General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Did U 874 have a Bachstelze on board?
Posted by:
Steve Coates
()
Date: June 22, 2023 11:12PM
Mike
The short answer to your query is that U 874 was not equipped with a Bachstelze. It had been given up before the final voyage presumably in view of its perceived marginal usefulness.
My interest in this is that my personal research topic is helicopter development in Germany between 1930 and 1945. I had a book on this theme 'Helicopters of the Third Reich' published by Classic Publications in 2002 and am still accumulating new information.
As part of the research for my book, I had contact with Günter Schiemann, who was a Controlroom hand on U 874. Günter attended a reunion for former U 874 crew members in 1991 and was able to speak at length with Leonhard 'Teddy' Wagner. He reported back to me on this in a three page letter. According to his conversation with Wagner, the Bachstelze wasn't even part of the working up trials in the Baltic. I have photocopies of the four documents you have but of course the quality of these is less than I'd like it to be. I wonder if you'd be kind enough to make hi-res scans of your documents for me. I'll happily trade a scan of the letter I mentioned.
Please feel free to PM me.
The short answer to your query is that U 874 was not equipped with a Bachstelze. It had been given up before the final voyage presumably in view of its perceived marginal usefulness.
My interest in this is that my personal research topic is helicopter development in Germany between 1930 and 1945. I had a book on this theme 'Helicopters of the Third Reich' published by Classic Publications in 2002 and am still accumulating new information.
As part of the research for my book, I had contact with Günter Schiemann, who was a Controlroom hand on U 874. Günter attended a reunion for former U 874 crew members in 1991 and was able to speak at length with Leonhard 'Teddy' Wagner. He reported back to me on this in a three page letter. According to his conversation with Wagner, the Bachstelze wasn't even part of the working up trials in the Baltic. I have photocopies of the four documents you have but of course the quality of these is less than I'd like it to be. I wonder if you'd be kind enough to make hi-res scans of your documents for me. I'll happily trade a scan of the letter I mentioned.
Please feel free to PM me.
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Did U 874 have a Bachstelze on board?
|
Mike Hegel | 06/14/2023 03:49PM |
|
Re: Did U 874 have a Bachstelze on board?
|
t-geronimo | 06/21/2023 03:58PM |
|
Re: Did U 874 have a Bachstelze on board?
|
t-geronimo | 06/21/2023 03:59PM |
|
Re: Did U 874 have a Bachstelze on board?
|
Steve Coates | 06/22/2023 11:12PM |