4 engine german bombers , did they have any in service ?

[joy17782]

did the germans ever have any 4 engine bombers in service, i mean heavy bombers , the condor could you say it was a heavy bomber , i dont think it can . but could you ? and would it have made a impact like the b-17 b -24 b-29 lanc aster . thanks for your imput

 

[Thorlifter]

Heinkel had the He-274 and He-277, but only a few were built of each. Junkers had the Ju-89, but again, only a couple were built. I'm not sure of any others.

 

[SoD Stitch]

No, the Germans never really got any 4-engine bombers into "service". They had quite a few, as Thorlifter mentioned, that were in development, but Germany never really fielded any 4-engine "heavies", like the UK and the US did. For the most part, this was due to the type of warfare they fought on both fronts; they mostly fought "tactical" battles, not strategic ones, so they didn't really ever need heavy, long-range bombers (though they would've come in handy at the BoB). The Condor was not really ever used as a pure "bomber"; the closest it got to bombing anything was dropping torpedoes on Allied shipping in the North Sea and the North Atlantic. Other tham that, the Germans mostly used it as a transport and maritime patrol aircraft.

Incidentally, in addition to the "conventional" bombers Thorlifter mentioned, there was the Ar 234C four-engined jet bomber, which was basically an Ar 234B with four BMW 003 turbojets, instead of the "standard" two Jumo 004 turbojets.

There was only one truly strategic bombers built before the end of the War: the Junkers Ju 390, which actually had six engines. Two prototypes were built and, supposedly, one of them (V1, I believe) made a trans-Atlantic flight, turning around and heading back to Germany when it got within sight of New York city.

 

[comiso90]

Junkers Ju 390 (New York Bomber) - History, Specifications and Pictures - World Military Aircraft

 

[Konigstiger205]

They never dedicated themselves on four engines bombers...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The only real German 4 engined heavy bomber to enter service was the He 177. It only had 2 nacelles but it had 4 engines.

The better He 277 which never entered service is what they should have done from the beginning and then they would have had a great heavy bomber design.

There were several prototypes however including the Me 264 and there was also the Ju 390 which was not a prototype but there were not very many built and it mostly served in transport capacities.

 

[HoHun]

Hi Joy,

>did the germans ever have any 4 engine bombers in service, i mean heavy bombers , the condor could you say it was a heavy bomber , i dont think it can . but could you ? and would it have made a impact like the b-17 b -24 b-29 lanc aster . thanks for your imput

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 could be considered a heavy bomber, though it was only used in the patrol bomber role (in which the Allies used their heavy bombers, too). It was relatively slow though, and did only have low-altitude rated engines, so it wouldn't have been possible to fly the same missions as with the Heinkel He 111 or the Junkers Ju 88 with the Fw 200.

The great advantage of the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 over the twin-engined types was its long range.

This is typical if you compare four-engined to twin-engined designs ... the B-17 and B-24 of the 8th Air Force carried an average load of 2300 kg per sortie to their targets in Germany and occupied Europe. That's well within the capability of a twin-engined design like the Junkers Ju 88 (see http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/te...ividual-bomb-sizes-makes-9040.html#post267080 ), but the Ju 88 couldn't have flown the same missions since it was not capable of achieving the range required for these missions.

The Luftwaffe's four-engined bomber was the Heinkel He 177 - it had only two propellers, but featured two engines in each of the nacelles. Each engine could be de-coupled from the propeller and be shut down individually in the case of a failure.

However, looking at the numerical strength the Allied bomber arm had to be built up to in order to make a major impact on the German war effort, it's unlikely that the Luftwaffe bombers, which were built in much smaller numbers, could have made a similar impact on the western Allied war effort - especially as for daylight raids, which would have maximized the effect of a small force, it would have been necessary to escort the bombers with long-range fighters and to achieve temporary air superiority over Great Britain.

