Polish Naval Aviation 1939

  Polish Naval Aviation 1939

R-XIII hydro seaplane

History 

In August 1939 the Polish Navy consisted of the Naval Air Squadron based in Puck (former German seaplane base) – it was composed of 32 aircraft, the Long Range Reconnaissance Escadrille (I Eskadra Dalekiego Rozpoznania), the Short Range Reconnaissance Escadrille (II Eskadra Bliskiego Rozpoznania), and the 4th training Escadrille. The permanent base in Puck (comprising the Airport and the Technical Park) and backup launching grounds in Hel and Lake Raduńskie near Kartuzy. Puck housed four hangars and two seaplane shipyards (a third was under construction), workshops with engine, carpentry, electrical, precision, communications, and armament departments, as well as an experimental laboratory, as well as an airport radio station. The 6 wheeled training aircraft had access to two permanent airfields: Puck and Rumia, and a field airfield in Nowe Obłuże on Kępa Oksywska

The 1st squadron's aircraft were three 1930s Lublin R-VIII (only 802 & 803 in service, one non operational) seaplanes and one modern torpedo seaplane, an Italian design the CANT Z-506B Arione. The Italian built Arione arrived in Puck on the 26th of August 1939 without torpedo equipment, no armament of any type (full story below).

The second Squadron's primary equipment at that time of the invasion were various models of the Lublin R-XIII hydro seaplanes. Only 13 seaplanes were operational on the 1st September. It was almost totally destroyed by the Luftwaffe by September 9, only two aircraft remained operational until the 30th of September. 

The training squadron had five Bartel BM5c wheeled trainers , three HBA 17 HE2 seaplanes trainers, a larger Nikol A-2 seaplane trainer, and a RWD 17 W all were damaged at Puck airfield and along the Hal peninsula by September 9. A single RWD 17W tried to fly to Sweden but crashed on route. 

The Lublin R-XIII was designed in the early-1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the main army cooperation plane in the Invasion of Poland. Its seaplane variant Lublin R-XIII ter Hydro served in the Polish Navy. In the early 1930s the R-XIII was quite a successful plane for its purpose. It had a very short take-off (68 m for R-XIIIA) and landing, enabling it to operate from fields and meadows. However, only some of R-XIIIs were equipped with a radio and a camera, which lowered their usefulness. In 1939 they were used in three Army-aircraft liaison platoons, being a basic Polish army-cooperation plane.

The R.XII was of mixed construction like many aircraft of the 30s, as wood was workable, flexible, light and affordable. It was conventional in layout, with the whole forward part made in aluminium for the wrapping and steel for the frame. There was a support metal plate after the engine cowling and mount, on which were fixed the floats struts or the uncarriage in universal fixing system for quick conversion. The rest of the fuselage was entirely in wood covered with canvas, but the top part of the fuselage was in metal, up to the rear machine gunner post. The tail was also in wood and canvas, with a metal frame inside.

The monoplane parasol had braced high wings with steel struts. The Crew of two sat in tandem in an open cockpit, The forward pilot position was protected by a windshield, none for the rear observer but the latter had a reversible seat to access controls with a removable joystick in case the pilot was injured, the observer  manned the rear 7.92 mm Vickers K air-cooled machine gun or a 7.7 mm Lewis on a ring mounting. In some cases twin mountings were seen on the army version 1939 but were not seen on seaplanes.

There was a single 200 litre tank in the the forward fuselage behind the engine, riveted from duralumin and with a system of emergency ejection.

The R.XIII C/D or hydro bis and ter were powered by the same 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine Wright Whirlwind J-5 produced under licence in Poland, with either 162 kW (220 hp) in nominal power or a 176 kW (240 hp) in take-off power.

The only major design changes compared to the land-based variant were the floats and its attachment struts. The two floats arrangement seemed evident, despite the higher drag they caused compared to a single axial float and underwings floats, but they were a more rugged and simpler solution. These floats were ordered from Short in Britain, quite experienced in the manufacture of all-metal floats. They were made of hydronalium, and totally waterproof and fitted with a water rudder.

