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Re: Yugo Partisan ships sunk ect by aircraft
Yep, I think 2./196 is correct:
2./Bordfl.Gr. 196
Formation. (Apr 36?)
The Staffel began forming at Kiel-Holtenau on 5(8?) August 1943 with an allowance of 9 Ar 196s, of which 6 were received in August, and then transferred to Venice/Italy on 13 August. On arrival at Venice it sub-divided, sending about half of its crews and aircraft to Orbetello on the Italian west coast. The Staffel's mission was to fly convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols over the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas under Luftflotte 2. On 2 Sep 43 an Ar 196 failed to return from operations in the area NE of Sardinia with the loss of Lt. Erich Pfetzer and his radio operator/gunner. Italy surrendered in September, and the resulting uncertainty forced the detachment at Orbetello to relocate temporarily to Berre in South France, but it returned to Italy in a few days with station now at La Spezia. From here it flew protective cover for Do 24 flying boats operating between Corsica and the Italian mainland. Om 29 September the detachment flew an armed reconnaissance mission with four Ar 196s to locate British subs believed to be operating near Corsica, but on arrival in the target area they were jumped by Spitfires losing two aircraft, including T3+DM, and two crew members. This incident and growing Allied air superiority off the west coast of Italy in general forced the La Spezia detachment to depart for Venice in November, but the decision was made to base it at Pola (Pula) on the southern tip of the Istrian Peninsula. From here it joined the rest of the Staffel at Venice, jointly flying cover for shipping in the North Adriatic and along the North Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, occasionally attacking Yugoslav Partisan targets, such as radio stations on some of the islands. The main component left Venice on 27 May 1944 for Aalborg (Ålborg) in Denmark to train for duty aboard the battleship Tirpitz, which it joined in July at Altenfjord/Norway with 6 Ar 196s. The Pola detachment moved to Venice in July, remained there for a few weeks, and then transferred to Aalborg. British carrier aircraft attacked the Tirpitz at Altenfjord on 24 August and the Staffel lost two Ar 196s. On 12 November the Tirpitz was sunk at Tromsø by British air and naval forces, and some of the Staffel's Ar 196s were lost. On 1 Nov 44 the Staffel reported 11 Ar 196As on strength. In early 1945 2./Bordf1.Gr. 196 transferred from Aalborg to Bug auf Rügen in the Baltic, and from here flew its last mission during the evening of 24 March 1945 when it sent 8 Ar 196s to attack Russian subs in the harbor at Rügenwalde with 50 kg bombs. The results of the attack could not be observed, but two Ar 196s were lost to enemy fire and two more ran out of fuel on the return flight. The Staffel was disbanded on 20 April 1945. ¹
FpN: (L 53208)
Staffelkapitän:
Oblt.z.S. Borchert (5 Aug 43 - Oct 43)
Hptm. Ludwig Randerath (Oct 43 - ? )
Hptm. Gerhard Gottschalk (1944 - 20 Apr 45)
¹ G.Hummelchen-Die deutschen Seeflieger 1935-1945 (throughout); Staffel history appearing in Aviatik magazine, Heft (issue) 4/1991:12-21; F.Kurowski-Seekrieg aus der Luft: Die deutsche Seeluftwaffe im Zweiten Weltkrieg: 249; K.Ries-Luftwaffen-Story 1935-1939:158 (the information in Ries appears to be incorrect); BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); BA-MA Freiburg: Flugzeug-Bereitstellungen (Aircraft Availability Status Reports – FzB) in: M.Holm-website (ww2.dk).
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2003
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