He115 query

[obdl3945]

Hello...

I wonder if anyone who has an interest in Luftwaffe seaplanes might be able to offer some information on the aircraft in the attachment.

I would be especially grateful if anyone could suggest what unit may have operated this aircraft, and the relevant codes/insignia, if at all possible. Anything else would of course be a bonus.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Regards,

Paul

[Adam]

Paul,

This was offered on eBay some time ago and from memory it was taken late in the war. I'm not at home to check my files but I seem to remember there was a discussion about this a/c either here or over on the LEMB.

Adam

[obdl3945]

Adam...

Thanks for your response. I managed to locate the thread over on LEMB, where contributor Hans McIlveen stated that he felt this machine may have belonged to Seekommando He115 Friedrichshafen (a unit unknown to me) - W.Nr.2725 which suffered 80% damage by friendly AA fire on 27/12/1944 near la Rochelle, France.

Do you, or anyone else, have any information on this unit, and what unit markings it may have carried? I have not been able to locate any details of this unit in TOCH, or in Rosch's Luftwaffe Codes...

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated,

Regards,

Paul

[Larry deZeng]

There isn't a lot, but then its very nature would preclude there being very much:

Seekommando He 115


Formation and History. (Oct 44 - Feb 45)
On 27 December 1944 a He 115B-C was shot down by German Flak at La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay, 80%. This aircraft may have belonged to a quasi-official detachment known as Seekommando He 115 that flew supply missions among the surrounded fortress garrisons on France’s Atlantic coast, 1944-45. The so-called Seekdo. He 115 is believed to have been set up at Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in October or November 1944 with volunteer aircrew and obsolete He 115s, most of which were provided by Fl.Erg.Gr. (See) at Kamp after it was disbanded. Intended as a Staffel, it was never formalized and remained a provisional collection of aircrew and aircraft. Its mission was to fly supply and liaison missions from Friedrichshafen to the Atlantic fortresses at night, but evidence suggests that only a few of these were ever flown due to the critical shortage of fuel and the high probability of being intercepted by Allied night fighters. Before it ceased operations, what may be its final accident report was filed. On 11 Jan 45 He 115B-C crashed in bad weather at Friedrichshafen in South Germany, 100%, pilot injured. The Kommando was evidently dissolved in February 1945.[1]

© H.L. deZeng IV, 2003



[1] Hans McIlveen correspondence with H.L.deZeng, Nov 96; BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs).

[obdl3945]

Hi, Larry...

Thank you very much indeed for this information. I note your reference to BA-MA records. Might I trouble to ask, would you be able to confirm any codes for the aircraft, perhaps noted in the loss record?

Paul

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by obdl3945

Hi, Larry...

Thank you very much indeed for this information. I note your reference to BA-MA records. Might I trouble to ask, would you be able to confirm any codes for the aircraft, perhaps noted in the loss record?
Paul

Unfortunately, no. Generally speaking, the 6.Abt.(Gen.Qu.) loss reports only give an aircraft's fuselage Kennzeichen when it was being reported as missing. Neither the 27 December nor the 11 January incidents fell into that category, hence no codes were given.

Larry

[obdl3945]

Larry...

Thanks again for that... pity about the lack of codes. I suspect this is a long shot, and of course if anyone else could assist, that would be great, but we have the W.Nr.2725 for this aircraft. Might someone be able to match that at least to a factory Stammkennzeichen, if not an operational Verbandkennzeichen? I live in hope .

Thanks again, though, for your help.

Kindest regards,

Paul

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi.

At the time they were damaged, these aircraft were on strength with the Fl.Erg.St.(See) under the command of Befehlshaber der Ersatz-Luftwaffe.

For the incident on January 11th 1945, a Ofw Werner Kämpf was injured, thus a NVM should have been filed, but may of course have been destroyed later.

Regards,
Andreas B

[Larry deZeng]

Paul - don't give up yet. If the He 115 came from the Fl.Erg.Gr. (See) at Kamp, then it most likely had a Stammkennzeichen rather than a Verbandskennzeichen, I believe. If this is so, it increases the probability that someone here on TOCH! will be able to match a code to the Werknummer.

Larry

[Seaplanes]

Thank you Larry for very correct info on the Seekdo. He 115 Friedrichshafen. For He 115B/C W.Nr.2725 I only have a little information. It was allocated from the Fl.Rg.Gr. (See) Kamp to Staffel 1./906 on 08.08.1942. In the spring of 1943 all remaining aircraft of 1./906 were passed on the Staffel 1./406 that remained as the only operational He 115 Staffel in the Luftwaffe until disbandment on 20.10.1944. The last four aircraft of this unit passed southbound from Hommelvik (Trondheim) via Sola-See (Stavanger) to Germany on 17.11.1944.
If W.Nr. 2725 went back to Fl.Erg.Staffel as it was called after being reorganized in Pütnitz on 3.10.1944, I do not know. If the 2725 came from Fl.Erg.St. (See) it would carry the unit code 6H+ and Staffel letter "H". If it came from 1./406 it would have carried the unit code K6+ with Staffel letter "H". However, these unit codes may have been replaced by the aircrafts Stammkennzeichen, which unfortunately is not known to me.
Finally, the He 115B/C lost on 11.01.1945 had W.Nr. 2251 and it crashed near Friedrichshafen due to bad weather. The pilot, Ofw. Werner Kämpf, was injured and the plane commander and observer, Oblt. Heinz Phillipp was killed.