Yeah, pretty much agree with this POV. Though I am looking forward to the next update. It is an interesting read with a lot of work put into it in spite of a few minor/major flaws.
Can it Carry Bombs?
- Thread starter whatisinaname
- Start date
Yeah, pretty much agree with this POV. Though I am looking forward to the next update. It is an interesting read with a lot of work put into it in spite of a few minor/major flaws.
Maskirovka are all risky ventures since most deception maneuvers don't work. The enemy finds out sooner or later. One thing that makes such deception very difficult is an enemy with excellent intell and air recon.Mind you Hitler seems to have been an easy man to fool with deception and ignor intell.
I've been reading up on Uboat wars and the expectation is definately that little would change even with the advent of the XXI. However there seems to be several impondrable . Up until mid war the German Uboats got 18:1 kill ratios against allied merchant fleets while the world wide shipping dropped from 38 million tons down to ~ 31 million tons. Then in 1943 everything changes. The allied ASW effort is all of a sudden order of magnitude more effective and the Uboats order of magnitude less effective. So the kill ratios drop to 1:1 and are 1:2 in 1944 and the world wide shipping sky rockets to 40 million by 1944 and 55 million tons by the end of the European war . Obviously the US ship building industry has alot to do with this explaination. But if the Germans can combin 18:1 kill ratios with 120-160 Uboats at sea per month , they can sink the ships almost as fast as they arrive. While this can't prevent the build up, they can force the USA to committ alot more of its industry to the war effort and it also imposes increasing delays on the war effort since every thing used in the European theatre is exlusively dependant on that shipping to get there. Depending on the scenario the delays can be a few months up to as much as 9-12 months by 1946.
Historically to explain this sudden transition, the CW treats the author to a liteny of new ASW weapons at the allied disposal , but history teaches that such weapons rarely make that much difference. Sooner or later the balance is restored. Infact the advent of new tech in the Uboat war had showed exactly that ebb and flow for years up to this transition. Looking at the techincal tools in isolation & Combination , none of them can fully explain this transition. The only two notions left are the impact of the Ultra decrypts on HF/DF detection and the German naval morale which is known to have collapsed about this time.At best HF/DF detection only gets you about 1/2 the way there, since escorts were said to be 3-4 times more effective with these reports. The only thing that remains is the German morale.
If you don't factor in the German morale , technically the fleet wide adoption of schnorkel plus the acoustic torps and long range passive sonar mated to the new low profile active sonor...this should allow fleet wide kill ratio to rebound to about 3:1 , while the Electro boats should be up to about 9:1. But the historical end war figures are still only 1:1 at best. When examining the surface battles up to the end of 1943 and after, there is a clear change . Before the transition the Germans inflicting more losses on the allies than they suffer themselves. But after 1943, the allies achieve convincing 4:1 kill ratios. So if this is any indication, then the XXI boats could very well get 9:1 kill ratios even in the face of allied hunter killer groups, if the german Naval morale can be turned around.
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Deleted member 1487
The Russians excelled at the art of deception and frequently managed to fool the Germans which led to their success OTL in catching the Germans off balance. OTL the Germans could still conduct air recon and were so fooled by the Russians before Bagration they shifted their entire mobile reserve to army group south and even stripped army group center of some of their armor to ship south. This obviously facilitated the German collapse, which the jet recon aircraft is unlikely to improve on.
As I already pointed out weeks ago, Glantz showed in his book "Initial Period of War on the Eastern Front", That back in 1941 they were right on top of the intell situation being at most 1 day behind the enemy movements. He put this down to air recon based on air superiority. As the war progressed and german recon efforts waned in the face of increasingly allied airsuperiority, by 1944 the German intell had fallen to 3-4 days behind enemy movements.This made Soviet and allied deception efforts much easier.
Reverse the airsuperioity situation and you reverse the intell time delay... Infact you may be transfering that time delay to the allies side.
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whatisinaname
Donor
16.
July 1945
Production
During July 1945, Messerschmitt delivered 75 Me-262A1a along with 40 Me-262B1a dual control trainers and 80 Me-262B2a night fighters.
Blohm & Voss delivered 45 dual control trainer conversions and DLH Staaken delivered 21 dual control trainer versions conversion as well, several of these come from converting Me-262B1a/U1 night fighters into Me-262B1a’s dual control trainers.
During July continues to see the production of the Ar-234C1 and C2s start to ease as production is switched to the much-improved C8 and C9 versions.
During July 150 of both the Me-362, Ta-183 fighters will come of the production lines this rate is set to increase to 250 of each type by August 1945. During June and July 1945 the Me-262A1a and A1b fighters are starting to be phased out of production (but not out of front line use) as the front line jet fighter unit’s receive these second generation jet fighters.
Political Developments
With the Soviet Union out of the war, there are a series of recriminations between the Western Allies (Britain, US, France) and the Soviet Union. Each accusing the other of failing to help the other in dealing with the German threat, these recriminations between the two sides became very heated, both publicly and also privately, with the Soviet delegation working out of talks with the US and British in Washington on the 21st July 1945.
The Soviet Unions actions would bring Britain and the US much closer against a possible new future enemy, the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union had claimed that it had achieved its objectives of forcing the Germans from there soil (boarders from before 1st September 1939). The reality is that the Soviet production capacity was so reduced that it would be many years before the Soviet Union could produce at the levels before the Germans had struck with Operation Eisenhammer in April 1945.
Soviet resources are now being concentrated on rebuilding the twelve turbines in water and steam power plants near Moscow, Gorky, Tula, Stalinogorsk and under the Rybinsk Reservoir, as well as various substations, transmission lines and factories that also needed to be rebuilt as well.
The Soviet military was now digging in along there “old” western boarders that dated from before the 1st September 1939, with all this fighting over the past few years had achieved very little gain for the Soviet Union with the exception of Finland and Estonia and the eastern part of Latvia. That are now under the Soviet Unions “protection”, the NKVD is making sure these new additions to the Soviet Union are loyal, anyone that is not simply disappears.
One final development that happened is the abandoning of the agreements of the Yalta Accords in February 1945 due to the Soviet Unions separate peace deal with Germany. The three remaining main allied powers (Britain, America and France) have to decide what to do with a defeated Germany, as the current plan was now dead and the Soviets would not be getting there part of Germany.
In the Far East the Soviet armies are at full strength and have ample supplies and equipment for a prolonged battle if the Japanese decided to launch an attack against the Soviet Union, even though this is highly unlikely. Stalin therefore orders the Soviet Far East Command, under Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky Transbaikal Front, with Marshal R. Y. Malinovsky and the 1st Far East Front, under Marshal K. A. Meretskov on alert for possible actions. Stalin, along with the Soviet General Staff had plans to help communist China against Nationalist China.
Assuming that Germany could be defeated, now that the Soviet Union was not pressing on Germany’s Eastern Frontier and the German’s could now concentrate there resources against the Western allies, but Hitler was not about to strip the Eastern front of troops and equipment.
Hitler would allow most resources to be transferred from the factories in Germany to the Western and Southern Fronts including more replacement troops from Germany the British and US do not know this yet, but soon would. Hitler will not allow that transfer of a single division from the Eastern Front/Boarder, much to the frustration of the German High Command.
Other Jet Projects
When Galland assumed command of all jets and related research in January 1945, he inherited a large number of research projects which on examination he decided to allow two continue to run alongside the Me-262 and Ar-234 production jets and the Ta-183 and Me-362 development. Two of these projects are the Ju-287 and Hs-132, the rest would only be allowed to continue as paper studies.
The Junkers Ju-287 is a German flying test bed built to develop the technology required for a multi-engine jet bomber aircraft. It is powered by four Junkers Jumo 004B engines, featured a revolutionary swept forward wing and was built largely from scavenged components from other aircraft.
The Ju-287 is intended to provide the Luftwaffe with a bomber that could avoid interception by outrunning enemy fighters. The swept-forward wing was suggested by the project's head designer, Dr Hans Wocke as a way of providing extra lift at low airspeeds necessary because of the poor responsiveness of early turbojets at the vulnerable times of take-off and landing.
The first prototype is intended to evaluate the concept, and was cobbled together from the fuselage of a He-177, the tail of a Junkers Ju-388, main undercarriage from a Junkers Ju-352, and nose wheels taken from crashed B-24 Liberators. Two of the Jumo 004B engines were hung under the wings, with the other two mounted in nacelles added to the sides of the forward fuselage.
Flight tests began on the 8th August 1944, with the aircraft displaying extremely good handling characteristics, as well as revealing some of the problems of the forward-swept wing under some flight conditions. Tests also suggested that the aircraft would benefit from concentrating more engine mass under the wings, a feature that was to be incorporated on the subsequent prototypes. These were to have been powered by Heinkel HeS 011 engines, but because of the development problems experienced with that engine, the BMW 003 was selected in its place. The second and third prototypes (V2 and V3) are to have six of these engines, the former with a cluster of three under each wing, the latter with two under each wing and one on each side of the fuselage, as the first prototype had.
