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#Post#: 8044--------------------------------------------------
Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: vonofterdingen Date: December 2, 2019, 5:52 pm
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Last week I selected an aircraft for which I was thankful. This
week I decided to explore the other end of the spectrum: a
weapon of terror. I guess all weapons, and warplanes for that
matter, are weapons of terror to some extent. But when I think
of terror during WW2, I think of large numbers of Stuka dive
bombers, sirens blaring, attacking European cities like Warsaw
and Amsterdam. My late father got me started watching WW2
documentaries on television and no such documentary would be
complete without the sight of the Stuka in a dive and the sound
of its dive siren.
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From Wikipedia…
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive
bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft.
Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87
made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion
during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World
War II.
The aircraft was easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings
and fixed spatted undercarriage. Upon the leading edges of its
faired main gear legs were mounted the Jericho-Trompete (Jericho
trumpet) wailing sirens, becoming the propaganda symbol of
German air power and the so-called blitzkrieg victories of
1939–1942. The Stuka's design included several innovations,
including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to
ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if
the pilot blacked out from the high g-forces.
The Stuka operated with considerable success in close air
support and anti-shipping at the outbreak of World War II. It
led air assaults in the invasion of Poland in September 1939.
Stukas were critical to the rapid conquest of Norway, the
Netherlands, Belgium and France in 1940. Sturdy, accurate, and
very effective against ground targets, the Stuka was, like many
other dive bombers of the period, vulnerable to fighter
aircraft. During the Battle of Britain its lack of
manoeuvrability, speed and defensive armament meant that it
required a heavy fighter escort to operate effectively.
After the Battle of Britain the Stuka was used in the Balkans
Campaign, the African and Mediterranean theatres and the early
stages of the Eastern Front where it was used for general ground
support, as an effective specialised anti-tank aircraft and in
an anti-shipping role. Once the Luftwaffe lost air superiority,
the Stuka became an easy target for enemy fighter aircraft on
all fronts. It was produced until 1944 for lack of a better
replacement. By then ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw
190 had largely replaced the Stuka, but Stukas remained in
service until the end of the war.
An estimated 6,500 Ju 87s of all versions were built between
1936 and August 1944.
Among the many German aircraft designs that participated in the
Condor Legion, and as part of other German involvement in the
Spanish Civil War, a single Ju 87 A-0 (the V4 prototype) was
allocated serial number 29-1 and was assigned to the VJ/88, the
experimental Staffel of the Legion's fighter wing. The aircraft
was secretly loaded onto the ship Usaramo and departed Hamburg
harbor on the night of 1 August 1936, arriving in Cádiz five
days later. The only known information pertaining to its combat
career in Spain is that it was piloted by Unteroffizier Herman
Beuer, and took part in the Nationalist offensive against Bilbao
in 1937. Presumably the aircraft was then secretly returned to
Germany.
All Stuka units were moved to Germany's eastern border in
preparation for the invasion of Poland. On the morning of 15
August 1939, during a mass-formation dive-bombing demonstration
for high-ranking commanders of the Luftwaffe at Neuhammer
training grounds near Sagan, 13 Ju 87s and 26 crew members were
lost when they crashed into the ground almost simultaneously.
The planes dived through cloud, expecting to release their
practice bombs and pull out of the dive once below the cloud
ceiling, unaware that the ceiling was too low and unexpected
ground mist formed, leaving them no time to pull out of the dive
On 1 September 1939, the Wehrmacht invaded Poland, triggering
World War II. Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe records
indicate a total force of 366 Ju 87 A and Bs were available for
operations on 31 August 1939. The first Ju 87 operation was to
destroy Polish demolition charges fixed to the rail bridges over
the Vistula, that linked Eastern Germany to the Danzig corridor
and East Prussia as well as Polish Pomerania. To do this, Ju 87s
were ordered to perform a low-level attack on the Polish Army
Garrison headquarters. II. and III./StG 1 targeted the cables
along the embankment, the electricity plant and signal boxes at
Dirschau (now Tczew, Poland. At exactly 04:26 CET, a Kette
("chain" or flight of three) of Ju 87s of 3./StG 1 led by
Staffelkapitän Oberleutnant Bruno Dilly carried out the first
bombing attack of the war. The Stukas attacked 11 minutes before
the official German declaration of hostilities and hit the
targets. The Ju 87s achieved complete success. The mission
failed as the German Army delayed their advance allowing the
Poles to carry out repairs and destroy all but one of the
bridges before the Germans could reach them.
