Written by
Michael Hyde

A Hs 123 of 5.(Schlact)/LG 2 dives to attack an Armée de l'air bomber field in 1940.

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Overview

The concept of dive-bombing was pursued by German planners from soon after the end of World War One, and they had explored several avenues by the time the Reichluftfahrtministerium (the secret precursor to the Luftwaffe) was established in 1933. With personal prompting from Ernest Udet, and the backing of Göering, a design specification was eventually issued in that year for a single-seat, biplane dive bomber. This aircraft was to be developed quickly to equip the already planned Stukagruppen (dive bomber groups), pending the deployment of a more technologically advanced dive bomber - later realised in the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. Fieseler Flugzeugbau submitted the Fi 98 design and Henschel Flugzeugwerke the Hs 123. After the first comparative flights in early 1935, the Hs 123 proved far superior to the Fi 98 in performance, due mostly to its relative lack of drag-producing wing bracing struts and wires. The Hs 123 V1 prototype was flown in a public display by Ernest Udet personally, only three days after the existence of the Luftwaffe was officially announced to the world.

The Hs 123 V1, V2, and V3 prototypes were single-seat biplanes with the lower wing smaller than the upper (sesqiplane) and a single BMW 132A-3 nine cylinder air-cooled radial engine with 485 kW (650 hp) take-off power. Construction was all metal, except for the upper wing surfaces aft of the forward spar and the control surfaces, which were fabric covered. The pilot’s cockpit was open. The upper wing was supported by only two steeply canted, aerofoil-shaped struts outboard, and two smaller N-braces at the fuselage. Armament was first fitted to the V3 aircraft and comprised two 7.9 mm MG 17 machine guns mounted on the forward upper fuselage deck and firing through the top of the engine cowl.

The upper wings of both the V2 and V3 aircraft failed at their centres during diving trials, but that section was easily strengthened and the strut arrangement remained satisfactory during the long operational career of the Hs 123. The V4 aircraft incorporated the centre upper-wing strengthening and a number of small modifications required to simplify series production. It confirmed the type’s dive-bombing capabilities, and immediate production was ordered at the end of 1935.

Production Hs 123A-1 aircraft were first delivered to the Luftwaffe in mid-1936, equipping StG I./162 Immelmann. The A-1 model was fitted with a more-powerful engine than the prototypes, a BMW 132Dc with 656 kW (880 hp) take-off power. The two 7.9 mm MG 17s were retained, and provision made for a 250 kg (551 lb) bomb in a cradle under the fuselage, and two SC50 50 kg (110 lb) bombs under each lower wing. In-service, the fuselage cradle was usually used for an auxillary fuel tank because the basic effective combat radius of the Hs 123A-1 was only about 115 km (70 ml). During World War Two the under-wing bomb racks were alternatively used to carry a single canister of 92 two kg (4.4 lb) anti-personnel bomblets, or a 20 mm FF canon on each side.

Six Hs 123A-1s were sent to Spain where the Condor Legion pioneered close ground support operations (Schlachtfliegen) with great success. The Spanish Nationalists were so impressed that they requested more of the type. The six Condor Legion aircraft were later bolstered by 11 supplied directly to the Nationalists, and continued in Spanish service long after the end of the civil war. The two Stukagruppen (StG I./165 and II./165) which had initially been equipped with Hs 123A-1s were finally issued Ju 87 Stukas, as planned, in mid-1937. However, the successful Spanish experience had prompted the formation of five Schlachtfliegengruppen (SFG) and two of these, SFG 10 and SFG 50, were equipped with the available Hs 123A-1s. Because the Ju 87 Stuka proved to have very accurate dive-bombing capability, plans were made to equip all SFG with them and the HS 123 was phased out of production by late 1938. (This was in spite of the great flexibility of the HS 123 over and above its dive bombing capability). The Hs 123A-1s were relegated to training roles. Infatuation with the Ju 87 Stuka continued with the phasing out of the SFGs in favour of dedicated StGs, and only one combat unit, SFG 10, retained its Hs 123A-1s when it was incorporated into Lehrgeschwader 10 as II(schlacht)./LG 10, a training unit.

Because the Hs 123 was originally only intended as a stop-gap aircraft pending availability of the Ju 87 Stuka, only two further developments beyond the A-1 model were proposed – an unusual event in the German aircraft industry at the time.

The Hs 123 V5 was a prototype for the proposed B-series, and had a more powerful BMW 132K engine with 716 kW (960 hp) available at take-off, a three-bladed variable pitch propeller, and an aerodynamically refined engine cowl. Only one prototype was built.

A C-series was also investigated with the Hs 123 V6, which, designed specifically for close support rather than just dive bombing, was fitted with two further 7.9 mm MG 17s (one in each lower wing), and an enclosed cockpit and armoured headrest for the pilot. Although the C-model was not ordered before the type was phased out of production, the dorsal fairing and armoured headrest of the V6 were retrofitted to all A-1 model aircraft in Luftwaffe service giving them their characteristic ‘hump-back’ appearance.

Thirty-six Hs 123A-1s flew the first dedicated ground support mission of World War Two over Poland on 1 September 1939. As in Spain three years earlier, the Hs 123 proved extremely effective in coordination with ground troops, and was even used to disperse horse-drawn columns with low-level engine noise. They were so successful in fact, that the re-equipment of II(schlacht)./LG 2 was abandoned and the Gruppe commenced the attack on the West in May 1940 with 50 Hs 123A-1s on strength (of which 45 were operational). These aircraft were instrumental in preventing the demolition of the Albert Canal bridges by Belgian troops by effective aerial interdiction. Later they played an important part in breaking Allied defense lines at the Meuse and Sedan. When moved forward to Cambrai on May 21, 1940, the Hs 123s became the most forward-based Luftwaffe aircraft.

By the start of the Balkans campiagn in April 1941, II(schlacht)./LG 2 was partially re-equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109E Jabo fighters, and by early 1942 with Henschel Hs 129s for operation in the Soviet Union. However, the Hs 123A-1s were retained as they remained extremely effective, and were liked by their pilots for being robust and able to absorb heavy damage. They were also able to continue operating from muddy fields with their wheel spats removed, even when the Bf 109Es and Hs 129s were grounded. During 1943 it was seriously proposed that Hs 123 production be re-started, but this proved impractical as the production jigs and tooling had been destroyed in 1940. Mid-1944 finally saw the Hs 123 grounded by attrition and lack of spare parts.

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Variants

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Specifications

Corum, James S., 1997, The Luftwaffe: creating the operational air war, 1918-1940, University of Kansas Press, Kansas

Donald, David, editor, 1994, Warplanes of the Luftwaffe: a complete guide to the combat aircraft of Hitler’s Luftwaffe from 1939 to 1945, Aerospace Publishing, London.

Green, William, 1970, Warplanes of the Third Reich, Galahad Books, New York.

Vajda, Ferenc A. and Dancy, Peter, 1998, German Aircraft Industry and Production 1933 – 45, Airlife Publishing Ltd, Shrewsbury.

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