Additional machines are to have all new purpose designed fuselages and the third prototype was to carry armament and serve as the development aircraft for a production version. By early July 1945, there are twelve Ju-287 prototypes under testing with the last two V11 and V12 equipped with a pair of Jumo 004H jet engines under each wing. Both V11 and V12 have proved that the Ju-287 concept is sound, the only problem being is that the current Me-326 and Ta-183 jet fighters have priority call on the Jumo 004H jet engines and Galland won’t reverse that order.
The second aircraft is the Henschel’s Hs 132 is a dive-bomber and intended to be an interceptor aircraft the unique design featured a top-mounted jet engine and the pilot in a prone position. There had been interest in the idea of a prone pilot for combat aircraft to reduce g-forces during manoeuvring.
The genesis for the Hs 132 was on the 18th February 1943 specification published by the German Air Ministry (RLM) calling for a single-seat shipping attack aircraft to counter an expected invasion of Europe. A piston-engine aircraft was called for at the time, but the performance requirements led to a switch to jet power. Henschel submitted their design for RLM approval in April/May 1944, by which point they had already started wind tunnel testing the basic layout.
The aircraft that emerged had a roughly cigar-shaped fuselage with short-span mid-set wings and a horizontal tail with considerable dihedral ending in twin rounded rudders. The BMW 003 engine was mounted on the back of the aircraft above the wing, likely to make servicing easier due to the low ground height of the aircraft that put the engine roughly shoulder-height. The twin rudder arrangement kept the controls free of the jet exhaust. The cockpit was completely faired into the fuselage contour, with a rounded clear nosecone on the front of the aircraft.
By early July 1945, the Hs-132 had 20 prototypes built and under testing, the basic Hs-132A model is armed with only one 500 kg bomb and no other armament. It was to begin its attack in a shallow dive outside the ships' range of fire, and after reaching a speed of 910 km/h (565 mph) the pilot would “toss” the bomb at the target using a simple computerized sight, and then climb back out of range. The aircraft was stressed to 12g for the pullout. The computerized bombsight was not delivered in time to be fitted to the initial four test aircraft V1 to V4 and would be fitted later for testing.
The second version is the Hs-132B used the Junkers Jumo 004B engine in place of the BMW 003, and added two MG 151/20 cannons ten of these have been built in prototype form V5 to V15 these aircraft are fitted with the computerized bombsight.
The third version is the Hs-132C was a more extensively modified version intended for bomber interception, intended to feature the larger Heinkel HeS 011 engine. With two MG 151/20s and two MK 103 or MK 108 30 mm cannons as well, no prototypes have been built due the lack of need of the C version, as the Me-362 and Ta-183 fighters are fulfilling this role.
The fourth version is the Hs-132D included a new wing of increased span, this is fitted with the Junkers Jumo 004D engine and the two MG 151/20 cannons have been replaced with two 20mm MG 213B cannons with 240 rounds per gun, there are five prototypes of the Hs-132D undergoing testing.
Galland is unwilling at this time to introduce the two new jets into full production as there is very little capacity left in jet production, this action is supported by Speer. Galland is willing to allow additional limited “pre-production” of more prototypes to form two Erprobungskommando, Erprobungskommando 287 and 132 for limited operational testing, with no more than 40 jets in each Erprobungskommando.
Erprobungskommando 132 will take only a few weeks to form and be sent to Italy to be attached to the KG 6 for combat trails.
The Erprobungskommando 287 will never be fully formed even up to the end of the war, with only ever a maximum of 12 Ju-287A01s available for very limited combat operations, the Erprobungskommando 287 will achieve very little, and these 12 Ju-287A01s will also be attached to the KG 6.
Allied Jets
With the Gloster Meteor F3 now being fully deployed in France supporting the allied armies, there a currently 10 RAF fighter squadrons deployed in France with a further 12 deployed to defend Southern England from German jet reconnaissance aircraft. In addition another 20 RAF fighter squadrons are nearing completion of there conversation training, these 20 RAF fighter squadrons will also be deployed to France, during July 1945.
The first pre production De Havilland Vampire F1 fighters start coming of the production lines in late July 1945, these De Havilland Vampire F1 jet fighters will only see limited service with a few squadrons before the end of the war, with the bulk of RAF jet fighter force consisting of the Gloster Meteor F3.
The interception of German jet reconnaissance aircraft over Southern England have been patchy since the Germans introduced the new Ar-234C1 in early 1945 and the Ar-234C8 in June, the C1 could match the Gloster Meteor F3 top speed the C8 could outrun and operate at a greater altitude than the Gloster Meteor F3. The balance had swung back to the Germans for the rest of the war the allies would be unable to intercept any Ar-234C8 missions over Southern England, operating at around one per week.
During June 1945, RAF Meteors in France have destroyed 46 German aircraft through ground attack, along with 16 in air to air combat (including 7 Ar-234 bombers) and having faced more problems through misidentification as Ar-234 by Allied piston engine aircraft and flak gunners than from the Luftwaffe. To counter this, continental-based Meteors are given an all-white finish as a recognition aid this does help, but does not stop accidental shooting down of allied jets by allied flak gunners completely.
In France the USAF having bought several hundred Gloster Meteor F3’s from the British government (with deliveries due to continue until early 1946) until there own jets are operational and in full production, the USAF have been conducting operations as well. Mostly against German piston engine fighters from the JG 2 and 26, the JG 2 and 26 are equipped with a mix of Ta-152Hs and Me-109Ks including the new K14s. The K14 intended as high-altitude heavy fighter, the K14 is powered by the DB 605L, with the use of a four bladed propeller, with a maximum speed of 460 mph (740 km/h) and an operational altitude of 38,000 ft (12,000 m). Armour and armament is otherwise similar to the K6 it was the ultimate version of the Me-109 and the last to be mass-produced.
Both the JG 2 and 26 are holding there own surprisingly well against the Gloster Meteor F3’s, both the JG 2 and 26 are in the role that best suits them, engaging allied fighters and fighter-bombers, not allied bombing raids on Germany. Even though the JG 2 and 26 fighters number less than 200 aircraft and these are scattered across France and Belgium, there losses have been quite low as the Ta-152Hs and Me-109Ks operate “clean” without any of the “Rüstsätze” that would affect the performance of the Ta-152Hs and Me-109Ks.
Even with the Gloster Meteor F3’s are now being used by both the RAF and the USAF, these jets are having a major impact on German jet bomber operations over France. Though not many German jet bombers have been shot down a number of jets attacks have been forces to dump their bombs and run for it, when intercepted by Gloster Meteor F3’s. The German jet pilots now have standing orders to bomb from high altitude this has of course reduced the accuracy of the bombing, even with SD-2 bomblets.
In Italy the losses to the German jet reconnaissance aircraft have been nil since they were introduced, the newer Ar-234C8s operating from concealed secondary airstrips in Northern Italy and Austria, they are able to cover all of Italy and even as far south as Malta and the coast of Northern Africa, when equipped with long range drop tanks.
The KG 6 is also doing much better that their bomber cousins in France, as the distance to the front line is much shorter in Italy than in France. This means that missions are shorter and quicker, also more missions can be carried out per day by the individual jet staffels of the KG 6 in Italy than the individual jet staffels of all three Kampfgeschwader operating against French targets.
Of all the jet Kampfgeschwader the KG 6s losses are the lowest this is allowing the KG 6s pilots to become veterans in piloting the various models of Ar-234 bombers.
Defence of the Reich
As the JG 7, 44, 52, and the JG 400, along with the partially converted JG1, 5, 300 and 301 (along with the NJG 1, 2 and 11 at night and in bad weather) are now regularly engaging allied heavy bomber raids against Germany in increasing numbers. This has led to an increase in the numbers of USAF and RAF bombers being shot down.
The EJG 2, although primarily a training unit, also sends small detachments of single seat fighters to engage allied bombers as well with the secondary role of the EJG 2 is still to engage allied reconnaissance aircraft over flying Germany. This frees up the various Jagdgeschwader to focus on the various bomber raids over Germany, though the various Jagdgeschwader also conduct anti reconnaissance aircraft mission against allied aircraft that come with range of there bases.
Along with the jet fighter wings, there are also the piston engine fighter wings such as the partially converted JG1, 5, 300 and 301. These piston engine fighter wings have two roles within the Defence of the Reich, the first is to engage enemy bomber raids and the second is to defend those airbases that are being used for jet operations. In both these roles the piston engine fighter wings are doing a fairly good job, in the long term it is planned to replace all the fighters within the Reich with the second generation jets, this is not going to be able to be able to be fully implemented until the end of 1946.