A Ju 87 achieved the first air victory during World War II on
the morning of 1 September 1939, when Rottenführer Leutnant
Frank Neubert of I./StG 2 "Immelmann" shot down a Polish PZL
P.11c fighter while it was taking off from Balice airfield; its
pilot, Captain Mieczysław Medwecki, was killed. In
air-to-air combat, Ju 87 formations were well protected by
German fighter aircraft and losses were light against the
tenacious, but short lived opposition.
The Ju 87s reverted to ground attack missions for the campaign
after the opening air attacks. Ju 87s were involved in the
controversial but effective attacks at Wieluń. The lack of
anti-aircraft artillery in the Polish Army magnified the impact
of the Ju 87. At Piotrków Trybunalski I./StG 76 and I./StG 2
destroyed a Polish infantry division de-training there. Troop
trains were also easy targets. StG 77 destroyed one such target
at Radomsko. During the Battle of Radom six Polish divisions
trapped by encircling German forces were forced to surrender
after a relentless four-day bombardment by StG 51, 76 and 77.
Employed in this assault were 50 kg (110 lb) fragmentation
bombs, which caused appalling casualties to the Polish ground
troops. Demoralised, the Poles surrendered. The Stukas also
participated in the Battle of Bzura which resulted in the
breaking of Polish resistance. The dive bomber wings
(Sturzkampfgeschwader) alone dropped 388 tonnes (428 tons) of
bombs during this battle. During the Siege of Warsaw and the
Battle of Modlin, the Ju 87 wings contributed to the defeat of
well-entrenched and resolute Polish forces. IV(Stuka)./LG 1 was
particularly effective in destroying the fortified Modlin.
The Luftwaffe had a few anti-shipping naval units such as
4.(St)/TrGr 186 to deal with Polish naval forces. This unit
performed effectively, sinking the 1540-ton destroyer Wicher and
the minelayer Gryf of the Polish Navy (both moored in a
harbour). The torpedo boat Mazur (412 tons) was sunk at Oksywie;
the gunboat General Haller (441 tons) was sunk in Hel Harbour on
6 September—during the Battle of Hel—along with the minesweeper
Mewa (183 tons) and its sister ships Czapla and Jaskolka with
several auxiliaries. The Polish naval units trapped in the
Baltic were destroyed by Ju 87 operations.
The Ju 87 units were also instrumental in the Battle of France.
It was here that most of the Ju 87-equipped units were
concentrated. They assisted in the breakthrough at Sedan, the
critical and first major land battle of the war on French
territory. The Stukawaffe flew 300 sorties against French
positions, with StG 77 alone flying 201 individual missions. The
Ju 87s benefited from heavy fighter protection from
Messerschmitt Bf 109 units. When resistance was organised, the
Ju 87s could be vulnerable. For example, on 12 May, near Sedan,
six French Curtiss H-75s from Groupe de Chasse I/5 (Group
Interception) attacked a formation of Ju 87s, claiming 11 out of
12 unescorted Ju 87s without loss (the Germans recorded six
losses over Sedan entire). For the most part, Allied opposition
was disorganised. During the battles of Montcornet, Arras,
Bolougne, and Calais, Ju 87 operations broke up counterattacks
and offered pin-point aerial artillery support for German
infantry.
