Date: 25/05/1944 | |
Squadron Code: 'S' | |
Serial Number: Liberator Mk.V FL 984 | |
U-Boat details : U-990 type VIIC- attacked/sunk | |
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Base: Ballykelly Update March 2012: The ORB notes in July 1944, that the aircraft used on this day was Z/120. It is possible that this aircraft had recently arrived from No.120 Sqn and had yet to receive a 59 Sqn code. F/S N.W Beames who manned the front turret gun during this attack, was awarded the D.F.M. The Attack: 0632hrs (May 25th) U-Boat sighted Crew: Cap. S/L B.A Sisson - 2nd Pilot: F/O R.A Williams - Nav: P/O W. Whittaker - F/L A.A Fox - F/S Beames N.W - Sgt Kelly J - F/O H Humphries - W/O W. McLoughlin - F/S Playford A.R "...At 0632B/25 sighted U-Boat on surface escorted by 1 E/V, Co.115'/8 kts in posn. 65'05'N 07'28'E. After waiting for an opportune moment to attack under cover of rain squall "s" attacked across starboard beam of U-Boat with six 250lbs DC's spaced at 60ft. The nearest exploding 10-15 yds short of C/T. DC's No.7 and 8 hung up. U-Boat turned to port in a wide circle after attack leaving large patch of oil. E/V was last seen closing with U-Boat. Flak was experienced from both U-Boat and E/V. "S" replying with her nose turret guns. No damage to A/C or casualties. Second U-Boat Sighted: At 0803 in posn. 64'12'N 05'42'E U/B sighted in act of submerging, Co.180/5 kts "S" went into attack but as only swirl visible no attack made. Landed at Tain after sortie. _______________________________________ In October of 1943, 59 Sqn had Liberator Mk.V FL984 coded as "S". (Flight Log - HR Longmuir) Sunk 25 May 1944 in North Sea west of Bodö, in position 65.05N, 07.28W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 59/S). and attacked by Liberator 59/L with 20 dead and 33 survivors. Piloted by S/L Sissons. Two days later, the same aircraft (59/S) was involved in the sinking of U-292. (uboat.net) U-990 was sunk by multi-aircraft attack in the North Sea. One of the planes involved, Liberator 'L' of RAF 59 Squadron, was flown by RAAF Flight Sergeant A.R. Playford. Credit for the sinking went to Liberator 59/S. At the time, U-990 was also carrying a large group of survivors that it had picked up from U-476. 51 men of the combined crews escaped from U-990. A German patrol boat rescued them. (uboat.net) _______________________________________
According to the Davidstow-Moor operations records, S/L Sisson had the following crew in July of 1943. It may have changed by the time of this attack. One A/C 59 Squadron on convoy escort. Forms 540/541 59 Squadron: S/Ldr BA Sisson - Capt Take off D/M 1038hrs, on escort to convoy KMF18. Met convoy and escorted for 7hrs 43mins in region 45:33N – 16W. Landed D/M 0249hrs 2/7/43. ________________________________________ According to Alywn jay in his book 'Endurance', after this attack was pressed home at approx 0730hrs, the crew were unsure of the aircrafts fuel state, so they made for Tain where they refueled (after 16 hours in the air) before returning to Ballykelly 2 hours later. Prior to sinking U-990, Sissons and crew had come upon two U-boats and a destroyer that had been attacked by Wes Loney and crew (59/L) the previous day, but 59/S was unable to attack. They had also been attacked by an E-boat. There is no mention of Liberator 59/L being involved directly in the attack on U-990 with 59/S as noted on uboat.net.
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U-990 --------------------------------------- This U-boat belonged to the 11th Flotilla (a spanish word meaning a small group or formation of warships or submarines) The 11th emblem is shown below... The Polar Bear - 11th Flotilla This emblem was a fitting one for the 11th Flotilla located in Bergen, Norway. This flotilla fought in the Arctic Sea against the convoys to Russia among other things. image © Guðmundur Helgason 1998-2000
--------------------------------------- Update June 2014: --------------------------------------- U-990 - SUNK JUST HOURS AFTER RESCUING SURVIVORS OF U-476... Some of the following are posts taken from a forum, on which I am trying to identify a u-boat attack on the previous day. It's possible that one the U-boats sent out to help U-476 (of which U-990 was one of) or even U-476, is the boat in question...
