-1 series that went into service (Werknummer 360043) was involved in one of the most significant defections which the Luftwaffe suffered. On 9 May 1943, this night fighter, which was stationed with 10./NJG 3 in Norway, flew to the RAF Station at Dyce (now Aberdeen Airport
) with its entire crew and complete electronic equipment on board. The fact that Spitfire fighters escorted it towards the end of its flight could indicate that its arrival had been expected. It was immediately transferred to Farnborough Airfield
, received RAF markings and serial
(PJ876), and was tested in great detail. The preserved aircraft is on exhibit at the RAF Museum
. The Luftwaffe only learned of this defection the following month when members of the crew, pilot Oberleutnant Heinrich Schmitt and Oberfeldwebel Paul Rosenberger and Erich Kantwill, made broadcasts on British radio.
and less weight. G-1 aircraft were fitted with the enlarged squared-off vertical fin
/rudder
tail unit of the Ju 188
, more powerful armament and 1,700 PS BMW 801
G-2 radial engines. Electronic equipment consisted of the then-standard FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 90 MHz VHF radar using eight-dipole Hirschgeweih antennas, plus sometimes additional FuG 350 Naxos
with its antenna in a teardrop-shaped fairing above the canopy, or FuG 227 Flensburg
radar detection homing devices. One of these was flown by mistake to RAF Woodbridge in July 1944, giving the Royal Air Force its first chance to check out the VHF-band Lichtenstein SN-2 radar and Flensburg radar detector gear.
G-6 versions were equipped with 1,750 PS Jumo 213A
inline-V12 engines, enlarged fuel tanks and often one or two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon
s in a Schräge Musik
("Jazz Music", i.e. slanted) installation. These guns were pointed obliquely upwards and forwards from the upper fuselage - usually at an angle of 70°.
Some of the final G-series models received updates to the engine, a high-altitude Jumo 213E or to the radar, FuG 218 Neptun V/R or the even newer FuG 240 Berlin N-1 cavity magnetron
based, 3 GHz-band (centimetric) radar. Only about 15 of those were completed before V-E Day.
Many Luftwaffe night fighter aces, such as Helmut Lent
(110 victories) and Heinrich von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
(87 victories) flew Ju 88s during their careers.
The Imperial Japanese Navy
ordered the specifications of an anti-submarine
patrol/escort fleet aircraft, based on a medium bomber. Kyūshū closely patterned the Kyūshū Q1W
Tokai ("Eastern Sea", Allied codename "Lorna") antisubmarine patrol/fleet escort aircraft after the Ju 88.
for Operation Weserübung
. The unit was equipped with Ju 88s and engaged Allied shipping as its main target. On 9 April 1940, Ju 88s of KG 30 dive-bombed, in cooperation with high-level bombing Heinkel He 111
s of KG 26, and helped damage the battleship
and sink the destroyer
. However, the unit lost four Ju 88s in the action, the highest single loss of the aircraft in combat throughout the campaign.
) contained Ju 88s in the combat role.
The mixed bomber units, including the Ju 88, of Kampfgeschwader 51
(under the command of Luftflotte 3
) helped claim between 233 and 248 Allied aircraft on the ground between 10–13 May 1940.
The Ju 88 was particularly effective at dive-bombing. Between 13–24 May, I. and II./KG 54 flew 174 attack against rail systems, paralysing French logistics and mobility.
On 17 June 1940, Junkers Ju 88s (mainly from Kampfgeschwader 30) destroyed a "10,000 tonne ship", the 16,243 grt ocean liner
, off Saint-Nazaire
, killing some 5,800 Allied personnel.
Some 133 Ju 88s were pressed into the Blitzkrieg
, but very high combat losses and accidents forced a quick withdrawal from action to re-train crews to fly this very high performance aircraft. Some crews were reported to be more scared of the Ju 88 than the enemy, and requested a transfer to a He 111 unit. By this time, major performance deficiencies in the A-1 led to an all-out effort in a major design rework. The outcome was a longer, 20.08 m (65 ft 10½ in) wingspan
, from extended rounded wing tip
s that had already been standardised on the A-4 version, that was deemed needed for all A-1s; thus the A-5 was born. Surviving A-1s were modified as quickly as possible, with new wings to A-5 specifications.
The Battle of Britain
proved very costly. Its faster speed did not prevent Ju 88 losses exceeding those of its Dornier Do 17
and Heinkel He 111 stablemates, despite being deployed in smaller numbers than either. Ju 88 losses over Britain in 1940 amounted to 313 machines between July–October 1940. One notable incident involved ground fighting between the crew of an A-1 and soldiers from the London Irish Rifles
during the Battle of Graveney Marsh
on 27 September 1940. It was the last action between British and foreign military forces on British mainland soil. Do 17 and He 111 losses for the same period amounted to 132 and 252 machines destroyed respectively. A series of field kits were made to make it less vulnerable, including the replacement of the rear machine gun by a twin-barreled machine gun, and additional cockpit armour.
It was during the closing days of the Battle of Britain that the flagship Ju 88 A-4 went into service. Although slower yet than the A-1, nearly all of the troubles of the A-1 were gone, and finally the Ju 88 matured into a superb warplane. The A-4 actually saw additional improvements including more powerful engines, but, unlike other aircraft in the Luftwaffe, did not see a model code change. The Ju 88 C-series also benefited from the A-4 changes, and when the Luftwaffe finally did decide on a new heavy fighter, the Ju 88C was a powerful, refined aircraft.
The Ju 88 was to prove a very capable and valuable asset to the Luftwaffe in the east. The Ju 88 units met with instant success, attacking enemy airfields and positions at low level and causing enormous losses for little damage in return.
3./Kampfgeschwader 3
attacked Pinsk
airfield in the morning of the 22 June 1941. It caught, and claimed destroyed, 60 Soviet bombers on the ground. The 39 SBAP Regiment of the 10 Division SAD actually lost 43 Tupolev SB
a and five Petlyakov Pe-2
s. Ju 88s from Kampfgeschwader 51 destroyed over 100 aircraft after dispatching 80 Ju 88s to hit airfields. In general the Soviet aircraft were not dispersed and the Luftwaffe found them easy targets.
A report from the Soviet 23rd Tank Division of the 12th Armoured Corps reported a low-level attack by Ju 88s on 22 June, resulting in the loss of 40 tanks.
However, the Ju 88s were to suffer steady attritional losses. At 0415 on 22 June 1941, III./KG 51 attacked the airfield at Kurovitsa. Despite destroying 34 Polikarpov I-153
s, the Ju 88s were intercepted by 66 ShAP I-153s. Six Ju 88s were shot down before the German fighter escort dealt with the threat. By the end of the first day of the campaign, Ju 88 losses amounted to 23 destroyed.
Due to the lack of sufficient numbers of Ju 87 Stukas, the Ju 88 was employed in the direct ground support role. This resulted in severe losses from ground fire. Kampfgeschwader 1
, Kampfgeschwader 76
and Kampfgeschwader 77
reported the loss of 18 Ju 88s over enemy territory on 23 June. KG 76 and KG 77 reported the loss of a further four Ju 88s, of which 12 were 100% destroyed.
In the north, the VVS North-Western Front lost 465 aircraft on the ground, 148 of them bombers, to the Ju 88s of KG 1. A further 33 were damaged. Out of a total of 1,720 aircraft deployed by the VVS Northern Front on 22 June, it lost 890 and a further 187 suffered battle damage in eight days. The Ju 88s units helped virtually destroy Soviet airpower in the northern sector.
