German 17.7 ton Bomb

Ekrub

Ekrub

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Hey everyone,

I've seen numerous forums online discuss a supposed 17.7 ton bomb that was developed and tested by Germany during WW2. They say one was dropped by an Me 323, leading to the accidental destruction of that aircraft during the test. Does anyone have any additional information on the topic? Is it real? Was there a name for it? Does anyone have to have a photo/diagram/sketch of it?

I've seen it said in other forums that it is mentioned in the book: "Hitler's Luftwaffe" (1990) Tony Wood and Bill Gunston. I really don't know much about that though or how extensively or reliably it's covered in there.



This is my first post here (I've been lurking the forums for a few years though). So, please take it easy on me if I screwed something up here. Thanks!
 
So i got curious about it and it's indeed referenced on page 239 of Hitler's Luftwaffe

To quote:

''The Me 323 specially modified for the test, was assisted off the ground by an He 111Z tug. Shortly before letting the monster bomb go, the Gigant's rear fuselage began to break. The crew managed to release the bomb, but the giant aircraft went into an uncontrollable dive and crashed. It was subsequently revealed that the structure had been weakened by bullet strikes from US fighters which strafed the test field a few days earlier.''

Also Friedrich George in his book "The Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine" Mentioned the bomb being carried under the right wing. However i have not read this book.

Also David Donald ended every entry/paragraph about the me-323 with 1737895722455.png

It's likely that this is just another myth considering there is not alot of information about it and it would be a wasteful concept.
 
Technically possible, militarily impracticable, except for an enemy already defeated and without anti-aircraft defense, a single fighter would be enough to shoot down that mammoth.
 
In Die deutsche Luftfahrt 17 - Willy Messerschmitt - Pionier der Luftfahrt und des Leichtbaues by Ebert/Kaiser/Peters, Bernard & Graefe 1992, the authors mention Me 321 gliders would carry up to 27,000 kg of cargo. A Me 323 could lift approximately 10,000 kg of cargo on its own, hence assistance from a He 111Z to take off?
Justo Miranda said:
Technically possible, militarily impracticable, except for an enemy already defeated and without anti-aircraft defense, a single fighter would be enough to shoot down that mammoth.
Click to expand...
Of no use to Germany in 1944 then.
 
Feesh said:
So i got curious about it and it's indeed referenced on page 239 of Hitler's Luftwaffe

To quote:

''The Me 323 specially modified for the test, was assisted off the ground by an He 111Z tug. Shortly before letting the monster bomb go, the Gigant's rear fuselage began to break. The crew managed to release the bomb, but the giant aircraft went into an uncontrollable dive and crashed. It was subsequently revealed that the structure had been weakened by bullet strikes from US fighters which strafed the test field a few days earlier.''

Also Friedrich George in his book "The Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine" Mentioned the bomb being carried under the right wing. However i have not read this book.

Also David Donald ended every entry/paragraph about the me-323 withView attachment 757459

It's likely that this is just another myth considering there is not alot of information about it and it would be a wasteful concept.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if some fanboi invented it to show the nazis could make everything bigger. After all, the Allies had Grand Slam and its more petite sibling, Tallboy. Obviously, the Germans must have had something better.
 
Existed proposed E version with 6 BMW-801 for Me 323. I haven't seen any mention of Twin Me-323
Feesh said:
So i got curious about it and it's indeed referenced on page 239 of Hitler's Luftwaffe

To quote:

''The Me 323 specially modified for the test, was assisted off the ground by an He 111Z tug. Shortly before letting the monster bomb go, the Gigant's rear fuselage began to break. The crew managed to release the bomb, but the giant aircraft went into an uncontrollable dive and crashed. It was subsequently revealed that the structure had been weakened by bullet strikes from US fighters which strafed the test field a few days earlier.''

Also Friedrich George in his book "The Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine" Mentioned the bomb being carried under the right wing. However i have not read this book.

Also David Donald ended every entry/paragraph about the me-323 withView attachment 757459

It's likely that this is just another myth considering there is not alot of information about it and it would be a wasteful concept.
Click to expand...
seems be an other what if
 
1635yankee said:
I wouldn't be surprised if some fanboi invented it to show the nazis could make everything bigger. After all, the Allies had Grand Slam and its more petite sibling, Tallboy. Obviously, the Germans must have had something better.
Click to expand...
Don't forget the T-12 Cloudmaker!
 
Friedrich George is notable for his "Luftwaffe Miracle Weapons books" which had been recently reedited:


The contents are pure intoxication. Plain personal inventions like:

describing a wide range of nuclear weapons well beyond of human technology in 1945

or fakes like some photos of a Myasishchev M-4 model, with an Me 323 on top, painted on Luftwaffe colors and markings presented as an advanced Amerika Bomber unbuilt project.
I already posted this pictures here some time ago.

​

 
I can only underline @Antonio's assessment: Anyone who is serious about aviation should stay away from the George books (or go to other self-explanatory forums, which are currently experiencing - no wonder - a boom Müde.gif ).
 
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There seems to be conflicting information on this topic with whether a single, modified Me 323 was used or a twin variant. There's many sources and forums that claim it was the Zwilling variant, however none have any good references. "Hitler's Luftwaffe" and "Warplanes of the Third Reich" books seem to be the only ones to mention the modified single fuselage Me 323 carrying the bomb. Friedrich George I would not trust, as his books tend to be rather, should I say conspiratorial. For instance, he talks about advanced nuclear weapon projects, nuclear-powered aircraft and a few other all too unrealistic proposals.
 
Ran across this claim a while back, all the citations seem to lead back to the Wood and Gunston book, and I just can't get my head around how it'd be possible physically. And I have to wonder if the 323Z is documented anywhere, it sounds like some Luft '46 "please Herr Fuhrer don't send me to the Ostfront" stuff, or at best a misinterpretation of the He 111Z. But to get back on the subject of the 17,700kg bomb - the highest number I see for payload on a 323 is 12,000kg with Walter HWK 109-500 RATO pods installed. The Me 321 glider lists at 20,000kgs, pulled by three Bf 110s or an He 111Z and possibly using RATO as well, so you might conceivably get a Me 323D airborne with 17,700kgs of payload with a tow plane and rocket assistance.

The problem I've got is how on god's green planet you physically carry a bomb that size and drop it from an Me 323. One post upthread says it was carried under the wing, but...no, absolutely not. Calling that aerodynamically improbable is an understatement. With that much weight off-center I'd imagine the thing would roll over before getting off the ground. Can't drop it out the back like a MOAB or a BLU-82 either, because the Messerschmidt is a front-loading design with a nose that swings open. Nothing else the Germans had could hope to carry that kind of payload either, so unless the idea was to just pack a 323 full of as much explosive as possible and fly it into a target, I don't see how this idea is plausible at all.

Thanks for the link to Georg's books though, been wanting to get my hands on those for a while now for entertainment purposes but they were out of print/not available.
 

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