At the start of the Battle of Britain in July 1940, Germany’s Luftwaffe had 1,100 Messerschmitt 109 fighter aircraft at its disposal and 2,550 at its height compared to 749 fighter aircraft available to the RAF.
By the end of the battle in October, the Luftwaffe had lost 650 109s despite being acknowledged as superior to the RAFs Hurricanes and equal to the Spitfire.
Despite this, the 109 and Focke-Wulf 190, the other mainstay of the Luftwaffe’s single-seater fighter fleet, failed to gain air superiority from Britain and its allies. The introduction of the jet-powered Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1944 did little to boost the German war effort and in September 1945 The Engineer reflected on what went wrong for the Luftwaffe, looking first at its single-seat fighter planes.
Role of the Messerschmitt 109 in the battle of Britain
“It is a significant fact that apart from the jet-propelled type, the Germans used only two basic designs of single-seat fighter, whereas the Allies employed at least a dozen,” said The Engineer. “Standardisation of these two types (Me.109 and Fw.190) was an excellent thing from the view point of production and maintenance, but meant that to offset the progressive modernisation of the Spitfire and the introduction by the Allies of new fighter types, ceaseless improvement was imperative.”
According to our reporter, this was particularly well illustrated with the Me.109, the first of which – the Me109A - had 500HP and was slower than the Hurricane. At the end of the war, its most modern descendant - the 109K - had nearly 2000HP, was about as fast as the USAF’s P-51 Mustang, and had ten times the fire power of the original 109.
“In conjunction with the GM. l (nitrous oxide) and MW. 50 (methanol) power-boosting systems, engine and airframe improvements enabled the 109 throughout the war to tackle our fighters at least on something approaching equal terms,” our reporter noted.
Why the Luftwaffe couldn't match allied air superiority in WWII
But high performance was not all that was demanded. The American daylight heavy-bomber offensive called for heavier fire power, so the armament of the Me.109 was gradually stepped up from one 20mm gun and two light machine guns - the standard armament in 1941 - to three guns of 20mm or 30mm calibre, and two of 0·5in. bore.
“That was a very heavy load for a small fighter, and its resistance and weight detracted appreciably from the increased performance allowed by the newer engines and power-boosting systems,” said The Engineer.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM THE ENGINEER 1945
It was further noted that as an alternative to the wing guns on the Me.l09, a pair of rockets were sometimes hung below the wings for attacking USAF Flying Fortresses and Liberators.
“At one time this 21cm rocket seemed menacing, but it soon proved to be very inaccurate,” said The Engineer. “So much for the Me.109, the mainstay of the German day-fighter force. A fine aeroplane, but a poor second to the Spitfire, Mustang, or Tempest.”
How the Messerschmitt Me 262 impacted the German war effort
Professor Messerschmitt did attempt to build better fighter aircraft - the 209 and 309- but neither of these was enough to warrant retooling for production. Our reporter noted that the 309 was regarded as an interesting design with a tricycle undercarriage, but neither the 209 nor the 309 became operational.
“The history of the German aircraft industry during the war is one of ceaseless endeavour to overtake and hold technical superiority over the Allies,” said The Engineer. “In spite of all that German industry and ingenuity could contrive, the fact remains that German aircraft, even in the earliest days of the war, could not wrest air supremacy from the British, and later from the Allies. The most notable example of this failure is probably the Battle of Britain, when, although the Luftwaffe had undoubted numerical superiority over the RAF, the combination of superior performance of British fighters and the pilots who flew them, and inspired tactics, produced a defeat from which the Luftwaffe never really recovered.”
In conclusion, and assessing the Luftwaffe’s full range of aircraft, The Engineer said: “It would seem that the German aircraft and aero-engine designers suffered mainly from a lack of co-ordination and direction from above. They appeared to be engaged in frantic competition with each other to produce a weapon which would overcome Allied superiority and turn the air war in their favour.
“Many prototypes were produced only to be scrapped in favour of a design which seemed to offer greater possibilities. Consequently, the Luftwaffe suffered always from a shortage of orthodox aircraft able to challenge the air superiority of the Allies built upon sound progressive plans rigidly adhered to.”
As an aside, 34,248 Me 109 airframes were produced from 1936 to April 1945. In a delicious twist of irony, the aircraft’s maiden flight in 1935 took place using a Rolls-Royce 695 HP Kestrel engine.
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