Messerschmitt Me 264
The Messerschmitt Me 264 was a German four-engined bomber designed for transatlantic range: Messerschmitt's entry in the Amerikabomber programme, meant to strike New York City from French or Azores bases, and later developed instead as a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft for the Kriegsmarine. Three prototypes were built; only the first flew, from 23 December 1942, and testing showed difficult handling. Development was cancelled in October 1943 and the project formally closed in September 1944; all three prototypes were destroyed or wrecked in bombing raids, and none survives.
Why It Mattered
German planners had discussed bombing American cities from bases on the European continent as early as 1940, when the effect on morale was the point under discussion. The aircraft industry was invited to submit proposals, and Messerschmitt came up with the Me 264. The design was later chosen as Messerschmitt's competitor in the Air Ministry's Amerikabomber programme, for an aircraft that could strike New York City from French or Azores bases. History of War records the scale of the demand: the ministry's request called for a bomber with a range of 7,450 miles. Three prototypes were made and the first flew in December 1942, but as Vintage Aviation News sums it up, it was too late to see combat.
Design Notes
The Me 264 was an all-metal, high-wing, four-engined heavy bomber with a glazed nose that merged the cockpit into a single stepless section, and with twin tail fins. Everything was subordinated to fuel and range: the design carried very little armour and few guns, its planned armament putting guns in remote-controlled turrets and at positions along the fuselage sides. The first prototype's four Junkers Jumo 211 engines proved inadequate, and they were replaced on that aircraft by four BMW 801G engines of 1,700 PS (1,250 kW). Because the proposed missions were so long, the crew were given bunk beds and a small galley complete with hot plates. The figures published for the third prototype, the fully armed version that was never finished, credit the design with a range of 15,000 km (9,300 miles) and a bomb load of 3,000 kg carried over 14,400 km; these are the design's figures as printed in Green's The Warplanes of the Third Reich, not performance any Me 264 demonstrated.
Operational History
The design began as Messerschmitt's P.1061 long-range reconnaissance project of the late 1930s, and six prototypes were ordered in early 1941 under the designation Me 264, an order later reduced to three. The first prototype, carrying the factory code RE+EN, was flown on 23 December 1942, at first powered by four Jumo 211J engines of 1,340 PS (986 kW) each. Trials turned up numerous minor faults, and the aircraft proved difficult to handle. Fully loaded, its wing loading of some 356 kg/m² was very high, and brought poor climb performance, loss of manoeuvrability and stability, and high take-off and landing speeds. The first prototype flew without weapons or armour; the second was completed with armour protecting its engines, crew and gun positions, though its defensive weapons and other vital operational equipment were never installed, and the third prototype was never completed. In late 1943 the first prototype's engines were changed to BMW 801G radials delivering 1,750 PS (1,287 kW). By then the programme was losing its sponsors: in 1943 the Kriegsmarine withdrew its interest in favour of the Ju 290 and the planned Ju 390, and in May 1943 the Luftwaffe said it preferred the unbuilt Ta 400 and Heinkel He 277, judging by estimated performance. In October 1943 Milch called off development work on the Me 264, freeing Messerschmitt to concentrate on other projects, among them the Me 262 jet fighter-bomber. Formal cancellation of the whole project followed on 23 September 1944.
Afterlife
None of the three prototypes outlasted the war. The second prototype was destroyed in a bombing attack late in 1943. The first prototype, by then serving with Transportstaffel 5, was damaged in an Allied raid on 18 July 1944 and never repaired, and the unfinished third prototype was destroyed in the same attack. The IBCC Digital Archive tells it slightly differently: in its account two prototypes were completed, the second was destroyed in a raid late in 1943, and the remaining prototype was also destroyed in an RAF bombing attack, with the whole programme cancelled as a result. What remains of the aircraft is documentary — photographs such as the archive's two views of the bomber, and the record of a machine that was, in Vintage Aviation News's judgement, too late to see combat.