However, long-range bombers might have proven useful for attacks on strategic targets in the Soviet Union, where resistance probably would have been less intense. Some raids on Soviet power plants were actually considered, but they were never implemented for a variety of reasons.

(Another four-engined bomber of the Luftwaffe was the Ju 288C - the type had been designed as a twin-engined bomber, but when the Jumo 222 engine couldn't deliver the required power the Ju 288 was redesigned to use twin-engine nacelles like the He 177. It was not an exact counterpart to the He 177, though - it was quite a bit smaller and faster.)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[joy17782]

well i was doing some onloine lookin and saw the new yorker bomber and downloaded the the whole site , and was reading threw it , i truely think that in russia it could have helped, but it took alot of heavys too bomb germany and even then albert speer had the factory out put at its highest, so you can say it worked or not , me i think it did , as too say it took alot of fighters of the front line and so forth , alot of thought had too be used too counter the air raids so that means something , and thanks for the web pages everybody it will give me something too look up thanks

 

[johnbr]

There was the Junkers Ju 290.

 

[fly boy]

i never thought the ju 390 was real

 

[Njaco]

The Ju 390 was real, the story about it is not.

The He 177 was a four engined bomber in 2 nacelles. The He 277 was a project that Heinkel tried to push because of the problems with the coupled engines of the 177 but the OKL told him to shut up about it. He kept on and when the need arose, he submitted the plans. Never operational.

The main reason that Germany had no 4 engined bombers was the belief that instead of one 4 Eng. bomber you could build 2 or 3 2 Eng. bombers was a more efficent use of material. Goring liked to see fleets of aircraft and this satisfied that desire. By the time they realized the need for 4 eng it was too late and too many designs were around to play with.

Anyone remember the Ural Bomber program?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The story of the Ju 390 can not be confirmed. It does not mean that it is not real.

 

[Njaco]

You're right. I meant to say that.

 

[Marcel]

The Ju 390 was real, the story about it is not.

The He 177 was a four engined bomber in 2 nacelles. The He 277 was a project that Heinkel tried to push because of the problems with the coupled engines of the 177 but the OKL told him to shut up about it. He kept on and when the need arose, he submitted the plans. Never operational.

The main reason that Germany had no 4 engined bombers was the belief that instead of one 4 Eng. bomber you could build 2 or 3 2 Eng. bombers was a more efficent use of material. Goring liked to see fleets of aircraft and this satisfied that desire. By the time they realized the need for 4 eng it was too late and too many designs were around to play with.

Anyone remember the Ural Bomber program?

Yep with General Wever still there, germany could have developed another bombing strategy in favour of the 4 enigined bombers. I believe that the germans changed their focus on divebombing after Wever died. Even the big H177 tried tho meet the requirement for divebombing.

 

[stan reid]

I think it was the six engine Blohm Voss BV 238 that flew to within sight of New York City and returned.

 

[A4K]

No-ones mentioned the Junkers Ju 287...the V1 had four Jumo 004s, production version planned to have 6 BMW 003s. (atleast one V2 was actually built in Russia after the war)

 

[Lighthunmust]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that He177s actually did bomb the U.K. some time mid-war.

 

[stona]

I think it was the six engine Blohm Voss BV 238 that flew to within sight of New York City and returned.

I don't believe that any Luftwaffe multi engined bomber flew anywhere near New York but then I believe that man did land on the moon and that the Pentagon was,tragically,hit by an airliner.
Steve

 

[Erich]

NO German aircraft ever came close to north Americas the range was not there ................. period !

 

[wuzak]

Junkers Ju 390 (New York Bomber) - History, Specifications and Pictures - World Military Aircraft

The Ju 390 was a 6 engine development of the 4 engine Ju 290 transport aircraft. In the case of both the Ju 290 and Ju 390 the design role was transport, later being adapted as bombers. Both had the transport ramp at the rear of the fuselage, the Ju 290 being one of the first aircraft so equipped.