another successful torpedo strike.
Supported by other units, 3/KüFlGr
506 hit convoy HX 65A off Kinnaird
Head, Fraserburgh, Scotland, sinking
the Remuera and the Cape York. On
September 11, the unit was credited
with damaging a third vessel.
Bergmann was shot down and
captured on September 16 and his
place at 3/KüFlGr 506 was taken by
Hptm Franz Dyrchs. He led four
He 115s at 19:40hrs on October 20
against a convoy off Aberdeen. He
claimed to have sunk three freighters,
but British sources only acknowledge
that the 4,900-ton Conakrian, part of
Convoy OA 232, had been damaged.
In the early hours of the 25th,Hptm Josef Sched of 3/KüFlGr 506
carried out a surprise attack on a
destroyer in the Humber Estuary,
with probable hits – although there
is nothing from the British side to
substantiate this.
The last reported victory of
1940 by a He 115 was the sinking
of an 8,000-ton ship between
Scarborough, Yorkshire, and the
Scottish coast, by Oberleutnant zur
See (Oblt zS) Rembert van Delden of
1/KüFlGr 506 on November 18.
The Luftwaffe recorded that
between October 1 and November
19, 1940 there had been 48 torpedo
attacks. It optimistically claimed that
15 of these were successful and that
97,000 tons of shipping had been
sunk.
This marked the zenith of the
He 115’s operations, although it
continued in this role for another two
years. Newer aircraft, more suited to
purpose, were entering service.CHANNEL ‘OPS’
Towards the end of July 1940,
Hptm Dr Roman Auernig’s 1
Staffel of Kampfgruppe 126“Hptm Franz Dyrchs led four He 115s at
19:40hrs on October 20 against a convoyoff Aberdeen. He claimed to have sunk three
freighters”
Hptm Josef Sched of 3/KüFlGr 506
carried out a surprise attack on aLeft
Propaganda artwork of a
He 115 attacking a convoy.Above
Pre-war photo showing
Heinkel He 59s of KüFlGr
106 (left) and He 60s of
KüFlGr 506.Below left
Loading a torpedo into a
He 115 of 3/KüFlGr 506.February 2018 FLYPAST 85