The Daimler-Benz DB 603 was a German

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was a liquid-cooled 12-cylinder inverted V12 enlargement of the 33.9 Liter DB 601, which was in itself a development of the DB 600. Production of the DB 603 commenced in May 1942, and with a 44.5 liter (44,500 cc) displacement, was the largest displacement inverted V12 aircraft engine to be used in front line aircraft of the Third Reich during World War II. The DB 603 powered several aircraft, including the Do 217 N&M, Do 335, He 219, Me 410, BV 155 and Ta 152C.

Design and development

As Germany's largest displacement inverted V12 aviation powerplant in production during the war years, the DB 603 saw wide operational use as the primary engine type for many twin and multi-engined combat aircraft designs — the promising twin-engined

Dornier Do 335 The Dornier Do 335 ''Pfeil'' (Arrow) is a heavy fighter built by Dornier for Germany during World War II. The ''Pfeil''s performance was predicted to be better than other twin-engine designs due to its unusual push-pull configuration and the l ...

''Pfeil'' prototype heavy fighter, the front-line Messerschmitt Me 410 ''Hornisse'' heavy fighter and Heinkel He 219 ''Uhu'' twin-engined night fighter were all designed to be powered by the DB 603. The Dornier Do 217M and -N medium bomber and night fighter subtypes powered by inline engines, and the enormous sixty-metre wingspan, six-engined

Blohm & Voss BV 238 The Blohm & Voss BV 238 was a large six-engined flying boat designed and built by the German aircraft manufacturer Blohm & Voss. Developed during the Second World War, it was the heaviest aircraft ever built when it first flew in 1944, and was t ...

flying boat prototype, essentially had their DB 603 powerplants installed within what appeared to be the same unitized complete engine/cowl/radiator assembly as a complete unit-replaceable "power system" for twin and multi-engined aircraft — this particular design featured a "chin"-style radiator installation directly beneath the crankcase, and the oil cooler placed on the dorsal portion of the installation for the earlier examples, as the BV 238 had no visible upper-cowl openings for engine cooling of any sort for its half-dozen unitized DB 603s. The He 219 airframe pioneered what is believed to be a

Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, wit ...

-specific ''Kraftei'' unitized engine package for the DB 603 engine using a well-streamlined annular radiator set for primary engine cooling between the propeller and its reduction gear housing with a nearly-cylindrical cowl behind it, pierced only by the twin rows of six exhaust stacks, one row per side. The characteristic portside-cowl supercharger intake for Daimler-Benz inverted V12s was usually accommodated away from the nacelle's sheetmetal itself for the Heinkel/DB 603 unitized engine package, most often within the airframe's wing panel design. The same ''Kraftei'' packaging for the He 219 was also used for powering the four-engined prototype He 177B strategic bomber series, and with an added

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

in each nacelle, the six ordered (two completed) prototypes of Heinkel's He 274 high-altitude strategic bomber project. The Mercedes-Benz T80 land speed record car, designed by aircraft engineer Josef Mickl with assistance from

Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...

and top German Grand Prix racing driver

Hans Stuck Hans Erich Karl Josef Stuck (; sometimes called Hans Stuck von Villiez; 27 December 1900 – 9 February 1978) was a German motor racing driver. Both his son Hans-Joachim Stuck (born 1951) and his grandsons Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck became ...

, incorporated the third prototype DB 603. It was set up for the land speed record run attempt to operate on an exotic fuel mix based on a 63% methanol, 16% benzene and 12% ethanol content, with minor percentages of acetone, nitrobenzene, avgas and ether. Adding to the power output was a pioneering form of the Luftwaffe's later MW 50 methanol/water injection boost, and was tuned to 3,000 PS (2,959 hp, 2,207 kW)— enough, it was believed, to propel the aerodynamic three-axle T80 up to on a specially-prepared, nearly length stretch of the roughly north–south oriented Autobahn Berlin — Halle/Leipzig, which passed close to the east side of

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

(now part of the modern A9 Autobahn) and with the actual length's location due south of Dessau, reworked to be wide with a paved-over median, for the record to be set in January 1940 during ''Rekord Woche'' (Record/Speed Week). Due to the outbreak of the war in September 1939, the T80 (nicknamed ''Schwarzer Vogel'', "Black Bird") never raced. The DB 603 engine was removed from the vehicle for use in fighter aircraft.

