Axis airmen rescued by German U-boats

[Rainer]

U-255 (Kptlt Reinhart Reche) rescued the crew of a Blohm & Voss BV 138 in M.Qu. ÄF 7563 (approx. 78°33'N, 54°15'E, about 100 nautical miles south of Franz Josef Land) at 2010hrs on 12 September 1943. The U-boat had set up a refueling station on Novaya Zemlya and co-operated with several BV 138 flying boats during Operation "Wunderland II" (planned attack of the German heavy cruiser LÜTZOW on the Siberian sea route). It left the anchorage after one of the flying boats became lost due to a compass error and was forced to land at sea when the fuel ran out at 1730 hrs on 11 September. The drifting flying boat was found by U-307 (Oblt Friedrich-Georg Herrle) at 1600 hrs on 12 September and taken in tow until being relieved at 2010hrs by U-255, which eventually took off the crew and scuttled the BV 138 in worsening weather in M.Qu. ÄF 7275 (approx. 79°03'N, 50°45'E) at 1550 hrs on 13 September.

1943-09-11, 1./SAGr 130, Bv 138 C-1, 0311034, BC+TH (Vbknz?)
Emergency landing at sea due to fuel starvation in Pl.Qu 57 Ost 3942, loss 100%
Unknown number of crewmen survived

[Rainer]

U-865 (Oblt Dietrich Stellmacher) rescued the crew of an Arado Ar 196 during training in the Baltic Sea off Bornholm at 2014hrs on 7 January 1944.

1944-01-07, Erg.Küsten-Nahaufkl. und Bordfliegerstaffel, Ar 196 A-3, 1011, 6H+OM
Crash landing during tactical exercise at 1205hrs, loss 100%
Flugzeugführer Fw Heise, Arthur, survived
Beobachter Hptm Gallmann, Ernst, survived

[Rainer]

U-873 (Kptlt Friedrich Steinhoff) rescued one airman of a Blohm & Voss BV 138 from a rubber dinghy in M.Qu. AO 8432 (approx. 55°27'N, 16°45'E, about 50 nautical miles north of Stolpmünde) at 1055hrs on 23 May 1944. Also recovered were the bodies of the Flugzeugführer and the Bordmechaniker.

1944-05-23, 1./FlErgGr(See), BV 138 C-1, 0310139, 6H+LH
Crash landing due to engine fire on routine training flight south of Bornholm, loss 100%
Flugzeugführer Hptm Kopp, Joachim, +
Beobachter Ofhr Hagelstein, Hans, survived
Bordmechaniker Benders, Wilhelm, +
Bordfunker Gfr Pietzner, Heinz, +
Bordschütze Uffz Schmidt, Richard, +

This incident was already discussed in this forum: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=40358

[Rainer]

U-243 (Kptlt Hans Märtens) rescued one airman of a mistakenly shot down Junkers Ju 88 in M.Qu. AN 2911 (approx. 59°57'N, 04°12'E, about 90 nautical miles south-west of Bergen, Norway) at 0205hrs on 11 June 1944. Only a few minutes after the aircraft fired the correct recognition signals when passing the nearby U-1000 (Oblt Willi Müller) it directly flew over U-243 and was shot down when it failed to answer the recognition signals in time.

1944-06-11, ?, Ju 88, ? (possibly a Ju 88 D-1 of Wetterkette Südnorwegen resp. Wekusta 3)
Shot down in error by U-243, loss 100%
Bordfunker survived
Three unknown crewmen missing

This incident was already discussed in this forum: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=25869

[Rainer]

The details of all presently known cases where U-boats picked up Axis airmen are published in this thread now. Unfortunately it is not possible to update posts after 48 hours in this forum, but here is the updated list with link to the single entries:

