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The Focke Achgelis Fa-330 (also known as the Bachstelze) was a type of rotary kite, essentially an unpowered Autogyro. They were towed behind German U-boats during World War II to allow a lookout to see further, giving the submarines a better chance of escape in a war that was becoming increasingly dangerous to them.
Because of their low profile in the water, the submarines could not see more than a few miles over the ocean. Extremely vulnerable on the surface, the U-Boats often could not escape from destroyers because of the limited warning they had. To solve this, the German admiralty considered a number of different options, including a folding seaplane. In the end, they chose the Fa-330, a simple, single seater Autogyro kite with a three-bladed rotor. It could be deployed to the deck of the submarine by two people and was tethered to the U-boat via a 150 metre cable. The airflow on the rotors as the boat would motor along on the surface would spin them up. The kite would then be deployed behind the U-boat with its observer/pilot aboard, raising him approximately 120 metres above the surface where he could see much further (typically 25 nautical miles, compared to 5 nautical miles visible from the conning tower of the U-boat).
The pilot and craft were considered expendable. In the case of an aircraft attack, the U-boat captain would be forced to abandon them on the surface; the tether would be released and the Fa-330 would descend slowly to the surface.
When not in use, the Fa-330 was stowed in two watertight compartments aft of the conning tower. Recovering, dismantling and stowing the Fa-330 took approximately 20 minutes and was a difficult operation.
As Alled air-cover in other theatres of the war was considered too much of a threat, only U-boats operating in the far southern parts of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean used the Fa-330. However even in its Despite its advantages, the use of the Fa-330 only resulted in a single sinking when U-177 used it to spot, intercept and sink the Greek steamer Eithalia Mari on 6 August 1943.
The Allies first learned of the device when U-852 was scuttled following air attacks. The remains of the U-boat, including an intect Fa-330 came ashore and were taken and inspected by British forces. After the war, the British government did experiments with towing these behind ships and jeeps and had good success, but helicopter development quickly drew the focus of the military.
U-boats that deployed Fa-330 kites included at least: U-177, U-181 and U-852
See also
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