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AS/88 received the He-59B and was included in the Composition of the Condor Legion to be sent to Spain
In September 1936, the merchant ship "Viger" of the company arrived in the port of Cadiz Hamburg-Vremen-Africa Line with a cargo of various military equipment and materials. On on board the vessel there were also boxes with disassembled He-59B-2 and He-60E seaplanes. On October 14, in Cadiz, the Nord Deutsche Lloyd motor ship Eisenach was two more He-59B-2 aircraft were delivered. The next two machines are of the same type unloaded in Cadiz. The same transports arrived technical personnel and squadron commander Captain Karl-Heinz Wolf. A month later, the two more He-59V-2s with their pilots, Oberleutnants Klumper and Lecht.
After all the seaplanes were assembled and flown around, the unit immediately began combat work. Wolff's main task was reconnaissance coastal areas in the interests of the Francoist navy Flights operated from the naval base of Cádiz Puntales. At the end of December 1936, the planes flew to the seaplane base located near the city of Melilla, on the northern coast of Africa. The merchant ship "Capri" of the company "Sloman" R.M." was delivered by two more He-59s.
On January 10, 1937, Oberleutnant Klümper discovered the Republican vessel The Dolphin, heading for the port of Malaga, attacked it with one torpedo. Though The torpedo bomber failed to hit the vessel, the attack was the first case of combat aircraft torpedo after the end of the First World War Frustrated, Klumper decided to return to base, hang the bombs, and continue pursuit of a republican vessel After a long search, the He-59 again went to the "Dolphin" and dropped bombs on it. This time the shot was quite accurate: two The bombs exploded in the immediate vicinity of the ship's side and seriously damaged its hull. To save the ship, the captain threw it into shallow water. At the same time, most of the cargo for the Republican government was spoiled.
February 1, 1937 Klumper. searching southwest of the Republican of the Cartagena naval base, discovered the cargo ship "Nuria Ramon" with a displacement of 2783 tons, following from the port of Algiers to Barcelona. After several machine-gun bursts fired from the aircraft at the bow of the ship, the captain of the vessel was given an order by radio to head for Melilla. At the same time, the transport was guided by the Francoist cruiser Canarias, which was escorting Republican vessel to Melilla Three days later, seaplanes from AS/88 provided support for Franco's ground units, which attacked Malaga, and covered from the air cruiser Canarias, which fired at Republican positions. At this time, in Republican I-15 fighters appeared in the air and suddenly attacked seaplanes. Panic began in the German ranks. Dodging attacks Republicans, collided and fell into the water of HE-59V-2 and Ne-BOE. Pilot of the He-59 Oberleutnant Dieter Lecht drowned, and the rest of the crews of both aircraft They managed to get on board the cruiser, where they received medical assistance. It became the first loss in the AS/88. The Republicans chalked up the victory over the He-59 American volunteer pilot Charles Koch.
After the fall of Malaga, the AS/88 squadron moved to the port of the captured City. At the end of May, its command changed: instead of Captain Wolf, who had left to Germany, Captain Küder was appointed.
By mid-1937, the Francoist command realized that the most convenient way to The location of the main part of the seaplane should be a naval base Polesa on the island of Mallorca, where AS/88 planes flew in early July. Polesa remained a base for Francoist seaplanes until the end of the war. difficulty made an emergency landing. The crew was lucky that their splashdown was seen from another seaplane, which informed about the Polens Air Base. A small vessel was sent to rescue the airboat, which and towed the plane to the port.
On July 31, 1937, the a transport vessel that was intercepted by several He-59B-2s (to this who received the nickname Zapatones (Spanish - shoemaker). During the attack, the planes came across heavy fire from escort warships, and one of the flying boats, having serious damage, made an emergency landing. Timely the cruiser "Canarias" arrived in time and took the air crew, which included wounded, and an auxiliary vessel towed the seaplane to Polęsa.
