C.M.B.B.: Channel Mobile Ballon Barrage

[Darius]

Hallo zusammen,

ich wußte nicht, dass die Royal Navy einen speziellen Verband mit den Sperrballon-Fahrzeugen hatte:
http://www.bbrclub.org/Barrage%20Balloon%20Vessels.htm
http://forums.clydemaritime.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=7428
http://forums.clydemaritime.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=10355
Convoy Peewit

Ich habe hier noch die folgende Ergänzung aus den Weekly Naval Notes 1942:

The Channel Mobile Ballon Barrage, which was called into being for escort work on 4th August, 1940, during its first two years was on duty with two hundred convoys of 3,100 merchantmen and two escort groups and steamed about 227,000 miles in the course of that duty. At all times it was exposed to the danger of air-laid mines in spite of the care taken by the advanced guard of mine-sweeping trawlers. On 48 occasions convoys under its escort were shelled, but never yet directly hit, by the enemy shore batteries on and near Cape Gris Nez, thrice did E-boats attack, and there were 23 air raids on its convoys. In these attacks one C.M.B.B. ship, the Borealis, was sunk by bombs (on 8th August 1940) one ship in convoy was also sunk by bombs, four were sunk by E-boats and five by mines. The Astral, one of the first C.M.B.B. ships was damaged by a mine on 19th December, 1940, and all the others have been hit by bomb or shell splinters from the 2,000 or so shells fired at them, or have been machine-gunned by aircraft in the course of their escort duty. Twenty-three of their balloons were blown away, four were struck by lightning, while the malice of the King´s enemies encompassed the destruction of 20 more.[...]

Darius

[Bergedorf]

Hi,

die Ballons wurden von der 952 Squadron der RAF bedient. Das Operations Record Book dieser Einheit gibt es in Kew (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) gegen ein geringes Entgelt zur Download (z.B. AIR 27/2300).

Gruß

Dirk

[maurice voss]

Hallo,


hier eine Photo von ASTRAL als LOODSBOOT 14


mfG
Maurice