Again, the Ju 88 demonstrated its dive-bombing capability. Along with He 111s from KG 55, Ju 88s from KG 51 and 54 destroyed some 220 trucks and 40 tanks on 1 July, which helped repulse the Soviet South Western Front's offensive. The Ju 88s destroyed most rail links during interdiction
missions in the area, allowing Panzergruppe 1 to maintain the pace of its advance.
Ju 88 units operating over the Baltic states
during the battle for Estonia
inflicted severe losses on Soviet shipping, with the same dive-bombing tactics used over Norway
, France
and Britain
. KGr 806 sank the Soviet destroyer Karl Marx
on 8 August 1941 in Loksa Bay Tallinn
. On 28 August the Ju 88s had more success when KG 77 and KGr 806 sank the 2,026 grt
steamer Vironia, the 2,317 grt Lucerne, the 1,423 grt Artis Kronvalds and the ice breaker Krisjanis Valdemars (2,250 grt). The rest of the Soviet "fleet", were forced to change course. This took them through a heavily mined area. As a result, 21 Soviet warships, including five destroyers, struck mines and sank. On 29 August, the Ju 88s accounted for the transport ships Vtoraya Pyatiletka (3,974 grt), Kalpaks (2,190 grt) and Leningradsovet (1,270 grt) sunk. Furthermore, the ships Ivan Papanin, Saule, Kazakhstan and the Serp i Molot were damaged. Some 5,000 Soviet soldiers were lost.
against the USSR, the Finnish Air Force bought 24 Ju 88s from Germany. The aircraft were used to equip No. 44 Sqn which had previously operated Bristol Blenheim
s, but these were instead transferred to No. 42 Sqn. Due to the complexity of the Ju 88, most of 1943 was used for training the crews on the aircraft, and only a handful of bombing missions were undertaken. The most notable was a raid on the Lehto partisan village on 20 August 1943 (in which the whole squadron participated), and a raid on the Lavansaari air field (leaving seven Ju 88 damaged from forced landing in inclement weather). In the summer of 1943, the Finns noted stress damage on the wings. This had occurred when the aircraft were used in dive bombing. Restrictions followed: the dive brakes were removed and it was only allowed to dive at a 45-degree angle (compared to 60-80 degrees previously). In this way, they tried to spare the aircraft from unnecessary wear.
One of the more remarkable missions was a bombing raid on 9 March 1944 against Soviet Long Range Aviation
bases near Saint Petersburg
, when the Finnish aircraft, including Ju 88s, followed Soviet bombers returning from a night raid on Tallinn
, catching the Soviets unprepared and destroying many Soviet bombers and their fuel reserves, and a raid against the Aerosan
base at Petsnajoki on 22 March 1944. The whole bomber regiment took part in the defence against the Soviets during the fourth strategic offensive
. All aircraft flew several missions per day, day and night, when the weather permitted.
No. 44 Sqn was subordinated Lentoryhmä Sarko during the Lapland War
(now against Germany), and the Ju 88s were used both for reconnaissance and bombing. The targets were mostly vehicle columns. Reconnaissance flights were also made over northern Norway. The last war mission was flown on 4 April 1945.
After the wars, Finland was prohibited from using bomber aircraft with internal bomb stores. Consequently, the Finnish Ju 88s were used for training
until 1948. The aircraft were then scrapped over the following years. No Finnish Ju 88s have survived, but an engine is on display at the Central Finland Aviation Museum, and the structure of a German Ju 88 cockpit hood is preserved at the Finnish Aviation Museum
in Vantaa
.
engines.
Ju 88 A-0
Ju 88 A-1
Ju 88 A-2
Ju 88 A-3
Ju 88 A-4
Ju 88 B-0
Ju 88 C-1
Ju 88 C-2
Ju 88 C-4
Ju 88 C-5
Ju 88 C-6a
Ju 88 C-6b
Ju 88 C-6c
Ju 88 C-7a
Ju 88 C-7b
Ju 88 C-7c
Ju 88 D-1
Ju 88 D-2
Ju 88 D-3
Ju 88 D-4
Ju 88 D-5
Ju 88G-1
Ju 88 G-6
Ju 88 G-7
Ju 88 H-1
Ju 88 H-2
Ju 88 H-3
Ju 88 H-4
mount, which mandated removal of the Bola gondola under the cockpit section, conversion of A-series bomber. Produced in small series only, they were perceived as a failure for both anti-tank and anti-bomber use.
Ju 88 P-1
Ju 88 P-2
Ju 88 P-3
Ju 88 P-4
nitrous-oxide boost, fastest of all variants.
Ju 88 S-0
Ju 88 S-1
Ju 88 S-2
Ju 88 S-3
Ju 88 T-1
Ju 88 T-3
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Kingdom of Romania
and WNr.0880119 at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
.
Only two complete aircraft exist, which share the fact that defecting crews on each aircraft flew them into Allied hands:
Junkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG , more commonly Junkers, was a major German aircraft manufacturer. It produced some of the world's most innovative and best-known airplanes over the course of its fifty-plus year history in Dessau, Germany. It was founded there in 1895 by Hugo Junkers,...
Ju 88 was a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
German Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers
Hugo Junkers
Hugo Junkers was an innovative German engineer, as his many patents in varied areas show...
' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early operational roles, but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Affectionately known as "The Maid of all Work" (a feminine version of "jack of all trades
Jack of all trades
Jack of all trades may refer to:*Jack of all trades, master of none, an aphorism*Jack of All Trades , an American syndicated comedy/action program*Jack of All Trades , a 2007 album by Wildchild...
"), the Ju 88 proved to be suited to almost any role. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it was used successfully as a bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
, dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
, night fighter
Night fighter
A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility...
, torpedo bomber
Torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...
, reconnaissance aircraft
Aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...
, heavy fighter
Heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges. To achieve acceptable performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engined, and many had multi-place crews....
, and even as a flying bomb
Mistel
The Mistel , also known as Beethoven-Gerät and Vati und Sohn , was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft type of bomber, that appeared late in World War II....
during the closing stages of conflict.
Despite its protracted development, the aircraft became one of the Luftwaffes most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
aircraft of the period. Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged, proof of the outstanding quality of the original design.
Design and development
In August 1935, the German Ministry of Aviation submitted its requirements for an unarmed, three-seat, high-speed bomber, with a payload of 800-1,000 kg (1,760-2,200 lb). Junkers presented their initial design in June 1936, and were given clearance to build two prototypePrototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s (Werknummer 4941 and 4942). The first two aircraft were to have a range of 2,000 km (1,240 mi) and were to be powered by two DB 600s
Daimler-Benz DB 600
|-See also:-References:* Green, William. The Augsburg Eagle: A Documentary History - Messerschmitt Bf 109. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishing Group Ltd. 1980. ISBN 0-7106-0005-4...
. Three further aircraft, (Werknummer 4943, 4944 and 4945), were to be powered by Jumo 211
Junkers Jumo 211
|-See also:-References:* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7-External links:*...
engines. The first two prototypes, Ju 88 V1 and V2, were different from the V3, V4 and V5 in that the latter three models were equipped with three defensive armament positions to the rear of the cockpit
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
, and were able to carry two 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs, one under each inner wing panel.
The first five prototypes had conventionally operating dual-strut leg rearwards-retracting main gear
Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
, but starting with the V6 prototype, a main gear design that twisted the new, single-leg main gear strut through 90° during the retraction sequence debuted, much like the American Curtiss P-40
Curtiss P-40
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational...
fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
design used. This feature allowed the main wheels to end up above the lower end of the strut when fully retracted and was adopted as standard for all future production Ju 88s, and only minimally modified for the later Ju 188 and 388 developments of it. These single-leg landing gear struts also made use of stacks of conical Belleville washer
Belleville washer
A Belleville washer, also known as a coned-disc spring, conical spring washer, disc spring, Belleville spring or cupped spring washer, is a type of spring shaped like a washer. It has a frusto-conical shape which gives the washer a spring characteristic. The Belleville name comes from the inventor...
s inside them, as their main form of suspension for takeoffs and landings.
