"JTF600's P-61 and Nightfighter operations gaming" Topic

Nightfighter Me-262s versus night Mosquitos

"Several two-seat trainer variants of the Me 262, the Me 262 B-1a, had been adapted through the Umrüst-Bausatz 1 factory refit package as night fighters, complete with on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar, using Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antennae with a set of shorter dipole elements than the Lichtenstein SN-2 had used, as the B-1a/U1 version. Serving with 10 Staffel, Nachtjagdgeschwader 11, near Berlin, these few aircraft (alongside several single-seat examples) accounted for most of the 13 Mosquitoes lost over Berlin in the first three months of 1945. However, actual intercepts were generally or entirely made using Wilde Sau methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception."
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Some interesting snippets on Beaufighter and Mosquito flights.

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On the night of 11 Jun 1943 Maj. Werner Streib in about 30 minutes was able to shoot down five RAF Lancasters while flying a He-219. Robert

"At 11:23 PM on the night of May 6/7 1944, Oberleutnant Werner Baake of 2./NJG1 flying an He 219 shot down a Mosquito from No. 109 Squadron RAF 1km NE of Herkendorf for his 29th kill. His victims that moonlight night were Squadron Leader Harry Bernard Stephens DFC and F/L N.H. Fredman DFC. Both RAF flyers were KIA. 109 Squadron was part of 8 Group and was one of the first squadrons of Bomber Command's Path Finder Force. In late 1942 it was equipped with "Oboe". Stephens had flown on the historic first Oboe sorties to be carried out over enemy territory. Bomber Command dispatched five Mozzies to Leverkusen Germany on the night of May 6/7 1944. Stephens and Fredman were the only losses that night."

"Werner Baake

In 195 combat sorties Werner Baake scored 41 victories. At least nine of his kills were achieved while flying the Heinkel He-219. He was born on 1 November 1918 at Nordhausen Germany. Baake was posted to I./NJG 1, based at Gilze-Rijen in Holland, on 21 November 1942. August 1943 found Baake flying with 3./NJG 1 based at Venlo in Holland. by the end of 1943 Baake was an ace four times over with a score of 23. On 22 January 1944, Baake was appointed Staffelkapitän of 2./NJG 1. On 22 January 1944, Baake was appointed Staffelkapitän of 2./NJG 1. He shot down a RAF Lancaster four-engine bomber over the Urft Dam on the night 27/28 January to record his 24th victory. In doing so Baake's Me110 was mortally wounded by return fire from the Lancaster. He and his crew were forced to egress from the stricken fighter. Baake survived the jump unharmed but his radio operator Uffz. Waldbauer was killed. 2./NJG1 was partially equipped with He 219s and on 6 May 1944 shot down the 109 Squadron Mosquito of S/L Stephens. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 27 July for 33 victories. Baake was promoted to Gruppenkommandeur of I./NJG 1 on 2 October 1944, after the death of his predecessor Major Paul Förster who was killed the previous day. Werner scored a triple on the night of 5/6 January 1945. They were his final victories of the war."

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"Wilde Sau as well as Jagdgeschwader 300, 301 and 302 came into fruition after an initiative by Oberst HaJo Herrmann, a former bomber pilot. Single-seat fighters were to climb above RAF bombers and thus find the bombers silhouetted against clouds illuminated by searchlights or the burning targets on the ground. JG 300 was the first unit to be organized, and there were initially some difficulties finding aircraft. Pilots were authorized to borrow day fighters, and there are indications that JG 300 took over some of the Bf 109 T-2 that were initially produced for use on the planned aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin.

Friedrich-Karl Müller — "Nasen-Müller" — (4 December 1912 – 2 November 1987) was one of the most successful night fighter aces. In the summer of 1943, Müller was invited to join Hajo Hermann and implement the latters Wilde Sau tactics. Hermann considered Müller an ideal candidate for the role because of his blind flying instructing experience. He was appointed Technischer Offizier of JG 300 on its inception in June 1943. On the night of 3/4 July, Müller recorded his first Wilde Sau victory. At the end of November 1943, Müller was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 300. He had 19 victories to his credit at this time, eventually ending – and surviving – the war with 30 night victories during 52 missions."

