attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

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Hamburg44
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attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#1

Post by Hamburg44 » 10 Feb 2022, 17:31

recenly I red a book of a german pilot-officer, who was often involved in bombing and mining shipping targets on the volga in 1942 and 1943.

He claimed some hits on oil-barges.

Did these attacks really have some success on the volga shipping and was therefore any trouble for supplying RKKA forces?

Hamburg 44

Art
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#2

Post by Art » 12 Feb 2022, 19:16

Hamburg44 wrote:
10 Feb 2022, 17:31
Did these attacks really have some success on the volga shipping
Yes, they had:
"Transport fleet on the Volga River during the Stalingrad defense operation lost 126 vessels (of them 41 oil tankers) with a net displacement of 247 645 tons. Characteristically, the bulk of these losses (71 vessels) happened during the first days of intensive hostile aerial bombardement on 25 July - 1 August [1942], when not all ships were escorted by vessels of the [Volga] Flotilla, and on 23 August when the enemy launched massed aerial attacks on Stalingrad."


Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#3

Post by Hamburg44 » 13 Feb 2022, 20:15

Hi Art,

much thanks for your quick response, but perhaps you made a decimal mistake, 247.645 tons netdisplacement means about 2.000 tons every vessel.

That´s very much tonnage for river-vessels and achieves in a short period of time nearly 50% of all soviet high-sea-merchant-fleet losses of ww2.

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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#4

Post by Art » 14 Feb 2022, 07:34

But these are exact numbers from the book ("Volga Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War").
Net displacement of Soviet river barges and other towed vessels prior to the war was about 6 million tons. It guess, the bulk of them operated in the Volga-Caspian region. The number of losses includes these vessels.

Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#5

Post by Hamburg44 » 14 Feb 2022, 22:12

Thanks a lot,

is this book online available?

Art
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#6

Post by Art » 14 Feb 2022, 22:39


Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#7

Post by Hamburg44 » 22 Feb 2022, 16:33

thanks,
very interesting material,
Is a list or a book with names and dates of the sunken ships aavilable?

lupodimare89
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#8

Post by lupodimare89 » 18 Jun 2022, 07:52

Greetings, i am quite interested to a related subject: during your reading/researching you come across mentions of German aircrafts shot down by riverine craft air-defense?

The book mentioned make some claims for 27/29 August and then later August/November 1942 but i've not yet checked the (partial) database of Luftwaffe losses.

I only know of a couple of significant episodes (a He-111 missing on Caspian Sea on 31/Oct/42) and a more "famous" case on 20 June 1943 (another He-111 with crew captured)

Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#9

Post by Hamburg44 » 23 Jun 2022, 19:51

Hi Lupo,

have some losses of KG 55
30.07. 42 He 111 FF Uffz Walter John and 4 crew +

Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#10

Post by Hamburg44 » 28 Jun 2022, 17:56

and some more:

He 111 WN 7429, H 6 , 3.KG 100 caspian sea, 5 crew missing

Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#11

Post by Hamburg44 » 28 Jun 2022, 17:57

date 21.10.42

Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#12

Post by Hamburg44 » 28 Jun 2022, 17:59

perhaps Igor knows some more losses of german aircrafts lost and perhaps some more ships sunk

lupodimare89
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#13

Post by lupodimare89 » 03 Jul 2022, 09:37

Thanks! Are you sure of 7429 being on 21.10? Because i have noted as missing between 31.Oct/1 Nov.
(from airwar.ru the only online database of Luftwaffe losses i found, sadly uncomplete http://www.airwar.ru/history/av2ww/axis ... 10-42.html )
That loss if occurred betwen Oct/Nov could match with a claim of sub.chaser Minyor

Also do you have more info of:
30.07. 42 He 111 FF Uffz Walter John and 4 crew +
Maybe serial number? I failed to find the pilot's name online,
Closest interesting match i foud was a couple of claims by BK-22 a gunboat of 1124type but with altered aa armamant (technically on 27 and 29.07)

Hamburg44
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Re: attacks on the volga-shipping 1942 -1942

#14

Post by Hamburg44 » 07 Jul 2022, 18:25

your welcome, my sources and dates are chronicles of KG 100 and KG 55. I will
look if I find some primary sources.

