Special modifications. Seaplane for submarine
The German He.111 aircraft became, along with the Bf.109 fighters and Ju.87 dive bombers, one of the symbols of the blitzkrieg. The Heinkel, of course, was neither the only nor the best medium bomber of the Reich aviation. But his combat journey turned out to be so long that the Junkers, the Dornier, and the later Heinkels are unlikely to compare with him in terms of fame.
Developed back in the mid-1930s, it was discontinued only in 1944. Considering how quickly aircraft manufacturing developed during World War II, the He.111 had a very long life.
History of creation
Specifics of development military industry Germany in the 20s and 30s was determined by the conditions Treaty of Versailles. Not having the right to even develop combat aircraft, the Germans were not going to put up with this ban and tried to find loopholes.
He-111G - civil versionFrom the completely obvious idea of arming transport workers, if necessary, they moved on to a more cunning one. The designers were asked to develop airliners capable of being both passenger and high-speed bombers. The first attempts to create such machines, like the bomber version of the three-engine Ju.52, were not particularly successful.
The He.111 aircraft belonged to the next generation of bombers.
Even in appearance it did not resemble its predecessors: not a bulky, angular “flying coffin”, but a fast, streamlined monoplane with a retractable landing gear. There were significant similarities with the previous passenger Heinkel He.70 “Molniya”, but since the new aircraft was twin-engine, it received the name “Double Lightning”.
Although Heinkel began making its first flights in 1935, when the existence of the Luftwaffe was officially announced, the plant managed to prepare both military and passenger modifications. They differed only slightly from each other. The airliner had a passenger compartment in place of the bomb bay, and a luggage compartment was installed instead of the navigator's cabin.
Main modifications of the He.111
Series A – pre-production prototypes equipped with BMWVI engines. Subsequently sold to China. Series B – mass modification, in production since 1936. Equipped with DB600 engines. Series D - a variant with a modified wing design and DB600Ga engines.
Since all the engines were required for the production of the Bf.109 and Bf.110 fighters, the construction of the bombers was cancelled.
Series E - produced since 1938, received Jumo 211 engines. Series F - aircraft with a modified wing design, originally built for export to Turkey. Series P is a model with a seriously modified fuselage. The traditional pilot's cockpit, located behind the bombardier's cabin, was replaced by a fully glazed bow cockpit. DB601 engines were used.
The H series is the most popular and most advanced version of the He.111. The motors in this series are Jumo211. The bombers were produced from 1939 to 1944. Worth mentioning is the He.111 Z, designed to tow Me gliders. 321. The fuselages of the two Heinkels were connected by the central wing section to the fifth engine. They also tried to use him as a scout.
Civil versions of the aircraft were reduced to two production series - C and G. At the same time, Lufthansa operated no more than twelve passenger He.111. After the war, the Heinkels were assembled in Spain under the name CASA 2.111. After being re-equipped with British Rolls-Royce engines, they served until 1973.
Combat use
The first operators of Heinkel were the Chinese. Ernst Heinkel was able to sell six Series A aircraft to Field Marshal Chiang Kai-shek. In China, the career of the He.111 “did not work out” - already on the first flight, three out of five bombers were lost (according to other sources, two out of three). The remaining cars were used as transport for some time.
In 1937, the He.111B was tested in combat conditions by the Reich.
More precisely, German pilots who fought as part of the Condor Legion in Spain. Combat tests showed the superiority of the Heinkel over its competitors - Ju.86 and Do.17. Of the 94 bombers, 58 survived the Spanish campaign. They remained in Spain as the backbone of the bombing air force.
For real mass application He.111 launched with the beginning of World War II. Heinkels destroyed Polish troops and took part in strategic raids on British naval bases. They bombed France and were the backbone of bomber squadrons during the Battle of Britain. The German invasion of the Balkans took a little time, but the He.111 made a difference key role and there.
After the start of the campaign against the Soviet Union, the Heinkel was used for some time to destroy trains, and in the winter of 1941-42 it was used as a transport vehicle to evacuate wounded and frostbitten soldiers to the rear.
In 1943, He.111s were still used for strategic bombing, but now their numbers were steadily decreasing.
The old aircraft reluctantly gave way to the more advanced Ju.88 and Do.217. They tried to use the He.111 H-22 as a missile carrier, armed, but without much success. The characteristics of the Heinkel changed slightly, but British air defense was much stronger than in 1940.
In 1944, the bomber was taken out of production, and some of the remaining ones were converted into cargo aircraft. However, the Heinkel’s combat journey did not end there yet. The last time the old aircraft was used was in 1957. Spanish CASA 2.111 then bombed Moroccan guerrillas.
Flight performance in comparison with analogues
For comparison, let's take the He.111 of the most popular series, its more modern competitor - the Ju.88 and the Soviet one.
He.111H | Ju.88 A4 | IL-4 | |
---|---|---|---|
Length, m | 16.6 | 14.3 | 14.8 |
Wingspan, m | 22.6 | 20 | 21.4 |
Maximum speed, km/h | 440 | 510 | 450 |
Practical range, km | 2000 | 1790 | 3800 |
Defensive weapons | 7 machine guns of 7.92 mm caliber, 1 machine gun of 13.2 mm caliber, 1 cannon of 20 mm caliber | 5 machine guns of 7.92 mm caliber | 2 machine guns of 7.62 mm caliber, 1 machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber |
2000 kg in bomb bay, up to 3600 kg on external holders | 1400 kg in bomb bays, up to 3000 kg on external holders | Up to 2500 kg |
It is clear from the figures that the early modification of the Junkers was somewhat inferior to the Heinkel in terms of bomb power, but was much superior in speed. This is not to mention the fact that the “eighty-eighth” could throw bombs from a dive and could serve as a heavy or night fighter. In other words, the Ju.88 was universal. Well, the Soviet equivalent left the German far behind in terms of flight range. However, small combat radii were a common problem for most Luftwaffe vehicles.
