Axis airmen rescued by German U-boats

[Rainer]

U-205 (Kptlt Franz-Georg Reschke) rescued five airmen of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 from a rubber dinghy in M.Qu. CJ 7591 (approx. 37°45'N, 08°34'E, about 20 miles north-west of Galite Islands, Tunisia) at 1820hrs on 14 August 1942. The survivors stated that they had been shot down shortly after noon on 12 August.

1942-08-12, 109° Gruppo, SM.79, ?
Shot down in aerial combat, loss 100% (shot down by two FAA fighters while attacking the British battleship HMS NELSON in the "Pedestal" convoy to Malta)
Maggiore Zanardi, Alfredo, survived (commanding officer 109° Gruppo)
4 unknown crewmen survived (one of them lightly injured)
Bordfunker Sergente Maggiore Rombola, Pasquale, +

[Rainer]

U-205 (Kptlt Franz-Georg Reschke) rescued five airmen of an Italian Cant from a rubber dinghy in M.Qu. CJ 7498 (approx. 37°33'N, 07°30'E, about 40 nautical miles north-north-west of Bone, Algeria) at 1700 hrs on 15 August 1942. The survivors stated that they had been shot down in the evening on 11 August.

1942-08-11, ?, Cant, ? (possibly a Cant Z.1007 of 51° Gruppo, shot down by FAA fighters while shadowing the "Pedestal" convoy to Malta)
Cause?, loss 100%
5 unknown crewmen wounded (all of them were badly burned and had other injuries)

[Rainer]

U-589 (Krvkpt Hans-Joachim Horrer) rescued the crew of a Heinkel He 111 in M.Qu. AB 3475 (approx. 75°27'N, 11°30'E, about 100 nautical miles south-west of Spitsbergen) at 1715hrs on 13 September 1942. The airmen were all lost when the U-boat was sunk with all hands the next day while operating against the convoy PQ-18.

1942-09-13, I./KG 26, He 111 H-6, 7567, 1H+NK
Emergency landing at sea (cause?), loss 100%
Flugzeugführer Lt Harnau, Arnold, +
Beobachter Uffz Telgenwerth, Werner, +
Bordfunker Uffz Kullick, Walter, +
Bordmechaniker Uffz Trunner, Friedrich, +

[Rainer]

U-405 (Krvkpt Rolf-Heinrich Hopman) rescued the crew of a Heinkel He 115 and two airmen of a Junkers Ju 88 in M.Qu. AC 1438 (approx. 75°57'N, 22°30'E, about 50 nautical miles south-west of Hopen Island) at 1550hrs on 14 September 1942. The Heinkel sank after a float broke off when it attempted to land to rescue the men from the Junkers. The U-boat reached the rubber dinghy from the Ju 88 one hour afterwards, but the three occupants that clung to it were unable to catch the lines thrown to them, so Matrose Giese jumped into the ice cold water to pull the dinghy close enough to recover the airmen. However, the U-boat men discovered that one of them was already dead and the other two were unconscious. Both died shortly after being picked up (Ofw Haase from his head injury and Uffz Gutzend from internal injuries or exposure) and were buried at sea.

1942-09-14, 1./KüFlGr 406, He 115 B, 2413, Vbkz?
Crashed during landing at sea to recover survivors in Pl.Qu. 27 Ost 2625, loss 100%
Oblt Rohwer, survived
Fw Hupe, survived
Ogfr Fisch, survived

1942-09-14, III./KG 26, Ju 88 A-4, 1774, 1T+OT
Shot down in aerial combat, loss 100% (shot down by Sea Hurricanes from British escort carrier HMS AVENGER while attacking the convoy PQ-18)
Flugzeugführer Haase, Günther, + (died of wounds, buried at sea)
Beobachter Reisbitzen, Heinz, +
Bordfunker Gutzend, Hans, + (died of wounds, buried at sea)
Bordschütze Heinisch, Fritz, +

[Rainer]

U-77 (Oblt Otto Hartmann) rescued 2 airmen of a Junkers Ju 88 in M.Qu. CH 9445 (approx. 37°03'N, 03°06'E, about 20 nautical miles north of Algiers, Algeria) at 1410hrs on 14 November 1942.

