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| Bombing of U-boat Pens & Yards during World War II | |||||
| Target | Date | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Nazaire | February 15/16, 1942 | 10 Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys and 6 Handley Page Halifaxes; only 9 aircraft bombed St Nazaire, in cloudy conditions. No aircraft were lost but 3 crashed in England.[4] | |||
| St Nazaire | March 7/8, 1942 | 17 aircraft bombed St Nazaire[4] | |||
| St Nazaire | March 25/26, 1942 | Minor Operations: 27 aircraft to St Nazaire -- 1 Vickers Wellington lost[4] | |||
| St Nazaire | March 27/28, 1942 | 35 Whitleys and 27 Wellingtons to bomb German positions around St Nazaire in support of the naval and Commando raid to destroy the dry-dock gates in the port. The aircraft were ordered to bomb only if the target had clear visibility. Conditions were bad, however, with 10/10ths cloud and icing, and only 4 aircraft bombed at St Nazaire; 6 aircraft bombed elsewhere. 1 Whitley was lost in the sea.[4] | |||
| Lorient, France | January 15, 1943 | The 317th air raid on Lorient dropped 20,000 incendiary bombs.[1] | |||
| St Nazaire | January 16, 1943 | Two waves of B-17s affected major damage and killed 27 people[1] | |||
| Lorient, France | January 23,26 Feb 3,4,7,13,16 Mar 6 Apr 16 May 17 |
Lorient was bombed, and the city was evacuated[1] | |||
| Wilhelmshaven | June 11, 1943 | VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 62: 252 B-17's are dispatched against the U-boat yard at Wilhelmshaven, Germany and the port area at Cuxhaven, Germany; 218 hit the targets; we claim 85-20-24 Luftwaffe aircraft; we lose 8 and 62 are damaged. Casualties are 3 KIA, 20 WIA and 80 MIA. The raid on Wilhelmshaven demonstrates the difficulty of operating beyond range of fighters escort as enemy fighters attacks prevent accurate bombing of the target.[5] | |||
| Bremen & Kiel | June 13, 1943 | VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 63: 151 B-17's are dispatched against the Bremen U-boat yards; 122 hit the target claiming 2-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; we lose 4 and 31 are damaged; casualties are 8 WIA and 32 MIA. A smaller force of 76 B-17's is dispatched against the Kiel, Germany U-boat yards; 60 hit the target and claim 39-5-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; we lose 22, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 23 are damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 20 WIA and 213 MIA. Heaviest fighter attacks to date against Eighth Air Force accounts for 26 B-17's, mostly of the force attacking Kiel[5] | |||
| St. Nazaire | June 28, 1943 | VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 69: 191 B-17's are dispatched against the locks and submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire'; 158 hit the target between 1655 and 1713 hours local; we claim 28-6-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; we lose 8 B-17's and 57 others are damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 14 WIA and 50 MIA[5] | |||
| Kiel | July 23/24, 1944 | In the first major raid on a German city for two months, 629 aircraft - 519 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 10 de Havilland Mosquitos - were dispatched in this first RAF raid since April 1943 and the heaviest RAF raid of the war. In a raid lasting only 25 minutes, all parts of Kiel were hit but the bombing was particularly heavy in the port areas and all of the important U-boat yards and naval facilities were hit. The presence of around 500 delayed-action bombs or unexploded duds caused severe problems for the rescue and repair services. There was no water for 3 days; trains and buses did not run for 8 days and there was no gas for cooking for 3 weeks.[4] | |||
| Brest | August 5, 1944 | 15 Avro Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF attacked the Brest U-boat pens and scored 6 direct hits with Tallboy bombs penetrating the concrete roofs. 1 Lancaster was shot down by flak. Subsequent attempts to reinforce other sites with even thicker concrete diverted resources from other projects.[4] | |||
