Blohm and Voss Bv 138 Seedrache (Sea Dragon)

Blohm und Voss Bv 138 History of the Sea Dragon

Blohm and Voss (also spelled "Blohm und Voss" or "Blohm & Voss") Bv 138 was a German airship, produced in quantity during World War II. Originally conceived in 1936, the aircraft entered service in 1940 and performed major maritime reconnaissance and patrol missions for the Empire, occasionally working in tandem with the fearsome and deadly U-boat submarine crews patrolling the Atlantic and northern waters of the United States roaming the Mediterranean . Airships had unique performance qualities unmatched by other types of aircraft at the timethey could travel farther and stay longer, while being able to take off and land from almost any water source.

Instead, airships are traditionally slow and slow machines that become machine gun fodder for attacking enemy aircraft and rely on escorts or their own network of machine guns/cannons for point defense.

Bv 138 has a unique design. The wings are elevated monoplanes with pontoons mounted on either side of the aircraft. A pair of engines are mounted on the main wing and extend on the tail boom towards the twin fins on the rear wing.

The third engine is mounted on the upper fuselage above and aft of the flight deck.

The Bv 138 was developed from three working prototypes, and these early systems are believed to be equipped with an underpowered Junkers Jumo engine and round tail boom assembly. After some modifications, the Bv 138A (in prototype form) is now unique enough to justify the brand new designation Bv 138A-1.

These systems now feature a 700-horsepower Junkers Jumo 205D engine.

The final Bv 138 system became the Bv 138C-1 model, of which approximately 227 examples were built. These versions will feature a 1,000 hp Junkers Jumo engine and an impressive range of cannon and machine gun defenses of various calibers. One 20mm gun is usually mounted in the turret in the bow position, while the other is in the rear turret position. A trainable rear-firing 13 mm (0.50 caliber) heavy machine gun is mounted centrally in the upper fuselage, just aft of the central engine nacelle. A 7.92mm trainable machine gun was also added to the right side of the fuselage.

Accommodates five crew members and has an internal payload capacity of 661 pounds, which can accommodate bombs and depth charges.

The Blohm und Voss Bv 138 is informally nicknamed "Die flende Kogge" ("Flying Wooden Shoe") for its most distinctive appearance.

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