Messerschmitt Me-410A-1-U2 Hornisse, Germany – Air Force AN1139884 (Mike Freer – Touchdown-aviation)

The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) is a heavy fighter and Schnellbomber (“Fast Bomber” in English) designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It was flown by the Luftwaffe during the latter half of the Second World War.

Work began on producing a successor to the Bf 110 in 1937, however, the resulting Me 210 proved to be unsatisfactory, leading to production being halted in April 1942. Various options were considered, including the ambitious Me 310 derivative. Officials favoured an incremental improvement which was represented by the Me 410. Although visually similar to the preceding Me 210, and was sharing sufficient design similarities that incomplete Me 210s could be converted into Me 410s, there were key differences between the two aircraft. Chiefly, the Me 410 was powered by larger Daimler-Benz DB 603 engines, had a lengthened fuselage, and automatic leading edge slats.

During late 1942, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) were sufficiently convinced by the programme to proceed with quantity production of the type, the first Me 410s being delivered during January 1943. Various models were produced, including the Me 410A-1 light bomber, the A-1/U1 aerial reconnaissance aircraft, the A-1/U2 bomber destroyer, and the A-2/U4 night fighter. Upon their entry to service, the type was promptly flown on night time bombing missions in the British Isles, where the night fighters of the Royal Air Force (RAF) typically struggled to intercept it. The Me 410 was also used as a bomber destroyer against the daylight bomber formations of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF); it was moderately successful against unescorted bombers through 1943, but proved to be no match in a dogfight with the lighter Allied single-engine fighters, such as the North American P-51 Mustang and Supermarine Spitfire. Following the Normandy landings, Me 410s were amongst the numerous Axis aircraft sent against the incoming Allied forces.

From mid-1944, all Me 410s were withdrawn from Defence of the Reich duties and production was phased out in favour of heavily armed single-engine fighters as dedicated bomber destroyers. The final role of the Me 410 was aerial reconnaissance. Only two Me 410s have survived in preservation into the twenty-first century.

Design and development

Background

The origins of the Me 410 are closely associated with the preceding Me 210. Development of this aircraft had been projected back in 1937 as a multi-purpose successor to the Bf 110, which had some identified shortcomings even prior to seeing combat service. Early on, confidence in the Me 210 had been high, to the extent that 1,000 aircraft were ordered off the drawing board; however, it would be a troubled programme. Flight testing revealed poor longitudinal stability and, despite modifications, was considered to be unsatisfactory. While quantity production of the type proceeded, the Me 210 had a relatively high rate of accidents. This heavily contributed to production being halted on 14th April 1942; officials were keen to remedy the Me 210’s problems and return it to production to minimise the economic loss incurred.

Various modifications to the design were explored, including the Me 310, a radical high-altitude derivative that incorporated a pressurised cockpit and more powerful engines.[9] This option was not favoured by many officials, who sought a less ambitious remediation of the Me 210. It was this preference that led to the emergence of the Me 410, which was visually almost identical to the Me 210.[10]

Design

The principal difference between the Me 210 and Me 410 was the adoption of the larger (at 44.5 litres, 2,720 cu in displacement) and more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 603A engines. These engines each provided 1,750 metric horsepower (1,730 hp; 1,290 kW) compared to the 1,475 metric horsepower (1,455 hp; 1,085 kW) of the DB 605s used on the Me 210C[Note 1]. The extra power increased the Me 410’s maximum speed to 625 kilometres per hour (388 mph), greatly improved rate of climb, service ceiling, and the cruising speed, the latter being raised to 579 km/h (360 mph).

Messerschmitt Me 410A at Cosford Museum

The more powerful engines also improved payload capability to the point where the aircraft could lift a war-load greater than could fit into the bomb bay under the nose. Consequently, shackles were added under the wings for four 50-kilogram (110 lb) bombs. The changes added an extra 680 kg (1,500 lb) to the Me 210 design, but the extra engine power more than made up for the difference. As with the Me 210, the Me 410’s rear gunner used the same pair of Ferngerichtete Drehringseitenlafette FDSL 131/1B turrets mounted on each side of the aircraft, each still armed with a 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun, retaining the same pivoting handgun-style grip, trigger and gunsight to aim and fire the ordnance as the Me 210 did.