A program is already underway to start replacing the remaining piston engine fighters within the JG1, 5, 300 and 301 at a single group at the time, so as not to reduce the combat effectiveness of these fighter wings, while they are being upgraded to jets.
The NJG 11 is now fully equipped with the latest Me-262B2a jet night fighters, both the NJG 1 and 2 have started to receive the Me-262B2a and they should be fully equipped with the Me-262B2a by the end of November 1945. British night raids against Germany are becoming increasingly costly for RAF Bomber Command there are a growing number of voices, that state that Bomber Command should be used to support Montgomery’s 21st Army Group, so far “bomber” Harris has managed resisted these moves, but this is proving to be increasingly difficult for him to justify.
There are an increasing number of pitched air battles over Germany with several bomber raids being forced to return home without completing there missions (this has yet to become the norm). The British see this as a battle of Britain in reverse, when a German pilot bails out, he will be returned to his unit, whereas an allied pilot bailing out will be taken prisoner. The German population are also developing a firm “Blitz” mentality against allied bomber raids on their city’s.
The British government along with RAF fighter command refuses to allow the Gloster Meteor F3s to be deployed on bomber escorts (from France), as the still fear that the Germans will gain access to British jet technology, even though the Gloster Meteor F3 can now be fitted with long ranged fuel tanks. These Gloster Meteor F3s could escort allied bombers from France up to the River Rine area and back although they could not yet escort allied bombers on deep penetration raids into Germany.
The allies have been increasing the numbers of piston engine fighters escorting bomber raids. This has now been countered by the Germans being able to deploy more piston engine fighters and some jet fighters against the allied escort fighters, allowing the German anti bomber jet fighters (those carrying the R4M rockets) to get at the bombers causing heavy bomber losses.
In July 1945 sees the first B-29 bomber raids against Germany, these first raids consist of only 100 B-29 bombers and 750 fighters to escort them. The B-29 bombers on these raids fly’s between 25,000 and 28,000 feet to allow there escort fighters to fly top cover, the B-29s are give a maximum bomb load, as the B-29s does not need a full fuel load as is the case for those raids against Japan as the range is much less.
These first B-29 bomber raids against Germany are a failure for the USAF, as those commanding the US bomber force, thinks that the B-29 could not be shot down by German jets due to the superior defensive firepower of the B-29 they are very wrong. They are also wrong in comparing Japan to Germany this is also a mistake, as Germany has a much stronger air defence system than Japan.
On the first B-29 bomber raid, out of the 100 B-29 bombers sent, 43 are shot down (mostly by jets using R4M rockets) and the remainder suffer from various forms of battle damage. The first B-29 bomber raid does not even manage to bomb its target and is forced to turn for home and dump its bomb load in the North Sea.
Successive B-29 bomber raids throughout the remainder of July also achieve very little, even with an increase in escort fighters, with some B-29 raids having over 1,000 escort fighters, by the end of July those claims that the B-29 can survive over Germany have been proved very wrong. This will lead to an all time high for German pilot’s claims on shooting down US bombers. What is needed by the allies are large numbers of bombers, as sending 100 to 200 bombers against Germany makes it a lot easier for the Germans to shot down a small number of bombers, even B-29s.
These B-29 bomber raids during July will see the first major use of the Ta-183A1a and the Me-326A1a fighters being used for the first time in large numbers by the Germans. These will proved to be better able to “mix it” with allied fighters much better than the Me-262s, this will lead to the Me-262, Me-326 and Ta-183 A1b equipped with R4Ms engaging the B-29s and the Ta-183A1a and the Me-326A1a fighters, along with the piston engine fighters engaging the escort fighters.
By the end of July 1945, Erich Hartmann has gone past 400 kills, with a total of 409 kills by the 31st July 1945, most of these being US fighters along with a few bombers as well, the bulk of these kills being achieved while flying the Me-326A1a fighter. On the 25th July 1945 Erich Hartmann achieves 6 kills in one mission, by using only very shot bursts from his two MG 213C 30mm cannons to take out US fighters in very quick succession. While using the combination of the Me-326A1a blinding speed and good manoeuvrability to great effect, in the hand of an expert pilot the Me-326A1a is lethal.
German propaganda is using Erich Hartmann tally of kills to great effect, when he passes the 400 mark Erich Hartmann is on the front page of every German newspaper and magazine. By the end of July 1945 most allied pilots escorting bombers are well aware of Erich Hartmann tally of kills, so on seeing either a Ta-183 or Me-326 they think it maybe Hartmann’s jet and try to keep out of its way to avoid getting shot down. Though most do engage the German jets, this had led to a large number of claims that Hartmann has been shot down, in one day it was claimed by USAF that Hartmann has been shot down twenty times!
German air defence is now getting much stronger than it was in January 1945 this is bad news for the allied air forces over the short term, in the medium to long term the allies’ numerical advantage will eventually win.
Night Fighter Development
The Me-262B2a was a good night fighter, but it could be better, so Galland had issued orders in early 1945 for an improved version of the Me-262B2a, this would become known as the E series. The Me-262 E series would be an offshoot of the Heimatschützer III design, but instead of being a single seat fighter this would be modified to a tandem seat night fighter, with an enlarged fuselage.
The Me-262 E series would be equipped with the following, “Berlin” centimetric radar along with the FuG 350 Naxos radar detector and in addition carried the FuG 227 Flensburg passive radar receiver just as the Me-262B2a is equipped. The new Me-262 E series would be larger than the Me-262B2a and this would allow the E versions to have a greater internal fuel capacity, thus doing away with the need for drop tanks (though drop tanks could still be carried if needed).
The armament would be different to the Me-262B2a, consisting of three MG-213C 30mm cannons in the nose, with 150 rounds each. The Me-262 E series would be power by two 004E series engines, allowing the Me-262 E series to operate at higher altitudes than the Me-262B2a and have a maximum speed of 600mph at altitude, with an estimated endurance of over two hours at cruising speeds.
The Me-262 E series was expected to enter production in early 1946.
The British are now starting to introduce the Avro Lincoln four-engine heavy bomber from July 1945, as a replacement for the Avro Lancaster. The Lincoln had a better rear defensive armament of two 20mm Hispano cannon in dorsal turret to give better rear firepower against German jet and piston engine, night fighters.
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star
In the US the P-80 is finally starting to receive the modified engines to the initial batch of 340 airframes waiting for the modified engines (with considerable British help with the jets engine). During the rest of July, the P-80s will be put through extensive testing to make sure that they are working properly this time.
Eighty-three would be delivered by the end of July 1945 and 45 of these would be assigned to the 412th Fighter Group that will be transferred to Europe and commence operations by August 1945. With further fighter groups converting to the P-80 during August and September 1945, either in the US or as would become the norm in Europe.
Those US fighter groups operating or slated to receive the Gloster Meteor F3s will not convert to the new US jet fighters until after the war is over. When they do, they will return the Gloster Meteor F3s to Britain, even though the US purchased them, once the US has its own fighter it has no use for the Gloster Meteor F3s.
This will leave the UK with several hundred surplus Gloster Meteor F3s, most will be sold or given away, some will be used for their spare parts, the remainder will be scrapped.
War at Sea
The new Type XXI and XXIII U-Boats are proving to be very deadly against allied convoys crossing the Atlantic and those crossing the English Channel respectively, the U-Boats are still targeting the tankers first, and this has caused a drop in the amount of fuel reaching the UK. The other freighters are only attacked after engaging the tankers, as Dönitz knows that every tanker that is sunk is a bigger blow than ten or even one hundred freighters carrying tanks or planes.
With Southern France under allied control, oil supplies are now being routed the long way around, these convoys take much longer to travel to France, there losses are much more smaller with ninety percent of convoy’s taking no losses. The supplies of oil need for the UK are still quite high, but as these oil tankers arriving in Southern France are supplying the allied armies needs in France and Italy, thus reducing the burden on the UK reserves of oil.
Until the new U-Boat threat can be dealt with, the shipping of supplies of oil and other supplies to Southern France and Italy will come via Cape Town, rather than across the much shorter Atlantic route. Even with this diversion, some supplies have to come across the Atlantic route, are attack by the new U-Boats, and take heavy losses.
Even so, the new U-Boats cannot engage every convoy crossing the Atlantic and the majority of convoy’s do get through, the ones that are engaged by the new type XXI U-Boats always suffer heavy losses. It will not be until 1946 that Dönitz will be able to deploy these new U-Boats in larger numbers, but by then the war will be over and it will not make any difference.
The US will take drastic action (to some, unnecessary action) to ship supplies across the Atlantic, in the form of the Hughes H-4 Hercules.
Hughes H-4 Hercules
On the 1st July 1945, with the war at sea seemingly changing in favour of the Germans, the US government now pushed Hughes Aircraft and Howard Hughes himself for the rapid introduction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, telling Howard Hughes that they needed this aircraft without any more tinkering from Howard Hughes.