By 1938 radical modifications from the first prototype began to produce a "heavy" dive bomber. The wings were strengthened, dive brakes were added, the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
was extended and the number of crewmembers was increased to four. Due to these advances, the Ju 88 was to enter the war as a medium bomber
Medium bomber
A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...
.
The choice of annular radiator
Radiator (engine cooling)
Radiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, mainly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s for engine cooling on the Ju 88, which placed these radiators immediately forward of each engine, and directly behind each propeller, allowed the cooling lines for the engine coolant and oil
Motor oil
Motor oil or engine oil is an oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts; it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.Motor oils are derived from...
-cooling radiators (integrated within the annular design) to be just about as short as possible. The concept may have led to a number of other German military aircraft designs adopting the same solution, such as the Arado Ar 240
Arado Ar 240
The Arado Ar 240 was a German twin-engine multi-role heavy fighter aircraft developed for the Luftwaffe during World War II by Arado Flugzeugwerke. Its first flight was in 1940, but problems with the design hampered development and it remained only marginally stable through the prototype phase...
, Heinkel He 177
Heinkel He 177
The Heinkel He 177 Greif was the only operational long-range bomber to be operated by the Luftwaffe. Starting its existence as Germany's first purpose-built heavy bomber just before the war, and built in large numbers during World War II, it was also mistakenly tasked, right from its beginnings,...
, Heinkel He 219
Heinkel He 219
The Heinkel He 219 Uhu was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including an advanced VHF-band intercept radar...
, the inline powered developments of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
and the twin engined Focke-Wulf Ta 154
Focke-Wulf Ta 154
|-See also:-External links:*...
.
The aircraft's first flight was made by the prototype Ju 88 V1, which bore the civil registration D-AQEN, on 21 December 1936. When it first flew, it managed about 580 km/h (360 mph) and Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
, head of the Luftwaffe was ecstatic. It was an aircraft that could finally fulfill the promise of the Schnellbomber
Schnellbomber
A Schnellbomber is a high-speed bomber. The concept developed in the 1930s when it was believed that a very fast bomber could simply outrun its enemies....
, a high-speed bomber. The streamlined fuselage was modeled after its contemporary, the Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
, but with fewer defensive guns because the belief still held that it could outrun late 1930s-era fighters. The fifth prototype set a 1,000 km (620 mi) closed-circuit record in March 1939, carrying a 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) payload at a speed of 517 km/h (320 mph). However, by the time Luftwaffe planners had had their own "pet" features added (including dive-bombing), the Ju 88's top speed had dropped to around 450 km/h (280 mph).
The Ju 88 V7 was fitted with cable-cutting equipment to combat the potential threat of British barrage balloon
Barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
s, and was successfully tested in this role. The V7 then had the Ju 88 A-1 "beetle's eye" faceted nose glazing installed, complete with the Bola undernose ventral defensive machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
emplacement, and was put through a series of dive-bombing tests with 250 kg (550 lb) and 500 kg (1,100 lb) bombs, and in early 1940, with 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs.
The Ju 88 V8 (Stammkennzeichen of DG+BF, Wrk Nr 4948) flew on the 3 October 1938. The A-0 series was developed through the V9 and V10 prototypes. The A-1 series prototypes were Wrk Nrs 0003, 0004 and 0005. The A-1s were given the Jumo 211B-1 or G powerplants.
Dr. Heinrich Koppenberg (managing director of Jumo) assured Göring in the autumn of 1938 that 300 Ju 88s per month was definitely possible. Göring was in favour of the A-1 variant for mass production.
Production was delayed drastically with developmental problems. Although planned for a service introduction in 1938, the Ju 88 finally entered squadron service (with only 12 aircraft) on the first day of the attack on Poland in 1939. Production was painfully slow with only one Ju 88 manufactured per week, as problems continually kept cropping up. The Ju 88C series of heavy fighter was also designed very early in 1940, but kept secret from Göring, as he only wanted bombers.
Dive bomber
In October 1937 Generalluftzeugmeister Ernst UdetErnst Udet
Colonel General Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war . His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus...
had ordered the development of the Ju 88 as a heavy dive bomber. This decision was influenced by the success of the Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
Stuka in this role. The Junkers development center at Dessau
Dessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
gave priority to the study of pull-out systems, and dive brake
Dive brake
Dive brakes or dive flaps are deployed to slow down an aircraft when in a dive. They usually consist of a metal flap that is raised against the air flow, thus creating drag and reducing dive speed....
s.
The first prototype to be tested as a dive bomber was the Ju 88 V4 followed by the V5 and V6. These models became the planned prototype for the A-1 series. The V5 made its maiden flight on 13 April 1938, and the V6 on 28 June 1938. Both the V5 and V6 were fitted with four-blade propellers, an extra bomb bay and a central "control system".
As a dive bomber, the Ju 88 was capable of pinpoint deliveries of heavy loads; however, despite all the modifications, dive bombing still proved too stressful for the airframe, and in 1943, tactics were changed so that bombs were delivered from a shallower, 45° diving angle. Aircraft and bomb sights were accordingly modified and dive brakes were removed. With an advanced Stuvi dive-bombsight
Bombsight
A bombsight is a device used by bomber aircraft to accurately drop bombs. In order to do this, the bombsight has to estimate the path the bomb will take after release from the aircraft. The two primary forces during its fall are gravity and air drag, which makes the path of the bomb through the air...
, accuracy remained very good for its time. Maximum bomb load of the A-4 was 2,500 kg (5,510 lb), but in practice, standard bomb load was 1,500-2,000 kg (3,310-4,410 lb). Junkers later used the A-4 airframe
Airframe
The airframe of an aircraft is its mechanical structure. It is typically considered to include fuselage, wings and undercarriage and exclude the propulsion system...
for the A-17 torpedo carrier. However, the variant lacked a ventral gun position.
Fighter-bomber
The standard fighter-bomber version became the Ju 88 C-6, applying experience acquired with the A-4 bomber, equipped with the same Jumo 211J engines. The C-6 was used mostly as fighter-bomberFighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
and therefore assigned to bomber units. As a reaction to the increasing number of attacks on German shipping, especially on U-boats in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
, from July 1942 started flying anti-shipping patrols and escort missions from bases in France. V/.Kampfgeschwader 40 being formed to operate the C-6.
The aircraft of V./KG 40 (which was redesignated I./Zerstörergeschwader 1
Zerstörergeschwader 1
Zerstörergeschwader 1 or ZG 1 was a Luftwaffe heavy/destroyer Fighter Aircraft-wing of World War II.-History:...
in 1943) were a significant threat to the antisubmarine aircraft and operated as escort fighters for the more vulnerable Focke-Wulf Fw 200
Focke-Wulf Fw 200
The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, also known as Kurier to the Allies was a German all-metal four-engine monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner...
Condor bombers. Between July 1942 and July 1944, the Ju 88s of KG 40 and ZG 1 were credited with 109 confirmed air-to-air victories, at a cost of 117 losses. They were finally deployed against the Allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944, incurring heavy losses for little effect before being disbanded on 5 August 1944.