On August 13, AS/88 bombers attacked the Danish steamer Edith 1566 tons, owned by the shipowner J. Loritzan from Copenhagen
Since 1937, He-59 aircraft have specialized in performing two main tasks The first of them consisted in the violation of night railway and road transportation on the republican coast of Spain. To do this, the Germans developed a special tactical technique. Planes approached the coast at high altitude, After that, they turned off the engines, picked up speed on descent and silently attacked the detected targets. At the same time, in most cases, air defense systems Republicans did not have time to react.
The second task assigned to the He-59 was to disrupt sea transportation Republicans. The search for ships proceeding to the republican ports was carried out by Cant Z.501 aircraft from Grupo 2-G-62, also based in Polenieje 18 one of the He-59V-2s was damaged over enemy territory and, having gone into side of the sea, with . From direct the ship sank at a distance of 30 miles from the Balearic Islands.
On August 24, a pair of He-59B-2s went to two republican cargo ships. Pilots We observed several direct hits. On the second approach to the target, seaplanes were attacked by I-15 fighters, but were able to evade the battle without losses returned to their base.
On September 16, seaplanes carried out a night bombing of the railway station in The port of Bow, where, according to intelligence, two arrivals from the France trains with military equipment and materials. When departing from the targets, the pilots observed several fires All the machines returned safely to Polęsa. On the night of September 4, 22 and 25, the group's aircraft attacked CAMPSA refineries located in Cartagena and Barcelona  During the bombing, the pilots managed to burn several fuel tanks.
On September 30, He-59s attacked the port of Grao in Valencia, where they sank the transport "Gur-cho" displacement of 3225 tons with military cargo, which has just arrived from Soviet port of Feodosia. On October 6, in the AS/88 combat journal a combat sortie of the He-59V-2 was recorded to bomb Republican ships, marching to bombard Mallorca. Air attacks forced the Republicans to abandon from the planned attack on Mallorca.
On October 30, in violation of all international norms, Francoists attacked the English vessel "Jane Weems" with a displacement of 2349 tons. According to the Frankists, the transport constantly made regular trips between the republican ports and Cyprus, Malta and Gibraltar. The ship was sailing from Marseille to Barcelona from cargo of military equipment.
The following entry was made in the AS/88 combat log: "At 6 a.m. 30m at a distance of 15 miles east of Cape Bagur, the vessel "Jane Weems" was discovered. Along It was clear that the transport was fully loaded. On deck were Eight trucks in gray-green paint are fixed. The attack took place at Cape San Sebastian and passed in the following order. At first, on transport repeatedly gave the signal "Vessel stop", but it began to maneuver, performing centerfold. Further, from the bow gun mount He-59B-2, the vessel was opened warning fire Serious damage to the bow of the transport forced to stop; The crew unloaded onto lifeboats, and the transport itself was fired from cannons and machine guns. At the same time, the vessel received hits in the bow and stern at the waterline level. After the departure of the boats with the crew to a safe distance along the The ship was bombed. One of the bombs hit its nose, and Ten minutes later it sank. The crew of the transport remained in the lifeboats and was lost sight due to poor visibility."
On November 4, at 8:45 a.m., in the northeast of Barcelona, the He-59B-2 was discovered by the steamer "Corsica" with a displacement of 643 tons, sailing from Marseilles to Barcelona. After several cannon shots, the vessel was damaged and requested assistance with After a while, an I-15 appeared in the air, which attacked seaplane, but in one of the attacks it was damaged and was forced to go into the side of the coast. Left without cover, the steamer was forced to follow course to Palma de Mallorca, where it was captured by the Francoists.
The last sortie in 1937 was made by the He-59B-2 on December 21, when the pair seaplanes bombed a convoy of trucks following the road to the north Castelona. The fire of 20-mm anti-aircraft guns was serious damaged, and he had to make an emergency landing a few miles away east of Benicarlo. The second seaplane splashed down next to the damaged and took its crew, and after takeoff sank the abandoned He-59B-2, firing at it from Gun.
1938 started badly for the AS/88. On January 13, the squadron lost one He-59B-2. Caught in a band of thick fog, the seaplane tried to land. However At the same time, he broke the float and was badly damaged. As a result, he died Sergeant Harald Kahl, and the rest of the crew were seriously injured.
