The A-Series
Production-wise, the He 115 V4 was the face of the He 115 family that began with the He 115A-0. This form was made up of ten pre-production aircraft and armed with a simple single defensive machine gun. It was not until the He 115A-1 added a nose-mounted machine gun did the aircraft gain a respectable defensive armament sphere of protection. The He 115A-1, in turn, produced the export He 115A-2 which were shipped off to Norway and Sweden to complete several pre-war orders. The He 115A-3 sported a revised communications suite and weapons bay.
The B-Series
The He 115B-1 series followed into production and featured an increase to fuel capacity resulting in longer operational ranges. The He 115B series produced three known subvariants designated as R1, R2 and R3. The He 115B-2 was similar in scope but given reinforced floats for hard-surface operations from snow and ice surfaces - essentially designed for Arctic operations.
The C-Series
The He 115C-1 brought about a better defensive armament scheme and resulted in four subvariants known simply as R1, R2, R3 and R4. The He 115C-2 sported reinforced floats as those found on the He 115B-2 production model. He 115C-3 became the dedicated minelayer variant while the He 115C-4 was the dedicated torpedo bomber variant. The He 115D became a "one-off" model that trialed a pair of 1,600 horsepower BMW 801C-series engines - though this model was not selected for mass production. The He 115E-1 was noted as being similar to the He 115C production series and featured still-improved armament capabilities.
In all, the basic form of the He 115 remained largely intact despite her various variants and subvariants. If there were changes of note, they mostly centered around the aircraft's armament or her avionics/communication suites. Other than that, the design proved quite sound, resulting in an abnormally long war time tenure for an aircraft of this classification.
The He 115 At War
In September of 1939, approximately 60 He 115A and He 115B systems were in operation. with the Kustenfliegergruppen, conducting some limited reconnaissance over the Balkans prior to the German invasion of Poland. At the start of official hostilities, He 115 flight groups were kept busy by way of mine-laying sorties across the North Sea. Flown by the 106th and 406th Coastal Aviation Groups (the latter launching out of northern Norway in 1942), the He 115 was used on these mine-laying runs across the east and southern coasts of England in an attempt to disrupt all merchant shipping and warship maneuvering in the region. The He 115 was called to action during the Battle of Britain and were mainly composed of He 115 A and He 115B series models. Some 33 of the available 60 operational aircraft were lost, mostly due to British coastal flak guns. By the end of the battle, the He 115C models were being placed into service. Hitler eventually halted his much coveted invasion of the British mainland due to mounting losses in the Battle of Britain. Additionally, mounting needs in other areas stopped further production of future He 115 systems for the moment.
The He 115 quickly proved its value against those critical Allied convoy runs across the Arctic shipping lanes. These convoys, delivering badly-needed supplies to the routing Soviet forces, were often fielded without air support and not as well-armed individually as one would hope. These slow-moving convoys provided relatively easy pickings, even for the under-armed and slow-moving He 115 floatplanes. The He 115C-4 production model was primarily responsible for torpedo attacks against these convoys. Regardless, the convoys completed successful runs and the improving war effort led to consistent air-based protection and better defensive armament on the ships themselves, negating the usefulness of the He 115 in this fashion.
By the time of the German invasion of Norway in April of 1940, the Norwegians had already purchased some seven He 115 examples. One was captured by the Germans in the early days of the campaign as paratrooper landings strategically enveloped and cut off key junctions and target points. A few German-owned He 115s were captured themselves by the Norwegians and promptly placed back into service against their former masters. Norwegian-crewed He 115s would serve in this fashion until the end of the German campaign, this completing in June of 1940 and resulting in the capitulation of the nation of Norway to the might of the Third Reich. Four of the Norwegian He 115 managed the long trip to England where the Norwegian government has escaped to. A fifth example landed to safety in Finland while a sixth escaping aircraft was lost somewhere over the North Sea attempting the flight out to the English mainland. The remaining He 115s of Norway were captured and placed into service with the Luftwaffe. The four examples that had made it to England were intended to be used in a leaf dropping campaign by the now displaced government. However, such a mission was deemed a failure in its early stages by the British and called off. Instead, these He 115s would serve the Royal Air Force (with Norwegian crews) proudly in clandestine operations across the coast of Norway and against targets reachable from the Mediterranean Sea. All of these remaining He 115s were ultimately lost before the end of the war in separate incidents and actions.
The Swedes operated a dozen He 115s under the designation of "T 2". These served the country well up until 1952. During the war, the He 115s were kept on standby and protected Swedish waterway interests in the region, ensuring the neutrality of the nation during the conflict and little else. It is of note that five of these twelve were lost to accident.
Production of He 115s began once again in 1943, these being the improved He 115E series models of which 141 were produced.
Despite its inherent floatplane limitations amidst the ever-changing front of sleek fighter planes and more-capable floatplane designs, the He 115 series as a whole would see operation through to the end of the war, no doubt proving the design as anything but excellent. When not dumping torpedoes into the water, or rendering a waterway useless with its mines, the He 115 was an equally adept performer in the maritime reconnaissance role when called upon to do so.
While in direct service with the Luftwaffe, the He 115 was flown largely by Kriegsmarine pilots during her wartime tenure.
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