Dive Bomber! by Peter C. Smith

Author:Peter C. Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780811748421
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2020-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

On July 13, they were back in force attacking a convoy off Dover, and the next day, the 4th (Stuka) Group of the 1st Training and Demonstration Wing caught another convoy off Eastbourne, sinking the coasters Betswood and Bovey Tracey. On July 18, the Stukas found the Channel clear of shipping, and the only ships at sea were patrol vessels. These were duly dive bombed and machine-gunned to good effect. The following day, Dover harbor was hit, and on July 20, the Stukas found convoy “Bossum” ten miles off the same port. The 2nd Group of the 1st Stuka Wing, led by Keil, penetrated a fighter screen to sink the collier Pulborough I and damage several other ships, including the destroyers Beagle and Brazen.

Dover was hit again on July 20, but the climax came five days later with the attacks on convoy CW8 that was found off Deal by the 1st and 3rd Stuka Wings, with thirty Ju88s of the 4th Bomber Wing (KG 4) in support. Five ships were sunk outright: Ajax, Coquetdale, Empire Crusader, Henry Moon, and Summity (totaling 5,117 tons). Another six were badly damaged for the loss of two dive bombers. The next day, the destroyers Brilliant and Boreas came out of Dover to attack E-boats and were pounced on by Stukas; both destroyers took two direct hits.

On July 27, Ju87s and Me110 Jabo fighter-bombers attacked Dover harbor, sinking the destroyer Codrington inside and damaging the Walpole, while Ju87s savaged the “Bacon” convoy off Swan-age; the 1st Group of the 77th Stuka Wing carried out attacks. Meanwhile, a force of fifteen radar-directed Me109 and Me110 Jabo fighter-bombers had caught the destroyer Delight off Portland and sank her. Destroyers had been forbidden to sail by daylight in the Channel by the Admiralty, but the local commander thought he knew better and paid the price. They also sank the patrol ship Gulzar. Four Stukas were lost.

The last battles fought by the German dive bombers in this phase were between August 9 and 11. Convoy CW9 was the first victim, when massed Stuka assaults accounted for sinking six ships (70,000 tons) and damaging six more. Waves of Ju87s continued the assault, but for the first time, they met strong RAF fighter resistance by Nos. 43 and 145 Squadrons. The 3rd Stuka Wing’s 1st Group lost three aircraft, and the 1st and 3rd Groups of the 2nd Stuka Wing lost one each, while the last formation over the target, the 2nd Group of the 77th Stuka Wing, was badly knocked about, losing three aircraft shot down and five damaged.

On August 12, the 4th (Stuka) Group of the 1st Training and Demonstration Wing under Hauptmann von Brauchitsch attacked a convoy in the Thames estuary, damaging two more ships. The next day, Adlertag —”Eagle Day,” the German code-name for the main attack on Great Britain—opened in earnest. The Battle of Britain called for the Stuka units to switch their targets away from the coastal convoys and their tactical role, for which they well designed, to a strategic role, for which they were not.

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