On 19 January, Major Martin Harlinhusen took command of AS/88, who remained in charge of the until the end of the war. Nine days later, the He-59S, which committed reconnaissance flight in the area of the port of Manon, received a direct hit from an anti-aircraft gun Projectile. The damage was very significant - the plane was torn off float and one engine. The pilot reported this to the base and made a forced landing at sea on one float and with one engine. When landing, seaplane completely collapsed, and the crew ended up in the water. A strong storm did not allow seaplanes splash down and pick up crew members, but soon to the rescue a rescue ship from Polęsa arrived in time.
Combat activity for the AS/88 in February 1938 began on the 4th, when a pair of He-59B-2 discovered the ship "Elektra" at the exit from the port of Barcelona with a displacement of 1387 tons of the English company J Bruce and Co. Attacked with air, the transport turned back to the port, under the protection of anti-aircraft batteries, but After several bomb hits, she sank at 7 o'clock in the morning. Part of the crew managed to embark on lifeboats.
On February 11, a strong hurricane swept through the island of Mallorca. As a result, serious Many seaplanes located in the bay of the base were damaged Hydroaviation of Polens. Of the He-59, only one aircraft was damaged, which was on the water and moored to a buoy.
The damage caused to the Republicans by the AS/88 seaplanes forced them to strengthen air defenses of ports, coastal areas and transport ships on the approach to the coast. Several new anti-aircraft guns were formed units, the armament of which consisted of 76.2-mm guns of the Soviet production and rapid-firing 20-mm Oeriikon cannons.
On February 27, 1938, the He-59S, which made a reconnaissance flight along the of the Republican coast, attacked by a pair of fighters The seaplane received damage, and the pilot, Captain Salcher, was seriously wounded, which forced him to Stop the task and return to the base. At the end of February 1938, during the night attack on the Port Bow railway junction, serious damage received another He-59
On March 14, at the latitude of Cape Cambrils, the He-59B-2 airboat discovered and attacked transport "Menorca" with a displacement of 1022 tons. As a result, the vessel got a leak and quickly sank. The next morning, returning from a night search, He-59B-2 fired at a convoy of trucks near the city of Vinaros However, he himself was attacked by the Republican Dewoitine D 510 fighter of Sergeant José Sarria Calatayuda. Having received heavy damage, the He-59B-2 landed on the ground. The crew is in full was captured by the Republicans.
On the same day, He-59 seaplanes attacked the port of Tarragona, where they managed to sink a vessel with a displacement of 2246 tons. On the night of March 21-22, the AS/88 squadron lost another aircraft - the He-59 was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery during a raid on the railway station and port in Tor-tos; The entire crew of the seaplane was killed. 7 April at 8 p.m. 45 minutes in the harbor of the port of Roses, he sank with one 50-kg He-59 bomb tugboat "Rio Urumea" with a displacement of 275 tons, turned into Republicans into the patrol ship.
Another successful flight of the He-59 took place on May 10 This time the seaplanes managed to sink two Republic patrol vessels. Four days later in port Alicante single He-59 with two 500-kg bombs dropped from a height of 80 meters, sank the transport unloading at the pier. Another success came on the night of 18 on May 19. During the raid on the port of Alicante, three He-59B-2s bombed tanks with Fuel.
In response to the attacks of the Francoists, the Republicans on the night of May 20-21, with the forces of three SB bombers attacked the seaplane base in Polenieje. On the application of Francoists, the damage from the bombing was minimal. Bombing of Polenieje did not affect the activity of Franco's seaplanes. Already on May 24, she again reminded of itself by raiding the port in Valencia. Two 500-kg bombs, dropped He-59s from a height of 50 meters, sent the company's British ship to the bottom Westcliff S.S. Co. v. On June 22, the crew of the He-59 found an English transport "Salton" with a displacement of 3000 tons. The plane dropped four 250-kg bombs, the explosion of which detonated ammunition in the hold on June 25 He-59 covered the landing of the Francoists on the Columbretes archipelago.
