Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward L. Hsiao
Were there any combat reports of He-115 seaplanes being used a lot in action from 1943 to the end of WWII for Germany in May of 1945?
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Edward, what caused you to become interested in He 115 operations?
Here is an account of an encounter between the air group of the USS
Ranger and a He 115 in late 1943:
Operation Leader - The German View
http://www.airgroup4.com/german.htm
This incident was also mentioned by Neil Page on his blog:
"On 4 October 1943 aircraft from the USS Ranger attacked German shipping along the coast of Norway under the code name ‘Operation Leader’. Lt(jg) Boyd N. Mayhew was piloting one of a patrol of four VF-4 F4F-4 Wildcats which intercepted and shot down He 115 B (WNr. 1866) K6+MH of 1./406."
http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2010/0...-vol-2-of.html
If you are interested in losses, specifically, there is this excellent online loss list for the Luftwaffe's maritime units:
http://www.luftwaffe-zur-see.de/Seel...n/Jahr1943.htm
An engagement between Fleet Air Arm Hellcats and He 115s was mentioned in a thread on this forum dating from 2007:
"According to this book Ritchie was flying JV132/E-F that day as well as on 14 May, when he was credited with 1.5 He 115s destroyed, the shared one together with Lt Cdr Stan Orr. They were engaging five He 115s. Two were shot from the sky and the rest were strafed until sunk after having made emergency landings on the sea."
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=8173
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Beale
The Kriegsmarine Operations Staff War Diary includes this item:
ULTRA briefly mentions a number of other He 115 flights from Friedrichshafen to the Atlantic "fortresses" in the period October 1944–January 1945.
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Thank you very much, Nick! I am quite surprised that this old and slow aircraft was still in action in the closing months of the war.
Kind regards,
Dan