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Kamikaze attacks against B-29s. Robert

"The Kamikaze attacks were increasing and B-29 losses were becoming unacceptable. The B-29 "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was rammed by three fighters and crashed. The attack had taken seven minutes during which time witnesses saw its gunners destroy nine Japanese fighters."
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Apparently, during some of the battles over the cities in Europe, it was bright enough to spot RAF bombers from 2+ miles away, and sometimes as many as 25 aircraft could be seen at one time.

That permitted the Wilde Sau pilots to even conduct head-on attacks, and ones from the sides of the bombers, instead of from the better protected rear, where RAF tailgunners would be watching for the normal avenue of approach by the nightfighters.

In the book, Nightfighters, by Bill Gunston, he mentions that 25 RAF bombers were shot down in the first ten days of the operational debut of the He-219, of which 6 were the virtually untouchable Mosquitoes. No more than 5 Uhu fighters were ever available during this period of 1943, to I/NJG1.

On its operational debut flight, Werner Streib shot down 5 heavy bombers in 2 hours, while flying the He-219, on the night of June 11/12, 1943.

While attempting to land back at base, apparently his windscreen fogged up, and he crashlanded hard on the runway, breaking the aircraft apart in several pieces, but he and his funker survived uninjured in the broken off foreward fuselage section.

Pauke Pauke has this in the Do217 section

The Italians were operative again in Italy, at Pozzola, at the end of September 1942. On 1 January 1943, the equipment of41mo Stormo di Caccia Notturnacomprised one CR 42 CN (Caccia Notturno), 3 Bf 110Cs, 4 Do 217J-1 and a captured Bristol Beaufighter.

On the night of 16/17 July 1943, two Do 217J-1s attacked a formation of RAF Lancasters and destroyed one of them. By 31 July the 41° Stormo was equipped with 11 Do 217, but only five were air-worthy having very often undercarriage defects.

Which would match up with

16/17 July 1943
18 Lancasters of No 5 Group attempted raids on two more transformer stations in Northern Italy. 7 aircraft bombed the Cislago station accurately but the second target was not located and an alternative target was bombed instead. 1 Lancaster lost. 6 Mosquitos bombed Munich and 7 OTU Wellingtons dropped leaflets over French towns without loss.

In the book, Nightfighters, by Bill Gunston, he mentions that 25 RAF bombers were shot down in the first ten days of the operational debut of the He-219, of which 6 were the virtually untouchable Mosquitoes.

However the list of all Mosquito airframes

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doesn't back up the claim for losses. I can only find two losses in June 1943. Anyone have any other info or does the claim relate to a different period ?

There are several others mentioned, though it's not clear what got them.

One was presumed shot down by a FW-190, which could have been from a Uhu instead, I guess.

There was a Met. survey loss (which might have been due to a high-flying pursuit Heinkel – they stripped either or both A-2 and A-6 variants, if I recall correctly, for that, so they'd be faster), and another one or two that just say lost, with no other info, e.g. NFII, NFXII, and BIX models.

Do a search for 6.43 to see the 22 entries.

Found some mentions of the night fighter varients ,

"Fw 190A-6/R11 – all weather and night fighter, with anti-reflection strips, landing light, autopilot device PKS 12 and heated windscreen windows.

Some planes mounted a FuG 217 Neptun J-2 radar. Generally, these planes used dropable fuel tanks mounted on the ETC 501 bomb rack. "

"Fw 190F-8/U4 – night fighter-bomber powered by a BMW 801 TS engine with exhaust flames dampers. Standard equipment was: PKS 12 autopilot device, FuG 101 radio altimeter, TSA 2A sight system and other devices to aid night navigation and flight. Armament consisted of aerial torpedoes and bombs that could be carried on two underwing ETC 503 bomb racks. Other armament was reduced to two MG 151/20 E cannons in wings. Probably only one plane built (W.Nr. 586596). Admittedly, NSGr 20 used numerous Fw 190F-8 with flame dumpers and underwing mounted bomb racks but it was not a F-8/U4 but rather field adapted, standard G-8 or F-8/U1 planes. "

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Luftwaffe Night Fighters engage British bombers (Aug 1943)
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This was useful for Radar performance of US sets

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This is interesting too,
CIC [Combat Information Center] Operations On a Night Carrier
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Robert

the other twenty-five percent escaped because of lack of radar information or faulty altitude determination

does give some credence to some ideas I am playing with about the FOW on the Tally phase

Si

To add in a bit more fun, there are several examples of "own goals" over Europe.

