Highest Scoring German Pilot

[Christian W.]

Dont forget Hans-Ulrich Rudel. He destroyed around 150 various artillery pieces, 519 tanks, around 1000 various vehicles 70 landing crafts, Destroyer, Battleship Marat and 2 Cruisers. He didnt do that many aircraft kills though, as he only shot down about 15 aircraft. He became a knowed man for Russians though, as he had done a large damage to the Red Army. Stalin himself put a price of 100.000 rubles on his head.

[Victor]

and by the way the Luftwaffe had more air aces than any other nationality

I think that depends on what you consider an ace: 5 kill pilot or 10 kill pilot. The USAAF had over 1250 pilots with >=5 kills, IIRC

[mars]

Dont forget Hans-Ulrich Rudel. He destroyed around 150 various artillery pieces, 519 tanks, around 1000 various vehicles 70 landing crafts, Destroyer, Battleship Marat and 2 Cruisers. He didnt do that many aircraft kills though, as he only shot down about 15 aircraft. He became a knowed man for Russians though, as he had done a large damage to the Red Army. Stalin himself put a price of 100.000 rubles on his head.

Again, Battleship Marat was not sunk, she was only heavliy damaged by German Stukas, and Rudel was only one of the 3 German Stuka pilots who hit Marat that day ! All of other Rudel's warship claim could not be confirmed by Russian Navy's losses

[Michate]

Again, Battleship Marat was not sunk, she was only heavliy damaged by German Stukas, and Rudel was only one of the 3 German Stuka pilots who hit Marat that day ! All of other Rudel's warship claim could not be confirmed by Russian Navy's losses

Hm, am I correct that the main reason Marat was not sunk was simply that the water was not deep enough so she was on ground before she was completely below the water level?

As generally to Rudel, his success claims must have been considerably inflated and off the mark.

Nevertheless more than 2,500 flights and continuing to fly shortly after the loss of a leg is a considerable acheivement in itself.

Best regards,
Michael

[Christian W.]

Marat was broken in half by Rudels 1000kg bomb that hit the ships ammuniton store. So you could say that she " sunk " but didnt sunk completly, and the ship was damanged really badly. This is what Rudels rear gunner Scharnovski said over the intercom, " We've got her ... you must have hit her ammunition store...She is blowing up! "

[mars]

Christian, Marat did not "broken in half", instead, she was repaired and returned to action, and only was scrapped after the WWII
Michate, the water level was very shallow there, so that it was easy for a warship "touch the botton", we could never know if Marat could be save if she was hit in the open sea. But another point was Marat was already heavlily damaged few days before this StG2's assault, and could not sail to the open sea anyway.

[Christian W.]

It said so on my source...but anyway...the ship was damaged wery badly..

[TAG]

one of the best german nightfighter pilots was Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer with 121 Victories.
for the complete history check out the link(in german and english):

http://www.pilotenbunker.de/Nachtjaeger ... lfgang.htm

gruß aus Deutschland
TAG

[Jeremy Chan]

Werner Mölders was the first "ACE" ever to gain 100 kills. He was killed in a He 111 crash in the east during Barbarossa campaign.

Actually Topspeed, a fighter "ace" by international standards is one who has scored over 5 kills.
If you're going to mention Rudel, the highest scoring night-fighter ace was Major und Geschwaderkommodore Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer, with 121 kills and the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds to his credit. He unfortunately died in a stupid car accident in 1950.

[Topspeed]

Actually Topspeed, a fighter "ace" by international standards is one who has scored over 5 kills.

Did I ever mention anything diffrerent ? Mölders was the first ace to ever score 100 kills. Word ace was discovered by french. Germans used the term expert.

rgrds,

Juke

[Shc]

Speaking of Hans Ulrich Rudel

When did he die??
Does he have a memoir??

What happened to his "Knight's Cross with Golden Oakleaves,
Swords and Diamonds " ??

Just wondering..

[Cammin1]

Speaking of Hans Ulrich Rudel

When did he die??
Does he have a memoir??

What happened to his "Knight's Cross with Golden Oakleaves,
Swords and Diamonds " ??

Just wondering..

He died in the 70's I think and yes their are a few books on him. "Stuka Ace" is the most popular and a good read. He was shot down ALOT, ALOT, and evaded capture twice I think . Flew with a prosteic leg too after one of his got shot off. Hartmann also evaded capture once or twice and after the war did ten years in a gulag, got out and re-joined the german airforce. Another note on Hartmann, he went goofy and was institionalised for awhile in the middle of the war.

IMO the best "ACE" was Hans Jocaihm Marsaille, I think he had 152 or so kills but they were in a VERY short period of time. All The other high scoring aces had alot of respect for his flying ability. Glunz was also very good in my mind, about 70 kills and never lost a plane or was injured and most of his kills were during BoB/western front so it's nearly given all claims were accurate.

[Topspeed]

Another note on Hartmann, he went goofy and was institionalised for awhile in the middle of the war.

What happened ? He started scoring only after 1942..after the treatments ?

rgds,

Juke

[Rauli]

And let us not forget bomber- and jabopilots, but I have to say Rudel was in his own class. 2500 combat sorties is simply amazing amount. Hannu Valtonen (yes, again the same person ) said in a preface of the Rudel´s memoirs that there was something "manic" in the Rudel´s flight career. Well, Rudel was shot down 32 times - another world record.

Schnaufer was also another unbelievable pilot. The Epic mission that he made in November 1943. Cloud ceiling was down to 30 meters and it was pitch dark still he brought his plane back to base without any ILS-landing help. And Schnaufer´s crew - Rumpelhardt, excellent radio-operator and Gänsler, backgunner with exceptional night vision. Probably most highly decorated flight crew in the Luftwaffe, three knight´s cross holders in the same aircraft.

Best regards,

Rauli

[Cammin1]

On 25 May 1943, when Hartmann was downed for the fifth time - this time when he was rammed by or collided with a LaGG-3 - he suffered a nervous breakdown, and was sent back to Germany to rest. Back home his father told him that he was convinced that Germany had no chance to win the war. Hartmann returned to the Eastern Front in June 1943 determined to prove that his father was wrong.

It was now that Hartmann's rise to success started. He had learned the lessons that he had been taught by Grislawski and Rossmann, and after 180 combat missions was able to master the Bf 109 magnificently. The Soviet novice pilots, who still suffered from shortened training schemes, stood no chance at all against Erich Hartmann. This was proved on the first day of the German Panzer attack at Kursk, on 5 July 1943. Erich Hartmann participated in four missions, and returned from each with a victory. Two days later, he bagged seven in four different engagements. On the last day of July, Hartmann's victory tally had reached 41.

The next three weeks, Erich Hartmann's name would become famous throughout and beyond JG 52. Between 1 and 20 August 1943, he carried out 54 combat sorties and shot down 49 Soviet aircraft. This remarkable victory row ended on August 20, when he was downed himself twice. On the second occasion, he went down in Soviet-held territory, and was captured, but managed to escape and made it back to his own lines.

From here http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/hartm/hartm1.htm

Maybe I went over board with the "institution", I'll look around for more.