The He.111 was a very successful aircraft for its time. And even more successful - for a bomber, which, if necessary, could be passed off as a passenger airliner. The crews loved the Heinkel for its reliability and ease of operation; in terms of combat effectiveness, it was not inferior to its competitors. But it reached the pinnacle of its development even before the start of World War II - it became the H series.
Subsequently, the design of the aircraft did not change significantly; modernizations were limited to strengthening defensive weapons and installing armor protection.
These improvements increased the weight of the aircraft and, thus, “nullified” the effects of the increase in engine power.
The continued production of the rapidly aging Heinkel can be explained, first of all, by the fear of losing production rates. In addition, the “dual purpose” of the aircraft made it possible to use it quite effectively for transport purposes.
Video
The design of the He-111 began in the first months of 1934. The leading role in the design was played by certified engineers Siegfried Günther and Karl Schwatzsr. The Ne-111 continued the line started by the Ns-70: an aerodynamically clean, all-metal monoplane with a hidden adhesive skin with a wing and horizontal tail of an elliptical shape, with retractable main landing gear and a fixed tail strut. The fuselage began with a transparent nose, where the navigator's cabin was located. After numerous blowings of the models in wind tunnels, in 1934 a wooden model of the aircraft was made. The layout made a favorable impression on representatives of the newly created Air Ministry (RLM). The military offered Hsinksl to convert the passenger plane into a bomber.
Ne-111 in operation
Ne-111 in operation
The He-111 bomber received its baptism of fire in 1936-1939. during the Spanish Civil War. First, the Germans transferred four He-111B-0s to Franco-controlled territory; the planes carried out their first combat mission to bomb Madrid on March 9, 1937. The He-111 planes were in service with KG-88 of the Condor Legion.
Since May 1937, in Spain, in addition to four He-111V-0s, 40 He-111V-1s and 25 He-111V-2s operated. After training the Spanish crews, at the beginning of 1938 the aircraft were transferred to the Air Force of General Franco. By this time, the Condor Legion had 45 He-111E-1s. With the end of the war in May 1939, all Non-111s were transferred to the Spaniards.
The Luftwaffe had 808 He-111s in service on September 1, 1939, including 749 He-111P and He-111N in 21 groups and one staffel. The remaining 59 Non-111s were old machines of modifications E, F and J. From the first minutes of the war, bombers attacked Polish airfields, destroying a significant number of enemy aircraft on the ground, destroying runways, airfield buildings, fuel and ammunition depots. In the first week of the war, the Luftwaffe achieved total air supremacy. Non-111 bombers almost with impunity attacked the rear and lines of communication of the Polish troops, as well as settlements Poland. The majority of the German bombers that destroyed Warsaw were He-111s. Poland laid down its arms on October 6, 1939, after which there was a gap in the operations of the Non-111 in the East.
Three bomber squadrons and a reconnaissance group, armed with He-111s, took part in the operation against Norway, which began on April 9, 1940. Despite losses from Allied fighters and anti-aircraft guns, He-111s provided air support for German units in Norway from the first to last day campaigns. The campaign in Norway ended with German triumph on June 10, 1940.
By June 10, Germany managed to occupy Belgium, Holland and part of France. Before the start of the campaign in the West, He-111 bombers waged a propaganda war, dropping leaflets on the enemy.
The invasion of the West, which began on May 10, 1940, was supported from the air by 641 He-111 bombers. The targets of the strikes were transport hubs, airfields, and troop concentration areas. The Heinkels of KG-4 brutally raided Rotterdam on May 14, 1940, killing 850 civilians Rotterdam. The Allies called the raid a "bombing terror." France signed a shameful armistice with Germany on June 26, 1940. With the end of the French campaign, most He-111s were redeployed to airfields in northern France, Holland and Belgium. On 13 August 1940, the day the Battle of Britain began, the Luftwaffe had 463 He-111s (124 He-111R and 339 He-111H) that were involved in the "Raid of the Eagles". In the skies of England they quickly emerged weak points Non-111: low speed and unsatisfactory defensive weapons. Non-111s could not withstand Hurricanes and Spitfires. In August, losses in Non-111 aircraft amounted to 60 aircraft. In September the Luftwaffe was forced to switch from daytime raids to night ones. At night, the bombers were less vulnerable to British air defense, but their bombing accuracy dropped sharply. Several He-111s, equipped with radio guidance systems, were used as leaders. Typically the X-Gerate system was used, later the Y-Gerate system was used. Meanwhile, Luftwaffe losses in bombers continued to rise. In the first three months of 1941, about 150 Non-111s were lost.
During the “night blitz”, from September 1940 to May 1941, German aviation bombed London, Coventry and other British cities. On the eve of the campaign in the East, most of the Luftwaffe bombers were redeployed to eastern airfields, and the He-111s from those remaining in the West began to be used to combat enemy shipping. Later, the Non-111 was replaced in this role by the more modern Ju-88 and Do-217.
In December 1940, 76 He-111 bombers of three groups were transferred from Norway to Sicily. From here, from January 1941, aircraft began to carry out raids on Malta. Several modified He-111 torpedo bombers hunted for Allied ships and vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. Raids on Malta and the fight against enemy shipping continued in 1942. Non-111s achieved some success at the cost of heavy losses. Since the end of 1941, Non-111s operated in North Africa in the interests of Rommel’s troops, but such flights were sporadic.
One group of Non-111s took part in the campaign in the Balkans - the occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece. Bombers attacked concentrations of manpower and equipment, airfields, and communication lines. The campaign ended successfully for the Germans in May 1941.
In Operation Barbarossa, the Luftwaffe deployed 212 He-111Hs and two He-111Ps from 13 bomber groups. There were 11 Non-111s in three weather reconnaissance squadrons deployed on the Eastern Front. Soon after June 22, two more armed He-111 Geschwaders were transferred to the East from the West. Non-111s made up the bulk strike forces Luftwaffe, which bombed Moscow and Leningrad in the summer and autumn of 1941.
