Luftflotte 5 reports for 18 September 1942

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello,

I have some questions on the German air attacks against PQ 18 on 18 September 1942. I have the losses for both sides (a Ju 88 of KG 30 and a He 111 of KG 26 shot down, two other KG 26 He 111s damaged returned to base (one damaged beyond repair) vs the US merchant Kentucky sunk), and a good view of the Allied side both naval and in the air (a CAM Hurricane launched by the SS Empire Morn).

According to the Allied,
_ first attack was launched at 1020 hrs (0820 hrs in some naval report, but I guess it is UK time, or GMT, 1020 should be local time) by 9-12 (depending of the source) torpedo-bombers He 111s.
_ another torpedo attack was launched one hour later (so around 1120-1130 hrs), this time from both sides of the convoy. The Hurricane pilot was launched against this attack and reported 15 He 111s in one group and 10 in another.
_ starting around the time of the first attack (before according to the report of the Hurricane pilot) until 1230 hrs, Ju 88s attacked with bombs through the clouds at a height of some 2,500 feet.

I would like to compare this with German reports, telling how much aircraft and of which unit were sent to attack this convoy this morning. I don't know if such reports still exist, but some of the forum members have many data on this theater, so I hope the data will be available.

I checked the book "Achtung Torpedo Los" and this raid is described on page 158-159, but with few details (and unclear date in the text, but as it is the third attack by KG 26 against PQ 18 it should be this action).
An interesting part is that this book says III./KG 26 moved from Banak (his usual base) to Petsamo, 300 km more east, to be able to attack again the convoy. On the other hand, the British estimated that the convoy was out of range of German bombers on the 16th and so the escort carrier Avenger was detached to join convoy QP14. So this move could have caught the Allied by surprise, leaving only the CAM Hurricane and a weakened escort to defend the convoy.
But the surprising part is that both aircraft returning with damage have Fl Banak as the loss location. Petsamo was closer for damaged aircraft to land, so I wonder if this is correct.

Thanks in advance

[Laurent Rizzotti]

By the way, here is what is written in the War Diary of the German Naval Staff, Operations Division, September 1942, about air operations against PQ 18 (I have not copied information on U-boats):

13 September 1942
Beginning at 1600, the Air Commander, Lofoten Islands launched an attack on convoy PQ 18 with 28 He 111 torpedo planes, 20 Ju 88 's and 8 He 115 torpedo planes. The Air Commander, North dispatched an additional 18 torpedo planes and 17 bombers. The Air Force reported as definitely sunk today 9 merchant vessels totalling 61,000 GRT, as probably sunk 1 tanker and 5 merchant vessels with 48,000 GRT, as damaged 10 or 12 steamers with a total 90,000 GRT, conceding the possibility of duplications.

14 September 1942
The Air Commander, Lofoten Islands dispatched 36 torpedo planes and 18 bombers against convoy PQ 18 after 1530. The 5th Air Force reports today's result as 6 steamers and 1 tanker with a total of 49,000 GRT sunk, as well as 1 destroyer. In addition, 3 steamers of 21,000 GRT were damaged and a destroyer probably damaged. The aircraft carrier may have been hit by 3 aerial torpedoes; columns of water were observed. However, no confirmation of any damage has been received as yet. The convoy was last sighted at 1900 on a southerly course and consisted at that time of 28 merchant vessels.

15 September 1942
The Air Force had no particular success today either. The majority of the planes did not find the target due to bad weather. Direction finder equipment wes affected by strong aurora borealis and was partly not audible at all. The last location report after midnight counted approximately 30 merchant vessels, 1 carrier and 18 escort vessels.
The weather favors the enemy and saved him from suffering losses similar to those on 13 and 14 Sep.; it permitted the enemy to escape the range of our bombers without deviating very far north and to gain time by staying on his course

16 September 1942
Planes lost contact around noon, after having reported at 1120 that convoy PQ 18 consisted of approximately 31 merchant vessels, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 heavy cruiser, 13 destroyers and 8 escort vessels.
On account of bad weather the Air Force did not attack.

17 September 1942
Reconnaissance planes reported PQ 18 at 0950 In quadrant AT 7117 consisting of approximately 30 merchant vessels on a course of l00°, without the aircraft carrier which evidently had been shifted to convoy QP II4.. At 1551 submarine U "251" sighted 3 destroyers and ship-borne planes, probably belonging to the carrier, in quadrant AC 3568. Neither submarines nor aircraft were able to close In for attack on either convoy.

18 September 1942
Tne Air Force reported convoy PQ 18 at tne White Sea entrance at 1000. Tne 5th Air Force reported sinking 6 merchant vessels aggregating 46,000 GRT and 1 escort vessel; procably 6unk were a mercnant ships totalling 15,000 GRT. 5 merchant snips and 1 destroyer were damaged. Prior to tne attacks the oonvoy consisted of between 49 and 53 ships; following the attacks there re-air^ed 40 to 43 ships including escort and patrol vessels, about whicn detailed information could not be obtained due to bad weather.

19 September 1942
Air reconnaissance sighted convoy PQ 18 at 1530 at the northeastern entrance of Dvina Bay. It is expected to reach Archangel around 2230. Final reports about the number of ships still in the convoy have not yet been received, or have not yet been evaluated.
On the basis of reports from the 5th Air Force received by the Naval Staff between 13 and 19 Sep. 1942, the Air Force definitely sank 16 and probably 6 merchant vessels on 13 and 14. Sep., and sank 6 and probably 2 on l8 Sep. According to this a total of 26 merchant vessels were sunk definitely and 9 probably, out of the convoy which was estimated by the Air Commander, Lofoten Islands on 13 Sep. as consisting of 45 merchant vessels. However, on 17 Sep. convoy PQ 18 was repeatedly reported as proceeding in close formation consisting of 30 merchant vessels. It remains to be seen what the final report of the Air Force will be after a final check of its reported successes.

You will notice that the number of involved aicraft is given for the 13th and 14th, but not for the 18th.
Also note the critical eye of the Kriegsmarine on the Luftwaffe sinking claims. Well the latter seriously overclaimed on Sep 14 and 18.

[Larry deZeng]

Source says all of the He 115 operations were flown by 1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 406 and 1./Kü.Fl.Gr. 906. Aside from KG 26 and KG 30, there is no mention of other Luftwaffe units. Sortie numbers for 18 Sep 42 are not given. The Luftwaffe flew a total of 337 sorties against PQ 18 between 13 and 18 September.

[Source: Hafsten, Bjørn, Ulf Larsstuvold, Bjørn Olsen and Sten Stenersen. Flyalarm: Luftkrigen Over Norge 1939-1945. Oslo: Sem & Stenersen A/S, 1991. ISBN: 82-7046-058-3. Hb (oversize). Dj. 328p. Heavily illus. Maps. Tables. Pages 150-52.]

L.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Thanks Larry

The source listed in my second post shows only 110 sorties for 13-14 September, but I guess that many of the 337 sorties listed were search or shadowing flight, or attack missions that did not find targets.

The book you cite is out of print, but can you check if it had a list of sources and in this case, which primary Luftwaffe sources are listed.

[Larry deZeng]

Laurent,

There are no footnotes or end-of-chapter notes, but on the very last page of the book - page 328 - is the Forfatternes takk. This half-page just lists the 13 archives and museums used for primary source documents, including BA-MA Freiburg, IWM London, PRO London and NARA WashDC, and the 92 individuals who corresponded with the author and contributed material.

That's a shame because this is an historically valuable book, even with the language barrier (Norwegian). Some of our Norwegian members undoubtedly have more information, so hopefully one or more of them will step forward.

Larry