Attack bomber
The Ju 88P was a specialized variant for ground attack and to function as a bomber destroyerBomber destroyer
Historically, several aircraft were designated bomber destroyers prior and during the Second World War. They were interceptor aircraft dedicated to destroy enemy bomber aircraft with exceptionally powerful armament...
, designed starting from 1942 and produced in small numbers. The prototype, derived from a standard Ju 88 A-4, was armed with a 7.5 cm anti-tank gun derived from the 7.5 cm PaK 40 installed in a large conformal gun pod
Gun pod
A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing machine guns or automatic cannon and ancillaries, mounted externally on a vehicle such as a military aircraft which may or may not also have its own guns....
under the fuselage. This was followed by a small batch of Ju 88 P-1, which standardized the solid sheet metal nose of the C version for all known examples of the P-series, and used the new 7.5 cm PaK 40L semi-automatic gun, also known as BK 7,5. which was also meant for use in the later Henschel Hs 129B-3 dedicated anti-armor aircraft. The Ju 88P-1 was produced in some 40 units, but with the massive cannon installation resulting in a slow and vulnerable aircraft, it was soon replaced by the Ju 88 P-2, featuring two 3.7 cm BK 37
BK 37
The Bordkanone BK 3,7 was a 37mm anti-tank/bomber autocannon based on the earlier 37 mm Flak 18 made by Rheinmetall. It was mounted on World War II Luftwaffe aircraft such as the anti-tank or bomber-destroyer versions of the Junkers Ju 87D-3 and G-2, Henschel Hs 129B-2/R3, Messerschmitt Bf...
guns, whose higher muzzle velocity proved useful against the Russian tanks in the Eastern Front. This aircraft was used by Erprobungskommando 25. The Ju 88 P-3 added further armor for the crew, and was delivered at one Staffel of the Nachtschlachtgruppen 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 for night attacks in the Eastern Front, in northern Norway (NSGr 8) and Italy (NSGr 9). Finally, the Ju 88 P-4 mounted a smaller-volume ventral gun pod housing a 5 cm auto-loading BK 5 cannon and, in some cases, 6.5 cm solid propellant rockets.
Ju 88C
The Ju 88C was originally intended as a fighter-bomber and heavy fighter by adding fixed, forward-firing guns to the nose while retaining some bomb carrying ability of the A-series bomber. The C-series had a solid metal nose, and retained the A-series style vertical tail, while omitting the ventral Bola gondola under the crew compartment. It was later used as a night fighter and this became the main role of the Ju 88C.The first night fighter version of the Ju 88 was the C-2, based on the A-1 and armed with one 20 mm MG FF cannon
MG FF cannon
The MG FF was a drum-fed, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon, itself a development of the German World War I Becker 20 mm cannon, and was designed to be used in fixed or flexible mountings, as...
and three 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
MG 17 machine gun
The MG 17 was a 7.92 mm machine gun produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use at fixed mountings in many World War II Luftwaffe aircraft.- History :...
s placed in a new metal nose. These examples entered service in Zerstörerstaffel of KG 30 and the unit was renamed II./NJG 1 in July 1940.
The C-6b version was the C-6 Zerstörer plane equipped with FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC
Lichtenstein radar
Lichtenstein radar was a German airborne radar in use during World War II. It was available in at least four major revisions, the FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C, FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 and FuG 228 Lichtenstein SN-3.- FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C :Early FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C...
low-UHF band airborne intercept radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, using the complex 32-dipole Matratze antennas. The first four C-6b fighters were tested in early 1942 by NJG 1
Nachtjagdgeschwader 1
Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 was a German Luftwaffe night fighter-wing of World War II. NJG 1 was formed on 22 June 1940 in Mönchengladbach.By the end of the war it was the most successful night fighter unit and had claimed some 2,311 victories by day and night, for some 676 aircrew killed in...
. The trials were successful and the aircraft was ordered into production. In October 1943, many C-6bs were upgraded with new radar systems. The first new radar equipment was the FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, followed in 1944 by the VHF-band FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2.
A small number of the C-series fighters had their new solid-metal noses specially painted to resemble the bomber A-series' "beetle's eye" faceted clear view nose glazing, in an attempt to deceive Allied pilots into thinking the fighters were actually bombers; the unusual "camouflage" attempt did result initially in a number of Allied aerial losses.
Ju 88R
The Ju 88R series night fighters were basically versions of the Ju 88 C-6b powered by BMW 801BMW 801
The BMW 801 was a powerful German air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German military aircraft of World War II. The engine's cylinders were in two rows of seven cylinders each, the bore and stroke were both 156 mm , giving a total capacity of 41.8 litres...
radial engines. The R-1 had 1,560 PS BMW 801L engines and the R-2 had 1,700 PS BMW 801 G-2 engines.
One of the first aircraft from the R-1 series that went into service (Werknummer 360043) was involved in one of the most significant defections which the Luftwaffe suffered. On 9 May 1943, this night fighter, which was stationed with 10./NJG 3 in Norway, flew to the RAF Station at Dyce (now Aberdeen Airport
Aberdeen Airport
Aberdeen Airport is an international airport, located at Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 2.76 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2010, a reduction of 7.4% compared with 2009, making it the 15th busiest airport in the UK...
) with its entire crew and complete electronic equipment on board. The fact that Spitfire fighters escorted it towards the end of its flight could indicate that its arrival had been expected. It was immediately transferred to Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
, received RAF markings and serial
United Kingdom military aircraft serials
In the United Kingdom to identify individual aircraft, all military aircraft are allocated and display a unique serial number. A unified serial number system, maintained by the Air Ministry , and its successor the Ministry of Defence , is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force , Fleet...
(PJ876), and was tested in great detail. The preserved aircraft is on exhibit at the RAF Museum
RAF Museum
The Royal Air Force Museum London, commonly known as the RAF Museum, is a museum located on the former Hendon Aerodrome, dedicated to the history of aviation and the British Royal Air Force. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and a registered charity...
. The Luftwaffe only learned of this defection the following month when members of the crew, pilot Oberleutnant Heinrich Schmitt and Oberfeldwebel Paul Rosenberger and Erich Kantwill, made broadcasts on British radio.
Ju 88G
All previous night fighter versions of the Ju 88 used a modified A-series fuselage. The G-series fuselage was purpose-built for the special needs of a night fighter, with the A-series' Bola ventral under-nose defensive gun position omitted for lower aerodynamic dragDrag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
and less weight. G-1 aircraft were fitted with the enlarged squared-off vertical fin
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
/rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
tail unit of the Ju 188
Junkers Ju 188
The Junkers Ju 188 was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-on to the famed Ju 88 with better performance and payload...
, more powerful armament and 1,700 PS BMW 801
BMW 801
The BMW 801 was a powerful German air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German military aircraft of World War II. The engine's cylinders were in two rows of seven cylinders each, the bore and stroke were both 156 mm , giving a total capacity of 41.8 litres...
G-2 radial engines. Electronic equipment consisted of the then-standard FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 90 MHz VHF radar using eight-dipole Hirschgeweih antennas, plus sometimes additional FuG 350 Naxos
Naxos radar detector
The FuG 350 Naxos radar warning receiver was a World War II German countermeasure to SHF band centimetric wavelength radar produced by a cavity magnetron...
with its antenna in a teardrop-shaped fairing above the canopy, or FuG 227 Flensburg
Flensburg radar detector
The FuG 227 Flensburg was a German passive radar receiver developed by Siemens AG and introduced into service in Spring 1944. It used wing-mounted dipole antennae and was sensitive to frequencies of 170-220 MHz...
radar detection homing devices. One of these was flown by mistake to RAF Woodbridge in July 1944, giving the Royal Air Force its first chance to check out the VHF-band Lichtenstein SN-2 radar and Flensburg radar detector gear.