As German troops advanced deeper into the territory of the Soviet Union, supply routes lengthened. The terrible Russian roads made it very difficult to deliver everything needed to fight the war, including spare parts for the He-111 bombers. The quality of airfields on the Eastern Front, to put it mildly, left much to be desired. As a result, failures of landing gear on the He-111 became commonplace. In order to reduce the likelihood of strut failures, it was necessary to reduce the bomb load and fuel reserves on the aircraft.
At the beginning of 1942, the Non-111s mainly carried out transport operations to supply the encircled German units. In the summer of 1942, He-111s from KG-100 successfully bombed the Sevastopol fortress using 1700 kg and 2500 kg bombs. In November 1942, Paulus's 6th Army fell into the cauldron near Stalingrad - another campaign to supply the encircled troops began. The Luftwaffe command allocated approximately 300 He-111s to supply Paulus's army. The air bridge did not work out. The reason for the failure was bad weather, distance of airfields from Stalingrad and Soviet air defense. Losses grew as the Red Army tightened its encirclement. The last airfield inside the perimeter defended by the 6th Army was lost on January 22, 1943. Now German planes were no longer able to land inside the boiler and cargo was delivered only by parachute, and there was no talk of evacuating the wounded. By the time the 6th Army surrendered on February 2, 1943, the Luftwaffe had lost 490 aircraft at Stalingrad, including 165 He-111s.
The He-111 dominated the Luftwaffe bombers on the Eastern Front and in 1943 the Heinkels tried to bomb without much success industrial centers located deep in the rear, and in July 1943 took part in the battle on Kursk Bulge. Sharp increase quantity and quality Soviet fighters led to an increase in losses among Luftwaffe bombers. At the end of 1943, the armed Non-111 units were withdrawn from the front to Poland for rest and replenishment.
In 1944, the Non-111s were increasingly used not as bombers, but as transport and glider towing aircraft, replacing the obsolete Ju-52/3m in this role. They flew the He-111 bombing missions only at night, since the Luftwaffe had lost air supremacy. One of the rare successes was a night raid on June 22, 1944 on the Poltava airfield, where they were based American bombers B-17. About 40 “Flying Fortresses” that landed in Ukraine after the shuttle raid on Germany were destroyed.
At the end of 1944, the Luftwaffe had 440 He-11s on the Eastern Front (only 260 of them were considered combat-ready). Until the end of the war, Non-111s were used mainly as transport ones. In December 1944 - February 1945, Non-111s carried out flights to Budapest, the planes delivered cargo there, and evacuated the wounded back. At the beginning of 1945, the same flights were carried out to Breslau, surrounded by Soviet troops. The last nine combat-ready He-111s were disabled by their crews at an airfield in Bavaria on May 8, 1945.
He-111E-1 (V4+AB) is one of the few early He-111s remaining in the Luftwaffe at the beginning of World War II. In September 1939, the bomber took part in the Polish campaign as part of I/KG-1 “Hindenburg”.
Non-111Р-2 (F) from KG-55 “Greif” France, late 1940. Lower and side surfaces The aircraft were repainted black. Along the side of the fuselage there are “fish-shaped” marks indicating 80 combat missions.
Non-111N-6 (1H+HN) from l/KG-26 “Lowengeschwader”, the swastika on the vertical tail is painted over for unknown reasons. During the Battle of Britain, the 1st Staffel of the 26th Squadron operated from Stavanger Sola airfield in Norway.
Catastrophe
Heinkel 111 from the long-range reconnaissance squadron crashed on December 16, 1944 due to weather conditions.
He was carrying a sabotage group. Airborne number 81-7 D7+GP from the Westa 6 weather reconnaissance group.
The plane remained in place, slowly being torn apart by local residents.
Sabotage group
On the plane were:
- Uffz. Hubert Rauch (F) Killed
- Oblt. Wilhelm Schauen (B) Killed
- Uffz. Hermann Preindl (Bf) Killed
- Fw. Friedrich Windhorst (Bm) Killed
- Sonderfuhrer Alexander Althausen Killed
- to sovjetiske agenter som begge Killed (two Soviet agents)
Sonderfuhrer Alexander Althausen was the head of Abwehrgruppe 164.
Abwehrgruppe 164 was created in May 1944 in the city. Nikolaikene (East Prussia) and assigned to the 20th German Mountain Army operating in Finland. Field mail No. 17668. The head of Abwehrgruppe 164 was Sonderführer Althausen.
Until September 1944, the group was located 9 km from the mountains. Rovaniemi, 200 - 300 m from the road going to the mountains. Ranua, in standard German barracks.
The group carried out reconnaissance work against parts of the Karelian Front, sending agents trained in the Warsaw, Petsen and other German intelligence schools operating in the Baltic states.
In some cases, agents were recruited from Soviet prisoners of war in camps in Finland, in particular in the mountains. Rovaniemi.
In the group, the agents were dressed in uniform German soldiers without shoulder straps They were trained for the conditions of the north. They studied topography, reconnaissance, the structure and armament of the Red Army units, small arms and radio, and intensively trained in skiing.
In September 1944, the group relocated to the city. Inari, in October 1944 - in places. Alte (Norway), and then to the mountains. Narvik.
Where did the plane come from, filled with Germans, wearing German uniforms and Abwehr agents? After all, he was flying from the depths of Soviet unoccupied territory. It is known where: Banak airfield in Northern Norway, present-day Lakselv, where he was based. And then stories emerge about secret airfields, weather stations and German bases in the Arkhangelsk region and on Novaya Zemlya. They look too fantastic to be believed unconditionally, but there are no other versions.
