Did KG 26 hit the cruiser Molotov in 1942?

[Andrey Kuznetsov]

Interesting what means the record "Ab 22.45 Uhr eigene Torpedo-Flugzeuge an russ.Verband".

Is it means that planes were with torpedoes or simply from Torpedo Staffel?

Originally Posted by Paul Thompson

They could have also found out that Kleemann was the Staffel commander, put 2 and 2 together and got 5

Warm regards,
Andrey

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Andrey Kuznetsov

Interesting what means the record "Ab 22.45 Uhr eigene Torpedo-Flugzeuge an russ.Verband".

That should mean that the word greifen - "attack" was left out so save space, so the text means "at 22.45 our torpedo aircraft attacked a Russian squadron". However, one can also speculate that the staff clerk knew that a torpedo-bomber unit was operational that night, but did not know that it was not carrying torpedoes on the specific mission in question

Warm regards,

Paul

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Paul Thompson

That should mean that the word greifen - "attack" was left out so save space, so the text means "at 22.45 our torpedo aircraft attacked a Russian squadron". However, one can also speculate that the staff clerk knew that a torpedo-bomber unit was operational that night, but did not know that it was not carrying torpedoes on the specific mission in question

Warm regards,

Paul

Whilst you could infer the absence of »greifen«, it just looks like the clipped language that armed forces use the world over: "From 22.45 hrs. own torpedo aircraft against Russ. formation."

It's not anything provable but I think that if the clerk wrote "torpedo aircraft", that's likely what they carried. Look at KG 26 in Summer 1944 when the II. Gruppe was converted from torpedo to conventional bombing. This entailed fitting bombsights, bomb shackles and oxygen for the crew (none of which a torpedo machine needed) so switching a Ju 88 from one role to the other wasn't a quick process.

it is a great shame that the card index has either been lost or is yet to be rediscovered.

On the other hand its absence does enable you to read and draw your own conclusions from the material …

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Whilst you could infer the absence of »greifen«, it just looks like the clipped language that armed forces use the world over: "From 22.45 hrs. own torpedo aircraft against Russ. formation."

Nick, thank you for a more literal translation of the original German. I agree that the reference to “torpedo aircraft” should be specific, but I am surprised by the absence of further comment, such as “n torpedoes dropped” or “hits observed”. I may be talking out of turn, for Andrey has seen the original document and I have not.

It is an interesting question in and of itself whether a He 111 H-6 LT could be converted back for use as a conventional bomber more easily than a Ju 88 A-4 LT . The pictures at the end of this link would suggest that the Heinkel conversion was relatively extensive, so my original hypothesis about the use of these aircraft as level bombers is probably wrong - https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic...-2#entry412541

I would gladly read through the material, if only I had time. On a further dive into DEFE 3, there does not appear to be any material for these specific days, but there may be something within the great HW forest!

Warm regards,

Paul

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Paul Thompson

I would gladly read through the material, if only I had time …
Warm regards,

Paul

Well, I've only been working on it since 1989, so I haven't got all that far yet.

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Well, I've only been working on it since 1989, so I haven't got all that far yet.

The thirtieth anniversary is not far distant, perhaps you should celebrate that at Kew with a few other members Persistence is certainly necessary in this field.