Blohm & Voss BV 238

BV 238

The prototype BV 238 V1 in June 1944
Role	Flying boat
Manufacturer	Blohm + Voss
First flight	April 1944^[1]
Primary user	Germany
Number built	1 (with 2 incomplete prototypes)^[1]

The Blohm & Voss BV 238 was a German flying boat (Flugboot) built during World War II. It was the heaviest aircraft ever flown when it first flew in 1944, and was the largest aircraft produced by any of the Axis powers in World War II.^[2]

Design

The BV 238 V1, bearing the four-letter factory radio code of RO + EZ, first flew in April 1944.^[1] Six 1,287 kW (1,750 hp) Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 piston engines were used in total, arranged in three forward-facing engine nacelles on each wing. Each engine's coolant radiator was placed in a chin cowl directly under the engine, bearing an almost identical appearance to those fitted to the Do 217M medium bomber and some examples of the Do 217J night fighter, possibly as standardized Kraftei ("power-egg") unitized engine modules.^[1]

Destruction

The sole completed BV 238 was strafed and sunk while docked on Schaalsee. Sources differ regarding the date, the attackers and the attack aircraft used.

According to American sources, the BV 238 V1 was destroyed September 1944 by P-51 Mustangs of the US 361st Fighter Group. The lead Mustang, Detroit Miss, was piloted by Lieutenant Urban "Ben" Drew, and another was piloted by William D. Rogers. Drew was told after the attack that he had destroyed a BV 222 Wiking, another large flying boat. He continued to believe this was the case until he was contacted by the BBC in 1974 for a documentary and told that their research had determined that the aircraft he had destroyed was actually the BV 238 V1, undergoing flight tests at the seaplane base at Schaalsee.^[3]

German sources, based in part on the testimony of nearby inhabitants and Blohm & Voss employees, claim that the BV 238 V1 was discovered by the RAF between 23 April and 26 April 1945. The Allies were reportedly concerned that Adolf Hitler could use it to escape to South America, and so an attack followed shortly afterwards. The aircraft was attacked by Hawker Typhoons, or Hawker Tempests. Their strafing set the engines alight, and the aircraft burnt and sank with only part of a wing remaining above the surface.^[3] According to the British, the attack happened on 4 May 1945. During the strafing, the back of the flying boat broke and the forward part of the plane sank into the water.

Other prototypes

Production of two other prototypes was begun but neither was finished. A ¼-scale model of the BV 238 was made during the plane's development for testing. Known as the FGP 227, it made a forced landing during its first flight and did not provide any data to the program.^[1]^[4]

Variants

Data from Aircraft of the Third Reich Vol.1^[1]

BV 238 V1: The only completed prototype.
BV 238-Land: The initial designation for the land-based derivative of the BV 238.
BV 250: A land-based derivative of the BV 238 for use as a strategic maritime reconnaissance aircraft and long-range transport.

Specifications (BV 238A-02 (V6))

Data from Aircraft of the Third Reich Vol.1,^[1] Blohm & Voss Bv 222 "Wiking" – Bv 238^[5]

General characteristics

Crew: ca 12
Length: 43.35 m (142 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 60.17 m (197 ft 5 in)
Height: 12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 360.16 m² (3,876.7 sq ft)
Empty weight: 54,780 kg (120,769 lb)
Gross weight: 90,000 kg (198,416 lb) for reconnaissance missions

95,000 kg (209,439 lb) for bomber missions

Max takeoff weight: 100,000 kg (220,462 lb)
Powerplant: 6 × Daimler-Benz DB 603G inverted V-12 liquid-cooled piston engines, 1,417 kW (1,900 hp) each for take-off
1,163 kW (1,560 hp) at 7,375 m (24,196 ft)
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers

Performance

Maximum speed: 350 km/h (217 mph; 189 kn) at 60,000 kg (132,277 lb) weight at sea level

425 km/h (264 mph) at 60,000 kg (132,277 lb) at 6,000 m (19,685 ft)

Landing speed: 143 km/h (77 kn, 89 mph)
Range: 6,620 km (4,113 mi; 3,575 nmi) at 365 km/h (227 mph) at 92,000 kg (202,825 lb) at 2,000 m (6,562 ft)
Service ceiling: 7,300 m (23,950 ft)
Wing loading: 261 kg/m² (53 lb/sq ft)

