World War 2 Trivia

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BINGO!!! You got it!

Ok, your turn to post a question.......
 
Two answers to that question, and they'd both be correct - Yes and No !
I was just reading about this a week or so ago, and can't remember what it was, or where I read it !
 
I have read that the first really suitable torpedo bomber used by the Germans was the HE111 I think in 1941, some of the sinkings made by these He111's are disputed as being made by Italian aircraft. Before the He111 the Germans had used floatplanes which proved to be unsuitable because of their speed. I think it was the He 59 that was used first of all followed by the He115, I know these aircraft were used against British ships in home waters but can't recall them being very successful, I have a feeling that the German torpedo of the time was really to fragile for dropping by aircraft.
 
He115 floatplane was slow but accurate, used in small mumbers, mostly in the northern areas like Murmansk, carried a single torpedo. Operations were hampered by short supplies of the improved LT F5 torpedo.

Also used, was the Do217E-2 for anti-shipping, having two under-wing hardpoints for torpedos, each being outboard of the engines.

Another torpedo bomber was the He217K-1, which carried two torpedos underwing, each hardpoint being outboard of the engine nacelle.

The other two, better known torpedo bombers were, of course, the Ju88A-17 and the He111H

They tested several types, including the Ar95 floatplane, and the Ju87D-4.

There was even testing being done with the Fw190 (F-8/U3), using several types including the BT series torpedo, during trials.
 
3 where and whens for WW1 British tanks.

1. Where and when were they last used as tanks by an army?
2. Where and when was the last preparation for use in action as a tank?
3. Where and when was their last use as an armoured vehicle during a war?

I have been most careful in my choice of words.
 
A clue.
It was the only success the He 59 had as a torpedo bomber.
 
Well don't think this counts but I do find a report on 21 Nov 1939 that around 2100 hours the British destroyers HMS Griffin, HMS Gipsy, HMS Keith, HMS Boadicea, and the Polish destroyer Grom were ordered to leave Harwich and establish a patrol in the North Sea. Shortly before that, a German He 59 seaplane dropped two magnetic mines nearby, but there was no time for searching. HMS Gipsy hit one of those mines which tore her into two pieces.
 
From what I could find out, this attack on the British merchant ship Thropeness, was carried out out by He 59s, which on the night of 21st July 1938 was entering the Spanish port of Valencia loaded with grain. At the time it was claimed by the Spanish Nationalists that this ship had been sunk by a mine.
 
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That was in the Spanish Civil War though. If this sinking was done by a He59 then obviously it was a slow and either poorly defended or undefended vessel, also it was presumably out of the range of RAF fighters (so not a coastal vessel) and not sailing in convoy.
 
The only torpedo attack I am aware of, with a torpedo equipped He59, was on 2 February 37 and the target was the merchant ship Delfina. The attack was by He59s of AS/88 and the torpedoes failed.

The ship was eventually sunk by bombs delivered by He60s of the same unit.
 
Sorry, but its not WW2.

ps: In an earlier reply I stated that what I was looking for was the only success the He 59 had as a torpedo bomber, but that is incorrect, I should have put in WW2

Sorry about that folks
 
Berlin 1945
The Germans used two British Male V tanks they had got out of a Museum in the final defence of the city
 
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Well done Redcoat. Though I suspect that they were probably used as protected transport from Red Army shelling.

The Latvians had a couple in 1939 that were briefly used and a British Home Guard unit worked up a display example for use in their village defence plans.
 
It seems my question was too obscure.

The first success of the Luftwaffe using torpedoes in WW2 was the sinking of the British fishing steamer, Active (185 GRT) on the 18 December 1939 by a He 59.
(I've posted a longer article on this subject in the aviation forum )

My next question is hopefully less obscure:

What was Rommel's nickname for Monty
 
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