In March, the pro-German Yugoslav government was toppled. A
furious Hitler ordered the attack to be expanded to include
Yugoslavia. Operation Marita commenced on 7 April. The Luftwaffe
committed StG 1, 2 and 77 to the campaign. The Stuka once again
spearheaded the air assault, with a front line strength of 300
machines, against minimal Yugoslav resistance in the air,
allowing the Stukas to develop a fearsome reputation in this
region. Operating unmolested, they took a heavy toll of ground
forces, suffering only light losses to ground fire. The
effectiveness of the dive bombers helped bring about Yugoslav
capitulation in ten days. The Stukas also took a peripheral part
in Operation Punishment, Hitler's retribution bombing of
Belgrade. The dive bombers were to attack airfields and
anti-aircraft gun positions as the level bombers struck civilian
targets. Belgrade was badly damaged, with 2,271 people killed
and 12,000 injured.
In Greece, despite British aid, little air opposition was
encountered. As the Allies withdrew and resistance collapsed,
the Allies began evacuating to Crete. The Stukas inflicted
severe damage on Allied shipping. On 22 April, the 1,389 ton
destroyers Psara and Ydra were sunk. In the next two days, the
Greek naval base at Piraeus lost 23 vessels to Stuka attack.
The dive bomber wing supported Generalfeldmarschall Erwin
Rommel's Afrika Korps in its two-year campaign in North Africa;
its other main task was attacking Allied shipping. In 1941, Ju
87 operations in North Africa were dominated by the Siege of
Tobruk, which lasted for over seven months. It served during the
Battle of Gazala and the First Battle of El Alamein, as well as
the decisive Second Battle of El Alamein, which drove Rommel
back to Tunisia. As the tide turned and Allied air power grew in
the autumn of 1942, the Ju 87 became very vulnerable and losses
were heavy. The entry of the Americans into North Africa during
Operation Torch made the situation far worse; the Stuka was
obsolete in what was now a fighter-bomber's war. The Bf 109 and
Fw 190 could at least fight enemy fighters on equal terms after
dropping their ordnance but the Stuka could not. The Ju 87's
vulnerability was demonstrated on 11 November 1942, when 15 Ju
87 Ds were shot down by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
Curtiss P-40Fs in minutes.
By 1943, the Allies enjoyed air supremacy in North Africa. The
Ju 87s ventured out in Rotte strength only, often jettisoning
their bombs at the first sight of enemy aircraft. Adding to this
trouble, the German fighters had only enough fuel to cover the
Ju 87s on takeoff, their most vulnerable point. After that, the
Stukas were on their own.
The dive bombers continued operations in southern Europe; after
the Italian surrender in September 1943, the Ju 87 participated
in the last campaign-sized victory over the Western Allies, the
Dodecanese Campaign. The Dodecanese Islands had been occupied by
the British; the Luftwaffe committed 75 Stukas of StG 3 based in
Megara (I./StG 3) and Argos (II.StG 3; from 17 October on
Rhodes), to recover the islands. With the RAF bases 500
kilometres (310 mi) away, the Ju 87 helped the German landing
forces rapidly conquer the islands. On 5 October the minelayer
Lagnano was sunk along with a patrol vessel, a steam ship and a
light tank carrier Porto Di Roma. On 24 October Ju 87s sank the
landing craft LCT115 and cargo ship Taganrog at Samos. On 31
October the light cruiser Aurora was put out of action for a
year. The light cruisers Penelope and Carlisle were badly
damaged by StG 3 and the destroyer Panther was also sunk by Ju
87s before the capitulation of the Allied force. It proved to be
the Stuka's final victory against the British.
The Eastern Front brought new challenges. A Ju 87 B-2 is fitted
with ski undercarriage to cope with the winter weather, 22
December 1941.
On 22 June 1941, the Wehrmacht commenced Operation Barbarossa,
the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Luftwaffe order of battle
of 22 June 1941 contained four dive bomber wings. VIII.
Fliegerkorps under the command of General der Flieger Wolfram
von Richthofen was equipped with units Stab, II. and III./StG 1.
Also included were Stab, I., II. and III. of
Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 Immelmann. Attached to II. Fliegerkorps,
under the command of General der Flieger Bruno Loerzer, were
Stab, I., II. and III. of StG 77. Luftflotte 5, under the
command of Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff, operating from
Norway's Arctic Circle, were allotted IV. Gruppe
(St)/Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1).
