Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

Hi, people,

Did the 11./KG 200 use in combat the Fw 190 F-8/R14, in Flensburg, Germany, april 1945?

Cheers,

Franklin

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

None of the losses reported mention anything more than "F-8" and the same is true, so far as I remember, for strength returns. In those teturns you will see "III./KG 200 (BT)", referring to "Bombentorpedo" but there is no evidence at all that I've seen of them ever using it.

Formed out of I./SG 5 in December 1944-January 1945, III./KG 200 (i.e. 9., 10. and 11./KG 200) flew conventional ground attack missions with conventional bomb loads. One Staffel (I don't know which) was supposed to be the "day" Staffel but many (probably most) operations were by night. One daylight op was against the British bridgehead at Stolzenau on early April.

They had no particular need of an "unusual" aircraft but this late in the war, I guess they took what was available.

P.S. if you had the Fw 190 "A3+LV" in mind when you asked your question (photos of it appear in a number of books), I'm not convinced it belonged to 11./KG 200. The Geschwader used a very strange system of codes!

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

Thank's, mr. Beale!

:)

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

Is not the /R14 the torpedo carrying a/c?

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

Yes, Kutscha,

The Fw 190 F-8/R14 carring a LTF5b torpedo on an ETC502 rack.

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

The unit intended to convert to torpedo ops with the Fw 190 was I./KG 26 but the project was abandoned in April 1945.

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

"III./KG 200 (BT)"

Nick, was this unit to use the F-8/R15 (BT1400) with the enlarged fin and/or the F-8/R16 (BT700 or 2xBT400 + dt) and normal sized fin?

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

There is no indication that the Gruppe ever received any specialised aircraft. It never used the Bombentorpedo in action. When the Gruppe transferred to Germany from Norway (where it had been in training) it operated in the land ground attack role. The only 11./KG 200 aircraft that I have seen a photo of was a perfectly normal F-8

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

"III/KG 200 (BT), originally intended to use FW 190s armed with bomb-torpedos, existed ony as so much personnel and had no operational aircraft because the development of this weapon had run into difficulties"

(From KG 200 The True Story, by P.W. Stahl)

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

II/KG 200 had a number of FW 190(BT) in September 1944. It was planned to form three Staffeln with these, but the aircraft were prone to accidents, unable to carry such heavy loads under operational conditions. A few, based at Stavanger flew some individual attacks against British warships in the North Sea.

(KG 200 The True Story, P.W. Stahl)

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

Sorry but I think Stahl is wrong about this (he flew with 4. Staffel in I./KG 200).

For a start, II./KG 200 from February - November 1944 was composed as follows:

1. Staffel: He 111 and Go 242 (planned to test the Kochgeraet anti-shipping system)

2. Staffel: Fw 190 Totaleinsatz (i.e. suicide attacks with heavy conventional bombs)

3. Staffel: Kommando Schaefer (Ground combat unit with no aircraft)

4. Staffel: Training and replacement Staffel for Totaleinsatz and Rechenberg.

In November 1944, III./KG 66 became then ew II./KG 200 and operated Ju 188 pathfinders and Mistel composite aircraft.

III./KG 200 did not form until 8 January 1945 and this was done by renaming I./SG 5.

(All this information comes from original documents in the Bundesarchiv, Freiburg: files RL2 III/64 and RL2 III/66)

Does anyone have evidence of even a single BT mission against British warships off Norway? If it's true, which ships were attacked and on what dates? The Luftwaffe's records may have been lost but those of the Royal Navy have not and it wouldn't be hard to check. A bombed-up Fw 190 F had a 150 km radius of action so British Admiralty situation reports for Norwegian waters would undoubtedly mention any fighter-bomber attacks on RN ships.

About the only bit Stahl gets right here is that III./KG 200 was based in stavanger for a while - but in early 1945.

Re: Fw 190 F-8/R14
 

It was planned that III/KG 200 from Stavanger together with II/KG 200 Tirstrup/DK should be used in operatin "Drachenhöhle", the planned attack on Scapa Flow. It never happened and III/KG 200 returned to Germany. There are no evidence to support Stahl in this. As said before Stahl was a member of I/KG 200 and did not have anything to do with the other Gruppen in KG 200.

Junker