The performance characteristics of the He.111 H-16 (this is the modification in the Khibiny Mountains) allow such flights: the practical range is 2500 km with a load of 3000 kg. In a straight line from Lakselv to Belushya Bay - less than a thousand km, about the same - to the eastern outskirts of the Arkhangelsk region. That is, in ideal conditions could easily fly back and forth even without refueling. In this case, it can be explained why he tried to fly over the Khibiny Mountains - Murmansk and Kandalaksha were covered by air defense and fighter aircraft.
Detection
According to the first version, the plane was found by geologists. The corpses (bones and skulls) were buried in the river bottom.
According to the second version, he was found by local children. The first publication about this aircraft was in "Twice Two" in the 90s. There was an interview with an Apatitch woman who was one of the first to be at the crashed Heinkel, she is still alive and, I hope, healthy, her name is Taisiya Konstantinovna Mosolova.
The very first to get to the scene of the disaster were the village boys (from the village of Zheleznodorozhny near the station of Apatity). Among them was her brother Yuri. The guys dragged pistols into the village, which they found from the crew. T.K. Mosolova reluctantly and nervously recalled this story. But she categorically asserted that there were no corpses at the scene of the accident in the Soviet military uniform and said it was nonsense. According to her recollections, the plane was broken into three large parts. There were five or six corpses, already decomposing. And this does not fit with the number indicated in the sources, which speak of 4 crew members, the commander of the reconnaissance school Althausen and “two agents,” and even more so this story seems more mysterious if we take into account the information in the newspaper article “Home Through the Abwehr” in the Murmansk Bulletin , which reports two reconnaissance groups, in addition to A. Althausen, on board this “flight” - of 3 and 2 paratroopers.
Everything suggests that Hitler won his first bloodless battle in 1938 thanks to the Luftwaffe. Huge and multi-year cash injections did their job - by 1938 Germany had become a strong enough state to allow itself to break the Versailles Pact. In the wake of the success of the Anschluss of Austria, Hitler posed another problem to Europe in the form of a claim to the Sudetenland - part of Czechoslovakia bordering Germany, provoking the Munich crisis in September 1938, better known in our country as the Munich Agreement.
At this time myself III Reich stood on the threshold of the political and economic crisis and in the event of war, Germany would not last more than a few weeks. It did not come to war in 1938, since European governments were paralyzed by fear of the Luftwaffe and, above all, of German bombers. According to the allies, not a single leading European state, much less “some kind of” Czechoslovakia, could withstand the strike of German bombers.
At the time of the Munich Agreement, the Luftwaffe had 3,200 aircraft, including 1,235 bombers. The basis of the German bomber force was 570 He 111s, which were armed with eight bomber regiments: KG 152, 154, 155, 157, 253, 254, 257 and 355. KG 154 "Boelcke" (formerly KG 157) flew He 111s from the winter of 1936 year. If we compare the forces of the Luftwaffe with the forces of the Allied Air Force, the comparison would not be in favor of Germany. After all, France had 3,650 aircraft. England - 3300. and Czechoslovakia 1500. Of this Allied air armada, there were 4050 aircraft on the 1st line, including 1850 bombers. Of course, the Allied aircraft were already outdated, but the numerical superiority was still on their side.
But the governments of France and England were broken by the experience of the war in Spain and the warnings of their advisers. The RAF chief of staff, Sholto Douglas, became more and more afraid of the German Heinkels every day, and the commander of the French AdA, General Vuillemin, convinced his prime minister that French aviation would cease to exist within a few days of the war. But they were both surpassed by Colonel Charles Lindbergh (Lindbergh was an American with pro-Nazi views and an ardent supporter of the Douhet theory. For fascist Germany his activity in the fall of 1938 was invaluable), who, at every opportunity, floored his interlocutors with fictitious facts about the power of the Luftwaffe, which, according to him, could not only do away with the Air Forces of England and France, but also turn the capitals of both countries into ashes and destroy their statehood. Blackmailed ministers, frightened by visions of sky-blackening hordes of German bombers methodically wiping out London and Paris, broke down and gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler.
If the Fuhrer had any honor, he should have made Ernst Heinkel and the Gunther brothers rich for the fact that their bombers won this political battle (The He 111 gained its fame mainly during civil war in Spain. For the public, this plane became a symbol of the massacres carried out in Guernica and Barcelona (3,300 civilians killed). Therefore, when they talked about German bombers at that time, they meant, first of all, the He 111.
Seaplane for submarine
In the absence of radar, the submarine had an urgent need to have its own reconnaissance aircraft.
Aviation factory of Karl Kaspar. The meeting of the three partners - Kaspar, Christiansen and Heinkel - lasted more than one hour. We discussed what Heinkel should design. We weighed all the pros and cons. Christiansen's arguments were convincing. We decided to build two copies of the aircraft for American Navy. But overseas sailors had special requirements - the aircraft must be placed disassembled in a small cylindrical container on a submarine. Its diameter is only one and a half meters and its length is six meters. There was something for Heinkel and his young assistants to think about. Of course, the plane must be small, single-seat.
Easy-to-detach seaplane U1 for the US Navy
But there was another very important requirement from the customer - the aircraft must be disassembled and assembled in the minimum time. Therefore, the biplane wing box with its struts and braces was rejected outright. Heinkel already had his own prototype. In 1917, he designed and built a flying boat that could be easily disassembled for transport in a pressurized submarine container. Its lower shortened wing was already cantilever.
General view of the U2 seaplane and its placement in a submarine container
And only the top one was additionally secured with two side struts. Now the drawings of the W 20 boat were at his disposal, but Heinkel went further. To further reduce the time required for disassembly and assembly, he decided for the first time to design a biplane without struts. The upper wing was attached with several bolts to the fuselage from above, and the lower wing - from below. The bending strength of the wings was tested in a simple way. The fixed console supported the weight of eleven men perched on it.