| Lorient, France | August 6, 1944 | Flight Lieutenant Thomas Clifford Iveson dropped one Tallboy bomb at the Keroman U-boat pen.[6] | |||
| Lorient, France | August 7, 1944 | The Tallboy bombing mission to Lorient was scrubbed[6] | |||
| La Pallice | August 8, 1944 | Flight Lieutenant Thomas Clifford Iveson dropped one Tallboy bomb.[6] | |||
| La Pallice & Bordeaux | August 11, 1944 | 53 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked U-boat pens at Bordeaux and La Pallice with 2,000lb armour-piercing bombs, but the bombs did not penetrate the roofs. No aircraft lost.[4] | |||
| Brest, La Pallice, & Bordeaux | August 12, 1944 | 68 Lancasters of No 1 Group and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked pens at Brest, La Pallice and Bordeaux without loss. A U-boat was believed to have been hit at La Pallice.[4] | |||
| Brest | August 13, 1944 | 28 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group attacked the U-boat pens and shipping at Brest. Hits were claimed on the pens, on the hulk of an old French battleship, the Clémenceau, and on a medium-sized tanker. The object of the attacks on ships was to prevent the Germans using any of the large ships in Brest to block the harbour just before its capture by American troops. [4] | |||
| La Pallice & Bordeaux | August 16, 1944 | 25 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group to attack the U-boat pens at La Pallice found the target was cloud-covered and only 3 aircraft bombed. No aircraft lost.[4] | |||
| La Pallice | August 17, 1944 | Mission 559: A B-17 Flying Fortress dropped BATTY TV bombs on La Pallice.[5] One impacted 1 mile (1.6 km) short and the second about 1 mile to the right of the target.[7] | |||
| Ijmuiden | August 28, 1944 | Flight Lieutenant Thomas Clifford Iveson dropped one Tallboy bomb.[6] | |||
| Heligoland | September 3, 1944 | The US Navy controller flew the Operation Aphrodite SAU-1 drone (B-17 42-63954)[8] into Duene Island by mistake. | |||
| Heligoland | September 11, 1944 | During the first Castor mission of Operation Aphrodite, the pilot of B-17 42-30180 (Guzzlers) was killed when his parachute failed to open at bailout.[9] | |||
| Heligoland | October 15, 1944 | Mission 678A:[5] B-17 42-30039 Liberty Belle[1] (differs from 42-30096 'Liberty Belle' lost due to accidental on-board fire and the Liberty Belle (B-17) 44-85734) and B-17 42-37743 of Operation Aphrodite attacked the Heligoland U-boat pens.[9] | |||
| Bergen | October 28/29, 1944 | 237 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attack the U-boat pens at Bergen. The area was cloud-covered and the Master Bomber tried to bring the force down below 5,000 ft but cloud was still encountered and he ordered the raid to be abandoned after only 47 Lancasters had bombed. 3 Lancasters lost.[4] | |||
| Heligoland | October 30, 1944 | Mission 693A:[5] One Castor Operation Aphrodite drone (B-17 42-30066 MugWump) lost contact and went out of control and crashed near Trollhattan, Sweden. The other drone was B-17 42-3438.[9] | |||
| Ijmuiden | December 15, 1944 | Flight Lieutenant Thomas Clifford Iveson dropped Tallboy bomb.[6] | |||
| Ijmuiden | December 30, 1944 | 13 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF set out to bomb the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden but the raid was abandoned because of bad weather.[4] | |||
| Ijmuiden | January 12, 1945 | No. 617 Squadron RAF attacked the U-boat[6] pens with Tallboy bombs, but smoke obscured the results.[4] | |||
| Bergen[6] | January 12, 1945 | 32 Lancasters and 1 de Havilland Mosquito of No. 9 Squadron RAF and No. 617 Squadron RAF attacked U-boat pens and shipping in Bergen harbour. 3 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron and 1 from No. 9 Squadron RAF were lost; the Germans told the local people that 11 bombers had been shot down. A local report says that 3 Tallboy bombs penetrated the 3½-metre-thick roof of the pens and caused severe damage to workshops, offices and stores inside.[4] | |||
