Messerschmitt Me 323
Encyclopedia : M : ME : MES : Messerschmitt Me 323
| Messerschmitt Me 323 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Heavy transport | |
| Crew | 5 | |
| First flight | Fall 1941 | |
| Entered service | 1943 | |
| Manufacturer | Messerschmitt A.G. | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 28.2 m | 92 ft 4 in |
| Wingspan | 55.2 m | 181 ft 0 in |
| Height | 10.15 m | 33 ft3.5 in |
| Wing area | m² | ft² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 27,330 kg | 60,260 lb |
| Loaded | 29,500 kg | 65,000 lb |
| Maximum takeoff | 43,000 kg | 94,815 lb |
| Powerplant | ||
| Engine | 6 Gnôme-Rhône 14N | |
| Power (each) | 700 kW | 950 hp |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | 270 km/h | 170 mph |
| Combat range | 800 km | 500 mile |
| Ferry range | 1,100 km | 684 miles |
| Service ceiling | 4,000 m | 13,100 ft |
| Rate of climb | 216 m/min | 710 ft/min |
| Armament | ||
| Guns | (example) 18 × 7.92 mm MG81 machine-guns | |
The Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant" was a German transport aircraft of the Second World War. It was a powered variant of the Me 321 glider. It was the biggest land-based cargo airplane of the war. Just over 200 are recorded as having been made.
To make the Me 323 fit for cheap mass production, it had been designed with a fabric-covered steel tube framing instead of a conventional light-alloy monocoque structure. Initially, the Me 323 was going to be fitted with four engines, but prototype flight testing showed that six engines were necessary to achieve the desired load-carrying capability. The French Gnôme-Rhône engines used had been designed by Gabriel Voisin.
Capable of carrying 100 combat-equipped troops or a similar freight load of about 15 tons, the Me 323 was used in 1943 to ferry supplies and reserve troops from Italy and Sicily to the German Afrika Korps in Tunis and the area of North Africa. However, from Ultra intelligence, the transport formations' flight schedules were known to the Allies who used this information to send fighter squadron to ambush the aerial convoys and shoot down the transports.
For example, on 22 April 1943 near Cape Bon, several squadrons of Spitfires and P-40 Kittyhawks attacked a unit of 14 petrol-carrying Me 323s and their fighter escorts. All 14 were shot down with the loss of about 120 crew and 700 drums of fuel.
| Related content | |
|---|---|
| Related development | Me 321 |
| Similar aircraft | Ju 322 |
| Designation series | He 319 - Me 321 - Ju 322 - Me 323 - Me 328 - Me 329 - FA 330 |
| Related lists | List of military aircraft of Germany |
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Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers
| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |
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