In mid-June the Luftwaffe sent one of its new “secret weapons” to France: the MisteL, a Junkers Ju 88 bomber with the crew compartment replaced by a 6,2001b (2,800kg) high explosive warhead and with a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter mounted rigidly on top. The Bf 109 pilot was to fly the combination to the target area, align it on the target and lock in the autopilot on the Ju 88. Then he fired explosive bolts to release the fighter, leaving the explosive-laden bomber to continue on and smash into the target. The first Mistel unit, Kampfgruppe 101, deployed to St. Dizier near Reims and went into action on the night of June 24/25. Hauptmann Horst Rudat, the commander, led four of the ungainly aircraft into the invasion area and the pilots aimed their explosive Ju 88s at ships off the coast. Hits were claimed but the Allied report of damage that links with this attack was from the headquarters ship HMS Nith, which suffered extensive splinter damage when an explosive Ju 88 exploded on the sea nearby.
During that and subsequent Mistel operations against shipping off the coast about ten explosive Ju 88s were launched. At least one hit was claimed on a “battleship” but this is not confirmed in Allied records. An explanation that fits the known facts is that the victim was the old French battleship Courbet, which had been abandoned and sunk in shallow water to form part of the breakwater for the Mulberry artificial harbor.
World History
