Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive fighter") was a two-man (pilot and rear gunner) dive bomber (Schlachtflugzeug) of the Wehrmacht, that was in operation from 1937 until the end of World War II. Gerhard Grenzel, Paul-Werner Hozzel, Martin Möbus and Elmar Schäfer were the first Stuka pilots to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for their extraordinary achievements during the Norwegian campaign.
History
The Stuka was used in various operations, including the 1937 Spanish Civil War as well as Poland (Poland Campaign), Norway (Operation Weserübung), France (Battle of France), North Africa (Afrikafeldzug), the Battle of Britain and saw heavy action serving as the primary fighter plane in the Eastern Front.
The German Luftwaffe also expanded the design and introduced the concept into its heavy bomber aircrafts with the model Junkers Ju 88 (de). Currently there are only two intact Stukas surviving today with several other wreaks on display in various museums.
Dive bombing
To ensure safe interception, all Ju 87s had an automatic dive and interception system installed. This automatic dive initiation/abort system allowed the pilot to concentrate completely on his target. The characteristic noise was not caused by the dive, but by a siren attached to the landing gear to further instill fear in the enemy, which was very sucessful over Poland and Norway.
However, the first weaknesses of the tried-and-tested aircraft became apparent during the Battle of Britain, as well as in the heavy fighter Bf 110, namely that it was too slow in air combat against single-seater fighters of the Royal Air Force, and the losses were catastrophically high. After 18 August 1940, the “Stuka” was largely withdrawn from the air battle, but the Luftwaffe now lacked its most precise target bombers, especially against the numerous British radar stations that were largely responsible for the successful defense of the company.
At the Eastern Front, the Stuka, now with fighter pilot protection, once again was used gloriously and spread fear and terror among the enemy.
Tank destroyer
A special tank destroyer version was armed with two 37 mm cannons instead of bombs. This tank destroyer, the Ju 87 G, was first used in the unit led by Hans-Ulrich Rudel. This version omitted the dive brake. The Ju 87 T was designed as a carrier version with folding wings for the German aircraft carrier “Graf Zeppelin”.
Designs
There were several designs of the Junkers Ju 87, such as (including total built):
- A (total 262) July 1937 – September 1938
- B-1 (total 697) September 1938 – May 1940
- B-2 (total 225) February 1940 – October 1940
- R-1 (total 105) January 1940 – May 1940
- R-2 (total 472) June 1940 – July 1941
- R-4 (total 144) May 1941 – October 1941
- D-1 (total 592) August 1941 – July 1942
- D-3 (total 1559) May 1942 – November 1943
- D-5 (total 1488) May 1943 – September 1944
- G-2 (total 208) December 1943 – July 1944
