Messerschmitt Me-264 - The Amerika Bomber.
The Messerschmitt Me-264 was intended as a long-range aircraft to supply the German Luftwaffe with a bomber capable of hitting targets within America as well as support Kriegsmarine U-boat operations in the Atlantic.
It was planned the Me-264 would be able to reach the American continent from the German bases in France or from the Azores Islands in the Atlantic.
During the process of the Me-264 development the project was pushed into the background as German authorities moved their focus to more promising projects.
That is why the creation of the Me-264 took some eight years, resulting in only three prototypes - only one of which was able to achieve flight.
The Me-264 V1 had a very “clean”, all-metal fuselage with a circular cross-section throughout. Just behind the extensively glazed nose and cockpit was a galley, crew rest area and walkway to the rear of the plane above the lower, enclosed bomb bay.
The first prototype flew in December 1942, but soon allied pressure forced Messerschmitt to slow development.
The first prototype was not fitted with weapons or armor, but of the following two prototypes, the Me-264 V2 had armor for the engines, crew, and gun positions.
Defensive armament included of 4x13mm MG131 machine guns complimented by a pair of 20mm MG151/20 cannons in remote-controlled turrets. The internal bomb load was limited to 3000kgs.
Late in 1943, the second prototype, Me-264 V2, was destroyed in a bombing attack. On 18 July 1944, the first prototype was damaged during an Allied bombing raid and was not repaired. The third prototype, which had not been fully completed, was destroyed during the same raid.
The Me-264 V3 was given its guns and full armor (this one too never fully completed) but by this time, German interest in the project had waned. Its program was closed down officially in 1944.
Some of the Allied intellegence reports suggest that one Me-264 flew a regular route from somewhere in Finland to locations in Japan. The range of the plane as well as future German plans to field the Me-264 in the Pacific make this speculation probable.
The Messerschmitt Me-264 in figures:
Range: 15000kms (questionable);
Service ceiling: 8000m;
Cruise speed: 563 km/h;
Maximum takeoff weight: 56000kgs;
Bombload in the internal bomb bay: 3000kgs.