Junkers Ju 188
The Junkers Ju 188 was a German twin-engined bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the Second World War, developed from the Ju 88 as an interim successor while the Ju 288 Bomber B design stalled. A single glazed canopy in place of the Ju 88's stepped nose, longer wings and a choice of Jumo 213 or BMW 801 engines in interchangeable installations set it apart. It first flew in 1942 and entered service in 1943; 1,076 were built, about half of them reconnaissance versions. In History of War's judgment it arrived too late to affect the war's course. French naval aviation flew captured examples after 1945.
Why It Mattered
The Ju 188 was the improved Ju 88 the Luftwaffe turned to when its chosen next bomber failed to appear. Work on it resumed under the Ju 188 designation in October 1942, triggered by the failure of the Bomber B project, because modifying an aircraft already in production promised a much quicker route into service as a stop-gap. It delivered what was asked of it: History of War records that it outperformed the Ju 88, with a more spacious cockpit and better visibility for the crew. None of that changed the outcome — History of War's verdict is that the type arrived too late to have any significant impact on the war.
Design Notes
The Ju 188 was evolved from the Ju 88 prototypes, with a larger forward fuselage and greater-span wings, and its first prototype was a converted Ju 88 development aircraft, the V44. The Ju 88's stepped nose was replaced by a single canopy that curved up and over the cockpit, the wingspan grew by three feet, and the tail was enlarged. The specification required the airframe to take either of two engines without modification — the Jumo 213 in the A series or the BMW 801 radial in the E series — each installed as a complete "power egg" that could be fitted on the production line. The standard bomber carried four guns, all in the main cockpit, and a bomb load of 3,000 kg. Its biggest weakness was the lack of any effective tail guns. The reconnaissance versions deleted the forward-firing cannon, cut the crew to three, and carried extra fuel and cameras instead. Torpedo variants, the A-3 and E-2, could carry two torpedoes, one under each wing, and normally carried sea-search radar.
Operational History
The first three production aircraft, BMW-powered E-1s, were delivered in February 1943, the month the IBCC Digital Archive dates the type's entry into service. History of War dates its entry into service to May 1943, with Erprobungskommando 188, a service-test unit, and with KG 6. The first operational unit was I./KG 6, which began flying as pathfinders on 20 October 1943. Only two bomber units, KG 2 and KG 6, converted to the Ju 188 entirely; elements of KG 26 and KG 66 also flew it. Production came to 1,076 aircraft — 283 built in 1943 and 793 in 1944 — and half of those produced were reconnaissance aircraft, serving with ten reconnaissance units. From the summer of 1944 the aircraft almost completely disappeared from operations, in response to the fuel shortage caused by Allied heavy bombing. Reconnaissance work brought no reprieve: with Allied control of the air, History of War notes, the Ju 188 was unable to achieve much in that role either.
Afterlife
German production ended in 1944, and the Luftwaffe retired the type in 1945. Its second career was French: the naval air arm, the Aéronavale, used captured Ju 188s in the immediate post-war era. The Royal Air Force also operated at least two captured machines after the war, an A-2 and an A-3; the A-3 had surrendered to British forces by landing at Fraserburgh on 2 May 1945. France retired its aircraft in 1951. The design's line continued past it: the projected high-altitude versions were renamed the Ju 388 before any of them could start production.