It appears that U-990 reached U-476's position at 2250hrs on the 24/05 and first intentions were to take the stricken vessel in tow (back to port). 10 of the crew were taken aboard at 2257, condition report states that all engines were out of commission, rudder jammed at full starboard. At 2315, the commander of U-476 reported that the boat would only stay afloat for another two hours as the compressed air and electricity had been depleted. At 0045hrs (25/05) There were two enemy radar detection alerts and at 0102, U-476 was scuttled by U-990 with torpedoes. Three minutes later, U-990 submerged. At 0155, U-990 surfaced to continue the search for survivors. At 0245, Vp-boat 5901 is reported to be insight. At 0330 the search for survivors is called off. Both the commander of U-990 and U-476. agreed that at 17.5 hours in (since the crippling attack on U-476), the probability of finding survivors was gone. Given this information, this would put the 210 Sqdn Catalina attack on U-476 at approximately 1000hrs on the 24/05... Here are some excerpts from the Admiralty Report on the sinking of U-990 (source - uboatarchive.net)... " Intention to sail to Narvik abandoned. Current plan: Combined Anti-Aircraft capabilities of Vp.-boat and myself strong enough to repel enemy planes. If I dive, the Vp.- boat will be destroyed. I will have to return to the surface to rescue the survivors and then it will be my turn to be attacked. Trailing Vp. 5901 at a distance of 3-400 meters enroute Trondheim." 0330: Radio message sent: Met Vp.-boat. Sailing together to Trondheim since transfer of survivors is impossible due to the sea state. Nordheimer 0640: Aircraft to port, Liberator. Maintains contact. Circles around us at a distance of 7000 meters. 0655: Radio message sent: 0655/25/9. Enemy scout plane made contact. Request immediate air cover. 0728: Under air attack from starboard. At an estimated distance of 6000 meters permission given to fire 3.7 cm. It malfunctions after just 7 rounds fired. Single fire not possible. Liberator fires with all he has. Drops 6 depth charges, similar to German versions, but slightly thinner and longer. 0732: Orders: All men out of the boat. 0734: Heavy sea rolls over the boat. We call to Vp.-boat: Put lines into the water. Water pours in through the bridge hatch. I manage to pull Oblt. z.S. Heidt out of the hatch. I got Ob. Fähnrich z.S. Tils out up to the hips when the boat sank into the depths with us. Both Watch Officers and control room mate (Masch. Mt. Regber) had voluntarily reentered the boat to recover more emergency dinghies and floats. 19.15 Moored in Trondheim. --------------------------------------- Addendum: Apparent crack in pressure hull near fuel oil bunker 2 inboard, since magazine and Kommandant's room full of oil. Stern room takes on water through torpedo tubes and torpedo loading hatch. The whole pressure hull is warped and distorted such that bulkheads are not closable anymore. All bilge pumps are out of action thanks to fractured pipes and broken or bent pump rods. Fu.M.G. fell into the control room fuse panels and transformer fell from overhead. The Diesel air compressor was pushed amidships. Port switch panel was also pushed amidships. Periscope head broken off. Periscope pedestal broken. All lockers fell into the passageways. Barely able to get through bow room Chief Petty Officers, Officers and Kommandant's rooms because of the lockers, radio equipment and canned foodstuff. --------------------------------------- Comments of "F.d.U. Norwegian" on the K.T.B. "U 990" for 12.04.44 to 25.05.44 | |
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During WWII, the RAF used three-letter codes to identify their aircraft from a distance. Two large letters were painted before the roundel, which signified the squadron to which the aircraft belonged, and another letter was painted after the roundel which indicated the individual aircraft. Aditionally, there was the individual serial number for each aircraft, which was painted in a much smaller size, usually somewhere at the rear of the aircraft: (more) Codes used by RAF 59 Squadron: PJ Sep 1938 - Sep 1939 |