On July 7, three new He-59B-2s arrived in Polensu to replace those lost in battle Aircraft. During this month, the crews were on anti-submarine duty, hunting for Republic submarines that sought to attack the Francoist cruisers Canarias and Baleares in the waters of Mallorca. On July 21, two The Francoists sank the transport "Bodil" with 250-kg bombs, which was delivering the batch aircraft and other military equipment for the Republicans.
On July 24, planes from AS/88 attacked the port of Gandia, dropping four 250-kg bombs on the ships moored at the pier. At the same time, one republican vessel. The next day, the blow was repeated. This time with two 500-kg bombs sank an English cargo ship.
On August 2, several He-59B-2s were attacked by a Republican I-15 fighter with registration number CA-058, which took off from the La Senera airfield on the outskirts of the Valencia. The plane was flown by the squadron commander, Lieutenant Jose Falco Sanmartin. As a result of the attack, one seaplane was damaged and committed emergency landing; Its crew was captured.
On August 6, aerial reconnaissance spotted the Lake Lugano cargo ship with a displacement of 2120 tons, sailing under the Estonian flag. The transport entered the port Palamós and stood under the unloading. At night, the He-59V-2 dropped four 250-kg Bombs. After a while, three more He-59s and finished off the damaged ship with a bomb strike. On August 15, He-59B-2s made a raid to Valencia and sank the tanker "Campomanes".
On November 2, AS/88 suffered another loss: in the area of Santa Cristinade Aro Republican anti-aircraft gunners shot down the He-59. The crew survived, but was captured. And on November 18, Jose Falco, taking off from the Sabadell airfield on an I-15 with a registration SA-036, attacked the He-59 and shot it down.

The largest AS/88 air operation carried out with the participation of the He-59 took place November 25 and 26, 1938. During these two days, the republican port of Barcelona was 15 sorties were carried out and 15 tons of bombs were dropped. However, significant the nationalists failed to achieve success (In addition, Jose Falco won again another night victory, shooting down the He-59. His I-15 (tail number SA-230) successfully returned to the airfield, and the He-59 crashed in the vicinity of the town of Blanes. Crew aircraft consisting of Lieutenants Karl-Friedrich Prints, Otto Schmidt and Walther Woolling and Corporal Ludwig Miller died).
Despite the losses, by the beginning of 1939, the AS/88 had eight He-59s. This is the largest number of seaplanes of this type since the beginning of their appearance in the Spain.
On January 7, Republican fighters intercepted one of the He-59s. After a few attack, the plane was shot down and fell into the sea. And on January 26, the Francoists occupied Barcelona, and two weeks later they managed to take almost the entire coast of Spain up to the border with France was under its control. Planes from AS/88 carried out a blockade of republican ports.
In some cities that were still under Republican control, Anti-government protests began. The first of them occurred on February 8 in Minorca. In order to support the rebels, He-59B-2 seaplanes during the For several days, they carried out sorties to bomb roads in the area of Mutiny City. On March 5, the uprising engulfed several small artillery forts Cartagena. One of the He-59s was attacked by an I-15 from the 2nd squadron with Aparecida airfield. The seaplane, which received significant damage, committed emergency landing 5 miles from the coast. The location of the car was determined by Cant Z-501 from Grupo 2-G-62 and led the cruiser "Mar Cantabrico" to it. Sailors The crew was rescued, and the seaplane was flooded.
Before the end of the war, the AS/88 squadron suffered another loss. On March 22, at one from the He-59, the engine failed in flight - and the plane landed, during the which torn off the left float and wing console of the car. The crew members left plane, using a rescue boat.
Throughout the conflict, the AS/88 was supported by a constant supply of Germany new aircraft to replace the lost machines. All He-59s were equipped German crews, which included a Spaniard as an observer for better orientation on the terrain
After the end of the war, the AS/88 remained at the seaplane base in Polenie until April 30 1939. The squadron consisted of three He-59s, three He-60s and three recently arrived Ag-95A-0, which managed to make only a couple of sorties.