I read about an inexperienced NF crew who got their first kill over Denmark, I think. Can't recall if they were flying Mossies of Beaus (probably the latter).

Anyway, they shot down an "enemy" plane, but the jubilation of the squadron was a bit subdued after their return, since another aircraft from the unit went missing the same night. The aircrew of the missing plane were able to get back to friendly lines, and reported they were shot down at the same location and time as the reported victory of the other crew.

Needless to say, the victorious aircrew were appalled. Supposedly, they settled the matter over drinks at the local pub. I imagine the bar tab would have been rather hefty.

After D-Day, a Mossie supposedly shot down a P-61. Don't have any more info on that, but am surprised, since AI X was supposed to be able to read IFF, and AI MK X Mosquitoes were finally cleared to operate over the continent by then. Perhaps it wasn't working, they were using an older model radar that didn't have that capability, or the US and British had different IFFs (assuming it was installed at all on the P-61).

Wouldn't be the first time the latter has occurred. Syria shot down a number of Egyptian jets during the Arab-Israeli wars, due to that.

Account or rather mention of USAAF 417th NFS Beaufighters against a Fw-200

<Q>Perhaps their most famous operation was to attack the low flying German Condor that ran the route from the Reich to Spain carrying German gold and treasures</Q>

No idea if this was a night mission or a daylight sortie

I have found that the 415th NFS claimed to have shot down one on 9 Sept 44 but it wasn't allowed. Robert

"415th NFS had just moved to Dijon France in September 44 and 1 crew flying a Beufighter scored a He 111 you mentioned on the Septmeber 44 date, two nights earlier the crew had shot down an Fw 200 around 20.00 hrs."

Possible "Blue on Blue"?

28/29 September 1944
"a P-61 of 422nd/425th NFS claim a victory on this night (a He111?), only to find that it was the missing 157 Squadron Mosquito MM646, which possibly crashed near Geesbrug in Holland"

I know the RAF had defensive tactics like the "Corkscrew" in Europe. Does anyone know what tactics the USAAF used in the Pacific against Japanese night fighters? Robert

"Night 14/15 August: A P-61 was in combat with a He177 – the P-61 was damaged and crash-landed." Robert

418th Night Fighter Squadron

"The squadron was activated on 1 April 1943 at the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, Orlando AAF, Florida. After several months of training, the unit was deployed to the Pacific Theater, moving first to Camp Patrick Henry, near Newport News Virginia where they boarded the USS General John Pope, sailing through the Panama Canal to Milne Bay, New Guinea.

In New Guinea, the squadron was assigned to Fifth Air Force and initially stationed at Dobodura airfield in November 1943. Flying P-70 Havocs and P-38 Lightnings, the unit conducted night fighter defensive operations against intruding Japanese aircraft over New Guinea, moving to several advance airfields on the island throughout 1943 and 1944. In September 1944, the squadron was re-equipped with P-61 Black Widows and moved to Morotai Island in the Dutch East Indies where they engaged enemy aircraft. In the East Indies, additional B-25 Mitchells and P-38s were assigned, using the B-25s for night intruder operations, P-61s for night fighter operations and the P-38s for searchlight cooperation operations. In November the squadron moved to the Philippines, arriving on Leyte on 14 November.

The unit was attached frequently to different units throughout the war, and remained in the Philippines until July 1945 when it moved to Okinawa. From Kadena Airfield, the unit attacked a wide range of enemy targets on Hainan Island, Hong Kong, and along the east China coast. Its first mission against targets on the Japanese Home Islands took place on 28 July when it attacked targets on Kyūshū and also in the Shanghai area of enemy controlled China.

