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Aviation of World War II |
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Ju-87 on the Eastern Front![]()
Despite the fluctuations in the production of "Shtuka", their number in the air units of the Luftwaffe remained almost unchanged. By the time of the German attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941, the Germans managed to collect 324 Ju 87 dive bombers from the Soviet borders, of which 233 were combat-ready. This is less than during the invasion of France. In the first months of fighting in Russia, Ju 87s were used according to the usual Polish-French blitzkrieg scenario. The dive-bombers cleared the way for the Wehrmacht tank columns rushing forward. Ju 87s were no less actively involved in suppressing pockets of resistance of the encircled Soviet troops. For example, it was the "Stukas" that threw 1000-kg bombs at the Brest Fortress. Taking advantage of the fact that the Red Army Air Force at first failed to organize proper opposition to German aviation, Luftwaffe dive bombers became a real nightmare for the endless strings of retreating columns of Soviet troops and refugees. Having a well-established aerial reconnaissance service, the Luftwaffe skillfully used aircraft (including dives) to strike at Red Army units that were making maneuvers. From the actions of German dive bombers at the beginning of World War II, our troops often suffered heavy losses, since they often had neither anti-aircraft nor air cover. Ju 87 pilots with impunity bombed reinforcements moving towards the front, destroyed bridges and crossings, destroyed railway tracks and junction stations with targeted air strikes, and destroyed military echelons with troops and equipment. The German ace dive pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel, who flew the Ju 87 throughout the war, managed to make about 500 sorties from June to December 1941. As before, the “favorite” targets for the Ju 87 were enemy ships and vessels. The Soviet Navy was no exception. At the end of the summer of 1941, I and III / StG 2, transferred to the command of the 1st Air Fleet, participated in raids on Leningrad. By this time, all combat-ready ships of the Baltic Fleet were locked up in Kronstadt. This circumstance greatly facilitated the actions of German aviation. The location of the ships in the parking lots was constantly monitored by reconnaissance aircraft. During the raids on September 16 and 19, 1941, the first bombs dropped from the Ju 87 hit the Soviet battleships Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya and Marat, however, they did not cause much damage to the large ships. But the destruction of Soviet battleships was still a priority for German aviation. Therefore, on September 23, having received armor-piercing 1000-kg bombs from Germany, III / StG 2 aircraft once again purposefully attacked the battleship Marat. One bomb hit the bow of the ship, causing the detonation of the ammunition. The bow of the battleship, torn off by a powerful explosion, sank. From the crew, 326 people died, including the commander of the ship. In the literature, this success is usually attributed to the aforementioned Rudel. Information about the famous raid is drawn from his memoirs and newspaper and magazine publications of that time. Let us doubt the generally accepted theory. There are facts that clearly contradict it. First, the Ju 87B-2, which Rudel was then flying, could only lift a 1000-kg bomb if the radio operator remained on the ground. And the pilot's memoirs say that all the crews flew to the bombing in full force. Secondly, Rudel, having removed the air brakes during a dive and developed too much speed (he overtook the lead aircraft), dropped a bomb weighing one ton from three hundred meters. Such bombing is dubious and dangerous. Remember the case at the Neuhammer training ground. And, besides, the fragments from the explosion of a 1000-kg bomb (according to the recognition of the same Rudel) fly to a height of up to 1000 m, and if not Rudel himself, then the plane following him (the leader, whom he overtook on a dive) directly fell under a bomb explosion Rudel. Apparently something was wrong. And finally, when the report of a successful raid reached the German command, and it ordered the hero to be awarded the Knight's Cross, the commander of III / StG 2, Captain Steen did not. The fact is that two more planes dived onto the battleship along with Rudel, and there were two hits, and it was impossible to establish which of the pilots was lucky. In four days of fierce attacks, the Germans managed to sink the destroyer "Guarding", a patrol boat, a minesweeper, a submarine of the "Malyutka" series and the leader "Minsk". True, the Soviet sailors managed to raise most of these ships after some time and put them back into operation. After the first defeats in June 1941, Soviet aviation began to recover, putting up fierce resistance. And from the very beginning of the war in Russia, the nature of the hostilities was noticeably different from what the German dive bombers had to deal with during the Western blitzkriegs. For example, in a year of fighting in the West, Ju 87 squadrons lost 477 aircraft, and in Russia, in just six months of fighting, the "shortage" amounted to 394 aircraft. The German Ju 87 pilots were beginning to realize that their bitterest disappointments were yet to come. When it came time to re-equip the dive squadrons with the new Ju 87Ds, there were some absurdities. In January 1942, another batch of dive bombers was transferred to the Eastern Front. Five planes never made it to their destination. Caught in a snowstorm, their crews crashed along with their Dorami. |
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