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-   -   Salerno Invasion September 1943 - attack on USS Savannah (http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=650)

timothydaiss 2nd March 2005 23:57

Salerno Invasion September 1943 - attack on USS Savannah
 
I am an American writer, conducting research on the aerial bombing of a US Navy Cruiser, the USS Savannah by a German Dornier bomber during Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Salerno, Italy on September 11, 1943.

I have ample (more than enough) documents, history, eye witness accounts and photos (USS Savannah in action) about this event from the American point of view but also want to get the German perspective as well. However, I am not sure which agency or institution to contact in your country. Does anybody have any suggestions that might help me obtain the information I need?

Morten Jessen 3rd March 2005 00:32

Re: Salerno Invasion September 1943 - attack on USS Savannah
 
Hi Timothy,

I am currently researching the units, operations and pilots who flew the Fw 190 in the Mediterranean, May 1943 - July 1944 together with my research partner Andrew Arthy. That includes attacks made by Fw 190 fighter-bombers of 6./SKG 10 on USS Savannah around the period in question.

I can recommend a good researcher at the Freiburg archive. His name is Sebastian Remus and you can contact him at remusresearch @ aol.com (remove the spaces around @). He charges 25 euro pr. hour, but he is effective and knows the archive very well.

You can also contact the archive directly, but I do not think that would help you as they would probably just hand you a list of free-lance researchers, such as Sebastian Remus.

Bundesarchiv-Militararchiv Freiburg
Postfach
D- 79024
Freiburg i. Br.
Germany

There is also a bundesarchiv web site: http://www.bundesarchiv.de

You are welcome to contact me via email if you have further questions.
I hope this helps a little.

Kind regards,
Morten

Rabe Anton 3rd March 2005 15:00

USS Savannah and Salerno Landings
 
Timothy,

A couple of points about your post concerning the USS Savannah, the Salerno landings, and attacks on this warship by Luftwaffe aircraft.

First, the cover or project name for the Salerno landings was AVALANCHE, not TORCH. TORCH had been the cover name for Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942.

Second, a very quick look at Craven and Cate, The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. III, suggests that the USS Savannah was attacked by "radio-controlled bombs." Intuitively and without further research, this may connect with the employment of Dornier 217s armed with the Hs 293 standoff missile. If the Dornier 217 + Hs 293 connection proves out, this will dramatically improve your chances of identifying the Luftwaffe unit in question since only one or two units (1) operated Dornier 217s (2) employed the Hs 293 on anti-shipping operations, and (3) operated in the Mediterranean area in the late summer and fall of 1943.

Bottom line: Be sure that the aircraft involved were Dornier 217s and that the ordnance used against the Savannah was the Hs 293 missile. If these elements prove true, it's for sure that a reader or readers of this board can tell you much more.

RA

timothydaiss 3rd March 2005 19:04

thanks
 
Thanks for the input, Tim Daiss Atlanta

brewerjerry 3rd March 2005 22:19

link
 
http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2568.html

Nick Beale 4th March 2005 13:14

USS Savannah
 
From the description of the damage in the link page provided by Jerry, it had to have been caused by a Fritz-X (the Hs 293 did not have that kind of armour-piercing performance and did not go top-to-bottom through a ship but hit at a shallow angle).

If Fritz-X was the weapon, the attack was made by Do 217s of KG 100.

timothydaiss 4th March 2005 13:46

thanks--
 
Hi Nick

Thanks very much for your input - I will follow that lead.

Timothy

timothydaiss 4th March 2005 13:55

thanks
 
thanks

brewerjerry 4th March 2005 15:23

link
 
Hi
from a google search, a page detailing KG100 & Bernhard Jope, and the units operations in 1943 .
it also mentions the attack on savannah , also uganda & warspite.
Cheers
Jerry


http://translate.google.com/translat...D%26safe%3Doff

Rabe Anton 4th March 2005 15:26

Timothy,

". . . Do 217s of KG 100. . . " refers to Dornier 217 medium bombers on charge with Kampfgeschwader 100. The Do 217 was one of the Luftwaffe's standard twin-engined bomber designs and was usually employed in the horizontal bombing mode. Certain later versions (Do 217K) were equipped to carry the Hs 293 standoff missile. These K subtypes had longer wing spans. Do 217s could also carry the Fritz-X guided bomb mentioned in a previous post. There is ample information about the Do 217 available in published sources, the best probably being Manfred Griehl, Dornier Do 217, 317, and 417. Digging around on the worldwide web and especially in the literature of German aircraft ordnance will surely reveal ample information about the Fritz-X.

Kampfgeschwader ("KG") simply designates a GAF horizontal bomber unit, in this instance, KG 100.

Nick Beale is entirely correct in his observation that the Fritz X weapon demanded very different tactics and had quite different characteristics from the Hs 293. Armor penetration alone, however, would not have been much of a factor in either a Hs 293 or a Fritz-X attack on USS Savannah, since that warship was a cruiser with a very thin skin all over.

Given what I'm reading from you, I'd suggest that you take a look at Alfred Price, The Luftwaffe Data Book, for a basic introduction to Luftwaffe combat units, flying equipment, and terminology. I suspect that the appropriate volume of Samuel Eliot Morison's magisterial and highly lucid History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II also would have much to offer you in regard to the sea-air war during AVALANCHE.

I don't wish to seem ascerbic nor to discourage your development of historical interests, but you must understand the long-established first rule of historical investigation: Begin with a thorough literature search, starting with the most general sources and working towards the more specialized and less accessible. Discussion boards such as this one are not a substitute for rigorous literature searches and publications acquisitions.

RA


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