tted with Jumo 205 C and then Jumo 205
D engines which helped negate the weight
increase. The type was re-designated
- the BV 138 B-01, the rst of ten being
trialled at the end of 1939. However, yet
again problems arose with Junkers falling
behind with production of the Jumo 205 D.
Therefore, the BV 138 A-1 was modi ed as
best it could be to the B-01 standard and the
aircraft rushed into service, the rst test ight
being own at the end of March 1940.SERVICE ENTRY
Aircraft were then sent to the
Erprobungsstelle (Test Unit) at Travemünde,
after which two A-1s and their crews wereassigned to 9 Staffel of the mixed-seaplane
unit Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen
Verwendung 108 (See) (9./KGzbV 108) in
time for the invasion of Denmark and Norway
that began on April 8, 1940. Just ve
days later, BV 138 A-03 (the fth prototype)
commanded by Leutnant Hugo Dobberthien
suffered severe ak damage from a British
destroyer over Trondheim. Then the second
production A-1, Werk Nummer 368, suffered
a similar fate on May 16, 1940 and ditched
into Ranfjord at Alterbukta, where its port
wing hit the water and it ipped over and
then sank. Its pilot, Unteroffizier Helmut
Schuster, together with Obergefreiter
Richard Rosenfeld and Unteroffizier Stauss,
were captured, but Flieger Bruno Dreyer
was killed. It should be noted that initially,
crews were four in number, which increased
to ve and ultimately six (nose gunner, pilot,
observer, radio operator, ight engineer/
gunner and a rear gunner) as the aircraft
was further developed.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 33
Above: The second prototype BV 138,
D-AMOR, featured several changes from
the rst example, including the wings being
repositioned from the middle to the top of
the fuselage. All photos via Chris Goss
Main photo: This example, BV 138 C-1,
7R+PL, of 3 Staffel/Aufklärungsgruppe 125
(See), operated from Constanza and Varna
in the Black Sea.
Bottom: A BV 138 C-1 from 2 Staffel/
Seeauklärungsgruppe 130 rendezvousing
with a U-boat in the Arctic Sea in 1943.