Ju-87B in Chicago

[Bruce_in_Oz]

A LONG time ago I read an article written by a British test pilot who got to play with the Ju-87.

The thing that stuck in my memory was that he discovered that it was the only aircraft he had ever flown that could dive, under control, DEAD VERTICAL. SERIOUS dive brakes enabled this feature. Must have been interesting for the pilot hanging in his harness. There was also a sort of "automatic pilot" recovery system to pull these beasties out of their dive at fairly high "G" forces.

That may explain why, under the fuselage, these aircraft had a bomb cradle that pivoted at the front. This kept the bomb parallel to the fuselage in normal flight, and released it when the rear of this "cradle" had swung out PAST the propeller arc; a handy feature. See pics on lots of websites.

[Flying10uk]

My father never forgot being dive bombed as a child during war and in which 4 people in the village were killed. I don't think that the aircraft involved was a Stuka because 10 bombs were dropped. The recurring nightmares of this and other events during the war lasted well into the 1970s.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The Ju-87, depending on the variant, could carry a 250Kg or thereabouts bomb slung centrally, or a larger number, eight, I think, of smaller bombs under the wings.

We are getting a bit out of my "knowledge "comfort-zone now.

[bigduke6]

And the real tragedy was how much of this intriguing materiel was destroyed by neglect and a savage winter just after the war. All those aircraft, left out in the open for "future evaluation" (including some interesting "experimental' jobs), suffered water ingress from all that lovely English "liquid sunshine".

U534 nearly suffered the same fate, although I don't think cutting it in 4 or 5 pieces was a good idea but guess it got a home....... I was lucky as I walked through it when it was complete, the best part of the day was a quick conversation with one man who served on a similar Sub..... I've told the story before so won't go on.

[Sentryduty]

I was lucky as I walked through it when it was complete, the best part of the day was a quick conversation with one man who served on a similar Sub..... I've told the story before so won't go on.

Can you link to it? I don't recall reading that tale.

[aspen80]

This one I believe is the U-505 captured by two destroyers.

U-505 is a German Type IXC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was captured on 4 June 1944 by United States Navy Task Group 22.3. Wikipedia

[bigduke6]

Can you link to it? I don't recall reading that tale.

Darren, link below and post #15

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....39436&p=232227

[Sentryduty]

Darren, link below and post #15

Very good account, I had not seen that before, thank you for the link.

[jessebogan]

No, it is not. The U 505 was captured by Captain Dan Gallery aboard the USS Guadalcanal, one destroyer (pillsbury?) and a DE whose name I have forgotten. Between the aircraft and the escorting ships, they depthcharged it to the surface, and sent out a boarding party. The sailors got aboard, managed to find and close the sea cocks, and secured it before it went under. It was towed to the Bahamas where it remained a closely guarded secret. It was taken with all the code books and transmission equipment intact. As far as I know, it is the last warship captured by the US navy on the high seas.

[Brian Dick]

The DE was USS Chatelain. When I was a kid growing up in Florida in the 1970's, one of the crew stayed at the motel my parents owned. He gave me photos he took when they towed the U505 into Bermuda to dock.