The first Stuka loss on the Soviet-German front occurred early
at 03:40–03:47 in the morning of the 22 June. While being
escorted by Bf 109s from JG 51 to attack Brest Fortress,
Oberleutnant Karl Führing of StG 77 was shot down by an I-153.
The dive bomber wing suffered only two losses on the opening day
of Barbarossa. As a result of the Luftwaffe's attention, the
Soviet Air Force in the western Soviet Union was nearly
destroyed. The official report claimed 1,489 Soviet aircraft
destroyed. Göring ordered this checked. After picking their way
through the wreckage across the front, Luftwaffe officers found
that the tally exceeded 2,000. In the next two days, the Soviets
reported the loss of another 1,922 aircraft. Soviet aerial
resistance continued but ceased to be effective and the
Luftwaffe maintained air superiority until the end of the year.
The Ju 87 took a huge toll on Soviet ground forces, helping to
break up counterattacks of Soviet armour, eliminating
strongpoints and disrupting the enemy supply lines. A
demonstration of the Stuka's effectiveness occurred on 5 July,
when StG 77 knocked out 18 trains and 500 vehicles. As the 1st
and 2nd Panzer Groups forced bridgeheads across the Dnieper
river and closed in on Kiev, the Ju 87s again rendered
invaluable support. On 13 September, Stukas from StG 1 destroyed
the rail network in the vicinity as well as inflicting heavy
casualties on escaping Red Army columns, for the loss of one Ju
87. On 23 September, Hans-Ulrich Rudel (who was to become the
most decorated serviceman in the Wehrmacht) of StG 2, sank the
Soviet battleship Marat, during an air attack on Kronstadt
harbour near Leningrad, with a hit to the bow with a single
1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb. During this action, Leutnant Egbert
Jaeckel sank the destroyer Minsk, while the destroyer
Steregushchiy and submarine M-74 were also sunk. The Stukas also
crippled the battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and the
destroyers Silnyy and Grozyashchiy in exchange for two Ju 87s
shot down.
Elsewhere on the Eastern front, the Junkers assisted Army Group
Centre in its drive toward Moscow. From 13–22 December, 420
vehicles and 23 tanks were destroyed by StG 77, greatly
improving the morale of the German infantry, who were by now on
the defensive. StG 77 finished the campaign as the most
effective dive bomber wing. It had destroyed 2,401 vehicles, 234
tanks, 92 artillery batteries and 21 trains for the loss of 25
Ju 87s to hostile action. At the end of Barbarossa, StG 1 had
lost 60 Stukas in aerial combat and one on the ground. StG 2
lost 39 Ju 87s in the air and two on the ground, StG 77 lost 29
of their dive-bombers in the air and three on the ground (25 to
enemy action). IV.(St)/LG1, operating from Norway, lost 24 Ju
87s, all in aerial combat.
In early 1942, the Ju 87s gave the German Army yet more valuable
support. On 29 December 1941, the Soviet 44th Army landed on the
Kerch Peninsula. The Luftwaffe was only able to dispatch meager
reinforcements of four bomber groups (Kampfgruppen) and two dive
bomber groups belonging to StG 77. With air superiority, the Ju
87s operated with impunity. In the first 10 days of the Battle
of the Kerch Peninsula, half the landing force was destroyed,
while sea lanes were blocked by the Stukas inflicting heavy
losses on Soviet shipping. The Ju 87's effectiveness against
Soviet armour was not yet potent. Later versions of the T-34
tank could withstand Stuka attack in general, unless a direct
hit was scored but the Soviet 44th Army had only obsolescent
types with thin armour which were nearly all destroyed.
During the Battle of Sevastopol, the Stukas repeatedly bombed
the trapped Soviet forces. Some Ju 87 pilots flew up to 300
sorties against the Soviet defenders. Luftflotte 4's StG 77 flew
7,708 combat sorties dropping 3,537 tonnes of bombs on the city.
Their efforts help secure the capitulation of Soviet forces on 4
July.
