This article is the 515th original article of the "Burning Islands" by Moskit
The full text is 3904 words, with 10 pictures, which takes 13 minutes to read, and was first published on June 10, 2021.
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In the summer of 1942, Britain received 64 four-round heavy B-17 bombers under the Lend-Lease Act. As early as 41 years, the British got some B-17Cs and formed them into a squadron of day bombers. In general, such an application is not ideal, and it is natural to suffer great losses. The ROYAL AIR Force was not impressed with these new "flying fortresses" and gave them all to the Coast Command. The 19 B-17Fs and 45 B-17Es were named Fort Mk.II and Fort Mk.IIA, respectively. In January 1944, two British fort squadrons, 206th and 220th, were stationed at Lagens airfield on the Azores island of Terceira.
Figure 1. B-17E Fortress Mk.IIA
At 14:47 p.m. on Jan. 6, an Mk.IIA, a bastion code-named U (serial number FA705) by Lieutenant Anthony James Pinhorn of Squadron 206, took off from the airfield to search for and destroy enemy submarines. The plane sent one last message back to the base at 18:16 and disappeared without a trace. After three days of searching, the RAF classified the fort as "missing". What happened to this plane?
Figure 2. Lagens Airport
In World War II, anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic Was in a two-dimensional situation of combined sea and air. Aerial units have the advantage of fast speed and long cruising range. Roughly speaking, a third of the submarines were sunk by air units (according to the famous German historian Axel Niestlé, of the 717 German combat submarines lost at sea, 245 were sunk by Allied aircraft, 205 by Allied land-based aircraft, and the rest from carrier-based aircraft). As anti-submarine warfare progressed in the Atlantic, the German Navy's submarine forces realized that the threat from the air was becoming more and more intense. German submarine forces began to add more anti-aircraft weapons and anti-aircraft radars to their boats, and developed sophisticated anti-air tactics to counter Allied anti-submarine aircraft. As these maturing measures, the losses of the Allied air forces also gradually increased (by the end of the war, the Loss of Allied anti-submarine aircraft exceeded 100). In general, the watchers on the control tower have enough time to spot the aircraft and issue warnings, and due to the difficulties of observation and positioning, aviation units are usually helpless to these submarines that have been launched early. But sometimes, the submarine finds that the plane is too late, there is no time to dive, then the only way to use the anti-aircraft weapons on the boat is to give it a go. In this kind of life-and-death duel, who kills the deer depends on the courage and skill of both sides.
Figure 3. U-118, who was turning to dodge air strikes, was sunk by air raids on that day
After the disbandment of the German Borkum Group (17 submarines) in the North Atlantic against the Allied convoy, three submarines from the group formed a group, the Borkum-1, which included the U-270 submarine commanded by Captain Paul-Friedrich Otto. The U-270 is actively located in the northwestern part of the Azores, which happens to be the defensive zone of RAF Squadron 206.
At 19:05 on the evening of January 6, while U-270 was floating, the watchman on the command tower spotted an approaching aircraft at a distance of about 7,000 meters. Neither the radio intelligence stations of Vence nor Naxos, which were supposed to warn them, sent any advance messages. The crew of the U-270 cursed the intelligence personnel's incompetence and sounded the alarm, and the crew immediately became busy. The navigator's first instinct was to prepare for the dive, but Captain Otto ordered, "Prepare for air combat!" "At this point the plane is close to a very close distance, probably less than 4,000 meters. Although surprised by the captain's orders, the well-trained crew went straight to their combat posts. The U-270 command tower was fitted with a 37mm anti-aircraft gun and a twin 20mm anti-aircraft gun behind the enclosure, which may not be a great threat to high-speed fighters, but quite deadly for slow-flying seaplanes and "fortresses".
Figure 4. The crew of U-270 is grouped together, and the person wearing the white hat is Captain Otto
By this time the plane was almost above the submarine, and it spotted the submarine in a great distance and decided to sink it. This rendezvous was the most dangerous moment for the U-270, when the British anti-submarine aircraft had a perfect forward bombing angle, and their own anti-aircraft guns could not effectively carry out blocking fire due to limited angle of fire. The people in the command tower were so nervous that they couldn't breathe, and some of the crew had begun to pray. It should be known that most of the submarines lost in the air raid were unsaved, after all, it is impossible for the aircraft to rescue the person who fell into the water, and even if the coordinates are reported, it is unlikely that there will be a boat to catch people (the attack area is the active area of the submarine). Therefore, the submariners' fear of air raids is still quite large. But the U-270 had pretty good luck today, with the fort flying over her without dropping bombs, only frantically strafing the sea near her with its tail turret as it passed her. After having the angle of fire, the anti-aircraft guns on the U-270 began to fight back. More or less interfered with the flight movements of the fortress. The fortress flew away to dodge the blazing anti-aircraft fire of the U-270 and turned to enter the second round.
This time, the bastion plane flew straight forward from the tail of the U-270, firing its downward-looking turret and front turret at the U-270. This time the shot was much more accurate than the previous one, and many bullets hit the U-270's command tower enclosure, causing some damage. However, the U-270's counterattack also made the fortress hesitate, and instead of flying directly over her, it made a turn, dodging the anti-aircraft gun's axis of destruction. This time the bastion still did not drop bombs.
