Description

Narrative - Official Air Force Mission Description



Mission 898: 451 bombers and 355 fighters are dispatched to hit the shipyard and dock area at Hamburg and an oil refinery; they claim 14-3-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 bombers and 2 P-51s are lost:

1. 13 of 152 B-17s hit the Blohm & Voss U-boat yard at Hamburg; 133 others hit the secondary, the port area at Hamburg; bombing is visual; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 70 of 79 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft.



2. 149 of 162 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Hamburg port area, using H2X radar; 1 other hits the Nordholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; they claim 5-3-2 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; 27 airmen are MIA. The escort is 72 of 75 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft.



3. 114 of 129 B-24s attack the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt; 1 B-24 is lost and 9 damaged; 12 airmen are MIA. 75 P-51s escort; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft in the air and 1-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss.



5. 2 B-17s and 26 of 27 P-51s fly scouting missions.



6. 78 of 82 P-51s fly a strafing mission in the Bremen-Hannover area; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft in the air and 3-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).



7. 17 P-51s escort 11 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany.



Source: The Eighth Air Force Historical Society - http://www.8thafhs.org/new/missions.php



Source: THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: COMBAT CHRONOLOGY, 1941-1945 by Carter / Mueller, the Office of Air Force History



"A Force of 400 heavy bombers of the 8th Air force, with some 300 Mustang providing protection, boomed over northwest Germany yesterday to attack oil target and submarine building yards in the area of Hanover."



" While Fortresses struck at a small oil refinery, the Blohm and Voss U-boar works and harbor targets in Hamburg. Liberators planted bombs on the Hemmingstedt oil refinery near Heide, 60 Miles northwest of Hamburg".



-Newspaper Article March 21, 1945.