Rear defense turret of Ju 188 bomber, circa 1940s

Caption     Rear defense turret of Ju 188 bomber, circa 1940s ww2dbase
Photographer    Unknown
More on...   
Ju 188   Main article  Photos  
Photo Size 668 x 483 pixels
Added By C. Peter Chen
Licensing  This anonymous work originating in the European Union is in the public domain. Its copyright expired 70 years after the work was made available to the public.

Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you.




Did you enjoy this photograph or find this photograph helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Share this photograph with your friends:

 Facebook
 Reddit
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds


Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
19 Feb 2009 06:36:35 PM

Info on above photo: The rear and upper defense for the Ju-188 was the same on all versions. The upper turret of the Ju-188A series carried a 20mm MG 151 cannon. the lower weapon looks like a 13mm MG 131 machine-gun.
2. Commenter identity confirmed BILL says:
8 Mar 2009 10:01:59 AM

The Ju 188 had a short career in France's Aeronavale it put 30 captured Ju 188Es and Fs into use after the war, used briefy as a bomber. In addition to aircraft captured from the Luftwaffe the Aeronavale purchased 12 Ju 188's from SNCASE at Toulouse, assembled from German components. Many ex-luftwaffe aircraft served into the 1950's.
3. Commenter identity confirmed BILL says:
17 Mar 2009 03:05:41 PM

The defensive weapons of the Ju 188 had one gunner operate a revoling power-operated turret. armed with a Mauser MG 151/20mm cannon, which was a heavy .60 caliber machine gun, rebored to 20mm, its rate of fire was 780rpm. The hand operated MG 131 machine gun, at the rear of crew enclosure was built by Rheinmetall, and fired its 13mm(.50 caliber ) ammo at a rate of 900rpm.
4. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
28 Nov 2010 04:20:05 PM

Used by the French after WWII, Junkers Ju 88 and Ju 188 bombers saw limited service.
Many were salvaged from components left by
the Germans.

The French Naval Air Arm used the aircraft
into the 1950s, other German aircraft were
also captured or built in France after WWII.
After the 1940 Armistice the Vichy French
went to work for their new German masters,
producing spare-parts, repair and overhaul of aircraft.

Junkers even set up its own facility south of
Paris. The Luftwaffe operated over thirty airfields throughout France. During the years
of German occupation, the French gained much
experience in repair, overhaul and operation
of German equipment and aircraft.

With the Allies advancing the Germans left France, leaving behind tons of war materiel,
spare-parts, tools, jigs and blueprints this
assisted the French buildup of its aircraft
industry. During the post-war period, the
French continued research with jet engines,
aircraft, and missiles with the assistance of German engineers and technicians.
The French Navy, Air Force and Army set up special groups to study, build and test these weapons.

5. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
6 Dec 2013 12:27:14 PM

The Junkers Ju 188 evolved from the basic Ju 88 design. Engineers used the basic airframe of the Ju 88 with larger tail assembly from the Ju 88G series extended the wings, more aerodynamic fuselage and a redesigned the crew compartment with a larger and rounder greenhouse canopy.

It was powered by both the BMW air cooled radial and the Junkers Jumo in-line liquid cooled engine
The Ju 188 was used as a pathfinder for bombing messions over England, anti-shipping and high speed reconnaissance missions. Plans were even made for the twin engine aircraft to be operated
as a dive-bomber! and night fighter, but such plans were never carried out.

Ju 188s seldom equipped entire Ju 88 bomber units
what Ju 188s assigned, were used for specialized missions. Armament carried 1 x 20mm cannon in the nose, 1 x 20mm cannon located in a power driven turret, 1 x 13mm machine gun located in the canopy's aft position and 1 x twin 7.92mm MG 81Z located in the lower bola gondola position.
One version of the 188 even had a position for a tail gunner armed with twin 7.92 machine guns.

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type
Your Comments
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.

Search WW2DB
Famous WW2 Quote
"The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years."

James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 23 Feb 1945


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!