KATAPULTOWIEC FALKE LUB BUSSARD

Bussard was a German "air tender" ("catapult ship") under which the keel was laid in 1940, launched the same year, and commissioned in May 1942. The ship was 98 m long, 14 m wide, and her displacement was 2,040 tons. The maximum speed was 12-13 knots. Over time, the unit was armed with three 20mm anti-aircraft guns. Bussard was built in the shipyards belonging to the Schichau company in today's Königsberg. The main task of the unit, along with the twin ship Falke, was to carry out naval reconnaissance operations using flying boats that were boarded on the unit and for which Bussard had special cranes and other specialized equipment. After the launch, Bussard was stationed in Denmark, but relatively quickly was transferred to Norway, from where his flying boats could follow the routes of the so-called Arctic convoys headed for Murmansk. The unit luckily survived the war and was taken over in 1946 by American troops.