A five-cylinder Siemens star with a power of only 50 hp. was light and provided the aircraft with a speed of 120 km/h. For disassembled installation in a cylindrical container, a seaplane design on two floats, which were secured with snap locks, was better suited. It turned out that four mechanics, after several training sessions, could disassemble the plane for placement in a container in twenty-two seconds, and assemble it in thirty-one. This is how U 1 was born. American representatives were delighted, and two planes sailed overseas.
By the way, at that time Heinkel was not the only one building an aircraft for a submarine. The Japanese attempt to build a similar aircraft for a submarine ended in complete failure; the Japanese seaplane was “assembled” into a combat aircraft for an inadmissibly long time.
The Japanese, not without the help of Christiansen, heard about the American order for a wonderful, easily disassembled Heinkel seaplane and asked for any money to build two of the same for them, but with additional equipment. Customers agreed to increased container dimensions. And with the same engine, the “Japanese” seaplane U2 turned out to be even 60 kg lighter. It also flew well, and two of its copies were successfully sold and delivered to Japan.
Subsequently, with the money - currency received from the sale of aircraft, Heinkel was able to organize his own company, leaving Kasper.
compiled based on materials from the book by Leonid Antselovich "The Unknown Heinkel - the Forerunner of the Jet Age"
Articles
Note that it was the German “armadas” of bombers that frightened Europe and forced them to make political concessions to Hitler. Under these conditions, the attempt to create its own bomber “armada” in the USSR (see page on TB-4) should hardly be considered as a threat to the security of Europe.
And again, please note, American “bucks” allowed Heinkel to create his own company and subsequently create the He 111, which so frightened Europe...
In the early 1930s, the German air transport company Lufthansa ordered Heinkel a high-speed passenger aircraft capable of carrying ten people in addition to the crew at a speed of about 320-350 km/h. Special requirements were imposed on flight safety; in particular, if one of the engines failed, the plane nevertheless had to fly to its destination.
Realizing that the cost of the contract with Lufthansa is unlikely to cover the costs of developing and building the aircraft, the Junkers designers, brothers Siegfried and Walter Ponter, under the leadership of Karl Schwerzler, created a new He-111 airliner, taking into account its use as a bomber. This foresight turned out to be not superfluous at all - Lufthansa purchased only 6 (six!) aircraft. And the Luftwaffe - 7300. In addition, 236 He-111N bombers were manufactured in Spain under license.
The prototype Heinkel He-111 VI aircraft took off for the first time on February 25, 1935, and already at the end of the same year, the Junkers company received an order from the Luftwaffe for a series of 10 aircraft in the bomber version for flight testing.
The first production modification of the bomber was designated He-111B-1 and was put into production at a specially built plant in the city of Oranienburg. At the end In 1936, the first He-111B-1s entered the bomber squadrons, and by May 1937, the production rate of He-111Bs was 100 vehicles per month.
As with many examples of German military equipment In those years, the main testing ground for the He-111 was Spain, engulfed in civil war. The German Condor Legion used the first production modification of the He-111B-1 and the modification of the He-111B-2, which appeared in April 1937, with 950-horsepower DB 600CG engines with direct fuel injection into the cylinders.
Based on combat experience Radical changes were made to the design of the aircraft. First of all, the so-called “all-round visibility cabin” was located in the forward part of the fuselage. In this one, which does not protrude from the contours of the fuselage and has large area The glazed cockpit contained the seats of the navigator-bombardier and the pilot. In the front part of the cockpit there was a post occupied by the navigator-bombardier during air combat and bombing. In addition to sighting devices, a 7.92-mm MG 15 machine gun was installed here. In flight, the navigator-bomber was located on a seat installed to the right of the pilot’s seat, without obstructing his view forward.
Instead of a visor, the top gunner's cockpit was equipped with a sliding transparent cap that almost completely covered the gunner in flight. Instead of a ventral rifle mount, which the He 111 crews tried not to use during the fighting in Spain, as it created high aerodynamic drag, a streamlined gondola with a 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun was mounted. On later modifications, two more such machine guns were installed on the sides of the fuselage.
The radio operator gunner (top gunner) was protected at the rear by a vertical steel plate 8 mm thick, installed in the plane of the frame in the upper part of the fuselage. The gunners of the onboard rifle mounts were protected by 3-mm plates of F-shaped cross-section installed vertically near each machine gun. Each of these plates was installed in such a way as to protect the shooter’s head and torso from damage from that part of the rear sector towards which his machine gun was pointed.
The ventral gunner in the combat position was in a machine gun gondola, the floor and side walls of which were lined with 6-mm armor plates. In addition, it was protected by an 8 mm folding armor shield and an 8 mm stationary plate installed in front of it. Thus, in total, protection was provided for this gunner at the rear in a cone of approximately ±30° from the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
Produced in more than 70 variants, the He-111 bombers were in service with Luftwaffe combat squadrons from the first to the last day of the war. And although they were invariably popular among German pilots for their excellent visibility from the cockpit, reliability, good stability and controllability in all flight modes, the effectiveness of the combat use of these aircraft was steadily declining. This can be explained by a kind of stagnation in the development of flight-tactical characteristics of the He-111 against the backdrop of the overall rapid progress of aircraft technology during the war years. If before the Second World War and in its initial period the characteristics of the He-111 were quite comparable with the characteristics of similar aircraft of the leading aviation powers of the world, then in the second period of the war, despite the installation on the aircraft more and more powerful engines, there was practically no improvement in performance. On the one hand, almost the entire increase in engine power was “eaten up” by the continuously increasing defensive weapons and additional armor, and on the other hand, the design features of the aircraft began to affect the wing large area, designed essentially for passenger plane, created too much aerodynamic drag.
The preservation of the He-111 in production until the end of 1944 was obviously due to the desire of the Luftwaffe command to prevent a drop in the production of combat aircraft, which was inevitable during the transition to the production of a new type of aircraft. In addition, in addition to being used for their intended purpose, He 111 bombers performed a wide range of other tasks - from towing gliders and landing airborne assaults before transporting and launching VI projectile aircraft and Hs 293 glide bombs. Here high speed and maneuverability were not required.