After V-J Day, the 418th NFS moved briefly to Atsugi Airfield, Japan during October 1945 where it was part of the occupying forces. It returned to Okinawa on 15 June 1946, conducting training operations until 20 February 1947 when the unit was inactivated. Its assigned personnel, aircraft and equipment were transferred to the 4th Fighter Squadron (All Weather)."

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"The P-38M "Night Lightning" was the night fighter version of Lockheed's very successful twin-engine, twin-boom fighter. To meet the Army's need for a night interceptor aircraft, 75 P-38L's were modified in late 1944 with the addition of a second cockpit for the radar operator and a radar pod installed underneath the nose among other less significant changes. Crew training was begun at Hammer Field in California in early 1945 and completed that summer but the war in the Pacific ended before any could see combat action."

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"F4U-2

Thirty four F4U-1s were converted into night fighters and given the F4U-2 designation. The main change was the installation of an air interception radar set. The radar antenna was placed in a radome (radar dome), placed two thirds of the way along the starboard wing. The outermost machine gun was removed from that wing to help balance the additional weight. As normal with night fighters, the exhaust stubs were modified to hide as much of the exhaust flame as possible. Three naval squadrons flew the F4U-2 night fighter in the Pacific (VF(N)-75, VF(N)-101 and VMF(N)-532). Only a small number of this version were built, and those aircraft moved between the three units as required. They were first used on Munda, New Georgia, where the Japanese were making nuisance raids at night. They also served on the U.S.S. Essex, U.S.S. Hornet and U.S.S. Intrepid."
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Not P-61s, but Ar-234's were first pressed into service as NFs, I think by NJG10, which was the experimental group.

Apparently, they worked quite well, but there were a couple of issues which made it unsuitable long term, e.g. the all glass nose at the bottom of the fuselage nosecone reflected starlight too much, causing the crews some discomfort, and onset of vertigo, since they couldn't tell which way was up due to that. I think they overpainted some of the glass to correct that issue.

Also, the twin jet engines were easily observable at night, making them very visible from the rear, and rear quarter aspects. Probably an issue for the sides and above below too, as well.

The single-seat Me-262A was pressed into service as a NF as well, and supposedly was good at chasing Mosquitoes. Can't recall if they got any kills, but imagine so.

The Me-262B, two-seater variant was a lot more suitable than either of the above, for nightfighting though.

I would still love to have the B model for my night fighter collection . Robert

CinC, which is now sold under the label Pfc. makes a superb looking Me-262B variant, in 1/300th scale.

They've apparently just recently produced the A model as well.

Sorry Mako. Just not the right scale LOL. Robert

Marine PV-1 Ventura from VMF(N)531 by "Captain Duane Jenkins, who stumbled upon a Betty Bomber on the evening of November 13, 1943." Robert

"Zahme Sau (German: tame boar) was a night fighter intercept tactic introduced by the German Luftwaffe in 1943. At the indication of a forthcoming raid, the fighters were scrambled and collected together to orbit one of several radio beacons throughout Germany, ready to be directed en masse into the bomber stream by R/T running commentaries from the Jagd division. Once fed into the stream, fighters made radar contact with a succession of individual bombers and maintained contact (and combat) as far as their ammunition and fuel held out."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahme_Sau

The old Profile series Ju-88 Night Fighters booklet. I remember this one from when I was a kid. Robert

PDF link

Inspection of Crashed or Captured Enemy Aircraft
Report Serial No. 242 dated 16
th
July 1944
Report No. 8 / 151: Junkers Ju 88 G-1 Night Fighter
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Air Interception Radar in World War II Night Fighter Aircraft
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"Night of Defiance by Ivan Berryman. (P)

Boulton Paul Defiant of 151 Sqn, based at Wittering, attacking a Messerschmitt Me110. Following an exhausting summer during the Battle of Britain, 151 was designated a night fighter squadron and was equipped both with Hurricanes and Defiants. On the night of 15th January 1942, two Defiants succeeded in bringing down three German aircraft and further successes were recorded during enemy raids on Birmingham when a further nine kills were claimed."

