Ju 52, Identification

[I/ZG52_Gaga]

Great Pics and Reading - translate it on-line and read through...

http://keadive.gr/



A Junkers 52 in Greece ca 1943 DG Collection



German paratroopers prior to boarding for Leros island during September 1943 In the background the Ju 52 is visible Photo Bauer Bundesarchiv - Bild - 101I-527-2348-21



September 1943 a German paratrooper boards a Ju 52 which will transport him to Leros island Photo Bauer Bundesarchiv - Bild - 101I-527-2349-04

[KG26_Alpha]

nice one

I think Oleg would like this web site.

[I/ZG52_Gaga]

Originally Posted by KG26_Alpha

nice one

I think Oleg would like this web site.

I have no idea why you say that but i guess you got your reasons ...

Really what do you mean?

[II/JG54_Emil]

May be this is how it happened:

[I/ZG52_Gaga]

Excuse me... what are those things jumping out of water ?

[KG26_Alpha]

Originally Posted by I/ZG52_Gaga

Excuse me... what are those things jumping out of water ?

Those are bombs

Originally Posted by I/ZG52_Gaga

I have no idea why you say that but i guess you got your reasons ...

Really what do you mean?

Olegs keen on scuba and photography both at the same time apparently

[I/ZG52_Gaga]

Originally Posted by KG26_Alpha

Those are bombs



Olegs keen on scuba and photography both at the same time apparently

Amazing!

[1.JaVA_Sjonnie]

Looks pretty much intact, must have been a gentle landing.

In one of the pics you see the cabin floor littered with magazines for the MG15. Either they were carrying ammo for cargo, or stocking up for winter - better still - paratroopers were carrying the ammo and dropped it before jumping out over the ocean?

I couldnt get everything translated but apparently no dead bodies in the wreck, am I right?

BTW thanks for this post, iteresting stuff!

[I/ZG52_Gaga]

Suden Fuel cut forced the pilot to make a somewhat controled sea landing ..

1 Person died in the proccess where 2 others were injured.

All were transfered to Athens.

The JU52 belonged to I/TG 4 - Transportgeschwader 4 - Erste Gruppe.

[I/ZG52_Gaga]

You can find the English version on the same page just after the Hellenic one.

On Tuesday, 26 May 2009, after submitting a letter to the Port Authority of Lavrion, we prepared to dive the until then unknown aircraft which we had found seven months earlier, during the Kea Dive Expedition operations. By studying the size, shape and dimentions of the aircraft, which was imaged by the side scan sonar of the University of Patras, had led us to presume that it probably involved a Junkers 52 German aircraft. With this scenario in our luggage and having as reference the history of warfare in the Aegean during the Second World War, we began to approach and to highlight the unknown aircraft of Kea. This part of our research was secondary for our group as the main research subject was about the sinking of the ocean liner S/S Burdigala. Due to various circumstances, organizational and time-consuming, we intend to revert in the near future with a comprehensive reference about this issue, explaining why we were unable to dive the shipwreck of S/S Burdigala. The result was, rightly or wrongly, to dive solely into the unknown aircraft exclusively of Kea, which became the main diving and research topic of our 2009 mission. Hence we tried to take full advantage of our time and make as many dives to the wreck of the aircraft in order to capture images from all angles, creating the conditions for a monographic approach.


Diagram of the Ju 52 instrument panel. // Πίνακας οργάνων του Ju 52.

Legend of the instrument panel (German terminology). // Επεξήγηση του πινάκα οργάνων (γερμανική ορολογία).
Already by the first ten minutes of our first dive on the unknown aircraft, which took place on Wednesday 27 May 2009, was enough to confirm the original scenario of our team. The unknown aircraft was indeed a Junkers 52, very well preserved, with all her original equipment and entirely untouched. As it was later established, represents a case of one of the better aircrafts found of this type, of which a total of four are found in Greek waters. The immediate questions which were raised from the field research were:

1. From what period of World War II, does this aircraft belong?
2. Which was her squadron and what was her mission during the ditching and eventual sinking?
3. By what cause was she forced to belly land on the Kea waters?
4. Who were the victims and if so how many?