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  The symbol painted on the planes of the 1st Long-Distance Reconnaissance Squadron
 
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  The symbol painted on the planes of the 2nd Close Reconnaissance Squadron
 
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  The symbol painted on the planes of the river air squadron. Disbanded 1938
 
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  The symbol painted on the aircraft of the training squadron of the division

At War

Leading up to the invasion after mobilization on the between the. 7th to the 24th August several reconnaissance missions were conducted over Germany for photo reconnaissance and patrols over the Baltic Sea with the loss of one aircraft to crashing after clipping the water on a turn investigating a troop ship (712) on the 24th of August. One aircraft a Lublin R-XIII with a floats was swapped to wheels and assigned as an army liaison aircraft to HQ Warsaw

September 1st 1939 - 06:30 the base in Puck was bombed by 33 Henkel III from Kampfgeschwader 1 "Hindenburg" - KG1. The bombers hit the officers mess, shrapnel hit some hangers were badly damaged and  the workshops caught fire. Several personnel were killed including the squadron commander Lt Commander Edward Szystowski. Two Lublin R VIII and one FBA-17 HE2 were damaged.  The decision was made to relocate the entire seaplane fleet to the Hel Peninsula. The CANT Z.506B remaining in the waters of Puck Bay, moved to the area of ​​the Hel Naval Port. 

In the afternoon of the same day, German aircraft, approximately 33 Junkers Ju-87B Stukas from II and III/St.G2, attacked the 152 mm coastal artillery battery named after Heliodor Laskowski and the Hel Naval Port. In the final phase of the raid, the German aircraft crews were drawn to the CANT Z.506B, anchored nearby, conspicuous by its size and its silver airframe colour. After the raid, the Germans, returning in a chopping flight towards Słupsk, attacked the moored aircraft from level flight. Three bombs dropped on the CANT failed to explode; the fuses apparently failed to detonate due to the low drop height. Bosun Radio Operator W. Wzorek noted: "...only I and the Bosun's Mate mechanic remained in the plane. We were listening to radio reports from Warsaw in the cockpit. Suddenly, we saw a flight of Junkers Ju-87s heading towards our plane from the direction of the naval port. They were attracted by the large, two-meter-high checkerboards on the wings. We decided to save ourselves by jumping into the water to avoid the fate of our box, which we considered lost anyway." While jumping into the water from a height of approximately 6 meters, Petty Officer Wzorek caught his  service belt on a protrusion of the fuselage, injuring his spine. He crawled out of the water onto the floatplane and, hanging there helplessly, lost consciousness. After being pulled to shore, he was pronounced dead, and the burial began. Just as Petty Officer Wzorek was being buried in his grave, another Luftwaffe bombing raid on Hel began. The bomb explosions revived the pilot, much to the horror of the would-be gravediggers.

During the third German air raid on the Hel Military Academy, an incident occurred. During a dive attack, Lt. Hamester, pilot of 4. Staffel II/StG 2, recovered his aircraft too late and collided with the water. The impact severed both landing gear legs of his Junkers. Hamester guided the Stuka to the airfield in Stolp-Reitz (Słupsk), where he landed it smoothly on its belly.

