Bf 109 in Soviet service

[Temistocle]

During the alliance between Germany and USSR in 1939-1941, some Bf 109E were donated to the USSR. Does anybody know their use in soviet service?
I.e., they were used only during comparative flights against russian types, or saw a limited service as frontline fighters?
One of these 109 was (maybe) used by a unit in Caucasus trying to intercept a reconnaissance flight at the beginnign of April 1940 during the preparation of Operation Pike. Is that true?
Thanks

 

[sienar]

They were purchased by the USSR, along with a bunch of other types though somewhat ironically no Ju-87s.

I've never heard of any being used operationally, only flight testing near Moscow.

 

[iverson]

The Spanish Republic passed at least one captured Bf109 to the USSR. I also have never read of any operational use.

You might want to find the book Under the Red Star by Karl-Fredrik Geust (Airlife 1993). It covers Soviet testing of both pre-WW2 captured and purchased German aircraft, as well as operational use near the end of WW2.

 

[galgot]

The Spanish Republic passed at least one captured Bf109 to the USSR. I also have never read of any operational use.

You might want to find the book Under the Red Star by Karl-Fredrik Geust (Airlife 1993). It covers Soviet testing of both pre-WW2 captured and purchased German aircraft, as well as operational use near the end of WW2.

Indeed, the first captured one had an interesting story. Was Bf-109 B1 Legion Condor 6-15 piloted by Otto Polenz. While in republican hands, evaluated French test pilot Konstantin Rozanoff, then passed to the Soviet Union. Then the plane remains were re-captured in 1941 by the Germans while on their march to Moscow.
There was a Russian website with lots of pictures taken at the NII VVS, down now, but still visible via the WayBack machine :
https://web.archive.org/web/20180302082254/http://www.moskittech.ru/messerschmitt-bf-109b-1.html


About some possible operational use of the 5 Bf-109 Es they got for testing, I could only find a mention on a plastic kit notice saying :
"Bf 109E-3 W.Nr 2734, purchased for testing 1940-41 187th separate reconnaissance and correction sq.
Francisco Calderari Benito
Koltsovo Airfield 1941"

Francisco Calderari Benito was a Spanish Republican pilot who lived in exil in Soviet Union and fought in the VVS during the war.
So used as recon plane maybe ?

From this kit : https://www.emodels.co.uk/az-model-...vM-bkov6Ws4Y7J49ni7IVxTARvZ-OcFLpnLM6ZQqgZ9od

 

[Justo Miranda]

Hi

 

[Justo Miranda]

post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-3

 

[igor-mich]

It was purchased solely for study. In the Caucasus, they were shot down by fascist cars.

 

[klem]

Indeed there was a concrete purchasing initiative in March 1940 of 12 different types of aircraft: (6 x Не 100 Prototypes V1, V2, V4, V5, V6,V7.) - (2 x Do 215B) - (5 x Bf 109E) - (3 x Bü 131) - (5 x Bf 110C) - (3x Bü 133) - (2 x Bf 108) - (2 x Fi 156) - (1 x Bf 209) - (3 x Fw 58) - (2 x Ju 88A) - (2 x Fa 266). At the beginning of the summer of 1940, the purchased machines arrived in Moscow and were transferred to the various test centers. (Die Deutschen Flugzeuge in Russischen und Sowjetischen Diensten -Band1- p.130 - A_ Alexandrov, G_ Petrov, - Flugzeug Publikations GmbH. 1997)

 

[iverson]

Here are a couple more views of the captured Bf109B-1:

 

[iverson]

Here are some captured Bf109F and G aircraft under test in the USSR:

 

[Temistocle]

I found "Die deutschen Flugzeuge in russischen und sowjetischen Diensten 1914-1951 (band 1)" and "Under the Red Star", the latter has much more information (also on other german aircraft in soviet hands). From this book (pages 81-84):

In May 1940 five Bf 109Es purchased in Germany were delivered in crates by train to Moscow (the WNr of one aircraft is known to
have been 2738). The young graduate of the Voyenno-vozdushnaya inzhenernaya akademiya imeni professora N. Ye. Zhukovskogo (Zhukovskiy Aviation Engineering Academy) Izrail G. Rabkin (who had worked for only one week at NII VVS) was ordered to assemble the German fighters at the Moscow Central Airport, assisted by the experienced engineer Ivan V. Zhulev ... [a lengthy discussion about the tests] .... After completing the flight-tests of the five Bf 109Es bought from Germany, at least one aircraft was dismantled for further study at NII VVS. During the evacuation of NII VVS to Sverdlovsk at the Ural area in autumn 1941, the testpilot T. Chigarev crashed fatally on 11 October 1941 in one of the Bf 109Es.

So these Bf 109Es were neve used as operational aircraft (other captured 109s were used during the war as recce aircraft).
It remains a mystery: what type of aircraft attempted to intercept the Lockheed over Batum on April 5, 1940? The pilot was sure it was a Bf 109 ("Below them was the unmistakable shape of a 109 climbing up towards them" from the article "The Allied plan to bomb Russia" in the 1985 Aeroplane Monthly December issue). Considering that the first flight of Soviet inline engine fighters were:

I-26 (Yak-1 prototype), January 13, 1940 (but with major cooling problems that were never resolved, resulting in 15 emergency landings during early testing. On April 27, 1940, the I-26-1 crashed, killing its test pilot);
I-301 (LaGG-3 prototype), March 30 (too late for an interception attempt six days later);
I-200 (MiG 1 prototype), April 5 (the same day as the Batum overflight).

Of course, the British pilot may have been mistaken, accustomed to considering every enemy fighter as a Bf 109: at that time, the fighters in service with the VVS were the Polikarpov I-15 (biplane, difficult to confuse with a monoplane) and I-16 (radial-engined and with a completely different design from the Bf 109).

 

[Troy Smith]

The Bf109 captured by the Republicans in Spain was actually a Bf109A,
the ones numbered 3 through 16 were all Bf109A versions.

Older references do not have the Bf109A, and it is very similar to a Bf109B, main external difference is position of oil cooler under wing.
Surviving Bf109A were later re-equipped with the 2 blade metal prop.

The overall colour of these was Silberweiss.

This information comes from David Johnston's German Eagles in Spanish Skies, Bf109 in service with Legion Condor 1936-39.

Has over 200 photographs and much new information, corrects old myths etc.
Great book.

HTH