Luftwaffe Air-Sea Rescue in upper North Sea area

Thanks for all the replies.

The North Sea would be exceptionally cold at the beginning of March ( and most if not all of the year in fact) so hypothermia would set in extremely quickly. I would also think that the seas would be fairly choppy at that time of year.
What sort of wave height could those floatplanes and flying boats cope with as a matter of interest?

Thank you.

I was aware of the gloriously anarchic looking Heinkel 59. But I have no idea if it was used that far north. The Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine had other types that could have been used for ASW that never made it to the western Scandanvian coast as far as I am aware.

Others like the Dornier Do26 and Blohm & Voss Bv222 I thought were just too big and/or few in number. Were they used for ASW operations too? Sunderlands rescued downed sailors and aircrew, so why not them?

Its only recently that I have taken more of an interest in the operations of aircraft rather then just the planes themselves.

Interesting good, detailed seaplane list – but misses the one that matters, the Heinkel He 59, the Luftwaffe’s dedicated ASR aircraft of the time.

And (legitimately, if uncomfortably) declared a target and shot down by the RAF despite red crosses and white paint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YYjw0QK0wE

On the other hand, i don’t know if any He 59s were based far enough north to be involved in a potential rescue as the thread starts with.

Regards,

#6 Thanks for the imfo Hornchurch

I guess chances of aircrew survival were slight. Most of our exercises were done over the North Sea, when we were given dinghy drill we were told that we had 15 seconds to get into our little one man dinghies before we became too numb to do anything.

According to an early edition of Aviation Archaeologist (from about 1975) the engine which was with the Strathallen collection was recovered from the Moray Firth by the Aberdeen British Sub Aqua Club and was attributed to He111 3774.

As well as the already mentioned seaplanes used for ASR, were any KM E-Boats used in ASR roles, they would seem an obvious choice given their speed and range, if only as an addition to their primary task.

‘ Yeah, those things that many nicknamed ‘Lobster-Pots’

Thanks for the link – didn’t know about these. Fantastic idea.

Thanks for the clipping MothMinor. I am left wondering what happened to teh heinkel engine after Strathallen closed.

As it was actually only on loan I suspect it returned to the “Glasgow based aeronautical group”. I would think this was the Scotland West Aircraft Investigation Group. I can’t find any current reference to them so the group may no longer exist.
I’m sure they had links to Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum so possibly the engine ended up there – hopefully somebody can confirm or deny that.

A quick google before I posted the thread had led me to believe that seaplanes were based at both Stavanger and Bergen but not what types.

Some where in the back of my mind didn’t the Germans have some sort of enclosed survival rafts in the North Sea?

‘

Yeah, those things that many nicknamed ‘Lobster-Pots’

Arguably the most well remembered film-footage (& scenario) would be that from the famous British wartime film….

“One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing” ~ (centered around the downed crew of a Vickers Wellington)

(spoiler alert, below !)

The tail-end of the film sees the intrepid crew rowing like ***k out of a small Dutch port, eventually reaching one of these tethered shelters.
(BTW, the film has been shown on British T.V. numerous times over the last 3-4 years alone !).

It’s bugging me now, as about 3 years ago, I saved a brilliant Flickr link to a page of numerous B&W shots of these wartime shelters.

Anyhow, a quick Google-surf after reading your post, threw up THIS link (below) as an example….

http://www.pillbox.org.uk/pillblogs/detail.asp?ID=352

Thanks for the clipping MothMinor. I am left wondering what happened to teh heinkel engine after Strathallen closed.

I feel my list does need some clarification on a few points:

It is a lost of aircraft that could and did pick up downed aircrew.

I am confident all saw service in Scandavian coast. I might be wrong.

I don’t know what units were attached to bases in that region bases and when. And what they flew.

And a thought recently came to mind: All the types I listed were seapales and float planes. I don’t know if Stavanger and Bergen had facilities to to house them.

Some where in the back of my mind didn’t the Germans have some sort of enclosed survival rafts in the North Sea?

Thanks Supermarine. You’re absolutely right about it being the right choice to turn back – I’ve added the newspaper cuttings from the ’77 visit which tell the story.
Apologies for the old tape marks!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]228898[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]228899[/ATTACH]

I would say the following would be likely. Though no doubt someone more knowledgable would be able to add and delete some types and maybe give some more operational detail.

Dornier Do 18. Range 2175 miles (phased out in 1941)

Dornier Do 24. Range 1678 miles

Heinkel He 115. Range of 1305 miles.

Blohm & Voss Bv 138. Range of 2670 miles.

Arado Ar 196. Range of 670 miles.

* Figures are from Wikipedia. Distances are in standard miles. I would asseme none are in nautical miles.

Even if the Luftwaffe were able to field a whole flotilla of aircraft the downed airmen would have had a pitiful chance of survival in the North Sea. Even with our 70 year headstart in technology it took a week to find the Cheeki Rifiki with a visual seach (though that was a larger area).
It was a very pragmatic choice to ditch in enemy waters with at least a chance of being picked up.