I'll do what I can, but I'm no expert. I don't know if anyone knows the answer to some of your questions with certainty.
What was the field performance of a Ju-87 with a 2200lber?From what I've read, even with excessively heavy bomb loads takeoff performance of the Stuka was surprisingly good. The only thing negative that I've EVER read about the Stuka's field performance was that the spats sometimes got in the way in muddy conditions.
Rough field or prepared strip? I don't know. I would assume semi-prepared. That's what most fields were at the time, especially for the Stuka.
What was it's range with said weapon? Depends on the variant, but the Stuka's range was never too impressive. That's one reason it always operated so close to the front lines. The Ju 87R and D were better, though.
What was it's kinetic performance compared with oh say a P-40C/E, Spitfire V, Hurricane II or Fulmar (any of which it could be expected to encounter)?What do you mean "kinetic performance"? The Stuka was vulnerable to any enemy fighters under any circumstances. I'd get worried for a Stuka if there were enemy Bristol Bulldogs over the target area. In the right hands, it was still very much dangerous in its own right, but the Stuka was quite vulnerable to enemy fighters. That having been said, Stukas successfully penetrated British fighter cover and anti-aircraft fire to attack the HMS
Illustrious in Malta's Grand Harbour.
Could Marat match a Royal Sovereign with say 2 C class cruisers, a Leander and assorted destroyers in terms of AA firepower? I'll leave the Didos at home.I've never read of AA fire preventing Stukas from attacking a target. The combined fire of HMS
Warspite,
Valiant,
Nubian,
Dainty,
Greyhound,
Griffin,
Jervis and
Illustrious didn't prevent the Stukas from knocking out the
Illustrious and removing it from the Mediterranean. In fact, while the
Illustrious was under repair in Valletta, one of the British anti-aircraft gunners even noted that the Stukas successfully carried out attacks on the
Illustrious diving through a "curtain of steel" (his words) and with a Fulmar on its tail. Not only that, but they carried 1000 kg bombs during that attack, so they had range enough to reach Malta with it.
As for the Didos, it's a good thing you're going to leave them at home, they might get hurt! When the
Dido had a run in with Stukas, the Stukas beat the crap out of it!
HMS Dido being bombed by German aircraft in the Mediterranean off Crete, May 1941
What was left of the "B" turret.
Wrong, quite possibly but not nearly completely. The Ju-87 should not go playing in the Med.I think you really need to get this book, Empty Handed. You really don't have enough respect for the Stuka. When the Stukas were operating in the Med, it was enemy surface ships that didn't go playing without adequate air cover. Crete showed that.
The short version is that the Stuka was
murder for enemy ships. It was absolutely deadly. It could carry one of the heaviest bomb loads of any dive bomber in its time. Its range was short--inadequate by Pacific standards, but certainly adequate for European operations. It was, however, VERY vulnerable to enemy fighters. Theater air superiority could certainly curtail Stuka operations and make losses unsustainable, but it really took total air dominance to ensure the safety of naval surface forces. That was true off Norway, in the English Channel, in the Med, in the Baltic, and in the Black Sea.
Admiral Cunningham is widely considered to be one of Britain's finest admirals. I'll let his words regarding the Stuka hopefully illustrate the point more eloquently than I ever could.
"We opened up with every AA gun we had as one by on the Stukas peeled off into their dives, concentrating the whole venom of their attack upon the Illustrious. At times she became almost completely hidden in a forest of great bomb splashes. One was too interested in this new form of dive-bombing attack really to be frightened, and there was no doubt we were watching complete experts. Formed roughly in a large circle over the fleet they peeled off one by one when reaching the attacking position. We could not but admire the skill and precision of it all. The attacks were pressed home to point-blank range, and as they pulled out of their dives some of them were seen to fly along the flight-deck of the Illustrious below the level of her funnel."
Cheers,
Logan