World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe all-metal Ju 87 Stuka aircraft were the German Luftwaffe's primary dive bombers. At first glance, they were crude-looking, but this feature reflected the principle behind the Ju 87 design, which stressed the ease of production and the ruggedness of the aircraft over other items on the wish list. Two unique characteristics made these aircraft stand out: first, the dive brakes, automatic pull-up systems, and the strengthened airframes ensured that the bomber maintained control during dives; then, the wind-powered sirens terrorized the enemy psychologically. "The Stuka was more than a bomber", said William Manchester, "it was also an instrument of fear." The enemy soldiers who stood opposite these bombers, morale melting away by the noise of the sirens, ran in fear as they believed the bombs were coming straight for them.

ww2dbaseA typical Stuka attack began at the altitude of 13,000 feet, diving down at the target at the speed of about 300 miles per hour. About four seconds before the ideal altitude for releasing the bomb, a horn in the cockpit sounds off; when the horn stopped, the pilot released the bomb, and the automatic pull-up system would kick in to help the aircraft zoom-climb. As the target area was now behind the aircraft, the rear gunner sprayed the area with machine gun fire, keeping the defenders' heads down to help ensure the success of the next Stuka dive bomber in line.

ww2dbaseThe Ju 87 Stuka aircraft's fixed undercarriages provided sturdy platforms for takeoffs and landings on improvised airfields in the field.

ww2dbase"One major disadvantage of the [Stuka] dive-bomber was that it could employ its steep diving mode of attack only if the cloud base was above 2,600 feet", recalled General Paul Deichmann in a report for the Western Allies after the war.

ww2dbaseWhile they were among the key components of the successful Blitzkrieg campaign on continental Europe early in the war, they were not so effective during the Battle of Britain. They were excellent weapons against shipping in the English Channel and ground targets in Britain, but the lack of air superiority meant that their extremely slow speed made them easy targets for British fighters. The original variant of the design, A-1, had a top speed of under 200 miles per hour; nevertheless, the slow speed was not considered an issue as they were dive bombers and not fighters. This design philosophy was also a reason why the original variant did not employ forward-firing armament, though this was changed in later variants. This weakness also hurt other aircraft in the German Luftwaffe arsenal, as escorting Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters had to fly in zig-zag in order to maintain formation with Ju 87 Stuka aircraft, which led to a higher fuel consumption rate and making the fighters more vulnerable to being bounced by British fighters.

ww2dbaseAfter the Battle of Britain, most of these dive bombers were relocated to the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean. Between 1936 and Aug 1944, more than 6,000 Stuka bombers were built.

ww2dbaseBecause Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers performed so well as tactical bombers, this success became a curse as well. Ernst Udet, in charge of the technical department of the Luftwaffe, was so convinced in the capability of dive bombers that he requested all German bombers to be designed with dive bombing capability; this effectively removed any chance German had to develop an effective long-range bomber even if such an item made its way on the wish list of the Luftwaffe.

Ju 87 Stuka Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Ju 87A

Machinery	Junkers Jumo 210D rated at 720hp
Armament	2x7.92mm machine guns (one forward, one rear), 1x250 kg bomb
Span	13.80 m
Length	11.00 m
Height	3.90 m
Wing Area	31.90 m²
Weight, Empty	2,273 kg
Weight, Maximum	3,324 kg
Speed, Maximum	310 km/h
Range, Normal	800 km

Ju 87B

Machinery	Junkers Jumo 211Da rated at 1,200hp
Armament	3x7.92mm machine guns (two forward, one rear), 1x250kg bomb, 4x50kg bombs
Span	13.80 m
Length	11.00 m
Height	3.90 m
Wing Area	31.90 m²
Weight, Empty	2,760 kg
Weight, Maximum	4,400 kg
Speed, Maximum	340 km/h
Range, Normal	600 km

Ju 87D

Machinery	Junkers Jumo 211J rated at 1,410hp
Armament	3x7.92mm machine guns (two forward, one rear), 1x500 or 1,000kg bomb, 4x50kg bombs
Span	13.80 m
Length	11.00 m
Height	3.90 m
Wing Area	31.90 m²
Weight, Empty	2,810 kg
Weight, Maximum	5,720 kg
Speed, Maximum	354 km/h
Range, Normal	1,165 km

