SOVIET BOMBERS OVER CONSTANZA, strange ukraine aviation articles

This Rumanian troops transporter carrying German and Rumanian evacuees along with ship " Romania " were torpedoed on the way to Constanza by IL-2's and B-25 Bostons


Soviet Navy Archives

This post has been edited by Victor on March 01, 2006 03:52 pm

From the albume of Rear Admiral Kirsanow, depicted are the crews of the Black Sea IL-4's participating on the bombing of Galazi, Constanza and Sulina on April 17 1944...the feared follow up attack on Sulina next two day from Yalta and Russian Moldova didnt take place

Albume Rear Admiral Kirsanow



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Magazine ISTORIA AVIATZII dumn sounds like Roumanian but is Russian language, an artist impression depicting Black Sea operations in 1944

This post has been edited by alexkdl on March 01, 2005 12:41 am

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Hello Alexkdl,

I noticed that the aircraft pictured in the specific photo posted alongside with the quoted post are Il-10, not Il-2. This is quite evident if one takes a closer look at the canopy. Besides, the aircraft is smaller than its "elder brother".
Yours,

Ruy

Ruy , possibly though I am not sure if the IL -10's you mentioned were already dispatched to the front as it entered service close to the wars end..in addition thats what the Russian archives stated

Thanks anyway
Al

Alexkdl,

The aircraft in the photo are indeed Il-10's. The first operational use of the Il-10 ocurred during the Soviet offensive against Japan.
Yours,

Ruy

Ruy thanks for the info since you know the details about the IL-10 maybe you can identify those IL-2 gunners machine gun type . Based of their uniforms, these VVS crews are at the early war stage, bytheway where are you located ?

Al

from Naval Aviation Archives Sevastopol

This post has been edited by Victor on March 01, 2006 03:55 pm

Alex, a bit of an unrelated question. Did you write to the Russian or Sevastopol archives and they sent you copies or scans of pictures and documents, or did you get this information from their website?

The reason I'm asking is because I'd like to get some document photocopies myself from the Russian archives, but I don't know whether I have to go there in person or whether I can process this transaction over the phone or over email.

If you have experience with obtaining documents from archives, please let me know how it is done.

Thanks in advance.

If you red the previous posts I mentioned , that the photos are from aquaintances who served at Russian Naval Air Fleet in WWII and and on their turn they got it from Naval Archives as well their own albumes....and they requested me to mention both sources. The other pohotos are from the Russian magazine HISTORY OF AVIATION

Al

Alexkdl,

Yes, their uniforms pre-date the reforms of 1943, which reintroduced old symbols such as погоны (shoulder boards) of traditional cut and the like. The machine gun type they're handling is a captured German MG 15, an air-cooled, recoil-operated weapon developed as a defensive machine gun for flexible mounts in the first half of the Thirties, whose full designation was Flugzeug Maschinengewehr MG 15. It was used in virtually all reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the Luftwaffe, and as such it became the standard hand-held machine gun equipping most German at the beggining of W.W. II. One of the main distinguishing features of the MG 15 are the unusual rectangular cooling slits (this is noticeable if we recall that the majority of German machine guns had circular cooling holes in the barrel shrouds - it is readily apparent also in the photo you posted), as was also the wooden (later bakelite) receiver cover. The MG 15 was fed from a Doppeltrommel magazine, holding 75 rounds of 7,92x57 ammunition. It was also provided with a spent cartridge collector made from heavy canvas.

I have a question similar to the one posed by Mabadesc, that is, I also would like to know how to obtain copies of documents (and even photos) from Russian archives. However, I strongly suspect that I have to go there, in order to process the order in situ. Thanks in advance.
As for my location, please take a look at my own "file".
Cheers,

Ruy

This post has been edited by Ruy Aballe on March 06, 2005 11:52 am

Hello Ruy

Do you have better photos of the German MG ? As I mentioned before there's no way that Russian Archives or anyone in Russia would give you the staff posted because as you correctly stated you need to tavel there..I have some helpping friends....

Al

PS: i still dont know the eact location

Hello again Alexkdl,

You can take a closer look at the gun and several of its components in the following page: http://www.ima-usa.com/product_info.php/cP...products_id/735
I am posting also a photo I've taken of a MG 15 preserved at Porto's military museum. It was orginally delivered in 1938 with Portuguese Ju-86K's. Sorry, the photo is not very good (it was taken almost 15 years ago...) and the gun lacks the double drum magazine and ring sights. It is interesting, however, because the depicted MG 15 is in excellent condition and belongs to the first production batches, with the wooden receiver cover.
As for my location, I live and work split between two countries, Portugal and Spain.
Cheers,

Ruy

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Hello Ruy

Great photo thank you.I will be looking at the ling you gave me...are there any airacobras and B-24's perserved at Portugese museums ?

I guess you are Portuguese national ...otherwise correct me if I am wrong

Al

Hello Al,

I am half-Spanish, so I think I am a true Iberian!
As for your question, the answer is a sad NO... all those significant aircraft were destroyed and melted to recycle the precious aluminium in the difficult years after the war. No Portuguese P-39/P-400 survived and the same is (sadly...) true about the B-24's. The only elements that still survive from the Portuguese Cobras (if you want to know a little more about their story, please read the thread in the generic W.W. II section) are the 20mm Hispano and 37mm guns.
This also ocurred with the Ju-86's, the Gloster Gladiators, the Hawk 75's, etc. Even the Spits and Hurricanes were scrapped.

The same situation happened in Spain: some years ago, I had the oportunity of talking to an Ejército del Aire veteran who witnessed the destruction (using axes!) of some surviving Do-17's, Hs-123's and Tupolev SB's in the late Forties/early Fifties...

Ruy

This post has been edited by Ruy Aballe on March 06, 2005 09:46 pm

Thanks for letting me know Ruy

Al