G-6 versions were equipped with 1,750 PS Jumo 213A
Junkers Jumo 213
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7-External links:*...
inline-V12 engines, enlarged fuel tanks and often one or two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon
MG 151 cannon
The MG 151 was a 15 mm autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. It was in 1941 developed into the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon which was widely used on many types of German Luftwaffe fighters, fighter bombers, night fighters, ground attack and even bombers as part of or as...
s in a Schräge Musik
Schräge Musik
Schräge Musik, derived from the German colloquialism for "Jazz Music" was the name given to installations of upward-firing autocannon mounted in night fighters by the Luftwaffe and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II, with the first victories for each occurring in May 1943...
("Jazz Music", i.e. slanted) installation. These guns were pointed obliquely upwards and forwards from the upper fuselage - usually at an angle of 70°.
Some of the final G-series models received updates to the engine, a high-altitude Jumo 213E or to the radar, FuG 218 Neptun V/R or the even newer FuG 240 Berlin N-1 cavity magnetron
Cavity magnetron
The cavity magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field. The 'resonant' cavity magnetron variant of the earlier magnetron tube was invented by John Randall and Harry Boot in 1940 at the University of...
based, 3 GHz-band (centimetric) radar. Only about 15 of those were completed before V-E Day.
Many Luftwaffe night fighter aces, such as Helmut Lent
Helmut Lent
Oberst Helmut Lent was a German night-fighter ace in World War II. Lent shot down 110 aircraft, 103 of them at night, far more than the minimum of five enemy aircraft required for the title of "ace".For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter aces see List of German World War II night fighter...
(110 victories) and Heinrich von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
Heinrich Alexander Ludwig Peter Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was a German of aristocratic descent and a Luftwaffe night fighter flying ace during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat...
(87 victories) flew Ju 88s during their careers.
The Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
ordered the specifications of an anti-submarine
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
patrol/escort fleet aircraft, based on a medium bomber. Kyūshū closely patterned the Kyūshū Q1W
Kyushu Q1W
-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.-External links:*...
Tokai ("Eastern Sea", Allied codename "Lorna") antisubmarine patrol/fleet escort aircraft after the Ju 88.
Polish Campaign
Only 12 Ju 88s saw action in Poland. The unit Erprobungskommando 88 (Ekdo 88) was responsible for testing new bomber designs and their crews under hostile conditions. They selected 12 aircraft and their crews and attached them to 1./Kampfgeschwader 25. As a result of its small operational numbers, the type made no impact.Battle of Norway
The Luftwaffe committed II./Kampfgeschwader 30 to the campaign under X. Fliegerkorps10th Air Corps (Germany)
X. FliegerkorpsFor more details see Luftwaffe Organization was a formation of the German Luftwaffe in World War II, which specialised in coastal operations. It was formed 2 October 1939, in Hamburg from the 10...
for Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
. The unit was equipped with Ju 88s and engaged Allied shipping as its main target. On 9 April 1940, Ju 88s of KG 30 dive-bombed, in cooperation with high-level bombing Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
s of KG 26, and helped damage the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
and sink the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
. However, the unit lost four Ju 88s in the action, the highest single loss of the aircraft in combat throughout the campaign.
Battle of France
The Luftwaffes order of battle for the French campaign reveals all but one of the Luftwaffes Fliegerkorps (I. Fliegerkorps1st Air Corps (Germany)
I. FliegerkorpsFor more details see Luftwaffe Organization was formed 11 October 1939 in Cologne from the 1. Flieger-Division. The Corps was also known as Luftwaffenkommando Don between 26 August 1942 until 17 February 1943. It was transformed to the 18...
) contained Ju 88s in the combat role.
The mixed bomber units, including the Ju 88, of Kampfgeschwader 51
Kampfgeschwader 51
Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiss" was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during World War II. The unit began forming in December 1939. The unit operated the Dornier Do 17, Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 light and medium bombers...
(under the command of Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3
Luftflotte 3 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on February 1, 1939 from Luftwaffengruppenkommando 3 in Munich and redesignated Luftwaffenkommando West on September 26, 1944...
) helped claim between 233 and 248 Allied aircraft on the ground between 10–13 May 1940.
The Ju 88 was particularly effective at dive-bombing. Between 13–24 May, I. and II./KG 54 flew 174 attack against rail systems, paralysing French logistics and mobility.
On 17 June 1940, Junkers Ju 88s (mainly from Kampfgeschwader 30) destroyed a "10,000 tonne ship", the 16,243 grt ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
, off Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, killing some 5,800 Allied personnel.
Some 133 Ju 88s were pressed into the Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
, but very high combat losses and accidents forced a quick withdrawal from action to re-train crews to fly this very high performance aircraft. Some crews were reported to be more scared of the Ju 88 than the enemy, and requested a transfer to a He 111 unit. By this time, major performance deficiencies in the A-1 led to an all-out effort in a major design rework. The outcome was a longer, 20.08 m (65 ft 10½ in) wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
, from extended rounded wing tip
Wing tip
A wing tip is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft.Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of shapes, including:* Squared-off...
s that had already been standardised on the A-4 version, that was deemed needed for all A-1s; thus the A-5 was born. Surviving A-1s were modified as quickly as possible, with new wings to A-5 specifications.
Battle of Britain
By August 1940, A-1s and A-5s were reaching operational units, just as the battle was intensifying.The Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
proved very costly. Its faster speed did not prevent Ju 88 losses exceeding those of its Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
and Heinkel He 111 stablemates, despite being deployed in smaller numbers than either. Ju 88 losses over Britain in 1940 amounted to 313 machines between July–October 1940. One notable incident involved ground fighting between the crew of an A-1 and soldiers from the London Irish Rifles
London Irish Rifles
The London Irish Rifles is now known more formally known as "D Company, London Regiment" and is a volunteer Rifle Regiment with a distinguished history...
during the Battle of Graveney Marsh
Battle of Graveney Marsh
The Battle of Graveney Marsh, which occurred on the night of 27 September 1940 in Kent, England, was the last action involving a foreign invading force to take place on mainland British soil...
on 27 September 1940. It was the last action between British and foreign military forces on British mainland soil. Do 17 and He 111 losses for the same period amounted to 132 and 252 machines destroyed respectively. A series of field kits were made to make it less vulnerable, including the replacement of the rear machine gun by a twin-barreled machine gun, and additional cockpit armour.
It was during the closing days of the Battle of Britain that the flagship Ju 88 A-4 went into service. Although slower yet than the A-1, nearly all of the troubles of the A-1 were gone, and finally the Ju 88 matured into a superb warplane. The A-4 actually saw additional improvements including more powerful engines, but, unlike other aircraft in the Luftwaffe, did not see a model code change. The Ju 88 C-series also benefited from the A-4 changes, and when the Luftwaffe finally did decide on a new heavy fighter, the Ju 88C was a powerful, refined aircraft.
Eastern Front
By the summer of 1941, most of the units equipped with the Dornier Do 17 were upgrading to the Ju 88. With a few exceptions, most of the German bomber units were now flying the He 111 and Ju 88.The Ju 88 was to prove a very capable and valuable asset to the Luftwaffe in the east. The Ju 88 units met with instant success, attacking enemy airfields and positions at low level and causing enormous losses for little damage in return.