Variants

Production versions

*DB 603A, rated altitude of 5.7 km, B4 fuel :Power (take-off): 1750 PS (1726 hp, 1287 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level :Combat power: 1580 PS (1558 hp, 1162 kW) at 2500 rpm at sea level *DB 603AA DB 603A with an improved supercharger, rated altitude of 7.3 km, B4 fuel :Power (take-off): 1670 PS (1647 hp, 1228 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level :Combat power: 1580 PS (1558 hp, 1162 kW) at 2500 rpm at sea level *DB 603E rated altitude of 7.0 km, B4 fuel :Power (take-off): 1800 PS (1775 hp, 1324 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level :Combat power: 1575 PS (1553 hp, 1158 kW) at 2500 rpm at sea level

Prototypes and other versions

*DB 603D, a DB 603A with propellers rotating counter-clockwise; production unknown *DB 603F, a DB 603E with propellers rotating counter-clockwise; production unknown *DB 603G (production cancelled) :Power (max): 1900 PS (1874 hp, 1397 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level :Combat power: 1560 PS (1539 hp, 1147 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level *DB 603L/LA (prototype with two-stage supercharger, B4 fuel) :Power (max): 2000 PS (1973 hp, 1471 kW) *DB 603L/M two-stage supercharger, rated altitude of 10.5 km, C3 fuel :Power (take-off): 2450 PS (2416 hp, 1801 kW) at 3000 rpm at sea level :Combat power: 2100 PS (2071 hp, 1544 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level *DB 603N (prototype with two-stage supercharger, C3 fuel) :Power (take-off): 3000PS (2958 hp, 2206 kW) at 3200 rpm at sea level :Power (max): 2570 PS (2762 hp, 2059 kW) at 3000 rpm at sea level :Continuous: 1930 PS (1904 hp, 1420 kW) at 2700 rpm at sea level *DB 603S (DB 603A with experimental TK-11 turbo-supercharger) - Intended (not known if actually used) for the

Heinkel He 274 The Heinkel He 274 was a German heavy bomber aircraft with pressurized crew accommodation developed during World War II, designed for high-altitude bombing. Due to the Allied advance through Northwest Europe, the prototypes were abandoned at t ...

prototype airframes. :Power (max): Not known. *DB 613 Coupled side-by-side DB 603s, meant to replace the DB 606 and DB 610, in prototype form only from March 1940 through 1943 and weighing an estimated 1.8 tonnes apiece. :Power (max): Estimated at some 3,854 PS (2,833 kW, 3,800 hp) each per "power system". *DB 614 a 2000 PS development. *DB 615 Coupled DB 614 engines *DB 617 A long-range derivative of the DB 603 *DB 618 Coupled DB 617 engines *DB 622 A DB 603 with a two-stage supercharger and single-stage turbocharger *DB 623 A DB 603 with twin turbochargers *DB 624 A DB 603 with a two-stage supercharger and single-stage turbocharger *DB 626 A DB 603 with twin turbochargers and intercooler *DB 627 The DB 603 fitted with a two-stage supercharger and after-cooler. *DB 631 An abandoned three stage supercharged DB 603G. *DB 632 A projected development of the DB 603N with contra-rotating propellers. *MB 509 Development as a

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

engine for the super-heavy Panzerkampfwagen ''Maus'' All power data is given in

metric horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

as stated per manufacturer. Power (max) is Takeoff and Emergency power (5-min-rating), combat power is climb and combat power (30-min rating), continuous is without time limit.

Applications

* Blohm & Voss BV 155 *

Dornier Do 217 The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. It was a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the ''Fliegender Bleistift'' (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937-38 as a heavy bomber ...

* Fiat G.56 - two prototypes flown * Focke-Wulf Fw 190C - experimental installation * Focke-Wulf Ta 152C - the medium altitude/ground-attack variant of the Ta 152 * Heinkel He 177B - prototype aircraft series * Heinkel He 219 *

Henschel Hs 130 The Henschel Hs 130 was a German high-altitude Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance and bomber aircraft developed in World War II. It suffered from various mechanical faults and was never used operationally, only existing as prototype airframes. ...

- two DB 603s, supercharged by a single DB 605T engine driving ''HZ-Anlage'' supercharger in fuselage * Macchi MC.207 - experimental installation, not flown * Messerschmitt Me 410 * Reggiane Re.2006- experimental installation, not flown

Land vehicles

* Mercedes-Benz T80 *

Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus ''Panzerkampfwagen'' VIII ''Maus'' (English: 'mouse') was a Nazi Germany, German World War II super-heavy tank completed in July of 1944. As of 2025, it is the heaviest fully enclosed armored fighting vehicle ever built. Five were ordered, but ...

Specifications (DB 603A)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * ''Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II''. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. * Neil Gregor ''Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich''. Yale University Press, 1998

External links

Aviation History.com, DB 600 series page
{{Daimler-Benz aeroengines Daimler-Benz aircraft engines 1940s aircraft piston engines Inverted V12 aircraft engines Aircraft engines with central gun installation