On September 1, 1939, with the outbreak of World War II, a reorganization was carried out Spanish seaplane, based in Polenieje. The planes were combined into a single a division named Grupo Mixto de Hidros. It included 52nd Squadron with He-59 and He-60 aircraft, 53rd Squadron, which had armament Italian CANT Z.501 and 506B, and all Ar-95A-0. Group Command received by Major Ignacio Ansaldo.
At the beginning of 1940, individual squadrons and groups in the Spanish Air Force were transformed into regiments. By the end of this year, the shortage of spare personnel began to affect units, He-59s took off less and less often. On November 2, 1941, in the area of hydroaerodrome in Polens, a strong hurricane passed, as a result of which several aircraft moored to the parking buoys were seriously damaged. One vehicle was decommissioned, and the other two continued to be used until 1945, when They were not handed over for scrapping.
All He-59, He-59B-2 and He-59S supplied to Spain had a monochrome grey-green (RLM 02) coating with hastily painted identification marks Luftwaffe, in the place of which others were inflicted - Franco's aviation. On the steering wheel direction depicted a black diagonal cross of St. Andrew, and on the fuselage, On both sides of it, there are black circles and registration numbers. On the wing - from above and at the bottom there were black circles, white crosses of St. Andrew and two black crosses streaks
After arriving in Spain, the He-59 received three-digit onboard registration numbers (for example, 512, 513, etc.). Since 1941, they have been replaced by combined (e.g., 71-1 and 71-3). A year later, the numbers were changed again - the first digit "7" replaced with "5". A few months after the baptism of fire of the He-59 on the Some of them began to depict white triangular flags in the middle of the fuselage with two red circles - similar designations were on ships that performed control of the courts in the interests of the "Committee of Non-Intervention". This, according to was supposed to show that the planes were acting in the interests of the international forces.
After the AS/88 squadron adopted its own "Ace of Spades" emblem, it began to be applied to the front of the fuselage, slightly below the cockpit. After 1941, "Ace "peak" migrated to the keel of the aircraft, and on the lower and upper surfaces of the wing applied new, red and yellow cockades of the Spanish Air Force.
On May 27, five He-59s under the command of Senior Lieutenant Brey attacked the Greek the tanker "Nausica" with a displacement of 5000 tons, sailing under the Panamanian flag. On the ship Several 250- and 50-kg bombs were dropped from a height of 100 meters. From the received the tanker sank; Most of his crew was able to escape. On June 4, the republican port of Alicante was attacked, on the roadstead of which there were an English steamer with a displacement of 1300 tons and the Spanish ship "Fruthero" were set on fire with a displacement of 341 tons. Anti-aircraft fire damaged one of the seaplanes, but the pilot managed to bring the machine to the base. At the end of the day, the raid on Alicante was repeated. One of the He-59s managed to successfully drop four 250-kg bombs, who set fire to a republican tanker sailing under the English flag, but owned by the Spanish company CAMPSA. At 11 p.m. 20 minutes the ship exploded and Sank.
At night, part of the He-59B-2 attacked the port of Denia, where the British vessel with a displacement of 4000 tons. As a result of the bombing, it received significant damage, five crew members were killed and three wounded. In the evening the next day, AS/88 seaplanes raided the port of Grao de Castellón, where, according to intelligence, the English steamer "Isadora" was under unloading, arrived from Marseilles. Two of the four bombs dropped from the He-59B-2. strongly the ship was damaged, and in the evening it sank. On June 21, the He-59B-2, armed with a torpedo, patrolled the sector of the sea between Barcelona and Valencia. Not finding republican ships, the seaplane turned towards Polence and was already on the on the way back, he noticed an English transport in the Gulf of Valencia. Commander plane dropped a torpedo that landed right in the middle of the ship. The explosion split it, And it quickly sank. Characteristically, it was the first after the end of the First the case of the sinking of a ship by a torpedo dropped from an airplane.

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He.59B-2 Legion Kondor