3./Kampfgeschwader 3
Kampfgeschwader 3
Kampfgeschwader 3 "Blitz" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in September-October 1944...
attacked Pinsk
Pinsk
Pinsk , a town in Belarus, in the Polesia region, traversed by the river Pripyat, at the confluence of the Strumen and Pina rivers. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk. It is a fertile agricultural center. It lies south-west of Minsk. The population is about 130,000...
airfield in the morning of the 22 June 1941. It caught, and claimed destroyed, 60 Soviet bombers on the ground. The 39 SBAP Regiment of the 10 Division SAD actually lost 43 Tupolev SB
Tupolev SB
The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB , and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber, first flown in 1934....
a and five Petlyakov Pe-2
Petlyakov Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 was a Soviet dive bomber aircraft used during World War II. It was regarded as one of the best ground attack aircraft of the war and it was extremely successful in the roles of heavy fighter, reconnaissance and night fighter...
s. Ju 88s from Kampfgeschwader 51 destroyed over 100 aircraft after dispatching 80 Ju 88s to hit airfields. In general the Soviet aircraft were not dispersed and the Luftwaffe found them easy targets.
A report from the Soviet 23rd Tank Division of the 12th Armoured Corps reported a low-level attack by Ju 88s on 22 June, resulting in the loss of 40 tanks.
However, the Ju 88s were to suffer steady attritional losses. At 0415 on 22 June 1941, III./KG 51 attacked the airfield at Kurovitsa. Despite destroying 34 Polikarpov I-153
Polikarpov I-153
The Russian Polikarpov I-153 Chaika was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mongolia and was one of the Soviet's major fighter types in the early years of the Second...
s, the Ju 88s were intercepted by 66 ShAP I-153s. Six Ju 88s were shot down before the German fighter escort dealt with the threat. By the end of the first day of the campaign, Ju 88 losses amounted to 23 destroyed.
Due to the lack of sufficient numbers of Ju 87 Stukas, the Ju 88 was employed in the direct ground support role. This resulted in severe losses from ground fire. Kampfgeschwader 1
Kampfgeschwader 1
Kampfgeschwader 1 was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during the Second World War. Heinkel He 111 and later Heinkel He 177 bombers.-History:...
, Kampfgeschwader 76
Kampfgeschwader 76
Kampfgeschwader 76 was a Luftwaffe bomber Group during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre throughout the conflict, and served until the last day of the war...
and Kampfgeschwader 77
Kampfgeschwader 77
Kampfgeschwader 77 was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II.Its units participated on all of the major fronts in the European Theatre until its dissolution in 1944...
reported the loss of 18 Ju 88s over enemy territory on 23 June. KG 76 and KG 77 reported the loss of a further four Ju 88s, of which 12 were 100% destroyed.
In the north, the VVS North-Western Front lost 465 aircraft on the ground, 148 of them bombers, to the Ju 88s of KG 1. A further 33 were damaged. Out of a total of 1,720 aircraft deployed by the VVS Northern Front on 22 June, it lost 890 and a further 187 suffered battle damage in eight days. The Ju 88s units helped virtually destroy Soviet airpower in the northern sector.
Again, the Ju 88 demonstrated its dive-bombing capability. Along with He 111s from KG 55, Ju 88s from KG 51 and 54 destroyed some 220 trucks and 40 tanks on 1 July, which helped repulse the Soviet South Western Front's offensive. The Ju 88s destroyed most rail links during interdiction
Interdiction
Interdiction is a military term that refers to the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction...
missions in the area, allowing Panzergruppe 1 to maintain the pace of its advance.
Ju 88 units operating over the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
during the battle for Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
inflicted severe losses on Soviet shipping, with the same dive-bombing tactics used over Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. KGr 806 sank the Soviet destroyer Karl Marx
Izijaslav class destroyer
The Izyaslav-class were a group of destroyers built for the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. They were modified versions of the Orfey-class destroyer built in Russia with the assistance of the French Company Augustin Normand...
on 8 August 1941 in Loksa Bay Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
. On 28 August the Ju 88s had more success when KG 77 and KGr 806 sank the 2,026 grt
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
steamer Vironia, the 2,317 grt Lucerne, the 1,423 grt Artis Kronvalds and the ice breaker Krisjanis Valdemars (2,250 grt). The rest of the Soviet "fleet", were forced to change course. This took them through a heavily mined area. As a result, 21 Soviet warships, including five destroyers, struck mines and sank. On 29 August, the Ju 88s accounted for the transport ships Vtoraya Pyatiletka (3,974 grt), Kalpaks (2,190 grt) and Leningradsovet (1,270 grt) sunk. Furthermore, the ships Ivan Papanin, Saule, Kazakhstan and the Serp i Molot were damaged. Some 5,000 Soviet soldiers were lost.
Finnish Air Force
In April 1943, as Finland was fighting its Continuation WarContinuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
against the USSR, the Finnish Air Force bought 24 Ju 88s from Germany. The aircraft were used to equip No. 44 Sqn which had previously operated Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
s, but these were instead transferred to No. 42 Sqn. Due to the complexity of the Ju 88, most of 1943 was used for training the crews on the aircraft, and only a handful of bombing missions were undertaken. The most notable was a raid on the Lehto partisan village on 20 August 1943 (in which the whole squadron participated), and a raid on the Lavansaari air field (leaving seven Ju 88 damaged from forced landing in inclement weather). In the summer of 1943, the Finns noted stress damage on the wings. This had occurred when the aircraft were used in dive bombing. Restrictions followed: the dive brakes were removed and it was only allowed to dive at a 45-degree angle (compared to 60-80 degrees previously). In this way, they tried to spare the aircraft from unnecessary wear.
One of the more remarkable missions was a bombing raid on 9 March 1944 against Soviet Long Range Aviation
Long Range Aviation
Long Range Aviation was the branch of the Soviet Air Forces tasked with long-range bombardment of strategic targets with nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, it was the counterpart to the Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force....
bases near Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, when the Finnish aircraft, including Ju 88s, followed Soviet bombers returning from a night raid on Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, catching the Soviets unprepared and destroying many Soviet bombers and their fuel reserves, and a raid against the Aerosan
Aerosan
An aerosani is a type of propeller-driven snowmobile, running on skis, used for communications, mail deliveries, medical aid, emergency recovery and border patrolling in northern Russia, as well as for recreation...
base at Petsnajoki on 22 March 1944. The whole bomber regiment took part in the defence against the Soviets during the fourth strategic offensive
Fourth strategic offensive
The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive or Karelian offensive was a strategic operation by the Soviet Leningrad and Karelian Fronts against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia fronts of the Continuation War, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviet forces captured East Karelia and...
. All aircraft flew several missions per day, day and night, when the weather permitted.
No. 44 Sqn was subordinated Lentoryhmä Sarko during the Lapland War
Lapland War
The Lapland War were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the...
(now against Germany), and the Ju 88s were used both for reconnaissance and bombing. The targets were mostly vehicle columns. Reconnaissance flights were also made over northern Norway. The last war mission was flown on 4 April 1945.
After the wars, Finland was prohibited from using bomber aircraft with internal bomb stores. Consequently, the Finnish Ju 88s were used for training
Flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills....
until 1948. The aircraft were then scrapped over the following years. No Finnish Ju 88s have survived, but an engine is on display at the Central Finland Aviation Museum, and the structure of a German Ju 88 cockpit hood is preserved at the Finnish Aviation Museum
Finnish Aviation Museum
The Finnish Aviation Museum is a museum specialising in aircraft, located in Vantaa, Finland.-History:The museum was founded on 4 December 1969 by Ilmailumuseoyhdistys ry. The museum was placed next to the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport but received its own facilities in 1980...
in Vantaa
Vantaa
Vantaa is a city and municipality in Finland. Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.Vantaa, with its population of , is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there...
.