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Now which of the two were more successful? Robert

"In late August 1941 C.F.'Jimmy' Rawnsley was observer with Bristol Beaufighter pilot John Cunningham. Cunningham later gained fame as ‘Cats Eye's Cunningham' – one of the top RAF night fighter aces. British propaganda promoted the idea that he had exceptional night vision – in fact it was just a ruse to cover the existence of airborne radar. The first sets were very crude but they were beginning to make an impact on the effectiveness of the night fighters.

G.C.I. – Ground Control Interception , ‘Seacut' – had just told them that there were too many ‘Big Friends' – bombers departing from East Anglia – cluttering up the ground based radar screens for them to guide them onto enemy intruders. But then Rawnsley got a blip on his A.I. – Airborne Interception – radar which had a rather more limited range:

"Contact … head on … port about," I gabbled."Hard as you can … its well below us." The words came out in one exploding breath.

Without a second's hesitation John hurled the Beaufighter around on its wing-tip.

My face was flattened against the visor, and the tubes began to grow dim with the onset of a blackout. The blip slewed over to the right, slowed up, and then began to recede.

With an effort I managed to focus my eyes, and I saw that it was sliding back towards centre. "Ease off," I warned John. "You're holding him at six thousand feet. Steady I "

As we came out of the turn, the pressure eased, and I could see that we had the other aircraft cold. John's handling of the Beaufighter had clinched that.

Oosing head-on at nearly seven miles a minute on a dark, hazy night with no moon and no horizon, he had started to wheel a heavy and rather unstable aircraft around when only a mile away, and yet he had pulled out of that turn little more than that distance behind.

When John got his visual he found that it was a bandit all right. It was another Heinkel, weaving gently and ineffectively from side to side. His first shots started a fire inside the bomb-bay. We pulled clear and flew along on the port quarter, watching it burn.

The enemy crew had plenty of time to bale out as the Heinkel went flying steadily on its course for some minutes while the fire ate its way along the fuselage. The flames began to engulf the tail, and plumed out behind. Then slowly the bomber nosed over and went down like a rocket into the Wash.

I took a fix while John orbitted, reporting to control. We were thirty-five miles north-west of base, and the time was six minutes past ten. Seacut had no more trade to offer so we went out to sea again to cool our heels for an hour off Cromer.

It was Rawnsley and Cunningham's first kill together. Not surprisingly Jimmy Rawnsley's gripping memoir was something of a hit when it was published after the war, revealing methods of operation that had been kept secret until then. It seems extraordinary that it is currently out of print. See C.F Rawnsley: Night Fighter"

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ACE!: A Marine Night Fighter Pilot in World War II

FIRST KILL
by Colonel R. Bruce Porter with Eric Hammel

"Robert Bruce Porter earned his wings and was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant in July, 1941. He shipped out to American Samoa in March 1942, with the first U.S. fighter squadron to be sent to that threatened front-line area. Following more than a year's rigorous training in Samoa, Porter was transferred to Marine Fighter Squadron 121 (VMF-121), which at the time was converting to the new F4U-1 Corsair fighter. The squadron was moved forward to Guadalcanal's Henderson Field on June 9, 1943, to begin its third combat tour in the Solomons. By then a seasoned, senior pilot, and one of the first Marine airmen to be assigned to front-line duty in the Pacific, Captain Bruce Porter finally faced the prospect of experiencing combat against Japanese warplanes."

