https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_217
The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II
as a more powerful version of the Dornier Do 17, known as the Fliegender
Bleistift (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber
but not meant to be capable of the longer-range missions envisioned for the
larger Heinkel He 177, the Do 217's design was refined during 1939 and
production began in late 1940. It entered service in early 1941 and by the
beginning of 1942 was available in significant numbers.
The Dornier Do 217 had a much larger bomb load capacity and had much greater
range than the Do 17. In later variants, dive bombing and maritime strike
capabilities using glide bombs were experimented with, considerable success
being achieved. Early Do 217 variants were more powerful than the contemporary
Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88, having a greater speed, range and bomb load.
Owing to this it was called a heavy bomber rather than a medium bomber. The Do
217 served on all fronts in all roles. On the Eastern Front and Western Front it
operated as a strategic bomber, torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. It
also performed tactical operations, either direct ground assault or
anti-shipping strikes during the Battle of the Atlantic and Battle of Normandy.
The Do 217 was also converted to become a night fighter and saw considerable
action in the Defence of the Reich campaign until the last day of the war.
Role
Medium bomber
Heavy bomber
Night fighter
Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer
Dornier Flugzeugwerke
Designer
Claude Dornier
First flight
4 October 1938
Introduction
1941
Retired
1945
Status
Retired
Primary user
Luftwaffe
Produced
Number built
1,925
Developed from
Dornier Do 17
Variants
Dornier Do 317
The first bomber unit to receive the Dornier Do 217 was II Gruppe of
Kampfgeschwader 40 (II/KG 40) in March 1941, followed by KG 2 later that year.
At first these units, based in the Netherlands, were used to carry out
minelaying and anti-shipping operations over the North Sea. On the night of
24/25 April 1942, however, Dornier Do 217s of KG 2 took part in an attack on the
city of Exeter, the first raid of what was to become known as the Baedeker
Blitz. KG 2's Dorniers were heavily deployed during the Baedeker raids, against
British provincial cities which were less heavily defended than London, which
continued until July that year.
The Do 217 squadrons had little time to recover as on 19 August 1942 the Allies
launched an amphibious raid on Dieppe in Northern France, with KG 2 launching
almost its entire strength of 80 aircraft in response, losing 20 over Dieppe. It
had suffered serious losses of trained personnel during operations during 1942,
with the number of combat ready crews in KG 2 falling from 88 at the start of
the year to 23 by September.
The final actions of Do 217 equipped units over Western Europe was against the
allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944, when the remaining Do 217 equipped
bomber units, II/KG 2 and III/KG 100 were thrown into action against the Allied
landings. Losses were heavy, with III/KG 100 losing 8 of 13 servicible Do 217s
in 10 days of operations. As American forces broke out of the bridgehead at the
end of July, III/KG 100 sent its remaining Do 217s to carry out attacks on
single hit on one of the bridges, which remained in use, while seven Dorniers
were lost.
Specifications (Do 217 J-2)
General characteristics
Crew: 3
Length: 18.20 m (59 ft ?8 1/2 in)
Wingspan: 19.00 m (62 ft 4 in)
Height: 5.00 m (16 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 57.00 m2 (613.54 ft2)
Empty weight: 9,350 kg (20,615 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 13,180 kg (29,059 lb)
kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 487 km/h at 5,500 m (303 mph at 18,045 ft)
Range: 2,050 km (1,274 mi)
Service ceiling: 8,400 m (27,560 ft)
Armament
Guns:
about 500 rpg
Specifications (Do 217 M-1)
General characteristics
Crew: 4
Length: 17.00 m (55 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 19.00 m (62 ft 4 in)
Height: 4.96 m (16 ft ?3 1/2 in)
Wing area: 57.00 m2 (613.54 ft2)
Empty weight: 9,100 kg (20,062 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 16,700 kg (36,817 lb)
1,287 kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 557 km/h at 5,700 m (347 mph at 18,700 ft)
Cruise speed: 400 km/h (248 mph)
Range: 2,145 km (1,332 mi)
Service ceiling: 7,370 m (24,180 ft (with max bombload))
Rate of climb: 210 m/min (688 ft/min)
Armament
Max Load 4,000 kilograms (8,800 lb) internally & externally.
Max Internal Load 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb).
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