Figure 5. U-boat anti-aircraft guns behind the command tower
The fort made a sharp turn, cutting again into the U-270 stern axis, this time with both sides opting for a go. Even though the U-270 fired all of its anti-aircraft fire toward the stern, the bastion aircraft did not avoid it, but fired all its forward machine guns at it. Luck was clearly on the side of the Germans, though—the fort was hit and the engine on the right side was on fire. The fire on the plane spread immediately, and at low altitudes, there was not enough space for such a huge four-shot heavy bombardment to correct the falling situation. The Fortress Machine was clearly aware of its situation, and it flew towards the U-270, determined to die with her. It dropped four bombs as it flew over the U-270, the U-270 made an emergency left turn, and the nearest bomb landing was only 30 meters from the bow! But such an explosion could not sink the U-270, and the fortress machine looked at its prey angrily and fell into the sea 270 meters ahead.
The terrified crew of the U-270 immediately went to the crash to search for survivors, but found nothing – all the crew members were killed in the crash, which is why the battle is only recorded from the German side. Why the fort flew over the U-270 twice without dropping bombs is difficult to explain, and the most likely guess is that the bomb-dropping hatch door on the aircraft at that time was malfunctioning, which is a common thing. If that's the case, then it's bad luck on the crew.
Figure 6. U-boats that were hit by air raids
Looking back at the condition of the U-270, although it was not sunk with the cooperation and strong luck of the crew, the attack on the fortress also caused it considerable damage, and the U-270 was forced to terminate the combat cruise and return to the departure base. From this point of view, the British crew did complete their task, but the price paid was too great.
Whether Captain Otto's order was correct or not, we must analyze it in light of other cases. Heinz Schaffer, who served in the U-boat force, mentioned in his memoirs how the captain of the U-445, Heinz-Konrad Fenn, handled it when he was threatened by the air.
Figure 7. U boats in air raids
"A siren was installed on the boat to change the readiness of the air alert. Its buttons are mounted next to the ringtones for emergency dives, all on the command tower. When the air guard finds the aircraft, they must choose whether to press the bell of the emergency dive or the siren prepared for the air fire. A simple decision determines the life and death of the entire submarine crew.
When the enemy aircraft is far away at 4,000 meters, it is considered to be a safe submersible distance. At this time, an emergency dive signal must be issued, and the submarine can safely dive into the water at a depth of 50 meters before the plane can fly overhead and drop a bomb. If the lookout spotted the plane at a shorter distance, trying to dive was tantamount to suicide.
Figure 8. U-848 under air strikes
Anti-submarine aircraft can approach and drop bombs from dead ends of anti-aircraft fire. Therefore, when the timing of the discovery of enemy aircraft is too late, it is necessary to prepare for anti-aircraft combat. But this often leads to the result of destruction, because in areas where enemy aircraft are active, there is usually not only one that will fly over to deal with you. Due to the advantage of high speed, they can easily call for help. For this reason, we usually choose to dive whenever we have the opportunity. ”
From Schaffer's memoirs, Captain Finn was more cautious and more willing to avoid fighting. In contrast, the U-270's combat left her far more time than the standards set by the U-445, and whether it was because of personal bravery or confidence in the crew, Captain Otto chose to face the fortress aircraft. Although luck took his side, the U-270 also paid a considerable price — all the bow torpedo tubes and bow tanks of the main ballast were badly damaged. On the way back to the base, she had to climb back to the harbor at less than ten knots, taking unnecessary risks along the way.
Figure 9. The Royal Air Force is equipped with B-24 Liberators, which are loading 250kg bombs
Finally, regarding the fortress Mk.IIA, in addition to its bad luck, there are also problems with the B-17 itself. Needless to say, this four-shot heavy bomber (the American B-17 and B-24) is strong and survivable, but it is very bulky when dealing with U-boats with good anti-aircraft fire at low altitude. Not only is there no flexible steering of the fighter, but there is no redundancy to change from low altitude in cases of component damage, which is especially evident on the B-17. In one known case, two B-24s besieged a U-boat that could not be submerged for two hours without being able to enter the attack position under U-boat fire. The U-boat even fired its 105mm deck gun at air targets. If the pilot plucked up the courage to face the fire of the U-boat, such as the heroic crew of the fortress plane in the text, then he had to leave his fate to God, which was obviously unnecessary.
Squadron 206 and Squadron 220 worked together to complete 11 submarine kills (including one joint sinking with other units) throughout the war, and in April 1944 Squadron 206 was replaced with the B-24 Liberator, who had better bomb load and range than the B-17.
Figure 10. Oil painting showing Sunderland seaplanes attacking U boats
As for the U-270, she won another sea-and-sky duel in the Bay of Biscay on 13–14 June 1944, this time by a B-24 Liberator from RAF Squadron 53, piloted by John William Carmichael. However, her good fortune apparently did not last, and on August 13, 1944, the U-270 was sunk by the Sunderland seaplane of the Australian 461 Flying Squadron, when 81 people on board and 10 people were killed. As for Captain Paul Friedrich Otto, who was no longer in service on the U-boat at this time (who left the submarine force on June 25, 1944), he could not find any news of his death, so he might still be alive.
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