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"Ciampino Airport, Rome, 1942: a pilot boarding a Fiat CR.42CN (CN-Caccia Notturna/Night fighter) of the Italian Regia Aeronatica's 300th Squadriglia. Notice one of two large under wing search light, a typical feature, with the prolonged engine exhausts plus radio and artificial horizon, of this version, built from 1942 to 1943 in about 250-300 aircraft, of this ubiquitous Italian biplane fighter. The first attempt of night fighter's use was accomplished with CR.42s not modified in Libya from Autumn 1940 at moon light. The first night fighter's dedicated unit, 171st Gruppo, ever equipped with CR.42, was established in Sicily on October 1941 but on following November, when the most part of the Sicilian airfields was assigned to Luftwaffe's unit, the two Squadriglie of the Gruppo was disbanded and their planes moved to autonomous night fighter's sections. On 1942 was established another night fighter autonomous unit, the 167th Gruppo Caccia Notturna, with various aircraft types (included the Caproni-Vizzola F.5) at Ciampino, Capua, Littoria. From 1st January 1942 Night Fighter Sections was at Milan-Linate, Albenga, Turin-Caselle, Genoa, Treviso, Rome-Ciampino Sud, Sarzana, Naples-Capodichino, Grottaglie, Crotone, Monserrato, Palermo, Castelvetrano, Pantelleria plus sections in Libya (Tripoli-Castelbenito), Albania (Tirana), Greece (Tatoi) and Rhodes (Maritza and Gadouras): total about 110-120 CR.42CN. Obviously with this flight material the results was very unimportant. Victor Sierra "
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I would love to game an early introduction of the Night Fighter version of the F7F Tigercat. Robert

"VF(N)-90 Squadron History

Along with Night Torpedo Squadron 90, Night Fighting Squadron 90 (VF(N)-90) made up Night Air Group 90, which deployed with Enterprise CV-6 between 24 December 1944 and 31 May 1945. In five months of intensive action at Luzon, Formosa, Tokyo, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Kyushu, VF(N)-90 claimed 42 enemy planes destroyed, and 4 more damaged or destroyed, a VF(N) record bested only by VF(N)-41 operating from the carrier Independence in 1944.

VF(N)-90's squadron history was compiled by squadron yeoman John W. "Speed" MacGlashing. Its presentation here is dedicated to Speed, who passed away on 1 February 2002."

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Damn Bug. Robert

Rob, The NF Scenario9 Fast Carries has a Tigercat variant

I would love to game an early introduction of the Night Fighter version of the F7F Tigercat. Robert

Variant Scenario 9B: Tigercat
Background. The twin-engine F7F Tigercat was a fine fighter,
but its tricky handling characteristics and late arrival of the
Midway-class carriers (the only ships large enough to handle
it) meant that it arrived in the war too late to see any fighting.
Only the Marines were to operate it during the war, from land
bases rather than flight decks. This counterfactual scenario
considers how the Navy version of the aircraft might have
performed had the Midway carriers been available earlier.
Attacker Forces. (Japanese)
Elements of Imperial Japanese Navy. The attacker has twelve
P1Y ‘Frances' bombers. Two are flare droppers and ten
are torpedo bombers.
Defender Forces. (American)
Elements of United States Navy. The defender has one
F7F‑3N Tigercat.
Special Rules. The player begins with 17 VP rather than 14.

Thanks CAG.I seem to remember that one. Robert

Some great photos and information here. Robert

WWII USMC Marine Night Fighter Air Squadron VMF-542 Photo Album
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"Only one unit used the Ar 234 as a night fighter: Nachtjagderprobungskdo. Ar 234, also known as Kommando Bisping and Kommando Bonow Ar 234. It was set up on 11 Nov 44 at Oranienburg to test and evaluate the Ar 234 as a night fighter. During the last few months of the war, it flew a few operational sorties against RAF Mosquito intruders over Central Germany but no contacts are known.

See:
Flugzeug magazine, Heft 5/1989, pages 25-27.
Smith, J. Richard and Eddie J. Creek, Arado 234 Blitz (Sturbridge (MA), 1992), pages 132-34 and 229."
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Robert

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"While the Ar-234 was conducting reconnaissance and bombing operations in defense of the Reich, the type was still being modified and improved. One enhancement was a field modification. A few Ar-234Bs were pressed into service as night fighters by being fitted with FuG 218 "Neptun" longwave radar, featuring nose-mounted aerials, and a belly pack containing two 20 millimeter MG-151/20 cannon. The radar operator was crammed into the fuselage behind the wing. There is no evidence that any of these few improvised Ar-234B night fighters ever scored a kill."

airvectors.net/avar234.html

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Very simple shape for scratchbuilding in 1/600th might have to give it a go as a what if….? or just add that to the list of everything else I want to get around to