Soviet Air Force minelaying in the Baltic during WW2

[Kirmington]

Does anyone have any information about Russian aerial mine laying in the Baltic during WW2? I am talking about influence or 'ground' mines being dropped from aircraft not mines laid by ship or submarine. Cheers, K

[GuerraCivil]

From the first aerial minelaying operations 1939-1940 of Soviet Baltic Fleet Air Force the following book should be informative: The Baltic Fleet Air Force in Winter War (Red Stars, Vol. 5) by C. F. Geust & S. Tirkeltaub & G. Petrov (Apali 2005).

The VVS KBF (Soviet Baltic Fleet Air Force) used aerial minelaying during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War 1939-1940 to cut off the farway routes of sea traffic of Finland, although the success was limited - but nevertheless they were pioneering efforts of mine dropping in the combat history of Soviet naval aviation forces. If I remember correctly, the mines were dropped by parachute.

Of the similar Soviet operations during 1941-1944 I do not have information. The impression that I have is that the Germans and Finns were more active than Soviets in the minelaying business on those years (with the objective to keep Soviet Baltic Fleet isolated from the most of Finnish Gulf and Baltic Sea). But Soviets also dropped thousands of mines to Baltic Sea. Maybe some of these were parachute mines dropped by VVS KBF planes.

There are probably some good Russian books or web sources available about the VVS KBF (Baltic Fleet Air Force) and its units, but I do not know how much can be found in English.

I guess that the Soviet Baltic Fleet Air Force minelaying operations should be studied with the whole context of naval warfare at the Baltic Sea during WW2. Of this there are some specialised books available in English like this one:

Åselius, G (2004): The Rise and Fall of Soviet Navy in the Baltic 1921 - 1941.

Couple of related www-sources, but not so informative about aerial mine laying:

http://www.feldgrau.com/baltsea.html
http://www.seaclimate.com/e/e2.html

[Kirmington]

Thank you very much for your help. It is appreciated.

[kurlannaiskos]

the only one I am familiar with is the AMG-1 dropped from the Il-4.
but it appears that the AMD-1 and 2 also were in service.

http://nmw.wikidot.com/former-soviet-union-mines
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMRussian_Mines.htm

[kurlannaiskos]

here is a photo of the AMG-1 under the Il-4

http://www.wunderwaffe.narod.ru/Maga...ictures/48.jpg

[Andrey Kuznetsov]

Hello Kirmington,

Originally Posted by Kirmington

Does anyone have any information about Russian aerial mine laying in the Baltic during WW2? I am talking about influence or 'ground' mines being dropped from aircraft not mines laid by ship or submarine. Cheers, K

1941:
contact mines: 43 MAV-1, 57 AMG-1
ground mines: 9 MIRAB

1942:
contact mines: 46 AMG-1
ground mines: 46 A-IV

1943:
contact mines: 130 AMG-1
ground mines: 320 A-IV

1944:
contact mines: 41 AMG-1
ground mines: 95 A-IV, 232 A-V, 299 AMD-500, 1 AMD-1000

1945:
contact mines: 2 AMG-1
ground mines: 36 A-IV, 67 A-V, 97 AMD-500, 91 AMD-1000

Regards,
Andrey