Howard Hughes now seeing, that this aircraft was needed quickly stopped his own insistence on “perfection” by the late August 1945 the first Hughes H-4 Hercules was finished. Howard Hughes and his people had worked around the clock to get the first aircraft completed, during this time Howard Hughes barely slept and seemed to “forget” his various phobias as the would on the first Hughes H-4 Hercules consumed his life.
On the 31st August 1945, the Hughes H-4 Hercules few with Howard Hughes at the controls after the first two taxi runs. Then after picking up speed on the channel facing Cabrillo Beach near Long Beach, the Hercules lifted off, remaining airborne 70 ft (21 m) off the water at a speed of 135 mph (217 km/h or 117 knots) for around a mile (1.6 km).
During September 1945, the Hughes H-4 Hercules continued the flight test program, with most of these test flights being flown by Hughes himself.
On the 30th September 1945, with Hughes at the controls again and with the Hughes H-4 Hercules loaded with extra fuel and a small amount of symbolic cargo onboard. The Hughes H-4 Hercules made a long ranged trip from the US to the UK landing in a Scottish Loch, two days later again with Hughes at the controls made the return trip, proving the feasibility of the H-4.
With Hughes Aircraft already beginning construction of an additional 30 “production” Hughes CH-4 Hercules with the designation changed from H-4 to CH-4 by the USAF, Howard Hughes had again proved his critics wrong about the Hughes CH-4 Hercules.
After the war the 30 production CH-4s would be used to ship urgent supplies and VIPs from the US to the UK, the USAF would continue to operate the 30 CH-4As until the arrival of the C5 Galaxy aircraft in 1970, by then only 20 CH-4As would remain operational.
Hitler
On the 25th July 1945, Hitler rewrites his will, changing the succession from the now disgraced (and soon to be dead) Goring, to someone else, with Bormann knowing who Hitler’s replacement is, along with the leaders of the German Army, Navy and Air Force.
On the 31st July 1945, Hitler appoints Field Marshal Erich von Manstein as the Commander-in-Chief of the Reserve (or Replacement) Army (Ersatzheer), this was seen as an unusual choice for Hitler, Hitler actions are becoming increasingly erratic in some areas, but in others Hitler is perfectly rational.
V2 Bombardment
Between January 1945 and the end of June and average of 550 V2 rockets were fired per month, the bulk of these at London (around 300+), with the remainder being fired at targets in France (150) with varying degrees of inaccuracy. In theory an average of ten V-2s could be launched per day making up to 1000 V-2s could be launched per month, given sufficient supply of the rockets, production could never keep up with this level of firing, so production was pegged at a maximum of 600 V2s per month.
The V2 program also had several offshoot programs, including the A4b rocket.
A4b
In June 1939, Kurt Patt of the Peenemünde Design Office, proposed wings for converting rocket speed and altitude into aerodynamic lift and range. He also proposed the Flossengeschoss (fin projectile). Walter Dornberger utilizes both concepts when he drafted a memo for presentation to Hitler regarding the “America rocket” on the 31st July 1940.
The A4b in reality was a two-stage A10/A9 rocket. After funding for the A-9 project was altogether halted in October 1942, Wernher von Braun proposed the winged “A4 Bastard” on the 10th October 1944 and serious A4b development and then production was started. Adoption of the A4b designation disguised that this missile was an entirely new project and permitted funding to be diverted from the A4 rocket.
The cancelled A-9 design of 1942 with a long “chine” type wing along its entire length differed from and preceded the A4b rockets launched in January 1944. The A9 was an upper stage of the A10 booster.
Freiburg Bundesarchiv Military, OKH Heereswaffenamt, records minutes of a meeting on the 15th January 1944, Verlagerungsort projects “Zement” BA MA RH 8 in which the underground complex Anlage B dug into the slope at Finkerleiten next to Ebensee discuss the use of this tunnel for production of the intercontinental rocket. Many commentators have contracted this with their own shorthand form to suggest the complex was to build the A9 rocket. The A9 however was cancelled in 1942. The intercontinental rocket, which is manufactured at Zement was the A4b launched by rocket sled like the Sanger Antipodal bomber concept.
A number of A4b rockets are suspected to have been launched eastwards, on the night of the 16th May 1945 from a rocket sled near Rudisleben at the Polte II underground complex. This may have been to convince Stalin that Germany could bombard the Soviet Union without the need for sending bombers. Rumours state that this was one of the reason Stalin gave Germany good peace terms.
The Soviet archives would become known briefly in 1991, but these records would quickly become classified by the new Russian Federation. Three other accounts of the A4b rocket sled device survive the war from an inmate of the Jonsthal Concentration camp and two from former German V2 engineers. Accounts suggest a number were also fired at the Urals during late May 1945.
Even today, these firings remain shrouded in secrecy (assuming that they actually happened at all), with no government willing to talk about them!
Trinity
Trinity was the first test of technology for a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States on the 16th July 1945, at a location 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, headquartered near Alamogordo. Trinity is a test of an implosion-design plutonium bomb. The Trinity detonation was equivalent to the explosion of around 20 kilotons of TNT and is usually considered the beginning of the Atomic Age.
Now all that was need was for President Harry S. Truman whether to use the Atom Bomb against Japan or Germany first, President Truman’s decision would change the world forever in several different ways.
Me-262 Kills and Losses July 1945
The Me-262 units have by the end of July 1945 shot down 611 allied aircraft, for 138 combat losses (37 pilots killed), losses due accidents and technical failures is 51, with 19 jets written off killing 5 pilots.
The KG 6, 51, 54 and 76 are now rapidly acquiring large numbers of the C2 and also starting to receive the C9 in quantities, all there jet bomber KG’s will be fully equipped by the end of August 1945.
No Me-262B2b have been produced this month, as none of the 20 Me-262B2b has been lost, these Me-262B2b are being produced as needed.
August would bring dramatic changes for Germany.
To be continued.
July 1945
Production
During July 1945, Messerschmitt delivered 75 Me-262A1a along with 40 Me-262B1a dual control trainers and 80 Me-262B2a night fighters.
Blohm & Voss delivered 45 dual control trainer conversions and DLH Staaken delivered 21 dual control trainer versions conversion as well, several of these come from converting Me-262B1a/U1 night fighters into Me-262B1a’s dual control trainers.
During July continues to see the production of the Ar-234C1 and C2s start to ease as production is switched to the much-improved C8 and C9 versions.
During July 150 of both the Me-362, Ta-183 fighters will come of the production lines this rate is set to increase to 250 of each type by August 1945. During June and July 1945 the Me-262A1a and A1b fighters are starting to be phased out of production (but not out of front line use) as the front line jet fighter unit’s receive these second generation jet fighters.
Political Developments
With the Soviet Union out of the war, there are a series of recriminations between the Western Allies (Britain, US, France) and the Soviet Union. Each accusing the other of failing to help the other in dealing with the German threat, these recriminations between the two sides became very heated, both publicly and also privately, with the Soviet delegation working out of talks with the US and British in Washington on the 21st July 1945.
The Soviet Unions actions would bring Britain and the US much closer against a possible new future enemy, the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union had claimed that it had achieved its objectives of forcing the Germans from there soil (boarders from before 1st September 1939). The reality is that the Soviet production capacity was so reduced that it would be many years before the Soviet Union could produce at the levels before the Germans had struck with Operation Eisenhammer in April 1945.
Soviet resources are now being concentrated on rebuilding the twelve turbines in water and steam power plants near Moscow, Gorky, Tula, Stalinogorsk and under the Rybinsk Reservoir, as well as various substations, transmission lines and factories that also needed to be rebuilt as well.
The Soviet military was now digging in along there “old” western boarders that dated from before the 1st September 1939, with all this fighting over the past few years had achieved very little gain for the Soviet Union with the exception of Finland and Estonia and the eastern part of Latvia. That are now under the Soviet Unions “protection”, the NKVD is making sure these new additions to the Soviet Union are loyal, anyone that is not simply disappears.
One final development that happened is the abandoning of the agreements of the Yalta Accords in February 1945 due to the Soviet Unions separate peace deal with Germany. The three remaining main allied powers (Britain, America and France) have to decide what to do with a defeated Germany, as the current plan was now dead and the Soviets would not be getting there part of Germany.
In the Far East the Soviet armies are at full strength and have ample supplies and equipment for a prolonged battle if the Japanese decided to launch an attack against the Soviet Union, even though this is highly unlikely. Stalin therefore orders the Soviet Far East Command, under Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky Transbaikal Front, with Marshal R. Y. Malinovsky and the 1st Far East Front, under Marshal K. A. Meretskov on alert for possible actions. Stalin, along with the Soviet General Staff had plans to help communist China against Nationalist China.
Assuming that Germany could be defeated, now that the Soviet Union was not pressing on Germany’s Eastern Frontier and the German’s could now concentrate there resources against the Western allies, but Hitler was not about to strip the Eastern front of troops and equipment.