1942-11-09, 7./KG 26, Ju 88 A-4/LT, 140088, 1T+AR
Shot down in aerial combat, loss 100%
Flugzeugführer Hptm Nocken, Klaus-Wilhelm, wounded (Staffelkapitän)
Beobachter Lt Lampe, Ernst, missing
Bordfunker Uffz Müller, Klaus, survived
Passenger Sdfhr Rompel, Hans, missing (war correspondent)

[Rainer]

U-405 (Krvkpt Rolf-Heinrich Hopman) rescued 2 airmen of a drifting Heinkel He 59 off Bergen, Norway at 1405hrs on 25 January 1943. The U-boat was carrying sea trials off the harbor when it encountered the drifting aircraft, took off two men and took the He 59 in tow until relieved by a tug.

1943-01-25, ?, He 59, ?
Cause? recovered, not lost

[Rainer]

U-341 (Oblt Dietrich Epp) rescued the crew of a drifting Arado Ar 196 in M.Qu. AO 8411 (approx. 55°27'N, 15°35'E, about 25 nautical miles north-east of Bornholm) on 25 March 1943. The aircraft sank after the wounded crew was taken off.

1943-03-25, Erg.Küsten-Nahaufkl. und Bordfliegerstaffel, Ar 196 A-3, 0152, 6H+EM
Crashed at 1230hrs during anti-submarine exercise, loss 100%
Flugzeugführer Uffz Gerdes, Bernhard, wounded
Beobachter Lt, Tzeutschler, Siegmund, wounded

[Rainer]

U-489 (Oblt Adalbert Schmandt) rescued three airmen of a Blohm & Voss BV 138 in M.Qu. AF 7369 (approx. 63°03'N, 02°37'E, about 100 nautical miles west-north-west of Alesund, Norway) on 28 July 1943. The U-boat was itself sunk by a Sunderland of 423 Sqn RAF on 4 August 1943 and almost all crew members, including the three rescued airmen became prisoners of war.

1943-07-28, 2./KüFlGr 406, Bv 138 C-1, 0311047, K6+BK
Shot down in aerial combat in Pl.Qu. 16 West 06037, loss 100% (shot down by Beaufighter Mk.XIC JM123 of 404 Sqn RCAF/H, pilot F/O E.J. Keefe)
Flugzeugführer Fw Kopatzki, Klaus, +
Beobachter LtzS Knittel, Hans, pow
Bordfunker Uffz Hengst, Heinrich, pow
Bordmechaniker Ofw Henrich, Werner, +
Bordschütze Uffz Mohlau, Werner, pow

This incident was already discussed in this thread: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=26223

[Rainer]

U-601 (Kptlt Peter-Ottmar Grau) rescued the crew of a drifting Blohm & Voss BV 138 in M.Qu. AT 2421 (approx. 76°09'N, 57°10'E, about 30 nautical miles north-west of Severny Island, Novaya Zemlya) at 2255hrs on 20 August 1943. The flying boat made an emergency landing while returning from Operation "Wunderland II" (planned attack of the German heavy cruiser LÜTZOW on the Siberian sea route) and was taken in tow by the U-boat, but worsening weather and the appearance of Soviet patrol aircraft forced U-601 to scuttle the aircraft at 0313 hrs on 21 August in M.Qu. AT 2513 (approx. 76°09'N, 59°50'E).

1943-08-20, 2./SAGr 130, Bv 138 C-1, 0311039, 6I+KK
Emergency landing at sea in Pl.Qu. 67 Ost 0782, loss 100%
Ogfr Kroll, survived
unknown number of crewmen survived

[Rainer]

U-340 (Oblt Hans-Joachim Klaus) rescued 5 airmen of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 from a rubber dinghy in M.Qu. CG 1631 (approx. 41°57'N, 11°50'W, about 140 nautical miles west of Vigo, Spain) at 0335 hrs on 24 August 1943. The survivors stated their aircraft had been shot down and was forced to ditch at 1800hrs on 23 August.

1943-08-23, 7./KG 40, Fw 200 C-5, 0214, F8+NT
Shot down, loss 100%
Flugzeugführer Ofw Billing, Alfred, survived
Uffz Jacobi, G., survived
Bordfunker Uffz Hirschfeld, Otto, survived
Uffz Lelewel, K., survived
Bordschütze Uffz Stanjewski, Josef, survived
Bordmechaniker Ofw Gentsch, Hans, + (failed to leave the sinking aircraft)