The MG 15 machine gun of the Kea island aircraft. // Το πολυβόλο MG 15 του αεροσκάφους της Κέας.
In order to answer these questions it would be necessary to first identify the aircraft, a difficult task, as the only means of positive identification is by the number of construction (Werknummer) which is registered on a metal tag mounted outside the fuselage. Together with our diving team several other collaborators, many of whom are prominent researchers, historians, in Greece and abroad, were mobilised to seek more historical information which could assist us during our fieldwork. These investigations, soon yielded results. Although our team found the tag but due to electrolysis no numbers or letters were visible as the airplane had been resting for many years in the water, the main catalytic information came from elsewhere and quite unexpectedly . The identity of Kea’s “Tante Ju” (the name comes from “Auntie Ju”, affectionate German nick name which the pilots and parachutists had given to the Junker 52’s), was discovered through a routine log report filed by a search and rescue German Dornier 24 (Werknummer 3214 ), which since the 13th of August 1943 belonged to the German Sea Rescue Squadron 7 (Seenotstaffel 7), located in Faliro, Athens area.



Legend of the MG 15 machine gun in "Schusswaffe B-Stand" version (Ju 52 of Kea, German terminology). // Επεξήγηση του πολυβόλου MG 15 στην εκδοχή «Schusswaffe B-Stand» (Ju 52 της Κέας, γερμανική ορολογία).
According to this entry, the rescuing Dornier 24 on 6th September 1943, crewed by Leutnant Pfaffendorf, Oberfeldwebel Becker, Feldwebel Steinbock, Feldwebel Bohnke, Obergefreiter Rausch and Feldwebel Lind, took part in a search and rescue operation involving a missing Junkers 52, bearing the construction number (Werknummer) 6590, of the I/TG 4, i.e. the first group (I = Erste Gruppe) of Transport Wing 4 (TG 4 = Transportgeschwader 4) which was based in Kalamaki in the Saronic Gulf (near Athens). The airplane had been lost after ditching in the northwest sea of Kea, due to fuel supply problems. Of the Junkers 52 passengers and crew, one was lost and two were wounded, all others rescued and transferred to Athens. After receiving this information, there was no doubt that this was indeed the airplane we were diving in Kea. Not only the geographic region but also the fact that the propellers of the sunken aircraft are intact, indicates that during her ditching the aircraft’s engines were not operating, a fact considered as the main cause for the sea landing of Ju 52, bearing the construction number 6590. The Transportgeschwader 4 (Transport Wing 4) was established on 4th May 1943 and consisted of four groupes (Gruppe I – IV). Commanding officer (Geschwaderkommodor) of the Trasporthgeschwader 4 was Oberstleutnant Richard Kupschus and commanding officer of the first group (Gruppe I), to which the Junkers 52 of Kea belonged, was Major Rüdiger Jakob based in Kifissia, Athens. All officers of the Wing Headquarter (Geschwaderstab) resided in the famous Hotel Cecil of Kifisia. The first and the second group (Gruppe I., II.) of the Transportgeschwader 4, as the Geschwaderstab, were disbanded in October 1944.


September 1943, a German paratrooper boards a Ju 52 which will transport him to Leros island. (Photo Bauer, Bundesarchiv - Bild - 101I-527-2349-04). // Σεπτέμβρης του 1943, Γερμανός αλεξιπτωτιστής επιβιβάζεται στο Ju 52 που θα τον μεταφέρει στην Λέρο. (Photo Bauer, Bundesarchiv - Bild - 101I-527-2349-04).
The three engined transport Junkers 52/3m of Kea, as is precisely this type of aircraft, represents one of the most popular types of aircraft produced in series that supported the military operations of Germany during World War II. In Greece this type of aircraft was deployed in two major combat operations, the battle of Crete in 1941, and the battle of Leros in 1943. Apart from the first major military operation in Narwik, Norway in 1940, where for the first time parachutists were dropped on a large scale, the battles of Crete and Leros were the only operations in which also German paratroopers were dropped on a large scale. Especially, the battle of Leros marked the last operation where the select corps of German paratroopers, the Fallschirmjäger were deployed.

The Junkers 52 had the following technical characteristics:

Type: transport aircraft

Crew: Three persons (two pilots and a radio operator)

Manufacturer: Junkers

Length: 18.90 meters

Wing span: 29.25 meters

Height: 4.50 meters

Wing area: 110.50 sq. meters

Weight (unladen): 6,510 kg

Maximum take-off weight: 10,990 kg

Engines: Three BMW Type 132 (nine cylinders)

Power: 660 PS each

Maximum speed: 290 kilometers per hour

Autonomy: 1,200 km

Maximum flight altitude: 6,300 meters

Weapons: One machine-gun MG 15, of 7.92 mm caliber with magazine DT 15, of 75 roundss, double drum (aircraft of Kea)

Passenger Capacity: 18 fully armed soldiers