Seventeenth Mission, 3 April 1945                    Target: Dock Facilities, Kiel, Germany

B17's from the 486th en route to a target

 Tony's Mission Log:

The city of Kiel was the home of the German Navy's Baltic fleet and a very important port for the U Boat Wolf-Packs. In addition, it was the gatekeeper for the Kiel Canal, which is one of the busiest fresh water canals in the world. It connects the Baltic and the North Sea, avoiding 250 miles of travel and strategically avoiding the Denmark and the Jutland Peninsula to the North. At the end of the war, Keil was in danger of being snatched by the Russians, as the advancing Allied Armies had not reached it, so an Allied Team was dispatched to occupy it.  

Long Mission to Kiel on the Baltic Sea

This is U Boat U995; on display in Kiel. It is the only remaining U Boat of its type. As late as March of 1945, it was at sea preying on Allied shipping. In that month it sank a Russian ship and damaged an American freighter. Most U Boats were destroyed in combat, and most of the remaining fleet was scuttled by the Allies in 1945 and 1946. Even at this late stage of the war, the German Navy was a serious concern. 

U995 - only 5 U Boats remain today

The Kiel Canal is 61 miles long. 

These are details from S/SGT Kooi (from the 486th BG) who flew the same mission:

"Our target was the Admiral Scheer, Hipper, and a light cruiser in the harbor. These ships got out of the harbor before we got there I think. We dropped our 6-1000 lb. bombs from 26,000 ft. on the dock area and houses at the south end of the bay in Kiel. The flak was moderate and inaccurate- no enemy fighters. The weather was quite bad but at the target there was a break and bombing may have been visual."

German Light Cruiser Karlsruhe in the Kiel Canal