LG 1 in action 11 May 1942

[sergey]

Colleagues,
I ask you to help me establish the details of the battle on 11 May 1942 in the Mediterranean, when the Ju-88 LG 1 sunk three British destroyers.
Different sources indicate different times of attacks and different numbers of German aircraft participating in them, and apart from J. Helbig, who sank the destroyer Kipling, the authors of the hits on two other British destroyers are not known. It is also not known to which squadron the Beaufighters belonged, so unsuccessfully defending their ships.
I would be grateful for any help.

Sergey.

[Peter T]

The others were Oblt. Iro Ilk, Oblt. Gerhard Brenner and Oblt. Gerhard Backhaus. IMO it's not know who hit which ship.

Peter

[sergey]

This is a very confusing story, especially about the sinking of the destroyer Lively.
It is believed that he was sunk by a Ju-88 bomber during the first I. / LG 1 attack, but the author of the attack is not identified. There is also information that the Englishmen at that time were attacked not by the Ju-88, but by the Italian Br.20 or CANT 1007bis from Libya.
The loss of the British destroyers Lively, Kipling and Jackal on 11 May 1942 – the first was sunk by the FIAT BR.20 bombers of the 35° Stormo ...
https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=Jv … mp;f=false
In addition, there is information that the second attack of the Ju-88, commanded by captain Kolleve, simply did not take place, since his planes did not find the target.
I would like to find out the veracity of these statements.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by sergey

I would like to find out the veracity of these statements.

It may be worth downloading National Archives file DEFE 3/755, German signals deciphered between 5 and 19 May 1942. See the attached items for example.

You might find more detailed versions of these messages in HW 5/90 but you'd need to visit the National Archives to see that file, it's not digitised.

[sergey]

Thank you. I will process this information. In the meantime, I'll post another version of the battle on 11 May 1942.

At 16.34 8 Ju-88 of I/LG 1 struck, each armed with two 250-kg bombs. Engagement lasted f quarter hour after which germans returned, appreciating correctly that all their bombs had missed. A few minutes later, a hundred miles northeast of Tobruk, six Cant 1007 bis bombers of 35° Stormo from Barce attacked from out ot the sun, benefiting from fact that British formation was scattered as a result of just concluded attack. They dropped their bombs unseen from high altitude. One stick of twelve 100 kg bombs straddled Lively. She tooka direct hit on B gun deck just abaft gun that exploded at a lower deck level and several near misses occurred abreast A mounting. Vessel immediately settled by bow listing heavily to starboard. A heavy explosion occurred forward and ship sank stern first within three and a half minutes. 77 of ships company were killed or missing. They never knew what hit them. RAF escort, formed by a pair of just arrived Beaufighters, could not reach three-engined italian aircraft at 8000 meters, moreover, with their bombs away and with tanks half empty. At 17.09 another German strike by 9 Ju-88 dive bombers combined with 4 high level He-111 of II./LG 1 arrived overhead. Ordeal of destroyers lasted until 17.33, but three ships came through unscathed. Air escort, now 4 Beaufighters, continued to be ineffective. At dusk I./LG1 attacked again with 10 Ju-88.This time dives were held until 500 meters from target and Kipling sustained one direct hit in aft engine room. She flooded immediately and within 10 minutes ship sank by stern. Another bomb penetrated Jakal, despite 30 knots she was making during attack, passing through upper deck over aft boiler room before exploding beneath keel. She lost all steam and electrical power. Nearly 9 hours later Jervis scuttled Jakel with a torpedo before returning to Alexandria crowded by.
https://ru.calameo.com/read/000796297a8346931da74

[sergey]

The above looks very plausible, but there is information that the 35 ° Stormo was not in Libya at that time!
https://comandosupremo.com/regia-aer...h-africa-1942/

[AndreasB]

I would read that to mean that 35 Stormo arrived after 1 May, so they could have been operating out of Barce on 11 May.


All the best


Andreas

[sergey]

OOB Regia Aeronautica in North Africa Arriving After May 1942
35° Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre (BT)
But it says here not "after May 1, 1942", but simply "after May 1942"!

[AndreasB]

My point is that this is so imprecise as to be unhelpful. Shores et al in MAW Vol. II have 86 gruppo (which belonged to 35 Stormo) in North Africa from 2 May 1942 at least, with references to CANT 1007s of 190, 191 Squadriglia and 86 Gruppo operating.

35 Stormo was also named as an anti-shipping bombing wing, though no idea what that meant in terms of training etc.

All the best

Andreas

[sergey]

Thank you. This information is very helpful. I'm taking her to work.
Then you need to know if any of the pilots who attacked at about 16:30 stated that they had hit the destroyer. The British claim that Lively was struck from a dive by the Ju-88,
http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/HMSLivelyBook/HMS_LIVELY_BOOK.htm
and the Beaufighter pilots recorded it as possibly shot down
(A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2, page 208)