ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 192745
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| Date: | Thursday 11 January 1945 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Heinkel He 115B/C |
| Owner/operator: | SKdo He 115 Luftwaffe |
| Registration: | 2251 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bodensee near Friedrichshafen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Saint-Nazaire |
| Friedrichshafen |
In 1944, when the German troops retreated from France, strong garrisons were kept in the main French ports declared as Festungen (fortresses) by Adolf Hitler in January 1944. Their purpose was to prevent the Allies from re-supplying their armies. Between June and September, the Allied forces took several of these ports: Cherbourg, Saint-Malo, Le Havre, Brest, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais. But the cost was heavy and it was then decide to only besiege the remainings pockets: Dunkerque, the Channel Islands, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle, and both banks of the Gironde River (Royan and "Pointe de Grave").
The He 111s of Transportfliegergruppe 30 were used to supply these places, flying men, mail and critical supplies at night, but suffered heavy losses: 6 in September, 14 in October, and 19 in November and December.
In October or November 1944 a special unit called Seekommando He 115 was set up at Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) with volunteer aircrew and obsolete He 115s, most of which were provided by Fl.Erg.Gr. (See) at Kamp after it was disbanded. Intended as a Staffel, it was never formalized and remained a provisional collection of aircrew and aircraft. Its mission was to fly supply and liaison missions from Friedrichshafen to the Atlantic fortresses at night, but evidence suggests that only a few of these were ever flown due to the critical shortage of fuel and the high probability of being intercepted by Allied night fighters. The He 115 had also a limited cargo and low performances. The Seekommando was disbanded in February 1945. At least two He 115s were lost by this unit.
The last known loss was on 11 January 1945 when the He 115B/C WNr 2251 crashed in bad weather while landing on the Bodensee near Friedrichshafen in South Germany. It was returning from Saint-Nazaire when it ran into a sudden snowstorm. It was a 100% loss. The pilot, Ofw. Werner Kämpf (of Fl.Erg.Gr. (See)), was injured and the plane commander and observer, Oblt. Heinz Phillipp (of Erg.KG1), was killed. The radio, Fw. Herbert Czingon, was unhurt.
Sources:
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=30891
"Les Hydravions de la Luftwaffe, volume 2", by Jean-Louis Roba and Hans-Werner Neulen. ISBN 978-2-914017-55-8
https://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/luftwaffenfahrzeuge/luftwaffen_fahrzeuge_seeflugzeuge/ausgabe.php?flugtyp=%25&where_value=1029
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poches_de_r%C3%A9sistance_allemandes_sur_le_littoral_ouest-europ%C3%A9en
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=276726&page=5
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrichshafen
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/baden-wurttemberg/tubingen/bodenseekreis/friedrichshafen/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jan-2017 13:32 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 17-Dec-2019 22:28 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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