Technical data Heinkel He-111N-16
- Crew: 5 people
- Maximum take-off weight: 11,400 kg
- Dimensions: length x height x wingspan: 16.40 x 4.00 x 22.60 m
- Power plant: number of engines x power: 2 x 1350 hp. With.
- Maximum flight speed; at an altitude of 6000 m: 435 km/h
- Rate of climb: 2.4 m/s
- Service ceiling: 8500 m
- Flight range: 1950 km
- Armament: 1 x 20 mm MG FF cannon, 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, 6 x 7.92 mm MG 15, MG 81 machine guns
Design features of the He-111
- Classic cantilever tail, all planes are elliptical in shape, rudders are equipped with trimmers;
- The all-metal semi-monocoque fuselage had an oval cross-section, the skin was made of smooth sheet duralumin;
- The ventral rifle mount was armed with two 792 mm MG15 machine guns, they were serviced by the lower gunner;
- The top gunner's cabin is protected by a transparent visor; a 792 mm MG15 machine gun is installed here.
- The metal two-spar wing with working skin consists of a rectangular center section, integral with the fuselage, and two removable consoles;
- The cockpit, which did not protrude from the contours of the fuselage, had a large glass area; all the necessary navigation and sighting instruments, as well as radio equipment, were installed here.
- Engine Jumo 211 with a power of 1350 hp. With. three-bladed propeller, pitch variable in flight;
- The main struts of the wheeled landing gear in flight were retracted into the engine nacelle compartments, wide-profile pneumatics low pressure allowed the aircraft to be operated on unpaved airfields;
He-111 modifications
Until the end of 1944, when production of the He 111 was discontinued, the following main modifications and their variants were developed and mass-produced:
Not 111A- a batch of 10 aircraft with 660-horsepower BMW VI60 Z engines, tested in Rechlin in 1936.
Not 111V- the first serial modification, produced since 1936. Main options:
Not 111V-1 - bomber with DB 600Aa engines, then with DB 600C. Maximum take-off weight 9323 kg, bomb load 1500 kg.
Not 111V-2 - bomber with DB 600CG engines, maximum take-off weight - 10,008 kg, bomb load - 1,500 kg.
Not 111C- a passenger aircraft, six aircraft were transferred to Lufthansa Airlines, two to the Rovel reconnaissance air group for conducting secret reconnaissance operations.
Not 111D- developed in 1937. Bomber with DB 600Ga engines and a slightly modified wing design.
Not 111E - further development modification “D” with Jumo 211A-1 engines (1000 hp). In 1938, versions E-1 and 3.4 were produced with a bomb load increased to 1600-2000 kg. The E-5 variant had an additional intra-fuselage fuel tank.
Not 111F- a bomber developed in 1938 with a He 111G wing and Jumo 211A-3 engines, the bomb load was 2000 kg. There were options:
Ne 111F-1 - export version, 24 He 111F-1 bombers were delivered to Turkey.
Ne 111F-4 - variant for the Luftwaffe, 40 aircraft were manufactured.
Not 111G - military transport aircraft, converted from Lufthansa airliners. The aircraft are equipped with a new wing of a simplified design.
Not 111H- significantly different from previous modifications bomber with Jumo 211A engines with a power of 1100 hp. With. The following options were produced:
Not 111N-1- the first production version of the “N” modification.
Not 111N-2- a version that appeared in 1939 with Jumo 211A-3 engines and enhanced defensive weapons.
Not 111N-3- a bomber produced in large quantities to combat enemy ships, armor protection was strengthened and a 20-mm cannon was installed in the ventral gondola and two 7.92-mm machine guns in the side windows in the middle part of the fuselage, power point consisted of two Jumo 211D-1 engines (1200 hp).
Not 111N-4- option with ventral bomb racks for external suspension of bombs and torpedoes.
Ne 111N-5- similar to the N-4, but with an additional fuselage fuel tank.
Ne 111N-6- a bomber produced in large numbers from the end of 1941 with enhanced armor protection, in particular, the oil coolers located above the engines were protected on top by 5 mm armor plates, and at the rear by an 8 mm plate, which was also an oil cooler damper. The water radiators were protected by 5mm plates mounted vertically behind the radiators. The total weight of the armor installed on the aircraft was increased to 315 kg.
Not 111H-7, 9 - similar to N-6 options, differing only in some equipment details.
Not 111N-8- bombers of the H-3 and H-5 variants received this designation after installing V-shaped fences on them to protect the airframe and propellers in collisions with the cables of barrage balloons. This device did not justify itself, and the H-8 bombers were converted into towing gliders and targets H-8/R2.
Not 111N-10- a night bomber based on the N-6, with additional armor protection and a device for overcoming balloon barriers.
Not 111N-11- a 1942 model bomber with a modified armor scheme compared to the N-6: the top gunner has bullet-resistant glass installed above the machine gun and on its sides, mounted in the screen frame, and the armor partition has been enlarged due to the installation of an 8 mm on the left side of it slab, which is a continuation of the upper semicircular slab. The aircraft was equipped with uprated Jumo 211F-2 engines (1340 hp). In order to provide the opportunity combat use Not 111 during the day, defensive weapons increased to seven weapons. Bomb load 2000 kg.
Not 111N-12.15- a bomber produced in 1943, equipped to launch three Hs 293 glide bombs to combat Allied ships in the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay. Special equipment consisted of FuG 230b and FuG 203b radars.
Ne 111N-14- developed in 1944, the leader aircraft for guiding bombers to the target was a further development of the H-10 variant.
