WORLD WAR TWO LUFTWAFFE
84 FLYPAST February 2018
A
s the Luftwaffe entered World
War Two, it had a formidable
array of aircraft and weaponry
at its disposal. There was one area in
which it had a very limited capability- air-launched torpedoes. The only
type available was the aged, slow and
vulnerable Heinkel He 59 biplane
floatplane, dating from 1931, which
had achieved little in the Spanish
Civil War.
By October 1939, only three He
59 units had the ability to drop
the F5 torpedo, which was in short
supply and unreliable. Production
of the F5 had been stopped so that
improvements could be
made. By the end of the year,
there had only been one
sinking, the 185-ton steamer
Active on December 18 off
the coast of Scotland.
There was also a ‘turf
war’ between the
Luftwaffe
and the Kriegsmarine (German
Navy) about primacy over maritime
operations. This was an argument
eventually won by the air force.
At the start of 1940, the He
115 floatplane was at last cleared
for torpedo missions. This twin-
engined monoplane had first flown
in August 1937. Additionally,
the Luftwaffe began to fit the He
111H-4 with torpedo-dropping
equipment, but demands on its
primary role as a bomber prevented
anti-shipping operations for almost
another year. For most of 1940,
it fell to the He 115 to conduct
torpedo attacks, in addition to its
reconnaissance and bombing roles.EARLY OPS
The main unit for initial torpedo
offensives in 1940
was 3 Staffel ofKüstenfliegergruppe 506 (3/KüFlGr
506) commanded by Hauptmann
(Hptm) Ernst-Wilhelm Bergmann.
This was joined by Hptm Friedrich
Franz von Schröter’s 1/KüFlGr 106
later in the Battle of Britain.
It was not until August 26, 1940
that the Luftwaffe at last recordedRaiders
Chris Goss reflects on the
early years of Luftwaffe
torpedo-bomber operationsKüstenfliegergruppe 506 (3/KüFlGr
506) commanded by HauptmannRight
Knights Cross holder
Major Robert Kowalewski
of KG 26.Below
The H-4 was the fi rst
He 111 variant to carry
torpedoes. This is
believed to have been
taken at Grossenbrode on
the Baltic coast.