8. Seenotstaffel
8. Seenotstaffel
(Unit Code: 1M+ - assigned Mar 44)
Formation. (Apr 41)
Formed April 1941 in North Germany (place of formation not yet determined), but this process was not completed until sometime in May. Equipped with He 59s.[1]
Black Sea. (Jun 41 - Aug 44)
9 Jun 41: arrived at Constanţa-Mamaia from Germany with 6 He 59s which were moored on nearby Lake Siutghiol. Assigned to Seenotzentrale (L) Schwarzes Meer (to June 1942), which in turn came under the tactical control of IV. Fliegerkorps.[2]
26 Jun 41: the Staffel’s He 59s rescued 41 Soviet sailors from the destroyer Moskva, which had been sunk by a Romanian mine while shelling Constanţa with other ships of the Black Sea Fleet.[3]
3 Jul 41: He 59E (DB+KB) crashed into the sea 20 km N of Constanţa, 100%, 3 KIA and 2 WIA. This was the Staffel’s first loss over the Black Sea.[4]
18 Jul 41: rescued 4 crew members from a Soviet MBR-2 seaplane shot down off Constanţa by III./JG 52.
10 Aug 41: He 59D (DA+ML) crashed in bad weather near Constanţa while returning from a flight to Varna, 100%, Lt. Kurt Spaltenholz + 3 KIA.
16 Aug 41: Staffel received its first Do 24 flying boat.[5]
19 Aug 41: rescued 4 air crew from a Ju 88 belonging to I./KG 51 that ditched in the Black Sea.
31 Aug 41: Staffel had 6 He 59s and 1 Do 24 assigned.[6]
2 Nov 41: He 59 (SD+WH) reported missing while en-route to Tendromoskaya to rescue the crew of a Ju 52 shot down by Soviet fighters, 100%, 4 MIA.
3 Nov 41: Do 24T (KK+UV) crashed while en-route from Lake Siutghiol to Constanţa to have its engines changed, 70%, 3 KIA.
29 Nov 41: all serviceable aircraft and crews were ordered to fly south to Varna/Bulgaria due to ice at Constanţa.[7]
Dec 41 – Mar 42: rescue operations slackened considerably with the eastward movement of the Front away from the western Black Sea area and the poor flying conditions brought on by the arrival of severe winter weather.
7 Jan 42: Ar 196 belonging to the Staffel broke loose from a crane hoist at Constanţa, 25%.
31 Mar 42: Staffel had 4 He 59s, 1 Do 24 and 1 W 34 assigned.
6 May 42: 2 He 59s transferred from Constanţa to Lake Sasyk near Saki/W Crimea to support forthcoming operations in eastern Crimea and then at Sevastopol.
May 42: as German offensive action began on 8 May, air-sea rescue missions thereafter increased dramatically.
24 May 42: He 59 (NE+TF) crashed into the sea near Constanţa-Mamaia after a wing came off during a test flight following an overhaul, 100%, 3 KIA.
1 Jun 42: Staffel’s main body at Constanţa with Kdos. (detachments) at Lake Sasyk, Taganrog and Ak-Mechet on the west coast of Crimea. Now under Seenotbereichkdo. XII (ex-Seenotzentrale (L) Schwarzes Meer).
10 Jun 42: a Kdo. from the Staffel ordered from Varna to Eupatoria/Crimea.[8]
15 Jun 42: Junkers W 34hi damaged by a storm at Palas, on the western outskirts of Constanţa, 25%.
9 Jul 42: Do 24 (CM+IG) destroyed in a night crash landing near Constanţa, 70%, 6 WIA.
31 Jul 42: Staffel had 6 Do 24s, 2 He 59s and 1 W 34 on strength.
1 Aug 42: transferred to Sevastopol/Crimea, leaving only a few planes behind in Constanţa.
3 Aug 42: Do 24 (CM+IQ) damaged by bomb splinters in Feodosiya harbor that were severe enough to require repairs at Constanţa.
16 Sep 42: Staffel had 1 Do 24 at Sevastopol, 4 Do 24s at Lake Ortasli/22 km SSW of Kerch and 2 He 59s at Constanţa.
3 Jan 43: He 59 (TH+HC) damaged its pontoons landing during a search-and-rescue mission in the Danube Estuary just off the Romanian coast and had to be towed back to Constanţa, 50%.