Armament

Guns: 8 x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine guns with 1,800 rpg; 4 in each nose and tail turret

8 x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine guns with 900 rpg; 4 in each wing mounted turret

4 x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine guns with 500 rpg; 2 (as a twinned MG 131Z) in each manually aimed beam/waist position

2 x 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 autocannon with 1,400 rpg in forward dorsal turret

Bombs: 20 x 250 kg (551 lb) SC 250 bombs in wing bomb bays

and 4 x 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) SC 1000 bombs on external racks

or 2 x 1,200 kg (2,646 lb) LD 1200 torpedoes on external racks

or 4 x Henschel Hs 293 missiles on external racks, if Bv 238 fitted with FuG 203 Kehl MCLOS guidance transmitter

or 2 x 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) BV 143 glide bombs on external racks

References

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Green, William (2010). Aircraft of the Third Reich (1st ed.). London: Aerospace Publishing Limited. pp. 165–168. ISBN 978-1-900732-06-2.
↑ Luftfahrt History Heft 1: Blohm & Voss BV 238. Lautec Medien GmbH, 57078 Siegen.
1 2 GOT: The Blohm & Voss BV 238 thread 4245 from The Great Planes and Warbirds Community; questions the American claim about the destruction of the aircraft and reinforces the German version of events.
↑ Nowarra 1997, p. 42.
↑ Nowarra 1997, p. 47.

Bibliography

Green, William (2010). Aircraft of the Third Reich (1st ed.). London: Aerospace Publishing Limited. pp. 165–168. ISBN 978-1-900732-06-2.
Green, William. Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume Five: Flying Boats. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (5th impression 1972). ISBN 0-356-01449-5.
Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 (4th impression 1979). ISBN 0-356-02382-6.
Krzyźan, Marian. Blohm & Voss BV 222 & BV 238 (Monografie Lotnicze 29) (in Polish). Gdańsk, Poland: AJ-Press, 1996. ISBN 83-86208-47-3.
Nowarra, Heinz J. (translated by Don Cox) Blohm & Voss Bv 222 "Wiking" - Bv 238. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1997. ISBN 0-7643-0295-7. (Translation of the German original Luftgiganten über See: BV 222 Viking - BV 238. Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas Verlag GmbH, 1980. ISBN 3-7909-0124-5.)
Smith, John Richard; Anthony L. Kay and Eddie J. Creek. German Aircraft of the Second World War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1972(3rd impression 1978). ISBN 0-370-00024-2.
Wagner, Ray and Nowarra, Heinz. German Combat Planes: A Comprehensive Survey and History of the Development of German Military Aircraft from 1914 to 1945. New York: Doubleday, 1971.
Winchester, Jim. The World's Worst Aircraft. New York: Amber Books, 2005. ISBN 0-7607-8714-X.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blohm & Voss BV 238.

Blohm & Voss Bv 238 – "Der Stolz von Seedorf" – 1944 das größte Flugboot – in German (purchase required)
Warbird Resource Group

Blohm & Voss/Hamburger Flugzeugbau aircraft

Ha / BV	BV 40 Ha 135 Ha 136 Ha 137 Ha 138 BV 138 Ha 139 Ha 140 BV 141 BV 142 BV 143 BV 144 BV 155 BV 222 BV 237 BV 238 BV 246 P 111 P 144 P 163 P 170 P 175 P 178 P 184 P 188 P 192 P 194 P 196 P 197 P 198 P 202 P 203 P 204 P 207 P 208 P 209 P 210 P 211 P 212 P 213 P 214 P 215 Ae 607 MGRP