The new version included a lengthened fuselage and new, automatic leading edge slats. Both features had been tested on Me 210s and were found to dramatically improve handling. The slats had originally been featured on the earliest Me 210 models, but had been removed on production models due to poor handling. When entering a steep turn, the slats had a tendency to open due to the high angle of attack, analogous to the opening of the slats during the landing approach. (This problem was first observed on the Bf 109V14 and V15 prototypes for the Bf 109E), which added to the difficulty in keeping the aircraft flying smoothly. However, when the problems with the general lateral instability were addressed, this was no longer a real problem.[citation needed] While the Me 410 came to be regarded as a relatively stable aircraft, it had a poorer rate of turn than the Bf 110 it was intended to replace.

The wing panels of the earlier Me 210 had been designed with a planform geometry that placed the aerodynamic center farther back compared with the earlier Bf 110, giving the outer sections of the wing planform beyond each engine nacelle a slightly greater, 12.6° leading edge sweepback angle than the inner panels’ 6.0° leading edge sweep angle. This resulted in unsuitable handling characteristics in flight for the original Me 210 design. The new Me 410 outer wing panels had their planform geometry revised to bring the aerodynamic centre farther forward in comparison with the Me 210, thus making the leading edge sweepback of the outer panels identical to the inner wing panels with both having identical 5.5° sweepback angles, which improved handling.

Into flight

During late 1942, six Me 210As were taken off the assembly line for conversion to Me 410 standard. Near the end of that year, the Me 410 V1 prototype performed its maiden flight. Shortly thereafter, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) was suitably convinced by its performance to place a sizable production order for the Me 410.

Deliveries of the Me 410 began in January 1943, two years late and continued until September 1944, by which point a total of 1,160 of all versions had been produced by Messerschmitt’s facility in Augsburg and Dornier plant in München. There were various models produced to serve in distinct roles, including the Me 410A-1 light bomber, the A-1/U1 aerial reconnaissance platform, the A-1/U2 bomber destroyer, the A-2/U4 night fighter. When the Me 410 arrived, it was typically appreciated by its crews, even though its improved performance was not enough to protect it from the waves of high performance Allied fighters that it routinely confronted at this stage of the conflict.

Operational history

Messerschmitt Me 410A-1/U2 (W. Nr. 420428, 9K+AM) flown by Obfw. Hermann Bolten of the 4./KG 51, shot down June 6th, 1944
When performing night bomber missions against the British Isles, the Me 410A-1 proved to be an elusive target for the opposing night fighters of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The first unit to operate over the UK was V./KG 2, which lost its first Me 410 on the night of 13th – 14th July 1943, when it was shot down by a de Havilland Mosquito of No. 85 Squadron. Nevertheless, the Me 410 played a prominent role in the bombing of London during early 1944.

An Me 410A-1U4 with a BK 5 cannon peels off during an attack on USAAF B-17s

The Me 410 was also used as a bomber destroyer against the daylight bomber formations of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), upgraded with Umrüst-Bausätze factory conversion kits, all bearing a /U suffix, for the design—these suffixes could vary in meaning between subtypes. As one example, the earlier Me 410 A-1/U1 designation signified a camera-fitting in the under-nose ordnance bay for reconnaissance use (as the A-3 was meant to do from its start), while the Me 410 B-2/U1 designation signified a mount of a pair of the long barreled, 30 mm MK 103 cannon in the undernose ordnance bay. The /U2 suffix designated a fitment of two additional 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons in the under-nose ordnance bay instead—the A-1/U4 subtype fitted the massive, 540-kilogram (1,190 lb) Bordkanone series 50 mm (2 in) BK 5 cannon, loaded with 21 rounds in the same under-nose ordnance bay in place of either the /U1’s cameras or MK 103s, or the /U2’s added pair of MG 151/20 autocannon. For breaking up the bomber formations, many Me 410s also had four underwing tubular launchers, two per wing panel, firing converted 21 cm (8 in) Werfer-Granate 21 infantry barrage rockets. Two Geschwader, Zerstörergeschwader 26 and 76, were thus equipped with the Me 410 by late 1943.

Messerschmitt Me 410A at Cosford Museum

The type was moderately successful against unescorted bombers through 1943, achieving a considerable number of kills against USAAF day bomber formations. However, the Me 410 proved to be no match in a dogfight with the lighter Allied single-engine fighters such as the North American P-51 Mustang and Supermarine Spitfire. In early 1944, the Me 410 formations encountered swarms of Allied fighters protecting the bomber streams, usually flying far ahead of the combat box formations as an air supremacy move in clearing the skies of any Luftwaffe opposition, resulting in the Me 410’s previous successes against escorted bombers now often being offset by their losses. An example of this—as part of a campaign started two days earlier by the USAAF—was on 6 March 1944 during an attack on Berlin by 750 8th AF heavy bombers, when 16 Me 410s were shot down in return for eight B-17 Flying Fortresses and four P-51s (which were destroyed by Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters escorting the Me 410s). The following month on 11 April, with 8th AF raids hitting Sorau, Rostock and Oschersleben, II./ZG 26’s Me 410s accounted for a rare clear success, initially bringing down 10 B-17s without any losses. During the course of the same raid, their second sortie was intercepted by P-51s that destroyed eight Me 410s and three Bf 110s. Sixteen crewmen were killed and three wounded.