Ju 87G

Machinery	Junkers Jumo 211J rated at 1,410hp
Armament	3x7.92mm machine guns (two forward, one rear), 2x37mm BK 37
Span	13.80 m
Length	11.00 m
Height	3.90 m
Wing Area	31.90 m²
Weight, Empty	3,600 kg
Weight, Maximum	5,100 kg
Speed, Maximum	344 km/h
Range, Normal	1,000 km

Photographs

Visitor Submitted Comments

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1.  Alan Chanter says:
20 Nov 2007 11:51:42 AM

On the first of September 1939 Ju87B-1s carried out the first combat mission of the Second World War. Just eleven minutes after the declaration of war between Germany and Poland, three Ju87B-1s took off to attack the Dirschau Bridge.

For the campaign in Poland the Luftwaffe employed all nine of its Ju87 Gruppen-A total of 319 dive bombers.

2.  Alan Chanter says:
20 Nov 2007 11:56:49 AM

The Ju87A (See specifications above) had been withdrawn from front-line service by September 1939. Those still on the Luftwaffes inventory being passed to Stuka Training units.

3.  Alan Chanter says:
26 Nov 2007 02:37:13 PM

This, the first bombing raid of the war, was conducted by 3/St. G.1 (St.G is an abbreviation of Stukageschwader Gruppe, or Dive-Bomber Group) and led by Captain Bruno Dilley. Their target was Polish defence positions near the Dirschau Bridge which was positioned on the major artery through the Danzig corridor.

6.  Bill says:
2 Jan 2010 07:11:38 PM

Photograph of Regia Aeronautica Ju-87's in
formation.

Could be from one or two units
The first:
208 Squdriglia, 97 Gurppo Autonomo
Bombardamento a Tuffo, Gars-el Arid, Libya
September 1941.

The Second:
209 Squdriglia, 101 Gruppo Autonomo
Bombardamento a Tuffo, Sicily 1941.

This is the information I could get,from the
photograph. If anyone has more info, post it
on ww2db.

8.  Bill says:
22 Aug 2010 12:39:21 PM

Later models such as the Junkers Ju 87G
carried two flak 18 37mm cannons under the
wings.
One of the most famous Stuka pilots of the
war, was Geschwader-Kommodore of Stab/SG 2
Oberstleutnant Hans Ulrich Rudel he was 28
years old and a Colonel.

15.  Alan Chanter says:
15 Nov 2017 01:39:12 AM

The Junkers Ju87 was designed by a team led by Hermann Pohlmann who had replaced designer Karl Plauth who had been killed in an air accident. The German Stuka programme came through the intervention and single-mindedness of one man, Ernst Udet, who had been impressed at the 1930 Cleveland demonstration where he had been allowed to fly the American Helldiver. In 1933, Udet, as the Air Vice commodore of the German Sports Flying Club was in a position to promote a Dive-bomber development programme himself (although not without some opposition from high-ranking officers such as General Wolfram von Richthofen).

The first Ju.87, which utilised many of the lessons which Junkers had learned from their earlier K47 project, was ready for trials at Dessau in the summer of 1935 and in June 1936 a comparative competition was held to decide the choice for the Luftwaffe’s new Dive-bomber. The Ju.87 was pitted against several rival contenders – The Heinkel He.118; The Arado Ar.81; and the Blohm und Voss Ha.137 (The latter probably standing the least chance of selection as it was a single-seater and therefore not entirely meeting the desired specification). The Arado design too was an old fashioned looking biplane which revealed in tests that further strengthening would be required. This left the Heinkel and Junkers designs as the most favoured contenders for selection.

The Heinkel, designed by Walter and Siegfried Günter, was a sleek and graceful design and initially looked to be the firm favourite until it was discovered that it could not exceed 50° in any of its dives while the Ju.87 went in almost vertically. The final decision was left to Udet himself. On 27 June, while flying the He.118, he crashed during a dive which now decided his choice for the Junkers’ option. Incidentally, this was not entirely the end of the He.118 story as Heinkel had been selling the design to the Japanese since 1935 and this design would ultimately become the genesis for the later Yokosuka D4Y Dive-bomber concept.

19.  David Stubblebine says:
23 Nov 2018 12:28:54 PM

Marcus Grant (above):
Between 1937 and 1939 the Ju 87C carrier variant was under development but never went into production. The Ju 87 Wikipedia page has a pretty good write-up of it under “Ju 87C.”