For the German summer offensive, Fall Blau, the Luftwaffe had
concentrated 1,800 aircraft into Luftflotte 4 making it the
largest and most powerful air command in the world. The
Stukawaffe strength stood at 151. During the Battle of
Stalingrad, Stukas flew thousands of sorties against Soviet
positions in the city. StG 1, 2 and 77 flew 320 sorties on 14
October 1942. As the German Sixth Army pushed the Soviets into a
1,000 metre enclave on the west bank of the Volga River, 1,208
Stuka sorties were flown against this small strip of land. The
intense air attack, though causing horrific losses on Soviet
units, failed to destroy them. The Luftwaffe's Stuka force made
a maximum effort during this phase of the war. They flew an
average of 500 sorties per day and caused heavy losses among
Soviet forces, losing an average of only one Stuka per day. The
Battle of Stalingrad marked the high point in the fortunes of
the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. As the strength of the Soviet Air
Forces grew, they gradually wrested control of the skies from
the Luftwaffe. From this point onward, Stuka losses increased.
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In game…
I do not particularly like flying the Stuka. When playing our
game in an attack role, I prefer a dive bomber to heavy bombers
or fighter-bombers, but I would rather be in a Dauntless or a
Val. The Stuka has always felt a little slow and clumsy to me in
comparison. Do doubt this is due to the fact that the Stuka was
developed and initially deployed during Spanish Civil War,
during which time its most formidable fighter opponent would
have been an early I-16. Early in the second world war, the
Stuka was obsolete. For that reason I guess, my best memories of
the Ju-87 are from behind the gunsight of an LaGG-3 or Yak-1.
#Post#: 8047--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: JG51_Ruski Date: December 2, 2019, 6:01 pm
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Outstanding Von the Stuka and the 109 are my preferred ride when
flying for Germany..Good job on the write up..The kind of POW's
you put out should be assembled into a book..A chapter for each
plane
#Post#: 8051--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: Beowolff Date: December 2, 2019, 8:19 pm
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I agree. Damned fine POTW! I like the 'look' of the
Stuka...it's shape and all, but yeah, I don't particularly like
flying it. However, people that love the Stuka will argue that
it's likely the BEST plane of the war and could likely shoot
down an F-18....lol...they swear by them.
To be honest, I could never hit the broad side of a barn with
it's bomb load. Just me, I guess... lousy at dive bombing.
LOTS of great info on this plane though, great work on it... I
know it really 'was' a weapon/plane of terror! ugh! ???
S!
Beo
#Post#: 8062--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: larsresult Date: December 3, 2019, 5:56 am
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When I get a moment I fly a QMB as rear gunner in the Ju87. It
is interesting watching the action from a back seat until you
become the target! The gunners must have suffered motion
sickness terribly.
#Post#: 8063--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: cafs Date: December 3, 2019, 6:10 am
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Great PoW, Von!
Perhaps the best early war bomber, for its accuracy and,
initially, the psicological effect of its siren. For the poor
allied soldier, in the early 3 years of the war, it seems to be
omnipresent over the front lines or at the headquarters level of
a Polish, Belgian, Dutch, French, Norway, British or Russian
army.
Again, the far ahead tactical use of the Luftwaffe, pay huge
dividends. Till 1943 summer, a few dozen Stukas play havoc among
any infantry/armored brigade with a poor AAA defence and/or a
lack of air fighter cover.
Even at the end of 1944, half a dozen, 37 mm armed, Ju-87s could
blunt a Soviet armored spearhead.
Thanks Von 😀😀🏅
#Post#: 8065--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: Beowolff Date: December 3, 2019, 6:50 am
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Agreed! Truly an awesome weapon of war...
Beo
#Post#: 8084--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka
By: vonofterdingen Date: December 3, 2019, 3:55 pm
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I was a bit surprised to learn that the bomb load was limited to
about 500lbs. Though they said that the load could be increased
by removing the rear gunner and equipment. Having flown the
early single-seat Sturmovik, I don't think I would like to go up
in the Stuka without that guy in back.
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