Additionally I have found much ship-losses on the volga. It was an brutal massacre!
(source Volga Flotilla in the Great Patriotic War):

25.07.42 "Smolensk" (capitän - A. K. Marfin),mine, 11 crew +
"Amazon" (8.400 Tons), bombs
"Sura" (6.500 Tons),bomgs
tug "Sojusny" (1.000 hp), bombs

26.07.42 oilbark Naidoma (6.700 Tonnen), bombs
tug Ajarastan (1.000 hp), crew 20 +, bombs
oil-bark tavda (7.250 Tons), bombs
oil-bark Arabia (8.200 Tons),bombs
oil-bark Aragva (10.400 Tons), bombs
river-boat "Alexander Nevsky" 11 crew + and some passengers, bombs
bark "Akula" (6.470 Tons), bombs
pram Nr. 696 (Brot, 2.150 Tons), bombs
pram "Alazan", bombs
tug Pelican, stranded
oil-bark "Kama" (12.350 Tons),bombs
oil-bark"Vesta" (3.600 Tons), bombs
oilnark "Talovka" (3.150 Tons), damaged
river-boat"Captain Gastello",bombs
27.07.42 river-boat Aitodor and two prams with cargo ammo,bombs
oil-bark Ob-Ölfarm (10.400 Tons) cargo 10.000 Tons Kerosin, bombs
river-boat "10 yaears Komsomolskaja Prawda" , mine
pram "Tunguska", min
pram "Vaenga" (8.700 Tons, mine
pram "Luga" (4.000 Tons), mine
one more river-boat, one pram were also sunk and tug Ordzhonikidze was damaged, all bombs
28.07.42 oil-bark (360 PS), bombs
bark "Rutka" (4.000 Tons), damaged
bark "Medjanka", damaged
bark Nr. 1480 and Nr. 2313, bombs,
swimming crane Schwimmkran and two more barks, bombs
29.07.42 oil-bark Onega (6.660 Tons) ans another oil-bark, bombs

30.07.42 oil-bark Nr. 1518, bombs
pram "Meadow Proleyka" Nr. 490, bombs
31.07.42 tug "Stalinets", bombs
oil-bark "Lena" (8.700 Tons), cargo petrol
river-boat "Kazanka", bombs
pram Lastkahn Nr. 702, mine

01.08.42 two prams with 250 and 800 Tons,
river-boat "Pyotr Tchaikovsky" (1.000 hp, more than 1000 soldiers and pilots lost, mine
pram Nr. 747, Nr. 2046, Nr. 3049, bombs
pram Nr. 102, cargo ammu, bombs
barks Nr. 105,Nr. 110, Nr. 1011 and Nr. 2013, bombs
armoured ship "BKA-22" commander soviet volga-navy admiral B. V. Khoroshkhin +, bombs
02.08.42 two barks with 800 Tons, bombs
bark Nr. 699 (1.000 Tons), cargo cars and clothes
bark Nr. 739 (1.964 Tons) cargo salt. Salz,
bark Nr. 1339 (1.259 Tons), cargo wheat, bombs
03.08.42 bark "Civil" (8.500 Tonnen), bombs
river-boat "Amur" (860 PS), bombs

04.08.42 river-boat "Tataria" with more than 1.000 passenger lost, mine
tug "Martyn Lyadov" (1.100 Tons) 17 crew lost,
river-boat "Ilyich", mine
06.08.42 passenger-boat "Viktor Holzunov", mine
prams Comet (4.000 Tons) and Dvina (8.300 Tons, mine
ship "Akademiker Timirjasew", lost with military cargo and miltary unit
Rutka (4.000 Tons), mine
07.08.42 passenger-boat "Communist", over 300 passenger ans crew lost, mine
bark with ammu, bombs
10.08.42 "Force" (8.400 Tonns), bombs

in two weeks smore than 100 ships were sunk on the volga, more ships and cargo lost as in convoy PQ 17

If there is anyone interested I will provide more losses

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