Messerschmitt Bf 110
Göring's "Zerstörer" — failed by day, feared by night.
Conceived as a long-range "destroyer" to escort bombers deep into enemy territory, the Bf 110 was savaged by Hurricanes and Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. It would require an escort itself. Yet as a night-fighter, the Bf 110 was superbly successful, becoming the backbone of the Luftwaffe's defensive effort against RAF Bomber Command.
01Initially successful in Poland and Norway, the Bf 110's vulnerability was exposed in 1940. Zerstörergeschwader losses in the Battle of Britain were catastrophic; the type was withdrawn from daylight operations over Britain.
02Conversion to the night-fighter role using AI radar sets (Lichtenstein B/C, then SN-2) transformed the aircraft's fortunes. Fitted with the lethal "Schräge Musik" upward-firing cannon, Bf 110 night fighters inflicted appalling casualties on RAF heavy bombers.
03Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, the top-scoring night fighter ace of all time with 121 victories, flew the Bf 110 almost exclusively. Each of his victories likely represented seven Allied airmen dead or captured.
Theatres of operation
- ·Western Europe
- ·Eastern Front
- ·Mediterranean
Principal operators
- ·Luftwaffe
- ·Regia Aeronautica
- ·Hungarian Air Force
Others in the same fight.
de Havilland Mosquito
Mk.I — Mk.41
Messerschmitt Bf 109
Bf 109E / F / G / K
Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe
Me 262A-1a / A-2a
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 / Ta 152
Fw 190A / F / G / D / Ta 152H