25 August 1916 black Sea

[James A. Pratt III]

On 25 August 1916 in the Black Sea the russian destroyer pospeschni was damaged by a bomb hit down No.1 funnel by "twp Albatros (German) planes". The boilers were not lit and it took two weeks to repair the ship. Does anyone know which German unit bombed the ship? It could have been an aircraft of another country in the Central Powers. thanks in advance.

[Tork1945]

Looking around for this Russian destroyer I found out that it was the Поспешный transcribed as Pospeshnyi.

A history of the destroyer gives that it entered the Black Sea Fleet in September 1915. During 1916 the destroyer was active in the Black Sea, where on 17 occasions it shelled the coast of Turkey and Rumania.

Referring your question of the Albatros attack the best chance is obviously that the machines originated from Turkey or Rumania.

References (most in Russian)

Ð�мперÑ�анд — Ð'икипедиÑ�

List of Imperial Russian Navy destroyers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Extra

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The above article gives that the destroyer Pospeshnyi was attacked on August 25, 1916 after a raid on the city of Varna (now Bulgaria) which damaged decks and a chimney. The destroyer returned to Sevastopol on its own power.

So it is more likely that the Albatros machines (if it were Albatros ?) came from Bulgaria.

Tork1945

[Teo]

The two mentioned German aircraft operated from Bulgaria, the Seaplane Station "Bulgaria". It was established by the Germans in 1915 at the Varna Lake, near the town of Varna, with 4 German seaplanes.

The Russians were trying to attack Bulgarian Black sea towns, Varna was a primary target, being the largest town, with a big port, military units and submarines based there /German and the only one Bulgarian/. In August 1916 the Russians sent a fleet against Varna, consisting of various vessels with different tasks: for attack against the port of Varna, the vessels there and the submarines, 9 ex-US patrol boats; to secure the movement through the Potapov channel - the destroyer "Zavetnyi"; to provide aerial strike on the Varna and the nearby Euxinograde ports and the vessels there - 20 seaplanes, carried by the aircraft transport ships "Emperor Alexander I", "Emperor Nikolay I" and "Almaz"; two groups of destroyers to defend the aircraft transport ships against submarines; for guard of the operation, the battleship "Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya" and 4 destroyers. Further vessels were sent to observe the Bosforus strait.

The attack was planned for the night and dawn of 25 August, but bad weather messed the Russian plans. The previous day the patrol boats reached only 100 miles away from the targeted city and seeing they will be far too late, turned back.

The next day, 25 miles east of Varna, all the 20 seaplanes were lowered into the water, however only 7 managed to take off because of the waves and wind. From the 7 in the air, 3 went out of order and only 4 reached Varna. Their attack started fire in one ship in the port and damaged some workshops. As a result, no casualties and almost no damages.

The response was immediate, at about 7 o'clock 3 German seaplanes appeared at the Russian aircraft transports, while these were lifting the seaplanes from the water. According to some Russian sources, 30 bombs were dropped, but there was no damage. One Russian seaplane took off and tried to attack the Germans, but without any result.

At 9 o'clock all the seaplanes were lifted aboard and the fleet turned to Sevastopol. Till noon, in 1-hour intervals, the Russian fleet was attacked two times more by the 2 German seaplanes. The battleship "Catherine the Great" and "Pospeshnyi" were attacked, the latter successfully. 2 of 8 bombs hit the target, 6 men were killed, 20 wounded /or 8 killed/.

[YavorD]

Originally Posted by Teo

The two mentioned German aircraft operated from Bulgaria....

Thanks, Teo!
May I ask for the source of information?
A brief check through my usual references provide almost nothing.
The training of Bulgarian naval aviators abroad (Germany) was not yet complete in August 1916, so one can assume the action was performed by personnel of a German Seeflugstation.
Regards,
Yavor

[okhotnik11]

Hello,
It concerns the Russian naval and aerial attack against Varna on August 25, 1916. According to German records, three seaplanes were used to repulse the invasion. These were Friedrichshafen FF33E nos.507, 529, and 530 from the German naval aviation station (Flugstation) of Warna. These machines carried out seven drives and dropped 70 bombs. The Germans thought hits had been numerous, but Russian records reject almost all of the claims. Most likely, the destroyer POSPESHNYI was hit by the crew comprising pilot Flugzeugobermaat Schulze and observer Flugzeugmeister Feldman. They flew in FF33E no.507. It was the third sortie by this aircraft and this pilot during the day.
A complete (day by day and/or about day by day) chronicle of Russian and German naval aviations in the Black and Baltic Seas is being covered in a book series that is available from a Russian researcher and publisher. This series covers the period 1894 to 1918 and already comprises 11 issues (100 to 250 pages in each). Ten new issues are in plans. For any further information please write at okhotnik-2011@mail.ru