During April 1944, the first Me 410Bs were delivered. Units commonly converted to the type from bomber aircraft, such as the Junkers Ju 88. In response to the Normandy landings, Me 410s were repeatedly dispatched against the incoming Allied forces.

From mid-1944, despite being known to be the favourite bomber destroyer of Adolf Hitler, the Me 410 units were taken from Defence of the Reich duties and production was phased out in favour of heavily armed single-engine fighters as dedicated bomber destroyers, with the Me 410s remaining in service flying on reconnaissance duties only.

Variants

A-series aircraft were armed with two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns and two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons in the nose and delivered as the Me 410 A-1 light bomber. The Me 410 A-2 heavy fighter was cancelled because the dual 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannon mount, also available for the later Me 410 B-2 subtype as the Umrüst-Bausatz /U1 factory kit available by 1944, was not ready in time.

The Me 410 A featured a bomb bay for carrying bombs. Though by fitting conversion kits, this could be used for other equipment. Initially, three Umrüst-Bausätze (factory conversion kits) were available: the U1 which contained cameras for photo-reconnaissance, the U2 with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon with 250 rounds-per-gun for the heavy fighter. And the U4 with a 50 mm (2 in) Bordkanone, BK-5 cannon with 22 rounds (21 rounds to load and 1 extra round in the breech). The purpose of this was to convert either an Me 410 A or B-series aircraft into a bomber destroyer.

Messerschmitt Me 410A at Cosford Museum

The BK 5 cannon – derived from the 50 mm (2 in) KwK 39 L/60 of the Panzer III tank – allowed Me 410s to shoot at their targets from over 914 m (1,000 yd), a distance far greater than the range of the bombers’ defensive machine-guns. However, in practice frequent problems with jamming, the limited ammunition supply and with the extra 540-kilogram (1,190 lb) weight of the large-calibre gun under the nose made the other anti-bomber versions of Me 410, especially those with extra 20 mm MG 151/20s, much more useful.[citation needed] The reconnaissance version Me 410 A-3 received a deeper fuselage for additional cameras and fuel. The Me 410 A-3 entered service in small numbers in early 1944 and equipped three long-range reconnaissance Aufklärungsstaffel squadrons, usually grouped larger, three or four-squadron Fernaufklärungsgruppen (one Gruppe on the Western Front and the other two on the Eastern Front).

The Me 410 B-series was similar to the A-series but replaced the pair of 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17s with 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns. The originally planned 1,900 hp (1,400 kW) DB 603G engine had been cancelled in early 1944, so all Me 410 Bs used DB 603A or DB 603AA engines. The DB 603G would have increased the maximum speed to 630 kilometres per hour (390 mph) and cruising speed to 595 kilometres per hour (370 mph), although the weight increased once again. The versions were the same as with the A-series, the Me 410 B-1 and Me 410 B-3 filling the same roles as the earlier A-1 and A-3 versions, also with the option of using the same Umrüst-Bausätze factory conversion kits as the A-series.

Messerschmitt Me 410A at Cosford Museum

Several experimental models were also developed. The Me 410 B-5 added shackles under the fuselage to carry a torpedo, and removed the MG 131s in the nose to make room for the FuG 200 Hohentwiel 550 MHz UHF-band maritime patrol radar. The bomb bay was not used in this version in order to make room for a 650-litre (170 US gal) fuel tank, and the rearward-firing remote turrets were replaced by another 700 L (180 US gal) fuel tank for long-range missions. The Me 410 B-6 was a similar anti-shipping conversion, but intended for the short-range coastal defence role only. For this mission, it did not use a torpedo, and was instead a simple modification of the B-1 with the FuG 200 radar. The Me 410 B-7/B-8 were updated B-3 reconnaissance models that were never actually built.