Miraculously saved from the German bombing of Hel, the CANT Z.506B took off early the next morning (September 2, 1939), bound for Modlin. The primary goal was to equip it with Polish-designed bomb launchers. The entire operation was to be carried out at the Main Navy Depot in Modlin. The prevailing wartime chaos meant the crew took off without maps or a current weather report. After reaching Modlin, it turned out that ditching on the Vistula River was impossible due to ground fog. Fearing a crash, Captain Borowiec decided to continue the flight towards the capital. However, it quickly became clear that barrage balloons had been observed in several locations. Uncertain of their specific location and persistently poor weather conditions, the crew commander once again decided to continue the flight along the river towards Dęblin. Running low on fuel, the seaplane hadn't refueled since arriving from Italy, forced the pilot to reduce altitude to more easily find the rescued Vistula River. They spotted it at the last moment, making a sudden maneuver to the left to avoid losing sight of the riverbed in the fog. The seaplane was brought down almost in a dive to the water's surface. In this section, the Vistula meandered in meanders, preventing a safe ditching. Eventually, a straight section was spotted, where the pilot landed the seaplane. The water contact was gentle, but as the plane slowed, it ran aground on a thin layer of shallow water. The Czapla's tail briefly rose dangerously, threatening to capsize, but fortunately, it settled back down. The ditching took place 2 km from the village of Świerże Górne and about 12 km from Kozienice at 7:10 AM. The seaplane covered a total distance of 512 km in 1 hour and 40 minutes.

After taking off from the Vistula River on September 6, 1939, Czapla landed on the Siemień Pond, the designated seaplane base of the old riverine squadron. The entire operation was very well organized by local fishermen. They marked the launching strip on the pond at its deepest point, marking it with poles. Boats were on standby, and the CANT was towed to safety and then camouflaged with reeds and branches. Such a major event as the arrival of a large, silver plane could not have escaped the notice of the large German minority living near the pond. It was most likely their tip-off that caused German bombers to appear over the pond several days later, specifically on September 10th and 11th. Furthermore, the wind that had blown the day before likely aided the Luftwaffe crews in finding the CANT, partially removing the reeds and branches camouflaging the seaplane.
The only CANT Z.506B Arione floatplane in our September Navy was definitely out of time. Without armament, fuel, or ammunition, it was doomed to imminent destruction. Two days later, on September 11, 1939, at 6:30 a.m., a German Heinkel He-111 bomber from II. Gruppe Stabstaffel/LG1 flew in low over the ground and dropped four 50 kg high-explosive bombs each and 12 incendiary bombs so it was, sunk by German bombers on Siemień Pond.

September 2nd - 5:30am Stuka dive bombers attacked the dispersed aircraft in the bay lightly damaging a number of aircraft. Two aircraft spotted for the Hel shore batteries targeting the German destroyers, Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z9 Wolfgang Zenker. 18:16pm another flight of stukas 87B bombed Hel, damaging more aircraft, returned again a 20:20.

September 3rd - two Aircraft continued to spot for the Hel land batteries against the German destroyer Leberecht Mass which was hit.

September 6 - Lt. Marshal Józef Rudzki and Lt. Marshal Observer Zdzisław Juszczakiewicz, flying aircraft "714," reconnoitred German naval movements in the Bay of Gdańsk, searching for the the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, but was not in its expected location and was not located. 

September 7 - the same crew in 714 strafed and bombed a night parade of SA and SS troops near Gdańsk's Old Town. The parade was organized to celebrate the capture of Westerplatte. The appearance of the Polish aircraft over Gdańsk must have made a lasting impression on the Germans. The episode of the 714's night flights was not particularly publicized.

September 8 - more aircraft were destroyed near Jurata by a Stuka air raid using incendiary bombs.

9th September stukas returned damaging more aircraft leaving only two operational.

September 9 - The Airbase at Puck overrun by German troops from the 42nd Border guard regiment and the 5th cavalry regiment. 

September 30th - the last Lublin R-XIII and RWD 17W depart for Sweden both fail to reach the Swedish mainland . 

The marine Sqaudron based in Puck 

R-XIII bis/hydro - seaplane, 4 produced from 1931 (nos. 700-703)
R-XIII ter/hydro - seaplane, 10 produced from 1934 (nos. 704-713)
R-XIIIG - metal prop seaplane, 6 produced from 1934 (nos. 714-720)

 

A 1935 video of Polish Seaplanes

And the Lublin R-XIII

References 

Polish Wings 43

CANT Z-506 B Airone of the Naval Aviation Squadron by Mr. Andrzej Olejko 

Luftflotte I – 1939. Krzysztof Janowicz. Kagero.