Hitler would allow most resources to be transferred from the factories in Germany to the Western and Southern Fronts including more replacement troops from Germany the British and US do not know this yet, but soon would. Hitler will not allow that transfer of a single division from the Eastern Front/Boarder, much to the frustration of the German High Command.
Other Jet Projects
When Galland assumed command of all jets and related research in January 1945, he inherited a large number of research projects which on examination he decided to allow two continue to run alongside the Me-262 and Ar-234 production jets and the Ta-183 and Me-362 development. Two of these projects are the Ju-287 and Hs-132, the rest would only be allowed to continue as paper studies.
The Junkers Ju-287 is a German flying test bed built to develop the technology required for a multi-engine jet bomber aircraft. It is powered by four Junkers Jumo 004B engines, featured a revolutionary swept forward wing and was built largely from scavenged components from other aircraft.
The Ju-287 is intended to provide the Luftwaffe with a bomber that could avoid interception by outrunning enemy fighters. The swept-forward wing was suggested by the project's head designer, Dr Hans Wocke as a way of providing extra lift at low airspeeds necessary because of the poor responsiveness of early turbojets at the vulnerable times of take-off and landing.
The first prototype is intended to evaluate the concept, and was cobbled together from the fuselage of a He-177, the tail of a Junkers Ju-388, main undercarriage from a Junkers Ju-352, and nose wheels taken from crashed B-24 Liberators. Two of the Jumo 004B engines were hung under the wings, with the other two mounted in nacelles added to the sides of the forward fuselage.
Flight tests began on the 8th August 1944, with the aircraft displaying extremely good handling characteristics, as well as revealing some of the problems of the forward-swept wing under some flight conditions. Tests also suggested that the aircraft would benefit from concentrating more engine mass under the wings, a feature that was to be incorporated on the subsequent prototypes. These were to have been powered by Heinkel HeS 011 engines, but because of the development problems experienced with that engine, the BMW 003 was selected in its place. The second and third prototypes (V2 and V3) are to have six of these engines, the former with a cluster of three under each wing, the latter with two under each wing and one on each side of the fuselage, as the first prototype had.
Additional machines are to have all new purpose designed fuselages and the third prototype was to carry armament and serve as the development aircraft for a production version. By early July 1945, there are twelve Ju-287 prototypes under testing with the last two V11 and V12 equipped with a pair of Jumo 004H jet engines under each wing. Both V11 and V12 have proved that the Ju-287 concept is sound, the only problem being is that the current Me-326 and Ta-183 jet fighters have priority call on the Jumo 004H jet engines and Galland won’t reverse that order.
The second aircraft is the Henschel’s Hs 132 is a dive-bomber and intended to be an interceptor aircraft the unique design featured a top-mounted jet engine and the pilot in a prone position. There had been interest in the idea of a prone pilot for combat aircraft to reduce g-forces during manoeuvring.
The genesis for the Hs 132 was on the 18th February 1943 specification published by the German Air Ministry (RLM) calling for a single-seat shipping attack aircraft to counter an expected invasion of Europe. A piston-engine aircraft was called for at the time, but the performance requirements led to a switch to jet power. Henschel submitted their design for RLM approval in April/May 1944, by which point they had already started wind tunnel testing the basic layout.
The aircraft that emerged had a roughly cigar-shaped fuselage with short-span mid-set wings and a horizontal tail with considerable dihedral ending in twin rounded rudders. The BMW 003 engine was mounted on the back of the aircraft above the wing, likely to make servicing easier due to the low ground height of the aircraft that put the engine roughly shoulder-height. The twin rudder arrangement kept the controls free of the jet exhaust. The cockpit was completely faired into the fuselage contour, with a rounded clear nosecone on the front of the aircraft.
By early July 1945, the Hs-132 had 20 prototypes built and under testing, the basic Hs-132A model is armed with only one 500 kg bomb and no other armament. It was to begin its attack in a shallow dive outside the ships' range of fire, and after reaching a speed of 910 km/h (565 mph) the pilot would “toss” the bomb at the target using a simple computerized sight, and then climb back out of range. The aircraft was stressed to 12g for the pullout. The computerized bombsight was not delivered in time to be fitted to the initial four test aircraft V1 to V4 and would be fitted later for testing.
The second version is the Hs-132B used the Junkers Jumo 004B engine in place of the BMW 003, and added two MG 151/20 cannons ten of these have been built in prototype form V5 to V15 these aircraft are fitted with the computerized bombsight.
The third version is the Hs-132C was a more extensively modified version intended for bomber interception, intended to feature the larger Heinkel HeS 011 engine. With two MG 151/20s and two MK 103 or MK 108 30 mm cannons as well, no prototypes have been built due the lack of need of the C version, as the Me-362 and Ta-183 fighters are fulfilling this role.
The fourth version is the Hs-132D included a new wing of increased span, this is fitted with the Junkers Jumo 004D engine and the two MG 151/20 cannons have been replaced with two 20mm MG 213B cannons with 240 rounds per gun, there are five prototypes of the Hs-132D undergoing testing.
Galland is unwilling at this time to introduce the two new jets into full production as there is very little capacity left in jet production, this action is supported by Speer. Galland is willing to allow additional limited “pre-production” of more prototypes to form two Erprobungskommando, Erprobungskommando 287 and 132 for limited operational testing, with no more than 40 jets in each Erprobungskommando.
Erprobungskommando 132 will take only a few weeks to form and be sent to Italy to be attached to the KG 6 for combat trails.
The Erprobungskommando 287 will never be fully formed even up to the end of the war, with only ever a maximum of 12 Ju-287A01s available for very limited combat operations, the Erprobungskommando 287 will achieve very little, and these 12 Ju-287A01s will also be attached to the KG 6.
Allied Jets
With the Gloster Meteor F3 now being fully deployed in France supporting the allied armies, there a currently 10 RAF fighter squadrons deployed in France with a further 12 deployed to defend Southern England from German jet reconnaissance aircraft. In addition another 20 RAF fighter squadrons are nearing completion of there conversation training, these 20 RAF fighter squadrons will also be deployed to France, during July 1945.
The first pre production De Havilland Vampire F1 fighters start coming of the production lines in late July 1945, these De Havilland Vampire F1 jet fighters will only see limited service with a few squadrons before the end of the war, with the bulk of RAF jet fighter force consisting of the Gloster Meteor F3.
The interception of German jet reconnaissance aircraft over Southern England have been patchy since the Germans introduced the new Ar-234C1 in early 1945 and the Ar-234C8 in June, the C1 could match the Gloster Meteor F3 top speed the C8 could outrun and operate at a greater altitude than the Gloster Meteor F3. The balance had swung back to the Germans for the rest of the war the allies would be unable to intercept any Ar-234C8 missions over Southern England, operating at around one per week.
During June 1945, RAF Meteors in France have destroyed 46 German aircraft through ground attack, along with 16 in air to air combat (including 7 Ar-234 bombers) and having faced more problems through misidentification as Ar-234 by Allied piston engine aircraft and flak gunners than from the Luftwaffe. To counter this, continental-based Meteors are given an all-white finish as a recognition aid this does help, but does not stop accidental shooting down of allied jets by allied flak gunners completely.
In France the USAF having bought several hundred Gloster Meteor F3’s from the British government (with deliveries due to continue until early 1946) until there own jets are operational and in full production, the USAF have been conducting operations as well. Mostly against German piston engine fighters from the JG 2 and 26, the JG 2 and 26 are equipped with a mix of Ta-152Hs and Me-109Ks including the new K14s. The K14 intended as high-altitude heavy fighter, the K14 is powered by the DB 605L, with the use of a four bladed propeller, with a maximum speed of 460 mph (740 km/h) and an operational altitude of 38,000 ft (12,000 m). Armour and armament is otherwise similar to the K6 it was the ultimate version of the Me-109 and the last to be mass-produced.
Both the JG 2 and 26 are holding there own surprisingly well against the Gloster Meteor F3’s, both the JG 2 and 26 are in the role that best suits them, engaging allied fighters and fighter-bombers, not allied bombing raids on Germany. Even though the JG 2 and 26 fighters number less than 200 aircraft and these are scattered across France and Belgium, there losses have been quite low as the Ta-152Hs and Me-109Ks operate “clean” without any of the “Rüstsätze” that would affect the performance of the Ta-152Hs and Me-109Ks.
Even with the Gloster Meteor F3’s are now being used by both the RAF and the USAF, these jets are having a major impact on German jet bomber operations over France. Though not many German jet bombers have been shot down a number of jets attacks have been forces to dump their bombs and run for it, when intercepted by Gloster Meteor F3’s. The German jet pilots now have standing orders to bomb from high altitude this has of course reduced the accuracy of the bombing, even with SD-2 bomblets.
