ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 188946
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| Date: | Sunday 9 February 1941 |
| Time: | c. 19:00 LT |
| Type: | Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-1 Condor |
| Owner/operator: | 2./KG 40 Luftwaffe |
| Registration: | 003 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Moura -
 Portugal
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
The convoy HG 53 departed Gibraltar at 1400 hrs on 6 February 1941, bound for Liverpool with 19 merchant ships escorted by the sloop HMS Deptford and the destroyer HMS Velox.
At 04:40 hrs on 9 February 1941, the Convoy was attacked by U-37 in 35° 53’ N 13° 13’ W, and the British merchantmen Estrellano, on a voyage from Leixoes to Liverpool with 2000 tons of general cargo, including 1110 tons of canned fish, and Courland, on a voyage from Lisbon to London with 1395 tons of general cargo, were sunk. Five crew of the Estrellano and 3 of the Courland died (a sixth crew of the former died later on Deptford). A search by starshell and A/S by both escorts failed to locate the culprit. S.S. Brandenburg gallantly stopped at once to pick up the 27 survivors of Courland, without a thought of her own danger. Survivors from Estrellano were picked up by Deptford following the A/S search, and enemy report was signalled.
The U-boat captain reported the sighting, which was relayed to KG 40 in Bordeaux. Rather than sending one or two Condors as usual, KG 40 launched its first mass attack against the convoy with five Condors, led by Hptm Fritz Fliegel. They found the convoy 400 miles southwest of Lisbon around 1600 hrs, by 35° 54’ N 14° 41’ W. The British counted six 4-engined aircraft that made a low level bombing attack. One Condor quickly scored hits on the 2,490-ton steamer Britannic, on a voyage from Almeria for Barrow with 3300 tons of iron ore, which sank in minutes, 1 on his 37 crew being killed. As the Condors began another run, the convoy opened fire with every available gun and one Fw 200 was damaged. It was claimed jointly by the HMS Deptford and the Hotchkiss guns of the merchant ship Vanellus.
Their victim was the Fw 200 C-1 WNr 003 of 2./KG 40, that managed to complete his bombing run but later force-landed around 1900 hrs near Moura, in Portugal, due to the loss of fuel. The crew abandoned and burned the aircraft after they landed. In the wreckage of the plane the Portuguese authorities found some bullet holes suggesting the participation in some kind of combat. The crew was captured in the next day in a farm near Moura and they stayed there waiting for orders. They disappeared in the morning of 21 February 1941. They probably escaped to Spain with the help of German nationals living in the border area.
Crew (all unhurt):
Uffz Reier
Ofw Erich Adam
Oblt Grasgeber
Ofw Gropp
Uffz Hecht
Uffz Pluntke
Neverthelss, the four remaining Condors flown by four experienced pilots, Fliegel, Bucholz, Jope and Schlosser, hit four more steamers. Two sank soon afterwards: the Jura, on a voyage from Huelva for Aberdeen with about 2800 tons of pyrites, had a crew of 23 and 2 gunners - 15 crew and the 2 gunners died, and the Norwegian Tejo, which was hit by two bombs, 4 of her 15 crew being killed. Another, the Dagmar I, on a voyage from Malaga for Clyde with 1100 tons of oranges and oxide, which acted as the Commodore’s ship, was stopped and abandoned. She had a crew of 26 and 4 gunners - 4 crew and 1 gunner died. Tugs sent to search her later failed to locate this vessel, which was presumed sunk. The fourth ship, the Varna, was hit amongst the pit props, but reported she could carry on. She finally sank six days later.
Sources:
http://www.landinportugal.org/air_pages/a01_copy%2866%29.htm
http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hg53page2.html
http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/tejo.html
"Osprey Duel 25: Fw 200 Condor vs Atlantic Convoy 1941-1943", by Robert Forczyk. ISBN 978-1-84603-917-1
http://www.santafe.gov.ar/hemerotecadigital/diario/19125/
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moura
http://www.maplandia.com/portugal/alentejo/baixo-alentejo/moura/moura/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Jul-2016 20:01 | TB | Added |
| 17-Feb-2017 17:27 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Dec-2019 21:27 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator] |
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