KG40, North Africa

[bill norman]

On 26.11.1943, KG40 lost 6 He.177 aircraft during an attack on an Allied convoy off Algeria. It is believed that both single-engine and twin-engine Allied fighters were responsible. Does anyone have details of the fighters? To which Staffel (Staffeln) did the He.117s belong? Does anyone know the names of the ships sunk or damaged? Does anyone have copies of contemporary reports of the incident that they are willing to share - or do they know where I can obtain such?

Bill Norman
(www.billnorman.co.uk)

[obdl3945]

Hi, Bill...

Harold Thiele's book Luftwaffe Aerial Torpedo Aircraft and Operations in World War Two (Hikoki) gives some information under that date. The entry states:

"According to OKW reports on 27 & 30 November, German bombers and torpedo aircraft successfully attacked a heavily protected large convoy off the Algerian coast on 26th and sank four transports totalling 50,000GRT as well as two destroyers. Further ships were claimed to have been damaged. This attack was carried out against convoy KMF.26 and involved He111s, Ju88s, Do217s, He177s and Fw200s. Apart from the troop ship 'Rohna' (8,600GRT), which was sunk by an Hs293 glider bomb, no confirmation of the other claims can be found. Six He177s, four Ju88s and two He111s were lost."

In addition, Nick Beale's Kampfflieger, Vol.4 (Classic colours) relates that an attack was made on 'Annex' (convoy codename?) on 26 November by KG26 He111s and missile-carrying Do217s from II.Gruppe/KG100 and that they were reinforced by He177s and Fw200s from KG40. A prisoner stated that III.Gruppe/KG26 arrived late and in bad weather, so returned home, but suffered five of their Ju88s crashing on their return to base. The convoy was protected by American, British and French fighters and II.Gruppe KG40 lost six He177s for their efforts, but sank troopship 'Rohna' with the loss of more than 1,000 lives in addition to US soldiers and Red Cross personnel on board.

Perhaps this will be useful to you.

Regards...

Paul

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by bill norman

On 26.11.1943, KG40 lost 6 He.177 aircraft during an attack on an Allied convoy off Algeria. It is believed that both single-engine and twin-engine Allied fighters were responsible. Does anyone have details of the fighters? To which Staffel (Staffeln) did the He.117s belong? Does anyone know the names of the ships sunk or damaged? Does anyone have copies of contemporary reports of the incident that they are willing to share - or do they know where I can obtain such?

Bill Norman
(www.billnorman.co.uk)

Have you looked at my website: http://www.ghostbombers.com/kf4/annex.html

The Convoy Web site is very good: http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/

Just type in a convoy code and you'll get a complete listing of ships. Or just Google "HMT Rohna", for that matter. Google seems to yield results for pretty well any ship sunk in a convoy.

There are all kinds of original documents in the National Archives: their website has a searchable catalogue.

[Larry deZeng]

Surprisingly, Rohwer/Hümmelchen don't have much to say about it, especially in view of their gushy reporting of similar sea-war incidents elsewhere:


26.11.1943
Westl. Mittelmeer
He 177 der II./KG.40 (Major R. Mons †) versenken vor Bougie aus dem Konvoi KMF.26 durch Gleitbombe Hs 293 den brit. Truppentransporter Rohna (8602 BRT). Über 1000 Tote unter den eingeschifften Soldaten. 8 He 177 werden abgeschossen. — Der brit. Kreuzer Orion und die Zerstörer Paladin, Teazer und Troubridge bombardieren Stellungen nördlich des Flusses Garigliano.

http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-11.htm

And from my manuscript for our book (deZeng/Stankey):

II./KG 40:

Nov 43: transferred from Burg to Bordeaux-Merignac in SW France and assigned to Fliegerführer Atlantik. The first mission was flown with 25 He 177s on 21 November against a 66-ship convoy in a position west of Brest that was en-route to Great Britain from Sierra Leone and North Africa. Of the 20 Hs 293-armed Heinkels that managed to reach the convoy, 3 were shot down and 4 damaged after hitting two freighters, one of which reportedly sank some time later. A second convoy was attacked off Bougie/Algeria by 21 Heinkels on 26 November. After hitting and sinking the passenger liner “Rohna” with glide bombs, as a result of which 1, 000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives, the Gruppe was intercepted by American, British and French fighters and lost 6 He 177As (F8+DM,IM,KM,MM,BP,EP), plus two more that crashed on return to Bordeaux. Ten Allied fighters were claimed shot down by the Heinkel gunners. Among the aircrew casualties were the Gruppenkommandeur, Maj. Mons, and Hptm. Arthur Horn, Hptm. Alfred Nuss and Hptm. Egon Schmidt. All were reported missing in action.

[Chris Goss]

I cannot be certain but I think I mentioned this in my Sea Eagle Vol 2. I have the Luftflotte 3 account of the action as well

[mjbollinger]

Hello Bill,

I believe the Allied units involved were French Spitfires of GC 1/7 Squadron, American P-39 Aircorbras of 350th Fighter Group and British Beaufighers of 143 Squadron.

The He 177s were from definitely from II./KG 40 -- and by the way I seriously doubt any He 177 from KG 100 were involved. There is a description of the raid written as a personal memoir by Hans Dochtermann, the aircraft commander of the aircraft that engaged and sunk HMT Rohna. This was the only ship sunk in the attack. Dochtermann's memoir is available from the Manuscript and Folklife Archives at Western Kentucky University in the US. Dochtermann's grandson lives in the US and has also researched his grandfather's history.

Marty

[bill norman]

Thanks to all who answered - much appreciated. Additional thanks to Nick Beale for the link to the convoyweb site. That seems to offer a multitude of advantages! And additional thanks to Marty Bollinger: the Dochtermann lead sounds attractive and it will be followed up - though I think that the Beauufighter squadron was probably No.153.