In Italy the losses to the German jet reconnaissance aircraft have been nil since they were introduced, the newer Ar-234C8s operating from concealed secondary airstrips in Northern Italy and Austria, they are able to cover all of Italy and even as far south as Malta and the coast of Northern Africa, when equipped with long range drop tanks.
The KG 6 is also doing much better that their bomber cousins in France, as the distance to the front line is much shorter in Italy than in France. This means that missions are shorter and quicker, also more missions can be carried out per day by the individual jet staffels of the KG 6 in Italy than the individual jet staffels of all three Kampfgeschwader operating against French targets.
Of all the jet Kampfgeschwader the KG 6s losses are the lowest this is allowing the KG 6s pilots to become veterans in piloting the various models of Ar-234 bombers.
Defence of the Reich
As the JG 7, 44, 52, and the JG 400, along with the partially converted JG1, 5, 300 and 301 (along with the NJG 1, 2 and 11 at night and in bad weather) are now regularly engaging allied heavy bomber raids against Germany in increasing numbers. This has led to an increase in the numbers of USAF and RAF bombers being shot down.
The EJG 2, although primarily a training unit, also sends small detachments of single seat fighters to engage allied bombers as well with the secondary role of the EJG 2 is still to engage allied reconnaissance aircraft over flying Germany. This frees up the various Jagdgeschwader to focus on the various bomber raids over Germany, though the various Jagdgeschwader also conduct anti reconnaissance aircraft mission against allied aircraft that come with range of there bases.
Along with the jet fighter wings, there are also the piston engine fighter wings such as the partially converted JG1, 5, 300 and 301. These piston engine fighter wings have two roles within the Defence of the Reich, the first is to engage enemy bomber raids and the second is to defend those airbases that are being used for jet operations. In both these roles the piston engine fighter wings are doing a fairly good job, in the long term it is planned to replace all the fighters within the Reich with the second generation jets, this is not going to be able to be able to be fully implemented until the end of 1946.
A program is already underway to start replacing the remaining piston engine fighters within the JG1, 5, 300 and 301 at a single group at the time, so as not to reduce the combat effectiveness of these fighter wings, while they are being upgraded to jets.
The NJG 11 is now fully equipped with the latest Me-262B2a jet night fighters, both the NJG 1 and 2 have started to receive the Me-262B2a and they should be fully equipped with the Me-262B2a by the end of November 1945. British night raids against Germany are becoming increasingly costly for RAF Bomber Command there are a growing number of voices, that state that Bomber Command should be used to support Montgomery’s 21st Army Group, so far “bomber” Harris has managed resisted these moves, but this is proving to be increasingly difficult for him to justify.
There are an increasing number of pitched air battles over Germany with several bomber raids being forced to return home without completing there missions (this has yet to become the norm). The British see this as a battle of Britain in reverse, when a German pilot bails out, he will be returned to his unit, whereas an allied pilot bailing out will be taken prisoner. The German population are also developing a firm “Blitz” mentality against allied bomber raids on their city’s.
The British government along with RAF fighter command refuses to allow the Gloster Meteor F3s to be deployed on bomber escorts (from France), as the still fear that the Germans will gain access to British jet technology, even though the Gloster Meteor F3 can now be fitted with long ranged fuel tanks. These Gloster Meteor F3s could escort allied bombers from France up to the River Rine area and back although they could not yet escort allied bombers on deep penetration raids into Germany.
The allies have been increasing the numbers of piston engine fighters escorting bomber raids. This has now been countered by the Germans being able to deploy more piston engine fighters and some jet fighters against the allied escort fighters, allowing the German anti bomber jet fighters (those carrying the R4M rockets) to get at the bombers causing heavy bomber losses.
In July 1945 sees the first B-29 bomber raids against Germany, these first raids consist of only 100 B-29 bombers and 750 fighters to escort them. The B-29 bombers on these raids fly’s between 25,000 and 28,000 feet to allow there escort fighters to fly top cover, the B-29s are give a maximum bomb load, as the B-29s does not need a full fuel load as is the case for those raids against Japan as the range is much less.
These first B-29 bomber raids against Germany are a failure for the USAF, as those commanding the US bomber force, thinks that the B-29 could not be shot down by German jets due to the superior defensive firepower of the B-29 they are very wrong. They are also wrong in comparing Japan to Germany this is also a mistake, as Germany has a much stronger air defence system than Japan.
On the first B-29 bomber raid, out of the 100 B-29 bombers sent, 43 are shot down (mostly by jets using R4M rockets) and the remainder suffer from various forms of battle damage. The first B-29 bomber raid does not even manage to bomb its target and is forced to turn for home and dump its bomb load in the North Sea.
Successive B-29 bomber raids throughout the remainder of July also achieve very little, even with an increase in escort fighters, with some B-29 raids having over 1,000 escort fighters, by the end of July those claims that the B-29 can survive over Germany have been proved very wrong. This will lead to an all time high for German pilot’s claims on shooting down US bombers. What is needed by the allies are large numbers of bombers, as sending 100 to 200 bombers against Germany makes it a lot easier for the Germans to shot down a small number of bombers, even B-29s.
These B-29 bomber raids during July will see the first major use of the Ta-183A1a and the Me-326A1a fighters being used for the first time in large numbers by the Germans. These will proved to be better able to “mix it” with allied fighters much better than the Me-262s, this will lead to the Me-262, Me-326 and Ta-183 A1b equipped with R4Ms engaging the B-29s and the Ta-183A1a and the Me-326A1a fighters, along with the piston engine fighters engaging the escort fighters.
By the end of July 1945, Erich Hartmann has gone past 400 kills, with a total of 409 kills by the 31st July 1945, most of these being US fighters along with a few bombers as well, the bulk of these kills being achieved while flying the Me-326A1a fighter. On the 25th July 1945 Erich Hartmann achieves 6 kills in one mission, by using only very shot bursts from his two MG 213C 30mm cannons to take out US fighters in very quick succession. While using the combination of the Me-326A1a blinding speed and good manoeuvrability to great effect, in the hand of an expert pilot the Me-326A1a is lethal.
German propaganda is using Erich Hartmann tally of kills to great effect, when he passes the 400 mark Erich Hartmann is on the front page of every German newspaper and magazine. By the end of July 1945 most allied pilots escorting bombers are well aware of Erich Hartmann tally of kills, so on seeing either a Ta-183 or Me-326 they think it maybe Hartmann’s jet and try to keep out of its way to avoid getting shot down. Though most do engage the German jets, this had led to a large number of claims that Hartmann has been shot down, in one day it was claimed by USAF that Hartmann has been shot down twenty times!
German air defence is now getting much stronger than it was in January 1945 this is bad news for the allied air forces over the short term, in the medium to long term the allies’ numerical advantage will eventually win.
Night Fighter Development
The Me-262B2a was a good night fighter, but it could be better, so Galland had issued orders in early 1945 for an improved version of the Me-262B2a, this would become known as the E series. The Me-262 E series would be an offshoot of the Heimatschützer III design, but instead of being a single seat fighter this would be modified to a tandem seat night fighter, with an enlarged fuselage.
The Me-262 E series would be equipped with the following, “Berlin” centimetric radar along with the FuG 350 Naxos radar detector and in addition carried the FuG 227 Flensburg passive radar receiver just as the Me-262B2a is equipped. The new Me-262 E series would be larger than the Me-262B2a and this would allow the E versions to have a greater internal fuel capacity, thus doing away with the need for drop tanks (though drop tanks could still be carried if needed).
The armament would be different to the Me-262B2a, consisting of three MG-213C 30mm cannons in the nose, with 150 rounds each. The Me-262 E series would be power by two 004E series engines, allowing the Me-262 E series to operate at higher altitudes than the Me-262B2a and have a maximum speed of 600mph at altitude, with an estimated endurance of over two hours at cruising speeds.
The Me-262 E series was expected to enter production in early 1946.
The British are now starting to introduce the Avro Lincoln four-engine heavy bomber from July 1945, as a replacement for the Avro Lancaster. The Lincoln had a better rear defensive armament of two 20mm Hispano cannon in dorsal turret to give better rear firepower against German jet and piston engine, night fighters.
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star
In the US the P-80 is finally starting to receive the modified engines to the initial batch of 340 airframes waiting for the modified engines (with considerable British help with the jets engine). During the rest of July, the P-80s will be put through extensive testing to make sure that they are working properly this time.
Eighty-three would be delivered by the end of July 1945 and 45 of these would be assigned to the 412th Fighter Group that will be transferred to Europe and commence operations by August 1945. With further fighter groups converting to the P-80 during August and September 1945, either in the US or as would become the norm in Europe.
Those US fighter groups operating or slated to receive the Gloster Meteor F3s will not convert to the new US jet fighters until after the war is over. When they do, they will return the Gloster Meteor F3s to Britain, even though the US purchased them, once the US has its own fighter it has no use for the Gloster Meteor F3s.
