Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant

The Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant" ("Giant") was a German military transport aircraft of World War II. It was a powered variant of the Me 321 military glider and was the largest land-based transport aircraft to fly during the war. A total of 213 are recorded as having been made, 15 being converted from the Me 321.
Development.
The Me 323 was the result of a 1940 German requirement for a large assault glider in preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the projected invasion of Great Britain. The DFS 230 light glider had already proven its worth in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael in Belgium (the first ever assault by gliderborne troops), and would later be used successfully in the invasion of Crete in 1941.
However, in order to mount an invasion across the English Channel, the Germans would need to be able to airlift vehicles and other heavy equipment as part of an initial assault wave. Although Operation Sea Lion was cancelled, the requirement for a heavy air transport capability still existed, with the focus now on the forthcoming Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
On 18 October 1940, Junkers and Messerschmitt were given just 14 days to submit a proposal for a large transport glider. The emphasis was still very much on the assault role: the ambitious requirement was to be able to carry either an 88 mm gun and its half-track tractor, or a Panzer IV medium tank. The Junkers Ju 322 "Mammut" reached prototype form but was eventually scrapped due to difficulties in procuring the necessary high-grade timber for its all-wood construction and, as was discovered during the "Mammuts only test flight, an unacceptably high degree of instability inherent in the design. The proposed Messerschmitt aircraft was originally designated Me 261w—partly borrowing the designation of the long-range Messerschmitt Me 261—then changed to Me 263 (later re-used for Messerschmitt's improved rocket fighter design), and eventually became the Me 321"'. Although the Me 321 saw considerable service on the Eastern Front as a transport, it was never used for its intended role as an assault glider.
Me 323.
Early in 1941, as a result of feedback from Transport Command pilots in Russia, the decision was taken to produce a motorized variant of the Me 321, to be designated Me 323. It was decided to use French Gnome et Rhône GR14N radial engines rated at 1,180 PS (1,164 hp, 868 kW) for take-off as used in the Bloch MB.175 aircraft; using French engines was thought to place no burden on Germany's overstrained industry.
Initial tests were conducted using four Gnome engines attached to a strengthened Me 321 wing, which gave a modest speed of – slower than the Ju 52 transport aircraft. A fixed undercarriage was fitted, which comprised four small wheels in a bogie at the front of the aircraft with six larger wheels in two lines of three at each side of the fuselage, partly covered by an aerodynamic fairing. The rear wheels were fitted with pneumatic brakes, and could stop the aircraft within .
The four-engined Me 323C was considered merely a stepping stone to the six-engined D series; it still required the five-engined Heinkel He 111Z "Zwilling" or the highly dangerous "vic-style" "Troika-Schlepp" formation of three Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters and underwing-mounted Walter HWK 109-500 "Starthilfe" rocket assisted takeoff units to get airborne when fully loaded, but it could return to base under its own power when empty. This was clearly not much better than the Me 321, so the V2 prototype became the first to have six engines and flew for the first time in early 1942, becoming the prototype for the D series aircraft.
The selection of the six engines, and their specific placement on the wing's leading edge, were fitted to reduce torque—a trio of counterclockwise rotation engines mounted on the port wing, and a trio of clockwise rotation engines on the starboard wing as seen looking forward from behind each engine—resulting in the props rotating "away" from each other at the tops of their arcs.
Design.
As per the Me 321, the Me 323 had massive, semi-cantilever, high-mounted wings which were braced from the fuselage out to the middle of the wing. To reduce weight and to save on aluminium, much of the wing was made of plywood and fabric, while the fuselage was of metal tube construction with wooden spars and covered with doped fabric, with heavy bracing in the floor to support the payload.
The "D" series had a crew of five: two pilots, two flight engineers and a radio operator. Two gunners could also be carried. The flight engineers occupied two small cabins, one in each wing between the inboard and centre engines. The engineers were intended to monitor engine synchronisation and allow the pilot to fly without worrying about engine status, although the pilot could override the engineers' decisions on engine and propeller control.
Maximum payload was around 12 tonnes, although at that weight the Walter HWK 109-500 "Starthilfe" rocket assisted takeoff units used on the Me 321 were required for take-off. These were mounted beneath the wings outboard of the engines, with the wings having underside fittings to take up to a total of four units. The cargo hold was long, wide and high. The typical loads it carried were: One 15 cm sFH 18 heavy field howitzer (5.5 ton) accompanied by its Sd.Kfz. 7 half-track artillery tractor vehicle (11 ton), two 3.6 tonne (4 ton) trucks, 8,700 loaves of bread, an 88 mm "Flak" gun and accessories, 52 drums of fuel (252 L/45 US gal), 130 men, or 60 stretchers.
Some Me 321s were converted to Me 323s, but the majority were built as six-engine aircraft from the beginning; early models were fitted with wooden two-blade propellers, which were later replaced by metal, three-blade variable-pitch versions.
The Me 323 had a maximum speed of only at sea level and speed dropped with altitude. For defensive armament, it was armed with five 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns firing from a dorsal position behind the wings and from the fuselage. They were manned by the extra gunners, radio operator and engineers.
Operational history.
By September 1942, Me 323s were being delivered for use in the Tunisian campaign, and entered service in the Mediterranean theatre in November 1942. The high rate of loss among Axis shipping had made necessary a huge airlift of equipment across the Mediterranean to keep Rommel's Afrika Korps supplied.
On 22 April 1943, a formation of 27 fully loaded Me 323s was being escorted across the Sicilian Straits by Messerschmitt Bf 109s of Jagdgeschwader 27 when it was intercepted by seven squadrons—Supermarine Spitfires (No. 1 Squadron SAAF) and Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks (No. 7 South African Wing). Of the 27 transports, only six reached their destination; the remaining 21 of the Me 323s were lost while three of the P-40s were shot down by the escorts.
A total of 198 Me 323s were built before production ceased in April 1944. There were several production versions, beginning with the D-1. Later D- and E- versions differed in the choice of power plant and in defensive armament, with improvements in structural strength, total cargo load and fuel capacity also being implemented. Nonetheless, the Me 323 remained significantly underpowered. There was a proposal to install six BMW 801 radials, but this did not occur. The Me 323 was also a short-range aircraft, with a typical range (loaded) of 1,000–1,200 km (620–750 mi). Despite this, the limited numbers of Me 323s in service were an asset to the Germans, and saw extensive use.
Surviving aircraft.
No complete aircraft survives, but the "Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr" (Air Force Museum of the German Federal Armed Forces) in Berlin has a Me 323 main wing spar in its collection.
A ruined but complete wreck was found in 2012, in the sea near La Maddalena, an island near Sardinia, Italy. The aircraft lies in around of water, around from the coast. It was shot down by a British Bristol Beaufighter long–range fighter on 26 July 1943, while en route from Sardinia to Pistoia in Italy.