Did KG 26 hit the cruiser Molotov in 1942?

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Andrey Kuznetsov

According Kriegsmarine documents, it was Italian MTBs success (erroneously claimed cruiser Krasny Krim sunk). Torpedo planes were mentioned as shadowers only, nothing about their attacks. Moreover, Fliegerführer Süd after 2-3 days of investigation came to conclusion that really Krasny Krim was sunk by MTBs.

So we have only Soviet documentary evidences about torpedo planes attacks - at night and 07:18 MSK, the last one was unsuccessful.

It is unclear for me what is the source of 6./KG26 claim. Maybe some info is in British radio intelligence documents? Or in the pilots logbooks

Hello Andrey,

Thank you for a very interesting set of remarks! I would think that if the Germans did not claim a sinking, which they usually did even with little evidence in their favour, it is quite probable that there was no German attack. Could the Soviet crew been confused by the presence of LaGG-3s or MBR-2s in the area? I have seen an 'escort' of some kind, involving a pair of each aircraft type, being described as involved in this mission. If they were flying beyond the range of easy visual idenitification and were not in radio contact, the crew could have possibly considered them hostile. There is also a tall tale on airwar.ru of an MBR-2 firing signal rockets to fend off an He 111 during this action, a sign of general confusion!

I am sure logbooks would help clarify the issue, but I have never heard of any surviving logbooks for 6./KG 26.

Warm regards,

Paul