This will leave the UK with several hundred surplus Gloster Meteor F3s, most will be sold or given away, some will be used for their spare parts, the remainder will be scrapped.
War at Sea
The new Type XXI and XXIII U-Boats are proving to be very deadly against allied convoys crossing the Atlantic and those crossing the English Channel respectively, the U-Boats are still targeting the tankers first, and this has caused a drop in the amount of fuel reaching the UK. The other freighters are only attacked after engaging the tankers, as Dönitz knows that every tanker that is sunk is a bigger blow than ten or even one hundred freighters carrying tanks or planes.
With Southern France under allied control, oil supplies are now being routed the long way around, these convoys take much longer to travel to France, there losses are much more smaller with ninety percent of convoy’s taking no losses. The supplies of oil need for the UK are still quite high, but as these oil tankers arriving in Southern France are supplying the allied armies needs in France and Italy, thus reducing the burden on the UK reserves of oil.
Until the new U-Boat threat can be dealt with, the shipping of supplies of oil and other supplies to Southern France and Italy will come via Cape Town, rather than across the much shorter Atlantic route. Even with this diversion, some supplies have to come across the Atlantic route, are attack by the new U-Boats, and take heavy losses.
Even so, the new U-Boats cannot engage every convoy crossing the Atlantic and the majority of convoy’s do get through, the ones that are engaged by the new type XXI U-Boats always suffer heavy losses. It will not be until 1946 that Dönitz will be able to deploy these new U-Boats in larger numbers, but by then the war will be over and it will not make any difference.
The US will take drastic action (to some, unnecessary action) to ship supplies across the Atlantic, in the form of the Hughes H-4 Hercules.
Hughes H-4 Hercules
On the 1st July 1945, with the war at sea seemingly changing in favour of the Germans, the US government now pushed Hughes Aircraft and Howard Hughes himself for the rapid introduction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, telling Howard Hughes that they needed this aircraft without any more tinkering from Howard Hughes.
Howard Hughes now seeing, that this aircraft was needed quickly stopped his own insistence on “perfection” by the late August 1945 the first Hughes H-4 Hercules was finished. Howard Hughes and his people had worked around the clock to get the first aircraft completed, during this time Howard Hughes barely slept and seemed to “forget” his various phobias as the would on the first Hughes H-4 Hercules consumed his life.
On the 31st August 1945, the Hughes H-4 Hercules few with Howard Hughes at the controls after the first two taxi runs. Then after picking up speed on the channel facing Cabrillo Beach near Long Beach, the Hercules lifted off, remaining airborne 70 ft (21 m) off the water at a speed of 135 mph (217 km/h or 117 knots) for around a mile (1.6 km).
During September 1945, the Hughes H-4 Hercules continued the flight test program, with most of these test flights being flown by Hughes himself.
On the 30th September 1945, with Hughes at the controls again and with the Hughes H-4 Hercules loaded with extra fuel and a small amount of symbolic cargo onboard. The Hughes H-4 Hercules made a long ranged trip from the US to the UK landing in a Scottish Loch, two days later again with Hughes at the controls made the return trip, proving the feasibility of the H-4.
With Hughes Aircraft already beginning construction of an additional 30 “production” Hughes CH-4 Hercules with the designation changed from H-4 to CH-4 by the USAF, Howard Hughes had again proved his critics wrong about the Hughes CH-4 Hercules.
After the war the 30 production CH-4s would be used to ship urgent supplies and VIPs from the US to the UK, the USAF would continue to operate the 30 CH-4As until the arrival of the C5 Galaxy aircraft in 1970, by then only 20 CH-4As would remain operational.
Hitler
On the 25th July 1945, Hitler rewrites his will, changing the succession from the now disgraced (and soon to be dead) Goring, to someone else, with Bormann knowing who Hitler’s replacement is, along with the leaders of the German Army, Navy and Air Force.
On the 31st July 1945, Hitler appoints Field Marshal Erich von Manstein as the Commander-in-Chief of the Reserve (or Replacement) Army (Ersatzheer), this was seen as an unusual choice for Hitler, Hitler actions are becoming increasingly erratic in some areas, but in others Hitler is perfectly rational.
V2 Bombardment
Between January 1945 and the end of June and average of 550 V2 rockets were fired per month, the bulk of these at London (around 300+), with the remainder being fired at targets in France (150) with varying degrees of inaccuracy. In theory an average of ten V-2s could be launched per day making up to 1000 V-2s could be launched per month, given sufficient supply of the rockets, production could never keep up with this level of firing, so production was pegged at a maximum of 600 V2s per month.
The V2 program also had several offshoot programs, including the A4b rocket.
A4b
In June 1939, Kurt Patt of the Peenemünde Design Office, proposed wings for converting rocket speed and altitude into aerodynamic lift and range. He also proposed the Flossengeschoss (fin projectile). Walter Dornberger utilizes both concepts when he drafted a memo for presentation to Hitler regarding the “America rocket” on the 31st July 1940.
The A4b in reality was a two-stage A10/A9 rocket. After funding for the A-9 project was altogether halted in October 1942, Wernher von Braun proposed the winged “A4 Bastard” on the 10th October 1944 and serious A4b development and then production was started. Adoption of the A4b designation disguised that this missile was an entirely new project and permitted funding to be diverted from the A4 rocket.
The cancelled A-9 design of 1942 with a long “chine” type wing along its entire length differed from and preceded the A4b rockets launched in January 1944. The A9 was an upper stage of the A10 booster.
Freiburg Bundesarchiv Military, OKH Heereswaffenamt, records minutes of a meeting on the 15th January 1944, Verlagerungsort projects “Zement” BA MA RH 8 in which the underground complex Anlage B dug into the slope at Finkerleiten next to Ebensee discuss the use of this tunnel for production of the intercontinental rocket. Many commentators have contracted this with their own shorthand form to suggest the complex was to build the A9 rocket. The A9 however was cancelled in 1942. The intercontinental rocket, which is manufactured at Zement was the A4b launched by rocket sled like the Sanger Antipodal bomber concept.
A number of A4b rockets are suspected to have been launched eastwards, on the night of the 16th May 1945 from a rocket sled near Rudisleben at the Polte II underground complex. This may have been to convince Stalin that Germany could bombard the Soviet Union without the need for sending bombers. Rumours state that this was one of the reason Stalin gave Germany good peace terms.
The Soviet archives would become known briefly in 1991, but these records would quickly become classified by the new Russian Federation. Three other accounts of the A4b rocket sled device survive the war from an inmate of the Jonsthal Concentration camp and two from former German V2 engineers. Accounts suggest a number were also fired at the Urals during late May 1945.
Even today, these firings remain shrouded in secrecy (assuming that they actually happened at all), with no government willing to talk about them!
Trinity
Trinity was the first test of technology for a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States on the 16th July 1945, at a location 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, headquartered near Alamogordo. Trinity is a test of an implosion-design plutonium bomb. The Trinity detonation was equivalent to the explosion of around 20 kilotons of TNT and is usually considered the beginning of the Atomic Age.
Now all that was need was for President Harry S. Truman whether to use the Atom Bomb against Japan or Germany first, President Truman’s decision would change the world forever in several different ways.
Me-262 Kills and Losses July 1945
The Me-262 units have by the end of July 1945 shot down 611 allied aircraft, for 138 combat losses (37 pilots killed), losses due accidents and technical failures is 51, with 19 jets written off killing 5 pilots.
The KG 6, 51, 54 and 76 are now rapidly acquiring large numbers of the C2 and also starting to receive the C9 in quantities, all there jet bomber KG’s will be fully equipped by the end of August 1945.
No Me-262B2b have been produced this month, as none of the 20 Me-262B2b has been lost, these Me-262B2b are being produced as needed.
August would bring dramatic changes for Germany.
To be continued.
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Once again, thanks for a well written AH episode. It also seems that you're even going to write it to the end of the war, which is quite rare for AH scenarios in net forums. Adding Mr. Hughes was very nice indeed.
I ask you for the final time, by what magic is Germany able to outproduce USA and UK combined in jets, and develop half a dozen new variants and models, while allies are behind OTL developments. And build thousands of V2 and a large number of Type XXI submarines?
Alien space bats gave them Von Neumman fabrication capabilities?
USA and UK are not idiots, their main power in war was ability to defeat Luftwaffe at every turn and achieve air superiority, with massive German employment of jets, allied deployment and development would have received greatly increased funding and importance. Allies would most certainly not give up on air superiority in mid and late '44. and not even try ever again trough 45'.
Please think about it again. Allies are strugling to match OTL development and deployment while Germans are building thousands upon thousands of advenced model jet engines and are bussy developing and deploying several different models of second generation jets.
I'm really sorry Whatsitsname, but your timeline went deep into ASB country with allies being braindead, and Germany managing a industry crippling air strike that ignored all and any air defences USSR had and had efficiency far greater than modern precission bombing.
