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Old 27th February 2021, 20:02
INM@RLM INM@RLM is offline
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Dornier 335 Nachtjäger – prototype M10 Blog Post

There is an interesting blog post by luft.hanseatic at http://nachtjagd-research.blogspot.c...label/Do%20335
This dates from Monday, October 22, 2012. but was a new discovery for me. I endeavored to post a comment on this post (better late than never). However, it was not accepted by the site.

Since a blog is a form of magazine, I'll post my comment here, both for possible interest and in case anyone else has made rather more progress towards gaining a fuller understanding of how this change in policy was developed, and is also willing to share it by either post or PM.


Intended Comment
The date you mention above needs a recheck "only on 10.10.1944 did the RLM finally decide that this type was exclusively prioritized as a night fighter". It does not look right. (Far too early.) The Do 335 production planning in Lieferplan LP 227, issued 15-Dec-44, is initially focused on the production of the B-2 & B-4 Zerstörer versions, with deliveries of the B-6 & B-8 night fighter versions only phasing in from Apr- & Sep-45 respectively.
The early part of the timeline towards this decision is documented. Thus:
25-Sep-44 "Do 335 muß in erster Linie so schnell wie möglich als schwerer Zerstörer kommen; andere Varianten erst später. Nachtjagdausführung zunächst nur als Versuchsmuster." [Sammelbericht 25.9.44]
18-Oct-44 "Lt. (Laut) Befehl des Reichsmarschall ist die Schwerpunkt der Do 335 Fertigung nunmehr doch auf die Nacht- und Schlechtwetter-Jagd zu legen."
Plus "Do 335 Nachtjäger
Die Forderung ist nur so zu erfüllen, daß der B 2 Zerstörer - wie vorgesehen - weiter anläuft, jedoch nur soweit komplettiert wird als für die Ausführung als Nachtjäger notwendig. Die Flugzeuge werden dann aus der Fertigung herausgekommen und einer Nachbaufirm zur Vorfügung gestellt, die den Nachtjagdsatz einbaut."
[Both Tagesnotiz Nr. 19 vom 18.10.44]
These all come from BA R3/1760. <Use Google Translate if necessary.>

Manfred Griehl seem to have wildly misinterpreted these Sep- & Oct-44 decisions since he writes on p.127 in his chapter on the Do 335 night fighter versions "Kurz zuvor hatte Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring Mitte Oktober angeordnet, dass die Do 335 ausschliesslich als Jagdflugzeug zu produzieren sei."
As evidenced by parallel developments of the Bf 109 & Fw 190/Ta 152 designs, a Schlechtwetterjäger was not characterized by installation of a radar. Thus, as documented in LP 227, Jagdflugzeug in this context did not mean night fighters only. Rather this was the deferment to sometime-never of the much earlier Aufklärer proposal and the Kampfflugzeug variant.


Precisely how these October decisions fit with LP 227 is still unclear since the only Do 335 Umbau planning actually incorporated in that LP relates to the A-12 Schulmaschine.
However, it does seem pretty clear that there was a subsequent decision assigning overriding priority solely to the Do 335 night fighter version. Logically though this could only have been taken some time after 15-Dec-44 and the issue of LP 227.

I will keep looking and investigate further when I have access to more documents. There should also be something relevant in Gerhard Roletscheck's thesis on the Do 335, once that is found. (It seems to have been available for Griehl to consult in writing his own Do 335 book, published 2004.)

Last edited by INM@RLM; 27th February 2021 at 22:05. Reason: Typo: is for ist
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