Not 111N-16- a bomber produced in large quantities since 1943, mobile defensive weapons consisted of one 20-mm cannon, one 13-mm machine gun and six 7.92-mm machine guns. In addition, a fixed 7.92 mm machine gun was installed in the rear fuselage. The bomb load was 2500 kg; with the use of starting powder accelerators, it could be increased to 3250 kg. There were executions: Not 111H-16/ R1 with a rotating ventral turret, Not 111H-16/ R2 - glider towing and Ne 111H-16/ R3 - guidance aircraft.
Not 111N-18-further development of the He 111N-16/R3, a night guidance aircraft with flame arresters on the exhaust pipes.
Not 111N-20- a multi-purpose aircraft produced since 1943, there were versions: transport and landing aircraft.
Not 111H-20/ R1 , night bombers and glider tugs Not 111H-20/ R2, 3 , a bomber equipped with a GM-1 engine boosting system with bomb racks for the external suspension of twenty 50-kg bombs Not 111H-20/ R4 .
Not 111N-21- further development of the He 111H-20/R3 with Jumo 213E-1 engines (1750 hp) with two-stage compressors. The maximum flight speed was 477 km/h, bomb load was 3000 kg. They were produced in a version similar to the N-20.
Not 111H-22- developed in 1944, the carrier aircraft of the V-1 (V-1 or Fi 103) missiles.
Ne 111N-23- analogue of He 111H-20/R1 with Jumo 213 engines (1776 hp).
Not 111J- a series of 90 torpedo bombers with DB 600CG engines released in 1938.
Combat use of the Heinkel Xe-111
Deliveries of the He-111B to Luftwaffe combat units began in the first months of 1937. Almost simultaneously, in mid-February 1937, the first 4 such aircraft arrived in Spain. By May, two detachments armed with the He-111B were already fighting in the Condor Legion. A total of 95 He-111В-1/В-2 and 35 He-111Е-1 were sent to Spain, making a significant contribution to the victory of the Francoists.
Deliveries to Spain did not affect the Luftwaffe's rearmament plans - by the time of the Munich crisis in 1938, there were 13 groups armed with the He-111 (570 aircraft) - this type became the most popular Luftwaffe bomber. By September 1, 1939, this number reached 808 aircraft (including 749 new He-111Р and Н). A total of 23 groups were armed with them. The overwhelming majority of them were thrown against Poland. The first targets of the Heinkels were airfields, then attention switched to other military targets and infrastructure, and from September 16, He-111s took part in area bombing of Warsaw. The most intense raids were on September 24 and 25, in which a total of 400 aircraft took part. He-111 losses for Polish campaign amounted to about 30 cars.
In the West, from September 26, 1939, He-111s were used for occasional raids on British ships, and from January 1940 launched systematic attacks against shipping in the English Channel. The most active participation of the He-111 in Operation Weserubung to capture Denmark and Norway - 7 groups with such aircraft were initially allocated for it (about 200 aircraft - approximately in equal proportions of He-111Р and He-111Н). From the first hours of the operation, some of the aircraft were relocated to captured airfields in Norway, launching operations against the British fleet. The Weserübung cost the Luftwaffe 61 lost He-111s, but the task was completed - Germany was firmly entrenched in Scandinavia.
For the blitzkrieg in the West, the Luftwaffe allocated 1,120 twin-engine bombers, 688 of which were He-111s. According to the already proven scheme, enemy airfields were attacked first. In particular, the KG 4 squadron bombed Dutch airfields, and the II/LG 1 group disabled a good half of the Belgian aviation on the ground. It was more difficult for the groups operating against targets in France - here they encountered strong opposition from enemy fighters, suffering significant losses (20 He-111s were shot down on May 10). On May 14, more than 50 He-111s from KG 54 attacked Rotterdam, after which they operated exclusively against targets in France. From May 27 to June 4, Heinkels from KG 1, KG 4 and KG 54 bombed Dunkirk. On June 1, aircraft KG 53 and KG 55 attacked Marseille at the limit of their radius. From June 3, as part of Operation Paula, the main bomber efforts were concentrated on enemy airfields around Paris. In total, the Luftwaffe lost approximately 350 He-111s during the Blitzkrieg in the West - half of the original strength (the average loss rate for aircraft of all types was approximately half as low).
Already in 1940, the gradual replacement of the Heinkel He-111 with more modern ones began. However, in the next major Luftwaffe operation - the raids on England known as the "Battle of Britain" - the He-111 continued to be one of the main types. Gradually increasing efforts, by the beginning of September 1940, 18 Heinkel groups were concentrated in this direction. In addition to bombing, they were also involved in other operations - for example, from August 8 to 12, He-111P aircraft from KG 4 carried out massive laying of mines at the mouth of the Thames and at a number of British ports. But the main targets remained British airfields and aircraft factories. Acting on British islands He-111s went beyond the radius of their fighters, which led to significant losses - in August the Luftwaffe lost 98 Heinkels. Therefore, from the middle of the month, He-111 groups began to be transferred to night raids. From 7 September, Luftwaffe efforts shifted to British cities. The most massive raid was on November 14, 1940 on Coventry, in which 450 bombers took part various types. 18 He-111Н-3 from the KGr 100 group, equipped with radio navigation equipment, were used as target designators. The last major raids took place in early January 1941. In particular, on January 3, 111 Non-111H bombed Cardiff.
In the Balkan campaign in April 1941, the participation of Heinkels was minimal - only group II/KG 4 with 30 He-111Р-4 was involved. After the defeat of Yugoslavia and Greece, its planes laid mines near Alexandria. Since February 1941, Group II/KG 26, armed with He-111Hs adapted for torpedo suspension, was based in Sicily. Its aircraft operated over the Mediterranean Sea, and in May 1941, together with II/KG 4, participated in the operation to capture Crete. 7 He-111Н-6 from detachment 4./KG 4 operated in Iraq in the second half of May, supporting the rebellion of Rashid Ali.