21 Jan 43: Do 24 (CM+IZ) struck a concrete breakwater at the entrance to Sevastopol harbor while returning from a night reconnaissance sortie, 50%.
1 Apr 43: Staffel had 2 Do 24s at Sevastopol, 4 Do 24s at Lake Ortasli, 1 Do 24 and 2 He 59s at Constanţa and 1 Do 24 at Varna.
13 Jun 43: Do 24 struck an obstacle while taking off (location not reported), 50%, 2 WIA.
20 Sep 43: the Staffel’s Stab was still at Sevastopol.
3 Nov 43: transferred from Sevastopol to Varna o/a this date following the German evacuation of the Taman Peninsula.[9]
13 Mar 44: 2 Do 24s (KO+SP, DJ+ZG) shot down by Soviet fighters between Sevastopol and Odessa in two separate attacks hours apart, both 100%, no survivors. One of these was flying a routine patrol, while the other one came along hours later to search for survivors.
31 Mar 44: 8. Seenotstaffel had 5 Do 24s on strength.
14 Apr 44: for the evacuation of Crimea, a provisional Sonderstaffel (a.k.a. Sonderstaffel Mamaia) was set up with Do 24s borrowed from Seenotstaffeln 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9. During the last two weeks of April, the Sonderstaffel flew 26 missions that evacuated 525 men and 10 tons of material from Sevastopol to Constanţa.
28 Apr 44: Do 24 (CM+IC) destroyed at Constanţa(?) as a result of an on-board short circuit that caused an electrical fire, 100%, 3 technical personnel injured.
8 May 44: Do 24 (1M+DZ) hit by bombs while moored at Chersones/10 km W of Sevastopol, 100%.
8/9 May 44: Do 24 shot down by a Russian fighter near Sevastopol and another was possibly lost nearby in an accident.[10]
9 Jun 44: Sonderstaffel disbanded and the Do 24s with crews returned to their respective units.
19 Aug 44: ordered renamed Seenotstaffel 40 of Seenotgruppe 40 this date at Varna, but the Russian invasion of Romania on this same date followed by Romania’s change of sides on 23 August prevented this from taking place as German forces evacuated Romania (by the end of August) and Bulgaria (by mid-September). Instead, the Staffel’s assets were flown south and incorporated into Seenotstaffel 70 in Greece.[11]
FpN:(L 40143)
Staffelkapitän:
Oblt. Fritz, Freiherr von Buchholz (c. Apr 41 - Nov 41)
Oblt. Walter Bestehorn (Nov 41 - May 42)
Maj. Hannibal Gude (Jun 42 - Jun 43)
Hptm. Hermann Hülsmann (Jun 43 - 19 Aug 44)
Also Mentioned: Hptm. (Kr.O.) Erich Drefahl (May 43).
© H.L. deZeng IV, 2024
References
- ↑ Dierich-VdL:283-97; J-L.Roba/C.Crãciunoiu-Seaplanes Over the Black Sea: German-Romanian Operations 1941-1944; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection, unpublished manuscript “Geschichte d. Seenotdienst 1939-45”; M.Holm-website ww2.dk.
- ↑ J-L.Roba-op cit; NARA WashDC: RG 242/T-405 roll 49, frame 140.
- ↑ J-L.Roba-op cit.
- ↑ BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); J-L.Roba-op cit.
- ↑ J-L.Roba-op cit.
- ↑ J-L.Roba-op cit.
- ↑ J-L.Roba-op cit. [Note: this work will not be cited again since it is the primary source for this history.]
- ↑ PRO London: AIR 40/1969.
- ↑ NARA WashDC: RG 242/T-311 roll 187; AFHRA Maxwell: decimal 512.619 British AirMin CSDIC P/W Interrogation Reports in microfilm rolls A5415-18, interrogation CSDIC/CMF A.446.
- ↑ F.Kurowski-Seekrieg aus der Luft: Die deutsche Seeluftwaffe im Zweiten Weltkrieg:259.
- ↑ D.Jung/B.Wenzel/A.Abendroth-Die Schiffe und Boote der deutschen Seeflieger 1912-1976:195; Dierich-op cit:294; W.Green-Warplanes:136.
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