Schräge Musik installation in Ju 88G

Schräge Musik, German for Jazz Music (literally, "slanting" music), was the name given to installations of upward-firing cannons mounted in night fighters by the Luftwaffe during World War II. This allowed them to approach and attack British bombers from below, where they were basically invisible and there were no defensive guns to fire back at them. Schrage Musik installed in Ju 88G File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Schrage Musik installed in Ju 88G File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage A cannon is a modern day rifled machine gun with a calibre of 20 mm or more (see autocannon). ... A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night, or in other times of bad visibility. ... The Luftwaffe (literally, air weapon, pronounced looft-vaaf-feh) is the air force of Germany. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ...

Prior to the introduction of Schräge Musik, night fighters were simply heavy fighters equipped with radar in the nose. This meant that the fighter had to approach the target bomber from the rear in order to shoot at them, and RAF bombers were all equipped with fairly powerful rear turrets to help fend off such attacks. The main use of the turret was in fact surveillance, when a night fighter was seen approaching the gunner would call for the bomber to execute a sharp maneuver, which was typically successful in making the bomber disappear from the fighter's radar. A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... M*A*S*H, see Corporal Walter (Radar) OReilly. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force of the United Kingdom. ...

Night fighter pilots then developed a new tactic to avoid the turrets. Instead of approaching from directly to the rear, they would approach about 1500ft below the plane. They would then pull up sharply and start firing when the nose of the bomber appeared in the gunsight. As their plane slowed and the bomber passed over them, the entire lower fuselage was sprayed with fire. However effective, this maneuver was quite difficult to arrange, and also led to the possibility of a collision.

Do 217N with 4-gun Schräge Musik

Oberleutnant Rudolf Schönert decided to experiment with upward firing guns in 1941. The first installation was made late in 1942, in a Do 17Z-10 that was also equipped with Lichtenstein radar. Apparently the tests were not terribly successful, and the matter was dropped. Schönert nevertheless fitted his next aircraft, a Me 110, with two 20mm MG 151/20 cannons attached to the rear wall of the cockpit, and shot down a bomber with them in May 1943. That summer he took command of the II/NJG 5 night fighter unit, and received three Do 217J's for testing with his system. 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1942 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Bleistift (pencil) by its pilots, was a World War II light bomber produced by Dornier that was used for a short time by the Luftwaffe. ... Lichtenstein radar was a German airborn radar in use during World War II. Early Lichtenstein BC units were not deployed until 1942, and as they operated on the 2 m wavelength they required large antennas. ... The Messerschmitt Bf110 (later Me110) was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. History Based around the concept of the long-range Zerstörer or Destroyer Fighter the Bf110 enjoyed some success in the Polish and French campaigns. ... The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a 15 mm cannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. ... The Dornier Do 217 was a World War II medium bomber designed from scratch as a replacement for the venerable Dornier Do 17. ...

Schräge Musik was first used operationally on the RAF raids on Peenemünde on the night of August 17, 1943. Three waves of aircraft bombed the area, and successful radar countermeasures by the RAF meant that only the last of the three waves was met by any sizable group of night fighters. The two Groups of the third wave, the 5th and Canadian 6th, lost 29 of their 166 planes, well over the 10% point at which losses were considered to become "unsustainable". In this raid 40 aircraft in total were lost; 23 Lancasters, 15 Halifaxes, and 2 Stirlings. Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German island of Usedom on the Peene river, on the easternmost part of the German Baltic coast. ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Avro Lancaster was a four-engined World War II bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force. ... Wingspan Height 20 ft 9 in 6. ... The Stirling was a World War II heavy bomber design built by Short Brothers. ...

Fw 189 with single-gun Schräge Musik

Wide-scale adoption followed in late 1943, and in 1944 a third of all German nightfighters carried upward-firing guns. An increasing number of these installations used the more powerful 30 mm MK 108 cannon, such as those fitted to the He 219. The definitive night fighter version of the Me 262, the Me 262B-2, was also to have carried such an installation, but none were built before the end of the war. 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The MK 108 (German: Maschinenkanone - Machine Cannon) was an autocannon (30mm calibre) manufactured in Germany during World War II by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use in aircraft. ... The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Owl) was a famous night fighter used late in World War II by the Luftwaffe. ... The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) was the first operational jet powered aircraft. ...

Similar systems were tested on day fighters as well, known as Sondergeräte and Jägerfaust. In these cases, the aim was to provide the fighters with a very powerful single-shot weapon, as opposed to one that allowed them to operate unseen.

Me 110 two-gun Schräge Musik

An attack by a Schräge Musik equipped fighter was typically a complete surprise to the bomber crew, who would only realise a fighter was close by when one of the wings or engines would burst into flame. Had it not been for the ever-increasing abilities of the British anti-radar efforts and the introduction of newer aircraft designs, Schräge Musik would have seriously depleted RAF Bomber Commands forces. Bomber Command is an organizational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. ...

Typical installations

• Do 217N: 4x 20mm MG151/20
• Fw 189: 1x 20mm MG151/20 (used mainly on eastern front)
• He 219: 2x 30mm MK108
• Ju 88C/G: 2x 20mm MG151/20
• Ju 388J: 2x30mm MK108
• Me 110G-4: 2x 20mm MG FF/M
• Me 262B-2: 2x 30mm MK108
• Ta 154: 2x 30mm MK108