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Old 6th March 2017, 14:28
Paul Thompson Paul Thompson is offline
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Re: Did KG 26 hit the cruiser Molotov in 1942?

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Originally Posted by Andrey Kuznetsov View Post
According to the report, one He111 from II./KG26 (with bombs) was used as shadower, and 7 He111 as torpedo planes. So British radio intelligence had missed at least one aircraft (an in the Soviet after-action analysis it was missed too).

Torpedo hits weren't achieved "due to cruiser's skillful evasive manoeuvers". Bombing also hadn't visible results.

Lost 1T+JH fell in flames according to the report. So some German crew(s) saw the loss.
Hello Andrey,

I have been told that the quality of Selke copies may depend on the skill of the operator, which may account for some of the variability. Congratulations on finding the Tagesabschlussmeldung

Looking at the Bewegungsmeldung again, it distinguishes between the He 111 H-6 and He 111 H-6 LT fairly consistently. Given that 6./KG 26 was at Grosetto and probably was entirely equipped with the He 111 H-6 LT, it is reasonable to assume that the rest of II./KG 26 operated as a mixed level bomber and torpedo-bomber unit. It is noteworthy that the attack on the Molotov appears to mark the end of significant German torpedo-bomber operations in the Black Sea. Can you see in the documents whether II./KG 26 was ordered to change to a different tasking sometime in August? I am surprised that the Y-Service intercepted communications from almost all the German aircraft. Unless they had a secret listening post in Turkey, the nearest Y-Service installation could not have been closer than 1,000 kilometres away from the action. It is good that the Germans were using HF rather than VHF radios in their bombers!

The report of the attack is remarkably honest. It is overwhelmingly likely that an explosion of the torpedo warhead, with its 250 kg charge, and the consequent shearing off of the Molotov's stern, would have been noticed by the torpedo bomber crews. The shot down Heinkel may have been on fire and therefore easier to see, but it probably made less noise than the structural failure of the ship's stern. It is therefore highly probable that the Molotov was hit by a torpedo boat. It would indeed be interesting to see the time of the aircraft loss.

Warm regards,

Paul

Last edited by Paul Thompson; 6th March 2017 at 14:29. Reason: edited for clarity
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