HFB	HFB-314 HFB-320

Reich Air Ministry aircraft designations

1 to 100	B 9 Gö 9 Do 10 Do 11 Wn 11 Do 12 Do 13 Do 14 Do 15 Wn 15 Do 16 Wn 16 Do 17 Do 18 Do 19 Do 20 Do 22 Do 23 Do 24 Kl 25 Do 26 Kl 26 M 27 Do 29 Kl 31 Kl 32 W 33 L 33 W 34 Kl 35 Kl 36 HD 37 HD 38 G 38 DFS 39 BV 40 DFS 40 A 40 Fw 42 He 42 Fw 43 HD 43 Fw 44 He 45 He 46 Ju 46 Fw 47 Ju 47 K 47 A 48 He 49 Ju 49 He 50 A 50 He 51 K 51 Ju 52 K 53 NR 54 Fw 55 NR 55 Fw 56 Fw 57 Fw 58 He 58 He 59 He 60 Ju 60 Fw 61 He 61 Fw 62 He 62 He 63 Ar 64 He 64 Ar 65 He 65 Ar 66 He 66 Ar 67 Ar 68 Ar 69 He 70 He 71 He 72 He 74 Ar 76 Ar 77 Ar 79 Ar 80 Ar 81 Ju 85 Ju 86 Ju 87 Ju 88 Ju 89 Ju 90 Ar 95 Ar 96 Fi 97 Fi 98 Fi 99 He 100

101 to 200	Al 101 Al 102 Al 103 Fi 103 Fh 104 Kl 105 Kl 106 Kl 107 Bf 108 Bf 109 Bf 110 He 111 He 112 He 113 He 114 He 115 He 116 Hs 117 He 118 He 119 He 120 Hs 121 Hs 122 Hs 123 Hs 124 Hs 125 Hs 126 Hs 127 Hs 128 Hs 129 Hs 130 Bü 131 Hs 132 Bü 133 Bü 134 Ha 135 Ha 136 Hü 136 Ha 137 BV 138 Ha 139 Ha 140 BV 141 BV 142 BV 143 BV 144 Go 145 Go 146 Go 147 Ju 147 Go 149 Go 150 Kl 151 Ta 152 Kl 152 Ta 153 Ta 154 BV 155 Fi 156 Fi 157 Fi 158 Fw 159 Ju 160 Bf 161 He 162 Bf 162 Bf 163 Me 163 Me 164 Fi 166 FK 166 Fi 167 Fi 168 He 170 He 172 He 176 He 177 He 178 Bü 180 Bü 181 Bü 182 Ta 183 Fl 184 Fl 185 Fw 186 Ju 186 Fw 187 Ju 187 Ju 188 Fw 189 Fw 190 Fw 191 Ao 192 DFS 193 DFS 194 Ar 195 Ar 196 Ar 197 Ar 198 Ar 199 Fw 200

201 to 300	Si 201 Si 202 DFS 203 Si 204 Fw 206 Me 208 Me 209 Me 209 (1943) Me 210 Hü 211 Do 212 Do 214 Do 215 Do 216 Do 217 Hs 217 He 219 He 220 BV 222 Fa 223 Fa 224 Ao 225 Fa 225 BV 226 Ho 226 FGP 227 DFS 228 Ho 229 DFS 230 Ar 231 Ar 232 Ar 233 Ar 234 Do 235 BV 237 BV 238 Fw 238 Ar 239 Ar 240 Go 241 Go 242 Go 244 BV 246 Ju 248 BV 250 Fw 250 Ho 250 Ho 251 Ho 252 Ju 252 Fi 253 Ho 253 Ta 254 Ho 254 Fi 256 Sk 257 Fw 261 Me 261 Me 262 Me 263 Me 264 Fl 265 Me 265 Fa 266 Ho 267 Ju 268 Fa 269 He 270 We 271 Fw 272 He 274 He 275 He 277 He 278 He 280 Fl 282 Fa 283 Ta 283 Fa 284 Fl 285 Ju 286 Ju 287 Ju 288 Ju 290 Me 290 As 292 Hs 293 Hs 294 Hs 295 Ar 296 Hs 296 Hs 297 Hs 298 Fw 300

301-	Me 309 Me 310 Do 317 Do 318 He 319 Me 321 Ju 322 Me 323 Me 328 Me 329 Fa 330 DFS 331 DFS 332 Fi 333 Me 334 Do 335 Fa 336 Fl 339 E.340 WNF 342 He 343 Rk 344 So 344 Go 345 DFS 346 Rk 347 Ba 349 Ju 352 Me 362 Me 364 Ju 388 Ju 390 Fw 391 Ar 396 Ta 400 Me 409 Me 410 Do 417 He 419 ZMe 423 Ar 430 Ka 430 Ar 432 Do 435 Ar 440 Ju 452 Me 462 Ju 488 Fw 491 Me 509 Me 510 He 519 ZSO 523 Ar 532 Do 535 E.555 Me 609 Ar 632 Do 635

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