Ural Bomber
The Ural bomber was
the initial aircraft design program/competition to develop a long-range
bomber for the Luftwaffe, created and led by General Walther Wever in
the early 1930s. Wever, the chief of staff of the newly formed
Luftwaffe in 1933, realized the importance that strategic bombing would
play in a war. In war with the Soviet Union he expected that German
forces would not attempt to move very far east of Moscow, which would
leave much of Joseph Stalin's recently relocated industry out of reach
of existing bombers. Wever proposed using a strategic bomber to reduce
these factories, ending their ability to fight even without the need
for ground forces to advance.
Under the Ural
bomber program, he began secret talks with two of Germany's leading
aircraft manufacturers, Dornier and Junkers, requesting designs for a
long-range bomber. The two companies responded with the Dornier Do-19
and the Junkers Ju-89 respectively and the RLM
(Reichsluftfahrtministerium, "Reich Aviation Ministry") ordered
prototypes for both aircraft in 1935.
The Dornier Do-19
V1 first flew on October 28, 1936, beating the Ju-89's first flight by
some six months. The Do 19 was a nine-place four-engine monoplane,
using a quartet of underpowered BMW/Bramo 322H nine-cylinder radials of
only some 650 hp output each. The V-2 used the more powerful Bramo 323
developing 900hp. The V-2 was also the first model carrying defensive
armament.
The Do-19 was the
basis for the production Do-19 A-1 series. After production of 56 units
production was switched to the A-2 model powered by the Bramo 323P
engine developing 100hp.
Initial combat
experience in Poland and France showed the need for a better defensive
armament and the Do-19 B-1 which appeared in May 1940 had a gun
position under the nose carrying both a forward and a rearward firing
gun.
In 1942 Dornier
proposed a Do-19D variant with BMW 801 engines. This however was never
realized.
On 11 April 1937,
the Ju-89 prototype D-AFIT (V1, c/n 4911) was first flown. Junkers
completed the second Ju-89 prototype D-ALAT July 1937. The prototypes
were powered by the DB600 engine.
The first
production variant, the Ju-89A also used this engine. The proposed B
version using Jumo 211 engines was never realized, the next production
version being the Ju-89C-1 using the DB601 engine. The first C-1 were
delivered to the Luftwaffe in April 1940. The C-2 and C-3 offered minor
variations in engines and armament.
Both bombers were
used in the battle of Britain. It quickly transpired that daylight
bombing was not a viable option. The aircraft were too slow and too
lightly armed. Initial losses were high. From November 1940 only night
sorties were flown against London and other cities on the UK.
In spring 1941 both
types took part in the first 1000 bomber raid against Britain.
Also during
operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, both bombers were used in
raids against industrial targets and against Moscow. They played an
important role in preventing the build-up of Soviet industry which
meant that it was impossible for the Soviet Union to stay in the war.
In this role the “Ural” bombers made true their original purpose as
envisaged by general Wever.
From the end of
1942 both the Do-19 and the Ju-89 were replaced by the new Junkers
Ju-290 bombers. Dornier tried to stay involved in the heavy bomber
development by offering the Do-319. This however was merely a further
development of the Do-19 and showed too little improvement and was not
pursued further.
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Last updated: 30/06/2014