By the time of the attack on the USSR, the Ju-88 was already in the leading roles in the Luftwaffe bomber squadrons. The forces allocated for Operation Barbarossa included three He-111H squadrons (about 270 aircraft): KG 53 operated in the Army Group North zone, and KG 27 and KG 55 - South, and in addition - the group II/KG 4, which in the first weeks of the war was engaged in mining the Black Sea ports. The Heinkels operated during the day, with fighter cover, striking airfields, railway junctions and other targets. At the end of July, the KG 4 squadron was concentrated on the Eastern Front in in full force, transferred 3 more groups of He-111H from other squadrons. But intense combat work led to a rapid reduction in the aircraft fleet - by August 16, 1941, only 135 serviceable He-111Hs remained on the Eastern Front. From July 22, Heinkels took part in raids on Moscow (KGr 100 aircraft acted as target designators, and KG 4, KG 53 and KG 55 bombed). Autumn 1941 small groups He-111Ns attacked industrial facilities in cities on the Volga (on November 5, 11 aircraft bombed Gorky, and subsequently Yaroslavl and Rybinsk were raided).
In the spring of 1942 in Northern Norway deployed Groups I and II/KG 26, armed with He-111H torpedo bombers. Their main task began raids on sea convoys en route to the USSR. On May 26-27, they, together with other aircraft and ships, sank 4 ships from convoy PQ-16, in early July they participated in the defeat of PQ-17, and in September they caused significant losses to PQ-18.
On the Eastern Front, the He-111H was also used to solve a number of specific tasks. In particular, in 1942-1943. several aircraft were used in night fighter flights for interceptions transport aircraft flying into the German rear. Also, since 1942, He-111Ns were operated in “anti-railway” detachments that hunted trains -14(eis)./KG 27, 14(eis)./KG 3 and two others.
Since the summer of 1942, most He-111H units operated on the southern flank Eastern Front, striking at retreating Soviet troops, airfields, and railway junctions. Then main goal became Stalingrad. After the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, the main task of the He-111N was to supply the troops in the “cauldron”. From the end of November 1942 to the end of January 1943, 165 Heinkels were lost - more than half of the aircraft of this type used to supply the encircled troops. Subsequently, transport missions occupied a prominent place in the combat work of He-111 units, but they were also used for bombing raids. In particular, in June 1943 they bombed the Gorky Automobile Plant four times and the Yaroslavl Tire Plant twice.
The Luftwaffe concentrated a large strike fist to participate in Operation Citadel - the Battle of Kursk. It included, in particular, 9 groups of Heinkels, fully armed with the new He-111N-16. Despite the fact that by mid-1943 the aircraft was considered suitable only for night raids, the Heinkels operated during the day under reliable fighter cover, striking at the advanced positions of the Soviet troops.
Of the bombing raids undertaken in 1944, the strike on the night of June 22 on the Poltava airfield, where American bombers landed after a “shuttle” raid, deserves mention. The raid involved up to 200 He-111Н from KG 53 and KG 55, launched to the site by He-111H-16/R3 target designating aircraft from III/KG 4. As a result of the strike, 44 and 5 other aircraft were destroyed, another 28 B-17 and 28 other vehicles were damaged. It was also possible to destroy significant reserves of aviation gasoline.
From July 1944, modified He-111H-22s began to be used to launch Fi 103 (V-1) missiles at British cities. The first combat flight took place on July 8, when several missiles were fired at Southampton, and by the end of the summer over 400 missiles were launched (3/4 at London). Initially, one group was involved in these operations, and by the end of the year this number was increased to three (a full squadron of KG 53). The losses were very significant, mainly due to the explosions of projectile aircraft. Having 101 He-111H-22s at the beginning of January 1945, within a few weeks the KG 53 squadron lost 77 aircraft, of which only 16 were as a result of enemy actions. Until the end of the war, the surviving He-111Hs were used mainly as transport aircraft.
6 He-111A-0 aircraft, rejected by the Luftwaffe due to too low flight characteristics, were sold to China in mid-1936. They operated as part of the 19th Bomber Air Force until approximately the end of 1937, participating in battles with the Japanese in the Shanghai area.
After the end of the civil war, Spain operated 58 He-111s of various modifications, and in 1948, deliveries of licensed CASA 2.111s began. In Turkey, which received 24 He-111F-1 and 4 He-111G transport aircraft in 1938, these aircraft were operated until 1944.
In 1940, Romania received 32 He-111H aircraft - older aircraft brought to the H-3 standard. They armed the 5th Bomber Air Group, which took part in hostilities against the USSR from June 22, 1941. In 1942, the group received 30 licensed He-111N-6s, which made it possible to compensate for the losses incurred. According to some reports, another 10 He-111E-3 and 10 He-111H-6 were delivered from Germany. After Romania switched to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition in August 1944, 7 He-111H remained in service, used in battles against the Wehrmacht.
Hungary in 1940-1944 received a total of 16 He-111Р, used only as transport and long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Also used as transport aircraft were 2 He-111N-16s received in 1943 by Bulgaria.
In 1943, Slovakia received 5 He-111Hs, three of which, as part of the 41st Bomber AE, took part in the battles in the Kuban in the summer of 1943. Several He-111Hs remaining at Czech and Slovak airfields were used by the Czechoslovak Air Force after the war under the designation LB-77.
In the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, captured He-111s were used mainly for testing. In the USSR, the 132nd BAP was armed with such aircraft in April 1943, but they did not participate in hostilities.
“Madhen fur Allen” - “a girl for everything”, or “a servant of all trades” - this is how the Heinkel He-111 was nicknamed in the Luftwaffe. Indeed, this plane showed amazing ability adapt to changing combat conditions. Starting the Second world war As the main daytime bomber of the Luftwaffe, it was also successfully used as a night bomber, torpedo bomber, mine layer, train hunter, and missile carrier. Along with this, it became one of the main types of transport aircraft. Being approximately equal in flight data to the British one, it was superior to the first of them in terms of communication and navigation equipment, inferior to the “British” in carrying capacity and the effectiveness of defensive weapons.
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