Ju 88A
Main bomber type with Jumo 211Junkers Jumo 211
|-See also:-References:* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7-External links:*...
engines.
Ju 88 A-0
- Pre-production aircraft.
Ju 88 A-1
- Initial production variant. 895 kW (1,200 hp) Jumo 211B-1 engines
Ju 88 A-2
- Jumo 211 G-1 engines.
Ju 88 A-3
- Conversion trainerTrainer (aircraft)A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate in-flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows...
. Dual controls.
Ju 88 A-4
- Improved variant. Long span wings. Modified with new bomb dropping equipment to produce a A-15 "special" bomber variant. The Ministry of Aviation refused to authorise mass production, as the wooden bomb bay "bulge" caused too much dragDrag (physics)In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
and a thus a reduction in speed.
Ju 88B
Prototype with all-new fully glazed "stepless" crew compartment nose, developed into Ju 188.Ju 88 B-0
- 10 pre-production aircraft with "stepless" fully glazed nose.
Ju 88C
Zerstörer, fighter-bomber and night fighter, based on A-series, but with sheet metal nose.Ju 88 C-1
- Planned fighter variant, powered by two BMW 801BMW 801The BMW 801 was a powerful German air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German military aircraft of World War II. The engine's cylinders were in two rows of seven cylinders each, the bore and stroke were both 156 mm , giving a total capacity of 41.8 litres...
MA engines. Never built.
Ju 88 C-2
- Initial production variant.
Ju 88 C-4
- Heavy fighter, reconnaissance variant.
Ju 88 C-5
- Improved heavy fighter variant.
Ju 88 C-6a
- Improved Ju 88 C-5 variant.
Ju 88 C-6b
- Night fighter variant.
Ju 88 C-6c
- Night fighter variant.
Ju 88 C-7a
- Intruder variant.
Ju 88 C-7b
- Intruder variant.
Ju 88 C-7c
- Heavy fighter variant.
Ju 88D
Long-range photo-reconnaissance variants, based on the Ju 88 A-4.Ju 88 D-1
- Long-range photo-reconnaissance variant based on Ju 88 A-4.
Ju 88 D-2
- Long-range photo-reconnaissance variant based on Ju 88 A-5.
Ju 88 D-3
- Tropicalized long-range photo-reconnaissance variant based on Ju 88 A-4.
Ju 88 D-4
- Tropicalized long-range photo-reconnaissance variant based on Ju 88 A-5.
Ju 88 D-5
Ju 88G
Night fighter, new fuselage with A-series' ventral Bola (Bodenlafette) gondola omitted, tail section from Ju 188, aerodynamically improved comformal gun pod for a quartet of forward-firing 20 mm calibre, MG 151/20 autocannons below the former bomb bay.Ju 88G-1
- BMW 801 radial engines with 1700 PS, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar
Ju 88 G-6
- Junkers Jumo 213A inverted V12 engines with 1750 PS, used either FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 90 MHz or FuG 218 Neptun 158/187 MHz frequency radar, either with the usual Hirschgeweih eight-dipole aerial setup or experimentally with the more aerodynamic Morgernstern tripled crossed-dipole aerials. Some very-late-war aircraft equipped with experimental FuG 240 Berlin cavity magnetronCavity magnetronThe cavity magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field. The 'resonant' cavity magnetron variant of the earlier magnetron tube was invented by John Randall and Harry Boot in 1940 at the University of...
based 3 GHz radar, with dish antenna in bulbous solid nose. Optional with Schräge Musik upward firing guns with two 20 mm or 30 mm guns.
Ju 88 G-7
- Like G-6, but with Jumo 213E high-altitude engines, planned to be used with FuG 218/220 with Morgenstern array or FuG 240. Was in production but none finished.
Ju 88H
Long-range photo-reconnaissance, fighter variants, based on the stretched Ju 88G-series fuselage.Ju 88 H-1
- Long-range maritime reconnaissance variant.
Ju 88 H-2
- Fighter variant.
Ju 88 H-3
- Long-range maritime reconnaissance variant.
Ju 88 H-4
- Fighters variant.
Ju 88P
Anti-tank and anti-bomber variant with single Bordkanone series 75 mm (2.95 in), 50 mm (2 in), or twin 37 mm (1.46 in) calibre cannon in ventral fuselage gun podGun pod
A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing machine guns or automatic cannon and ancillaries, mounted externally on a vehicle such as a military aircraft which may or may not also have its own guns....
mount, which mandated removal of the Bola gondola under the cockpit section, conversion of A-series bomber. Produced in small series only, they were perceived as a failure for both anti-tank and anti-bomber use.
Ju 88 P-1
- Heavy-gun variant fitted with single 75 mm (2.95 in) Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon in ventral gun pod. Appeared in mid-1942 in small numbers.
Ju 88 P-2
- Heavy-gun variant with twin 37 mm (1.46 in) Bordkanone BK 37BK 37The Bordkanone BK 3,7 was a 37mm anti-tank/bomber autocannon based on the earlier 37 mm Flak 18 made by Rheinmetall. It was mounted on World War II Luftwaffe aircraft such as the anti-tank or bomber-destroyer versions of the Junkers Ju 87D-3 and G-2, Henschel Hs 129B-2/R3, Messerschmitt Bf...
cannon in ventral gun pod.
Ju 88 P-3
- Heavy-gun variant with twin 37 mm (1.46 in) Bordkanone BK 37BK 37The Bordkanone BK 3,7 was a 37mm anti-tank/bomber autocannon based on the earlier 37 mm Flak 18 made by Rheinmetall. It was mounted on World War II Luftwaffe aircraft such as the anti-tank or bomber-destroyer versions of the Junkers Ju 87D-3 and G-2, Henschel Hs 129B-2/R3, Messerschmitt Bf...
cannon in ventral gun pod, and additional armor.
Ju 88 P-4
- Heavy-gun variant with single 50 mm (2 in) Bordkanone BK 5 cannon in ventral gun pod. There were 32 built.
Ju 88S
High-speed bomber series based on Ju 88 A-4 but with ventral Bola gondola omitted, smoothly glazed nose with radial-ribbed supports instead of the "beetle's eye" of the A-version, and GM-1GM-1
GM-1 , colloquially known as Haha-Gerät was a system for injecting nitrous oxide into aircraft engines that was used by the Luftwaffe in World War II. This increased the amount of oxygen in the fuel mixture, and thereby improve high-altitude performance...
nitrous-oxide boost, fastest of all variants.
Ju 88 S-0
- Fitted with two BMW 801 G-2 engines, single 13 mm (.51 in) dorsal gun and 14 SD65 (65 kg/143 lb) bombs.
Ju 88 S-1
- Fitted with two BMW 801 G-2 engines, the GM-1 boost system and could carry two SD1000 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs externally.
Ju 88 S-2
- Fitted with two turbocharged BMW 801J engines, wooden bomb bay extension as used on the Ju 88 A-15.
Ju 88 S-3
- Fitted with two 1,671 kW (2,240 hp) Juma 213A engines and GM-1 boost system.
Ju 88T
Three-seat photo-reconnaissance version of S-series.Ju 88 T-1
- Based on the Ju 88 S-1 but with bomb bays fitted for extra fuel of GM-1 tanks.
Ju 88 T-3
- Based on the Ju 88 S-3.
Operators
Kingdom of Bulgaria- Bulgarian Air ForceBulgarian Air ForceThe Bulgarian Air Force is a branch of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, to provide aerial support and to assist the Land Forces in case of war. The Bulgarian Air...