| Ijmuiden & Poortershaven | February 3, 1945 | 36 Lancasters attacked U-boat pens at Ijmuiden (No. 9 Squadron RAF) and Poortershaven (No. 617 Squadron RAF with Tallboy bombs). Hits were claimed at both targets without loss.[4] | |||
| Ijmuiden | February 8, 1945 | 15 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF dropped Tallboy bombs on the U-boat pens at Ijmuiden without loss.[4] | |||
| Oslo Fjord | February 23/24, 1945 | 73 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos carried out an accurate attack on a possible U-boat base at Horten on the Oslo Fjord. 1 Lancaster was lost.[4] | |||
| Bremen (Farge)[10] | March 27, 1945 | 20 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF attacked the Valentin submarine pens,[11] and two Grand Slam bombs penetrated two metres and detonated[11], which rendered the shelter unusable. No aircraft were lost.[4] | |||
| Hamburg | April 9, 1945 | 17 aircraft of No. 617 Squadron RAF, with Grand Slam and Tallboy bombs, successfully attacked the U-boat shelters. No aircraft were lost.[4] | |||
| Kiel | April 9/10, 1944 | 591 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups to Kiel. 3 Lancasters lost. This was an accurate raid, made in good visibility on two aiming points in the harbour area. Photographic reconnaissance showed that the Deutsche Werke U-boat yard was severely damaged, the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer was hit and capsized, the Admiral Hipper and the Emden were badly damaged. The local diary says that all 3 shipyards in the port were hit and that the nearby residential areas were severely damaged.[4] | |||
| Kiel | April 13/14, 1944 | 377 Lancasters and 105 Halifaxes of Nos 3, 6 and 8 Groups to Kiel. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid was directed against the port area, with the U-boat yards as the main objective. RAF Bomber Command rated this as 'a poor attack' with scattered bombing.[4] | |||
| Heligoland | April 18, 1945 | 969 aircraft - 617 Avro Lancasters, 332 Handley Page Halifaxes, 20 de Havilland Mosquitos of all groups - successfully used Tallboy bombs to attack the Naval base, airfield, & town into crater-pitted moonscapes. 3 Halifaxes were lost,[4] and the islands were evacuated the following night. | |||
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References and Note
- ^ a b c d Bradham, Randolph. "Hitler's U-boat Fortresses" (html). Retrieved on 2008-07-09.
- ^ "Roosevelt and Churchill begin Casablance Conference" (html). This Day in History. history.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-09.
- ^ "World War II Timeline: January 14, 1943-January 21, 1943" (html). Russian Army Repels Hitler's Forces: August 1942-January 1943. Legacy Publishers. Retrieved on 2008-07-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. 1944: July, August, September, October, November, December 1945: January, February, March, April
- ^ a b c d e f "8th Air Force 1944 Chronicles". Retrieved on 2007-05-25.October, December, January
- ^ a b c d e f g Keable, Jim. "Flight Lieutenant Thomas Clifford Iveson" (html). AeroVenture News. AeroVenture. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ McKillop, Jack. "Original Smart Bomb-History". Technical Intelligence Bulletins July - August 2000. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
- ^ "US Navy and US Marine Corps Bureau Numbers, Third Series (60010 to 70187)". Encyclopedia of American Aircraft. Joseph F. Baugher. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ a b c "USAAF Serial Numbers". Encyclopedia of American Aircraft. Joseph F. Baugher. Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 41-24340 to 41-30847, 42-001 to 42-30031, 42-30032 to 42-39757, 42-39758 to 42-50026, 42-57213 to 42-70685
- ^ "U-Boat Bunkers" (html). German U-Boat. Uboataces. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ a b Grube, Christel (February 28, 2006). "Submarine-Valentin, Bremen-Farge" (html -- German language). Interessengemeinschaft für historische Militär-, Industrie- und Verkehrsbauten. lostplaces.de. Retrieved on 2008-05-13. NOTE: The Valentin submarine pens were also used as a post-war test bombing target in Operation Ruby.
