[Larry deZeng]

See-Transportstaffel 1
(Unit Code 8A+_J)

Also as:
Lufttransportstaffel (See) 1
Seetransportstaffel Ju 52
Transportfliegerstaffel (See) 1
1. Seetransportstaffel


Formation. (Feb 43)
Formed February 1943 at Travemünde and equipped with Ju 52/3m Wasser floatplane transports. The designation noted in the heading has been selected as primary because it’s the one used in the Feldpostübersicht (Field Postal Directory). Almost immediately after formation the Staffel transferred to the Black Sea, and then in April 1943 moved to the Aegean.

Black Sea, Aegean, Baltic. (Feb 43 - Feb 45)
11 May 43: a pilot belonging to the Staffel was reported KIA by enemy fire at Philiatra (Greece – but not located).
27 May 43: at Athens-Phaleron and remained there until October 1944 - it was used to transport mail, food and personnel to the islands in the Aegean.
29 May 43: Ju 52 shot down between Milos (an island in the Aegean) and Athens, 100%, 3 crew and 1 passenger all KIA.
26 Oct 43: Ju 52 shot down by a fighter between Athens-Phaleron and Staopalia (not located), 100%, crew safe.
13 Nov 43: Ju 52 damaged at Fp. Athens-Kalamaki during a storm, 90%.
16 Nov 43: Ju 52 damaged its floats at Athens-Phaleron while either taking off or landing, 80%.
26 Nov 43: Ju 52 drifted from its buoy in Phaleron Bay and damaged, 30%.
28 Nov 43: Ju 52 crashed while taking off from Athens-Phaleron, 100%, 1 MIA.
19 Aug 44: at Athens-Phaleron.
9 Oct 44: Staffel recorded 2 losses between 20 Sep and 9 Oct - one of these failed to return from a mission and the other was totaled in a landing accident at Athens-Phaleron.
10 Oct 44: Ju 52 floatplane (RG+TS), which had been borrowed from See-Transportstaffel 3, crashed into the sea 100 km N of Crete after all 3 engines quit, 100%, 1 MIA and 3 rescued. According to the rescued survivors, the Staffel had been reduced to just 5 Ju 52s and 6 crews by this point in time.
15 Oct 44: departed Greece on or about this date and transferred to Pütnitz on the Baltic coast, although there may have been some intermediate stops along the way.
Feb 45: at Pütnitz with 15 Ju 52 floatplanes - renamed 3./TG 1 at the end of February.


FpN: (L 52093)


Staffelkapitän:
Hptm. Rudolf Goetze ( ? - Feb 45)



Sources:

1. K.Kössler-Transporter – wer kennt sie schon!: Die Kennzeichen der Transportfliegerverbände der Luftwaffe von 1937-1945:37.
2. BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs).
3. AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18, interrogation CSDIC A.473.
4. BNA HW 5 ULTRA intercept.
5. interrogation CSDIC A.473.
6. AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin P/W interrogations, ADI(K) series, microfilm rolls A5400-05, interrogation ADI(K) 589A/44.
7. Jet & Prop magazine, Heft (issue) 2/1996, p.50.
8. Jet & Prop-op cit.

L.