Mistel
The Mistel (German for "Mistletoe"), also known as Beethoven-Gerät (Beethoven Device) and Vati und Sohn (Daddy and Son), was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft type of bomber introduced in the later stages of World War II.
Mistel was originally a bomber airframe, usually a Junkers Ju 88 variant, with the entire nose-located crew compartment replaced by a specially-designed nose filled with a large load of explosive, with a fighter aircraft on top, joined to the bomber by struts. The combination would be flown to its target by a pilot in the fighter; then the unmanned bomber was released to hit its target and explode, leaving the fighter free to return to base. The first such composite aircraft flew in July 1943 and was promising enough to begin a programme by Luftwaffe test unit KG 200, code-named "Beethoven".
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[edit] Design and development
The first such experiments in Nazi Germany concerning composite aircraft of any type were performed with the DFS 230 troop glider as the "lower" component, and using established, engine-powered Luftwaffe aircraft such as the Focke-Wulf Fw 56 or the Messerschmitt Bf 109E as the upper component, in an attempt to provide the troop glider with a longer range, than if it was simply towed in the conventional manner.
Later, the technique became more refined, and the bomber component (which was often a new aircraft rather than surplus) was fitted with a specialised 1,800 kg (3,960 lb) warhead. The final stage of Mistel development was the development of specialised purpose-built jet-powered bomber components, including ones developed from the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Junkers Ju 287 and the entirely new Arado Ar 234. None of these ambitious schemes had left the drawing board before the end of the war.
[edit] Warhead
The definitive Mistel warhead was a shaped charge of nearly two tons in weight fitted with a copper or aluminium liner. The use of a shaped charge was expected to allow penetration of up to 7 meters of reinforced concrete.
Some 250 Mistels of various combinations were built during the war, but met with limited success. They were first flown in combat against the Allied invasion fleet during Battle of Normandy, targeting the British-held harbour at Courseulles-sur-Mer.
While Mistel pilots claimed hits, none of these match Allied records; they may have been made against the hulk of the old French battleship Courbet, which had been included as a component of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches and specially dressed up as a decoy by the Allies. Serious blast and shrapnel damage from a near miss was suffered by HMS Nith, a floating headquarters, on 24 June. Nine men were killed and 26 wounded, and Nith was towed back to England for repairs.
A second opportunity to use the Mistels, in Scapa Flow in 1944, was abandoned after the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz led to the departure of all the Royal Navy's major surface units from the target.
As part of Operation Iron Hammer in late 1943 and early 1944, Mistels were selected to carry out key raids against Soviet weapons-manufacturing facilities—specifically, electricity-generating power stations around Moscow and Gorky. These plants were known to be poorly defended by the Soviets and irreplaceable. However, before the plan could be implemented the Red Army had entered Germany, and it was decided to use the Mistels against their bridgehead at Küstrin instead. On 12 April 1945, Mistels attacked the bridges being built there, but the damage caused was negligible and delayed the Soviet forces for only a day or two. Subsequent Mistel attacks on other bridges being thrown across the Oder were similarly ineffective.
[edit] Survivors
A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 (Werk Nr. 733682), preserved in the Imperial War Museum in London, was the fighter part of a Mistel system that was captured by British forces in 1945. The aircraft retains the Kugelverschraubung mit Sprengbolzen (balljoints with explosive bolts), the fittings underneath that attached it to its Junkers Ju 88 partner.[1]
[edit] Variants
- Mistel Prototype: Ju 88A-4 and Bf 109F-4
- Mistel 1: Ju 88A-4 and Bf 109F-4
- Mistel S1: Trainer version of Mistel 1
- Mistel 2: Ju 88G-l and Fw 190A-8 or F-8
- Mistel S2: Trainer version of Mistel 2
- Mistel 3A: Ju 88A-4 and Fw 190A-8
- Mistel S3A: Trainer version of Mistel 3A
- Mistel 3B: Ju 88H-4 and Fw 190A-8
- Mistel 3C: Ju 88G-10 and Fw 190F-8
- Mistel Führungsmaschine: Ju 88 A-4/H-4 and Fw 190 A-8
- Mistel 4: Ju 287 and Me 262
- Mistel 5: Arado E.377A and He 162
[edit] Mistel Combinations
[edit] In operative use
- Ju 88A-4/Bf 109F-4
- Ju 88A-4/Fw 190A-8
[edit] Projected for use
- Ju 88G-1/Fw 190A-6
- Ju 88A-6/Fw 190A-6
- Ju 88G-1/Fw 190F-8
- Ju 88H-4/Fw 190A-8
- Ju 88H-4/Fw 190F-8
[edit] Only in paper plans or proposed
- Ju 88 G-7/Ta 152H
- Ta 154/Fw 190
- Ar 234/Fi 103
- Do 217K/DFS 228
- Siebel Si 204/Lippisch DM-1
- Ju 287/Me 262
[edit] Operators
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Citations
- ^ Forsyth, Robert = (2001). Mistel: German Composite Aircraft and Operations, 1942–1945. Midland Publishing. ISBN 1903223091=.
- Bibliography
- Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Prelude to 'Stand-Off'". Air Enthusiast, Thirty-four, September–December 1989. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll. ISSN 0143-5450. pp. 43–47, 80.
- Wood, T. and Gunston, B. Hitler's Luftwaffe. Salamander, 1977.