1. 1939-09-12: U-13 rescued crew of a Dornier Do 18
2. 1940-03-29: U-30 rescued crew of a Dornier Do 18
3. 1940-04-26: U-17 rescued crew of a Dornier Do 18
4. 1940-06-06: U-47 rescued 3 airmen of a Dornier Do 18
5. 1941-05-22: U-564 rescued crew of a Junkers Ju 88
6. 1942-02-05: U-105 rescued crew of a Dornier Do 24
7. 1942-02-14: U-86 rescued 3 airmen of a Heinkel He 111
8. 1942-02-15: U-587 rescued 5 airmen of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200
9. 1942-02-15: U-331 rescued 5 airmen of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
10. 1942-06-15: U-431 rescued crew of a Do 24 and 3 airmen of a Ju 88
11. 1942-06-15: U-83 rescued crew of a Do 24 and pilot of a Bf 109
12. 1942-08-14: U-255 rescued crew of a Blohm & Voss BV 138
13. 1942-08-14: U-205 rescued 5 airmen of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
14. 1942-08-15: U-205 rescued 5 Italian airmen of a Cant
15. 1942-09-13: U-589 rescued crew of a Heinkel He 111
16. 1942-09-14: U-405 rescued crew of a He 115 and two airmen of a Ju 88
17. 1942-11-14: U-77 rescued 2 airmen of a Junkers Ju 88
18. 1943-01-25: U-405 rescued 2 airmen of a Heinkel He 59
19. 1943-03-25: U-341 rescued crew of an Arado Ar 196
20. 1943-07-28: U-489 rescued 3 airmen of a Blohm & Voss BV 138
21. 1943-08-20: U-601 rescued crew of a Blohm & Voss BV 138
22. 1943-08-24: U-340 rescued 5 airmen of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200
23. 1943-09-12: U-255 rescued crew of a Blohm & Voss BV 138
24. 1944-01-07: U-865 rescued crew of an Arado Ar 196
25. 1944-05-23: U-873 rescued 1 airman of a Blohm & Voss BV 138
26. 1944-06-11: U-243 rescued 1 airman of a Junkers Ju 88

A similar thread about Allied airmen rescued by German U-boats is in the Allied and Soviet Air Forces forum:
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=43737

Please let me know if you think that I have missed such an incident.

[RT]

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.

The same day 2 others He115 force-landed at sea in the same area, the crew were saved, do you know by who ??

Rémi

[RT]

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.


The three POWs and all but one of the crew of U-489 survived the sinking of the U-Boot and were picked up by RN ships. U-489s Chief Engineer Oblt. Mude was mortally injured setting off scuttling charges and died after being picked up

Rémi

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Rainer

I'm aware of two Do 18 crews of KüFlGr 106 rescued by Vorpostenboote:
1939-11-23, 2./KüFlGr 106, Do 18 G, V 851, M2+AK, crew rescued by V 804 and aircraft scuttled
1940-04-10, 2./KüFlGr 106, Do 18 G, V 854, M2+AK, crew rescued by V 806 and aircraft scuttled

Thanks Rainer! Now to figure out which one it is.

[Rainer]

Originally Posted by RT

The same day 2 others He115 force-landed at sea in the same area, the crew were saved, do you know by who ??
Rémi

1942-09-14, 1./KüFlGr 906, He 115 B, 2099, 8L+IH
Emergency landing at sea while returning from attack against convoy PQ-18 due to bad weather off the North Cape, crashed in P.Qu. 27 Ost 6250, loss 100%
Crew rescued by German seaplane tender KARL MEYER in M.Qu. AC7342 (approx. 71°21'N, 26°30'E, about 17 nautical miles north-east of the North Cape) on 15 September 1942.

1942-09-14, 1./KüFlGr 906, He 115 C-4, 3253, 8L+AH
Emergency landing at sea while returning from attack against convoy PQ-18 due to bad weather off the North Cape, crashed in Laksefjord, loss 100%
1942-09-15, 10. Seenotstaffel, Do 24 T-2, 0047, CM+IM
Aircraft tail broke off during rescue mission for crew of He 115 3253, aircraft was later towed to Tromsö and repaired, damage ?%
Both drifting aircraft were encountered in M.Qu. AC7376 (approx. 70°57'N, 26°50'E) by a German convoy en route from Tromsö to Kirkenes, consisting of the German steamer MARSTENEN escorted by the Vorpostenboote NORDKAP and POLARKREIS, at 0850hrs on 15 September 1942. The escorts reported the Heinkel being half submerged and found the crews of both aircraft aboard the Dornier, which was then towed to Kjöllefjord, arriving at 0937hrs.

[Adam]

1./906 aircraft were:

WNr 2099 = 8L+IH
WNr 3253 = 8L+AH