- Finnish Air ForceFinnish Air ForceThe Finnish Air Force is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions...
received 24 Ju 88 A-4 aircraft.- No. 44 Squadron
- Armée de l'Air operated aircraft captured in Toulouse repair depot and other captured by the RAF and USAAF handed over to the French.
Germany
- LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Hungary
- Royal Hungarian Air Force
Italy
- Regia AeronauticaRegia AeronauticaThe Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
Kingdom of Romania
- Royal Romanian Air ForceRoyal Romanian Air ForceThe Forţele Aeriene Regale ale României , or simply Forţele Aeriene Române was the Air Arm of Royal Romanian forces in World War II...
- Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
operated captured aircraft.
- Soviet Air ForceSoviet Air ForceThe Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
operated captured aircraft.
- Spanish Air ForceSpanish Air Force-The early stages:Hot air balloons had been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Alfredo Kindelán, Leonardo Torres y Quevedo directed the construction of the first Spanish dirigible in the Army Military Aerostatics Service, created in 1896 and located...
bought ten aircraft and put into service another 15 interned during the war.
Survivors
Around 14 aircraft still exist, although many of these are little more than collections of wreckage recovered from remote crash sites. Several reasonably intact airframes have been recovered from underwater crash sites in recent years, some of these aircraft are under restoration for static display, such as WNr.0881203 in BodøBodø
is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
and WNr.0880119 at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
.
Only two complete aircraft exist, which share the fact that defecting crews on each aircraft flew them into Allied hands:
- Ju 88 D-1/Trop, Werk Nr. 430650
- This is a long-range, photographic reconnaissance aircraft that was in the service of the Romanian Air Force. It is displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air ForceNational Museum of the United States Air ForceThe National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
in Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. On 22 July 1943, it was flown to CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
by a Romanian pilot who wanted to defect to the British forces on the island. Four pilots (Flt Sgt Thomas Barker Orford, W/O Arnold Kenneth Asboe, P/O Joseph Alfred Charles Pauley, Flt Sgt H.M. Woodward) in Hurricanes from No. 127 SquadronNo. 127 Squadron RAFNo. 127 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the United Kingdom's Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.It was first formed as a day bomber unit in February 1918, but was disbanded on 4 July of that year without seeing service...
escorted it to the airfield at TobrukTobrukTobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
. Given the name BaksheeshBaksheeshBaksheesh is a term used to describe tipping, charitable giving, and certain forms of political corruption and bribery in the Middle East and South Asia...
, it was subsequently handed over to the U.S. Army Air Forces, which flew the aircraft across the South Atlantic to Wright FieldWright FieldWright Field was an airfield of the United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces near Riverside, Ohio. From 1927 to 1947 it was the research and development center for the Air Corps, and during World War II a flight test center....
where it was used for examination and test flying from 1943 to 1944. In 1946 the aircraft was placed in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force BaseDavis-Monthan Air Force BaseDavis–Monthan Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located within the city limits, and approximately south-southeast of downtown, Tucson, Arizona....
in ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. It was shipped to the Museum on 6 January 1960. It was previously painted in spurious, Luftwaffe markings while on unrestored outdoor display; however it is presently finished, and on protected indoor display in its original-style Romanian military insignia. The aircraft is displayed in the Museum's Air Power gallery.
- Ju 88 R-1, Werk Nr. 360043
- This aircraft was flown to Scotland by its defecting crew in May 1943; two of the three crew on board (who may have been British agents) had taken the decision to defect after being ordered to shoot down a civilian BOACBoacBoac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
Mosquito courier flight from Sweden to the UK, and held the third crewmember at gunpoint during the attempt. The aircraft was detected by British radar as it approached Scotland and two Spitfires from 165 SquadronNo. 165 Squadron RAFNo. 165 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force that was formed during World War I & served during World War II. The squadron has been formed twice....
were scrambled. They intercepted 360043 one mile inland, whereupon the Ju 88 lowered its undercarriage, waggled its wings and dropped flares, signaling the crew's intent to surrender. The Spitfires escorted 360043 to RAF Dyce, where it received slight damage from the airfield's anti-aircraft guns while attempting to land. The Spitfire pilots (an American and a Canadian) were Mentioned in DispatchesMentioned in DispatchesA soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
for taking the risk not to open fire on the Ju 88 upon interception. The capture of this aircraft was of great intelligence value at the time, as it was fitted with the latest UHF-band FuG 202 Liechtenstein BC A.I radarLichtenstein radarLichtenstein radar was a German airborne radar in use during World War II. It was available in at least four major revisions, the FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C, FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 and FuG 228 Lichtenstein SN-3.- FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C :Early FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C...
, for which a new form of the WindowChaff (radar countermeasure)Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
radar interference method was developed soon afterwards. The Ju 88 was operated by the RAF's No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) FlightNo. 1426 Flight RAFNo. 1426 Flight RAF, nicknamed "the Rafwaffe", was a Royal Air Force flight formed during the Second World War to evaluate captured enemy aircraft and demonstrate their characteristics to other Allied units. Several aircraft on charge with the RAE Farnborough section were also used by this unit...
and evaluated in depth by various British groups, including the Royal Aircraft EstablishmentRoyal Aircraft EstablishmentThe Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
and the Fighter Interception UnitFighter Interception UnitThe Fighter Interception Unit was a special interceptor aircraft unit of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was part of Air Defence of Great Britain....
. It was used to assist in teaching enemy aircraft recognition skills prior to the D-Day landings, and was last flown in May 1945. In September 1954 and again in September 1955, it was displayed on Horseguards Parade for Battle of Britain week. The aircraft was restored in 1975 and in August 1978 moved to the RAF MuseumRAF MuseumThe Royal Air Force Museum London, commonly known as the RAF Museum, is a museum located on the former Hendon Aerodrome, dedicated to the history of aviation and the British Royal Air Force. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and a registered charity...
, its present home.
Specifications Ju 88 A-4
Armament options- Additional fitting of single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine guns, one to each side of the cockpit glazing in flexible "Donut" mountings, covering the side hemisphere.
- Additional fitting of a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15, MG 81J (on occasion a twin MG 81Z) or 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gunMG 131 machine gunThe MG 131 was a German 13 mm caliber machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945...
in A-Stand in the lower nose glazing. - A single 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 was sometimes used in place of the 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 81J or MG 81Z machineguns in the A-Stand, B-Stand or Bola gondola positions.
- A modification of the A-4, the Ju 88 A-13s could carry the Waffenbehälter WB 81A or WB 81B (firing with 15° downwards deflection) gun podGun podA gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing machine guns or automatic cannon and ancillaries, mounted externally on a vehicle such as a military aircraft which may or may not also have its own guns....
s on external bomb racks for ground attack duties, each "watering can" containing three 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 81Z twin machine guns, for strafing enemy troops. - Aircraft may carry one 20 mm MG FF cannonMG FF cannonThe MG FF was a drum-fed, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon, itself a development of the German World War I Becker 20 mm cannon, and was designed to be used in fixed or flexible mountings, as...
in the nose for ground attack purposes, with 90 rounds of ammunition, in place of the Lotfernrohr 7Lotfernrohr 7The Carl Zeiss Lotfernrohr 7, or Lotfe 7, was the primary bombsight used in most Luftwaffe level bombers, similar to the United States' Norden bombsight, but much simpler to operate and maintain. Several models were produced and eventually completely replaced the simpler Lotfernrohr 3 and BZG 2...
bombsightBombsightA bombsight is a device used by bomber aircraft to accurately drop bombs. In order to do this, the bombsight has to estimate the path the bomb will take after release from the aircraft. The two primary forces during its fall are gravity and air drag, which makes the path of the bomb through the air...