The Me 410 C was a high-altitude version drawn up in early 1944, with two new wing designs that increased span to 18.25 or 20.45 metres (59.9 or 67.1 ft). The larger wings allowed the gear to retract directly to the rear. A new universal engine mount would allow for the use of any of the DB 603JZ or BMW 801J turbocharged engines or the Jumo 213E two-stage mechanically supercharged engines, driving a new four-blade propeller with very wide blades. The BMW 801 radials were air-cooled and the DB 603 and Jumo 213 used an annular radiator, all Kraftei (power-egg) engine “modules” onto an airframe for ease of installation and field maintenance, so the normal under-wing radiators were removed. None were ever built, as Me 410 production was cancelled before the engines matured.

The Me 410 D was a simpler upgrade to the B-series to improve altitude performance than the C-series. It would be powered by the DB 603JZ engines, and had a revised forward fuselage to increase the field of view of the pilot and reduce drag. It also replaced portions of the outer wing panels with ones made of wood to conserve strategic materials. Several were built, but like many other attempts at wood construction by the German aviation industry late in World War II, the loss of the Goldschmitt Tego film factory in Wuppertal, in a Royal Air Force night bombing raid, meant the acidic replacement adhesives available were too corrosive to the materials being bonded, and the wooden portions tended to fail. Production was eventually cancelled to concentrate on Bf 109Gs in August 1944, after 1,160 Me 410s had been built, the month after the Jägernotprogramm had gone into effect.

Surviving aircraft

Two Me 410s survive:

Me 410 A-1/U1 (W.Nr.10018, converted from Me 210 airframe)

This aircraft, held by the American National Air and Space Museum and awaiting restoration, is at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility, located in Suitland Maryland. It was found intact at an airfield in Trapani, Sicily, in August 1943 bearing the markings of the Luftwaffe’s 2.Staffel/Fernaufklärungsgruppe 122 and was shipped to the United States in 1944; it was given the US serial number FE499.

Me 410, W.Nr.10018, (FE499) after being sent to the United States

Me 410 A-1/U2 (W.Nr.420430)

This aircraft is part of the collection of the RAF Museum and is publicly displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford. It was built in late 1943 by Messerschmitt in Augsburg. There is evidence it served with Zerstörergeschwader 26 before being surrendered at Vaerlose, Denmark in May 1945. It was one of six Me 410s that were taken to the UK in 1945 for evaluation, but the only one to be later selected for preservation and to avoid being scrapped. It underwent restoration in 1986, after which both engines were successfully run on the ground. It was moved to Cosford in 1989 and has remained there since.

Me 410, W.Nr.420430, RAF Museum Cosford (2009)

Corgi Aviation Archive 1/72nd scale Messerschmitt Me 410A-1/U4 5./ZG26 Oblt Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Stehle

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The culmination of Germany’s vaunted ‘Destroyer’ concept, the Messerschmitt Me 410 was the intended successor of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter. Despite entering service almost two years late, it was arguably the Luftwaffe aircraft which most closely matched Britain’s magnificent de Havilland Mosquito in terms of role and performance.

Unquestionably one of the most interesting aircraft of the Second World War in appearance, the Me 410 was a true multi-role aircraft and could be adapted to perform a number of offensive roles, including that of heavy bomber killer.

Equipped with the mighty Rheinmetall manufactured BK-5 autocannon which protruded from the nose of the fighter, this weapon was a development of the 50mm Kampfwagenkanone anti-tank gun found in Panzer III tanks.

With 21 shells housed in a magazine in the weapons bay of the fighter and a shell already loaded in the breach ready to fire, the pilot could usually only rely on one round being fired, before this temperamental system jammed, leaving just reduced standard armament to be used during the sortie.

A single, well-aimed shell did possess the destructive power to easily bring down an Allied bomber and could be fired at ranges where the attacking Luftwaffe aircraft were effectively impervious to the wall of return fire put up by the bomber stream. However, the additional weight and drag caused by using this powerful gun made the Me 410 incredibly vulnerable to marauding Allied fighters.

Corgi Aviation Archive and Flying Tigers at RIAT 2025!

Corgi unveiled four new Aviation Archive models at the Royal International Air Tattoo, and the reaction has been incredible. These new die-cast aircraft will make a showstopping impact in your collector’s cabinets and shelves!

Here are photos from the day for a close up of the actual pre-production prototypes. This will give you a “better feel” of the models to come!

I have also included photos of the other pre-order models, previously announced, but still to arrive soon.

All four are available for pre-order now, due in stock this Autumn.

Thank you for reading this week’s Newsletter.
Richard
Flying Tigers.

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