Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant

The Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant was a heavy, front-line, transport aircraft, used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. It was based on the Me 321, which was a German cargo glider that had been designed and developed between 1940 and 1941 for the planned invasion of the British Isles that never took place. It was mainly employed in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations to transport heavy military equipment and ammunition to North Africa to keep Rommel's Afrika Korps supplied. It also provided the Wehrmacht front-line troops on the Eastern Front with food and military supplies.

The first prototype of the Messerschmitt Me 323, the V1, first flew on January 20, 1942. During the flight test, the German engineers realized that the aircraft was underpowered. Thus, they decided to add two more engines to the four Gnome-Rhone 14N-48-49 piston engines already mounted. Thus, the second prototype, the V2, was powered by six engines. The performance of the V2 was satisfactory and it immediately entered the production phase. It would be introduced into service with the Luftwaffe on September 28, 1942, as the Me 323D-1, just in time for the Tunisian Campaign, which would begin in November. By 1944, a total of 198 Gigants had been produced. These included the Me 323E and the Me 323F version, which was powered by six Jumo 211R engines.

Technical Characteristics

The Messerschmitt Messerschmitt Me 323 was a large six-engine monoplane. It was of wooden fuselage construction and it was fitted with braced high-wing. Aside from the pilots cockpit, it had two flight engineer cabins. It was equipped with a multi-wheel, fixed landing gear. It could accommodate 120 fully-equipped troops or two military vehicles in its cavernous hold. The aircraft was loaded through its large nose, which was split in two and opened sideways. For take-off when fully-loaded, the Gigant was equipped with eight jettisonable, hydrogen-peroxide assistance rockets, which were mounted under the wing. On each side of the rear fuselage, there was a small bay or station that jutted out for one of the 13-mm machine guns.

Specifications (Me 323E-2)

Type: heavy, front-line transport.

Length: 28.5 m (93 feet, 6 inches)

Wing Span: 55 m (180 feet, 5 inches)

Wing Area: 300 m2 (3,229.2 square feet)

Height: 9.6 m (31 feet, 6 inches)

Power Plant: six Gnome-Rhone GR 14N-48/49, 14-cylinder, piston engines, each rated at 1,140 HP.

Maximum Speed: 253 km/h (157 mph)

Range: 1,100 km (684 miles)

Weight: 29,060 kg (64,066 lb); 45,000 kg when fully-loaded.

Armament: two 20-mm MG-151 cannons above wing, and seven 13-mm MG-131 machine guns.