The Ju-88 proved to be enormously adaptable for the Luftwaffe. After flying in the Battle of Britain as a medium bomber, it went on to become a submarine hunter, a torpedo bomber, a ground-attack tank-buster, and a night fighter.

“Icons of Aviation History” is a diary series that explores significant and historic aircraft.

When the Nazis began to rebuild their Luftwaffe in preparation for their planned European war, one of the first things they needed was a bomber. The Heinkel He-111 and Dornier Do-17 models were rushed into production in 1934, but, while effective against biplane fighters, they were already vulnerable to the new monoplanes that were beginning to appear on drawing boards. The Germans needed something better.

In 1935, the Nazis released a requirement for a Schnellbomber—an all-metal medium bomber that could deliver a 2,000-pound bomb load at 300mph, fast enough to outrun any of the existing biplane fighters of the time. Further, since the bombsights of the day were inaccurate, the Schnellbomber was required to have the capability to perform dive-bombing on pinpoint targets. It was a tall demand.

The Heinkel and Dornier factories were already committed to other projects, so they did not submit a proposal. Messerschmitt also withdrew a proposal, saying they would concentrate on new fighters. Focke-Wulf’s offer was called the Fw-57, but the company was inexperienced with large metal airframes, and could not keep the weight under control. So the job went to the Junkers company almost by default.

The Junkers bomber was designated Ju-88. In a historical irony, it had been produced by two designers named Alfred Gassner and W. H. Evers, both of whom who had lived and worked in the United States for a time and still held American citizenship. They in turn based much of their design on an earlier bomber, the Junkers Ju-86, which had been originally produced as a two-engined airliner to hide its real purpose from the Allies. (The Ju-86P model, with a pressurized cabin allowing altitudes up to 40,000 feet, found service in the early part of World War Two as a reconnaissance platform.)

The new Ju-88 design envisioned a twin-engined bomber powered by two water-cooled inline Daimler Benz DB 600 engines (though the wing nacelles were intentionally made round in shape to accommodate radial engines as well). The landing gear consisted of a single rugged strut that was able to absorb the impact of landings and allowed the plane to operate from rough grass airstrips close to the frontlines. The Junkers was also intended to absorb a lot of damage while still flying, and to be easy to repair in the field.

After the first prototype was destroyed in a crash, new variants were produced. By March 1939, test versions of the Ju-88, equipped with two Jumo 211B-1 engines, had a range of 1500 miles and were exceeding 300mph, faster than any biplane fighter and not much slower than the new German Me-109 and British Hurricane monoplanes. The original design had not carried any defensive machine guns, it being presumed that the Schnellbomber would be fast enough to outrun enemy fighters. But the air wars in Spain and Libya were already demonstrating that an unarmed bomber would be a sitting duck for modern monoplane fighters, so three machine gun positions were added to the nose and fuselage. Combat versions of the Junkers began reaching the frontline in September 1939, just as the war was breaking out.

Most models had a crew of four. The pilot flew the plane himself—there was no co-pilot. The bombardier in the nose also operated the forward machine gun when necessary. Likewise, the radio operator and the navigator both also doubled as machine gunners.

During the Battle of Britain in 1940, the Junkers proved itself to be superior to the He-111 and Do-17 and the only German bomber to have a fighting chance against the new British fighters, but there were not enough of them in service. It was quickly discovered that dive-bombing with such a large aircraft was not really practical, and the Ju-88 was only rarely used in that task, but the requirement itself had an unexpected side benefit: the airframe was so sturdy that it easily lent itself to modifications for other assignments that it had not been originally intended for.

So after the Battle of Britain the Ju-88 not only became the Luftwaffe’s primary frontline medium bomber, but was adapted into a bewildering range of different versions, using a wide selection of engines and armament. Fitted with a torpedo or depth charges, it did well as a submarine hunter and coastal patrol for use against shipping, and some models were used to drop naval mines in enemy waters. When Allied raiders began appearing over Germany in 1943, the Junkers was provided with radar to find enemy bombers, and also armed with upwards-aiming machine guns in a turret, which allowed it to fire from below at the unprotected belly of an American or British bomber—making it one of the most effective night fighters of the war. Night fighters were sometimes sent to circle around British and American bomber bases, hoping to catch bombers on their way in or out. The “destroyer“ daytime interceptor version was armed with 20mm cannons in the nose for use against heavy bombers, and ground-attack models were fitted with rockets as well as cannons.

The final use of the Junkers was as part of the experimental “Mistel” project. In its initial form, this consisted of a Focke-Wulf fighter mounted to the top of a Ju-88 that had been packed with explosives. Known as the “Piggyback”, the whole contraption would be flown by a pilot in the fighter, who would release the unmanned bomber and fly it into the target using radio remote-control. Later versions were planned to use jet-engine fighters mounted to rocket-powered bomb-carriers.

Roughly 15,000 Ju-88s were produced during its nine years of service. Today, only two remain intact. One of these, built in 1942 as a bomber and later converted into a fighter, was flown by its German crew to Scotland in 1943, where they defected. British technicians were able to examine the intact airplane, including its new FuG 202 Liechtenstein BC A.I radar unit—and develop counter-measures. This aircraft is now on exhibit at the Royal Air Force Museum in England.

Another wartime Ju-88 is at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton OH. This is a D-1 “Tropicalized” version that was fitted with special filters for use in the Mediterranean and North African deserts. Built in 1942, it was in service with the Romanian Air Force as a photoreconnaissance plane when it was flown to Cyprus by a defecting Romanian pilot. The British turned it over to the Americans, who took it back to Wright-Patterson airfield in Ohio for evaluation, then placed it into storage. It was given to the Museum in 1960, and is today displayed in its Romanian markings.

A small number of wartime crash sites have also been found in various places, and the remains of these wrecked Ju-88s are undergoing restoration for exhibit.

NOTE: As some of you already know, all of my diaries here are draft chapters for a number of books I am working on. So I welcome any corrections you may have, whether it's typos or places that are unclear or factual errors. I think of y'all as my pre-publication editors and proofreaders.  ;)