Alien space bats gave them Von Neumman fabrication capabilities?
USA and UK are not idiots, their main power in war was ability to defeat Luftwaffe at every turn and achieve air superiority, with massive German employment of jets, allied deployment and development would have received greatly increased funding and importance. Allies would most certainly not give up on air superiority in mid and late '44. and not even try ever again trough 45'.
Please think about it again. Allies are strugling to match OTL development and deployment while Germans are building thousands upon thousands of advenced model jet engines and are bussy developing and deploying several different models of second generation jets.
I'm really sorry Whatsitsname, but your timeline went deep into ASB country with allies being braindead, and Germany managing a industry crippling air strike that ignored all and any air defences USSR had and had efficiency far greater than modern precission bombing.
So far this has been a not bad AH with a few niggles most of which have been mentioned by others so I will not belabour them.
One that I cannot let go by, as a Scotsman, a lock is what you find in a door or a canal and I am pretty sure Hughes would be unable to land the Spruce Goose in a canal.
The word you were looking for is Loch. These are both landlocked lakes and open to the sea river outlets (known as sea-lochs)
One that I cannot let go by, as a Scotsman, a lock is what you find in a door or a canal and I am pretty sure Hughes would be unable to land the Spruce Goose in a canal.
The word you were looking for is Loch. These are both landlocked lakes and open to the sea river outlets (known as sea-lochs)
Sandman396
Banned
Another thing I noticed was the quote "In theory an average of ten V-2s could be launched per day making up to 1000 V-2s could be launched per month".
Maths askew?
trajen777
Banned
Great TL as always
Again to reinforce the plausability of the TL - I think that small advantages and victories build on each other: so for example
· BOB allowed for the Royal navy to survive
· The victory of the B of Atlantic allowed for supplies to stream to USSR and to Britain
· The supplies and material allowed for the victory over German air space
· The victory over German airspace allowed for the victory of D Day
· DDay allowed for Victory
For Russia:
· German drive to Kiev delayed the thrust to Moscow
· German delay to Moscow allowed the USSR to build up defenses
· V at Moscow allowed for USSR to build up forces and retain control of reinforcement areas to launch attacks in 42 – 42
Under TL
· German jets allowed for recon and defense of Reich
· Defense of Reich allowed for more jets / oil / tanks / sub to be built (in real world 14 new subs were destroyed by Brit air forces in 44)
· More recon Jets etc allied for proper allocation of defensive forces in the East and appropriate withdrawals before encirclement. (Remember a quote from Desert Storm when Iraq HQ was totally blind for a soldier to climb a tree and see if they could see any US army troops)
· More defense of east – west allowed better generation of Jets and U boats to hit Atlantic
· U-boats in Atlantic forces US Brit to allocate more forces to B of Atlantic 2
· Fewer resources meant less resources to overwhelm a stronger Germany
· German use of Jets as a weapons system with the R4M rockets was a massive advantage over Brit / US Jets
Now the only issues I have with TL is Hitler’s freedom given to the Generals. If you look at the Russian victory it was a brilliant feat but really driven by German lack of a true eastern strategy? The resources available to the Germans in the East were poorly wasted - Such as Operation BAGRATION. This could never happen with strong recon –
The Germans Believe
Substantial indications of the Red Army's offensive preparations in Byelorussia, including redeployment, were picked up by German intelligence during late May to 22 June1944. At first, German intelligence dismissed these indicators as "apparent deception." Ultimately, they were interpreted as proof of an impending holding attack against Army Group Center (deceptively made to look like the focal point of the Soviet summer offensive) preparatory to the main Soviet strike against Army Group North Ukraine. Thus, the indicators did not unmask the Soviet deception, but rather they were interpreted to conform to the northern Ukraine deception story. Warnings from key German staff officers three weeks before the opening of BAGRATION that massive armor concentrations might now be on the Byelorussian front were ignored. The Germans fatally underestimated Red Army tank strength.
. The Opening of Operation BAGRATION (22 - 24 June)
Army Group Center felt secure when it should have been very uneasy. Why did the Germans pervert the indicators in the central sectors to conform to their false estimate rather than revise their estimate to fit the indicators? At least, they should have reflected a high level of uncertainty due to limited deep reconnaissance. The Germans wanted to believe the attack would come where they were best prepared to defend.
Hook, Line, and Sinker
Deceiving themselves, with Russian help, the Germans did everything the Red Army hoped for to weaken Army Group Center. Most German armor reserves were poured into the northern Ukraine. (CG AG North Ukraine) controlled 80 percent of German armor. In late May, Busch transferred LVI Panzer Corps to Model (CG AG North Ukraine) on Hitler's orders. Without this powerful formation, Army Group Center lost the reserves with which it had blunted earlier assaults on Byelorussia. The results are history. The Red Army's attack against Army Group Center led to the destruction of 28 German divisions, the loss of 350,000 German soldiers, and the Third Reich being pushed out of Russia. There can be little doubt that synchronized strategic, operational, and tactical deception had been pivotal to the Soviet triumph.
Just curious Trajen what do you think that the army that the Soviets had in Northern Ukraine was doing when STAVKA noted that maskirovka hadn't worked and the reinforcements that they had seen heading down to to Northern Ukraine do you may think that they may have decided to have what was meant to be the 2nd "pincer" now becoming the main thrust to attack the Northern Ukraine and maybe coming behind Army Group centre from the south or maybe going straight though Czechoslovakia? Hell what do you think the partizans that were blowing up rail lines and communications as part of Operation Bragation?
I like this timeline your doing whatsinaname sorry for derailing your thread.
Hi Wos, what's your take on what's going on within the SS and Waffen SS while all of this is going on in your TL? How are the concentration and extermination camps progressing, is it the same as OTL or is the Final Solution continuing to it's conclusion? How is this going to effect developments in the Middle East if there are no Jewish refugees seeking resettlement in '46?
I know I'm jumping into this late but:
How exactly are a hundred or two Me 262s supposed to knock down greater than 40% of a bombing raid accompanied by extremely heavy fighter support?
Furthermore, why aren't Mustangs, Lightnings, and Spitfires free-roving over German airspace and TARCAPing jet airfields? The Me 262 is horrible for trying to take out fighters and Allied numbers and capability mean German piston engined aircraft will not fair well.
Where exactly is the fuel, for combat flight and for training, coming from? Food supplies?
Why is the B-29 only appearing in June of 1945 in the skies over Europe when there has apparently been heavy B-17 and B-24 casualties (somehow) due to the Me 262? Focus would have changed to it being sent to ETO if there was a substantial problem for the CBO due to enemy fighters.
Why such a pathetically small number of Superfortresses? By this time five hundred bomber raids were being conducted on the Japanese home islands.
Why does the USAAF (and presumably the RAF) have the Idiot Ball?
If these thousand fighter escort missions are so woefully incompetent at protecting bombers from relatively few jet fighters, why aren't they being sent to strike the jet airstrips and destroy the fighters on the ground and/or crater the runways a few hours ahead of the bomber raids?
Why are Type XXI submarines having any sort of success? While they have higher submerged range, there should be more four engine MPAs available to provide air cover and spam them with FIDOs.
The B-29 wasn't intended to bull through on the strength of defensive firepower, it was intended to fly higher and faster than the B-17 and B-24. So why isn't it doing that instead of sitting fat and happy?
How exactly are a hundred or two Me 262s supposed to knock down greater than 40% of a bombing raid accompanied by extremely heavy fighter support?
Furthermore, why aren't Mustangs, Lightnings, and Spitfires free-roving over German airspace and TARCAPing jet airfields? The Me 262 is horrible for trying to take out fighters and Allied numbers and capability mean German piston engined aircraft will not fair well.
Where exactly is the fuel, for combat flight and for training, coming from? Food supplies?
Why is the B-29 only appearing in June of 1945 in the skies over Europe when there has apparently been heavy B-17 and B-24 casualties (somehow) due to the Me 262? Focus would have changed to it being sent to ETO if there was a substantial problem for the CBO due to enemy fighters.
Why such a pathetically small number of Superfortresses? By this time five hundred bomber raids were being conducted on the Japanese home islands.
Why does the USAAF (and presumably the RAF) have the Idiot Ball?
If these thousand fighter escort missions are so woefully incompetent at protecting bombers from relatively few jet fighters, why aren't they being sent to strike the jet airstrips and destroy the fighters on the ground and/or crater the runways a few hours ahead of the bomber raids?
Why are Type XXI submarines having any sort of success? While they have higher submerged range, there should be more four engine MPAs available to provide air cover and spam them with FIDOs.
The B-29 wasn't intended to bull through on the strength of defensive firepower, it was intended to fly higher and faster than the B-17 and B-24. So why isn't it doing that instead of sitting fat and happy?