Høver M.F. 11
Encyclopedia
The Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 (sometimes known as the Høver M.F.11 after its designer) was a three-seat, single-engined biplane
used by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
for maritime reconnaissance in the decade before the Second World War
.
The fuselage of the M.F. 11 was made of welded steel bars and wood formers, covered with canvas. Crew members used gosport tubes for communication. Twenty-nine aircraft were produced in total.
The M.F. 11 was the main aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service up until the German invasion of Norway
in 1940.
in Horten
in 1929 it was already clear that a new machine was needed to fulfil the needs of the RNoNAS. Thus, by the summer of 1929 Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk and its chief designer, Captain
J.E. Høver was ordered to design and construct a new seaplane. In the span of little over a year Høver, in cooperation with pilots, observers and other specialists designed the Høver M.F. 11. During the design period several foreign designs were also evaluated by the Norwegian military, but by 11 October 1930 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence
ordered the production of the M.F. 11, which at that time was referred to as a "self-defence scout plane".
At the outset the Norwegian naval pilots wanted a monoplane
design for their new naval aircraft, but due to the RNoNAS demanding the new plane to have a maximum wingspan of 15.4 m, to allow it to fit into the existing hangars, a biplane structure became necessary.
The first aircraft, F.300, made its first flight on 29 September 1931. The M.F. 11s were equipped with the British-designed Armstrong Siddeley Panther II radial engine
, the first 14 of which were made in the United Kingdom
. From 1934 license manufacturing of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther II began in Norway at Marinens Minevesen in Horten, with F.314 being the first aircraft equipped with a Norwegian-made engine. As the handmade Norwegian power plants were installed they soon proved to be of superior quality to the machine manufactured originals. The same engine was also produced for the Norwegian Army Air Service
aircraft. A total of 17 Panther IIs were made in Norway, seven for Navy and ten for Army aircraft. The licence production ended in 1938 as import engines became freely available at a low cost after the Panther II was abandoned by the UK armed forces as it could no longer be used to propel the increasingly powerful British aircraft.
After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 this included taking part in all major military exercises, searching for mines and missing ships, and being stationed at the various coastal fortifications around the country as reconnaissance assets. At the dawn of the German invasion some of the robust aircraft had logged close to 900 hours of flight time. Shortly before the war the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service had decided to find a replacement for the M.F.11, and on 8 March 1940 24 Northrop N-3PB
s were ordered from the US. None of these were delivered before the 9 April 1940 German invasion of Norway.
Naval District were dispatched to the Kornstadfjord near Lyngstad in Eide
where a German Arado Ar 196
had made an emergency landing. After the two German pilots, oberleutnant Werner Techam and leutnant Hans Polzin, had approached the locals trying to purchase fuel for their airplane they were captured by a group of civilians. Thereafter they were reported to and arrested by armed police officers. As Kjos and Lie landed shortly thereafter they took command and organised the transport of the Germans and their plane to Kristiansund
for internment . The Arado would later turn out to have been catapult launched from the German cruiser Admiral Hipper
. A few days earlier the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service' Trøndelag Air Group had been reduced from two to one M.F. 11 when F.340 capsised in Trondheim
harbour due to heavy winds.
One of the Norwegian air units in which the M.F. 11 saw action was the highly improvised Romsdalsfjord Air Group (Norw. Romsdalsfjordgruppa). The air group was eventually to consist of a total of four aircraft; one M.F. 11 (F.342, originally from Trøndelag Naval District), one Arado Ar 196 (the one captured at Lyngstad) and two Fleet Air Arm
Supermarine Walrus
'. The first Walrus (P5649) of 700 Naval Air Squadron was one released by Norwegian authorities after having been interned in Kristiansund
on 8 April after failing to return to the battleship HMS Rodney after a scouting mission due to high waves. The other arrived in Molde
on 13 April to inform the Royal Norwegian Navy
command of the imminent arrival of an RN task force. After meeting with Captain Ullring, the commander of the local RNoN district in the Romsdal
area, the crew of the Walrus decided on joining the Romsdalsfjord Air Group for the time being. The air group was based out of Eidsøra, where the newly built school was utilised as a barracks and the local rifle association provided a guard force of riflemen for observations of air and naval activity. A group of local women provided the force of around twenty-five officers and men with food and other supplies.
Operations
Operations of the Romsdalsfjord Air Group, including M.F. 11 F.342, was almost completely restricted to scouting the coast of Romsdal for enemy forces. This was because the group had only 2,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, no tracer ammunition or bombs and only fuel for a few days if all four planes were to be used. On 12 April, on one such mission, F.342 discovered and reported the exact position of two German merchant vessels to Captain Ullring. This report lead helped RNoN warships in seizing the German ships that same day (see: HNoMS Sleipner). Actual contact with German forces occurred very seldom; on one reconnaissance mission over Trøndelag F.342 came under fire from German aircraft, but escaped without suffering any damage. The only real combat involving the air group came off Vigra
on 14 April when F.342 encountered a German Heinkel He 115 and exchanged fire with it from ranges varying from 300 to 50 meters. Neither the German or the Norwegian aircraft was hit and when the He 115 turned to escape northwards F.342 lacked the speed to chase after it.
Escape to the UK
On 17 April ltns Kjos and Diesen met with RNoN Commander Gottwaldt and decided that the four aircraft had to be evacuated as fuel reserves were down to only five to six hours flying time. The British pilots' wish to return to their own units also played in on the decision. The hope and plan was for the Norwegian pilots to return as soon as possible with better aircraft and supplies. At 0330hrs the next day the Arado Ar 196 flew off first with a crew of three, making the journey to Shetland without problems and landing safely at around 0630. As the air group had only two sets of maps F.342 had to fly in formation with the two Walrus' planes. When the planes approached Orkney F.342 had straggled behind the British aircraft and was intercepted by three Gloster Gladiator
s from Scapa Flow
. The Gladiator crews misread the situation, believing that the Norwegian biplane was chasing the two Walrus' flying boats, and began to attack the M.F 11. Luckily for the Norwegians lieutenant Diesen managed to immediately land on the water. Although their aircraft was hit by forty to fifty machine gun rounds the crew survived without injury. After this initial friendly fire
episode the Norwegians were welcomed as allies and gave the British commanders a report of the situation in the Romsdal area. The German Arado Ar 196 attracted especial attention amongst the British and a Fleet Air Arm Commander was given the task of flying it down to Helensburgh
where aircraft designers were waiting to disassemble and study the modern German design. This did however not go quite as planned as the plane tipped over and sank during landing, although the pilot made it out alive. Even though the Norwegian officers expressed their desire to return to Romsdal to continue the fight there no one of them were to return to Norway in time to take part in the remaining fighting there.
As the Norwegian Campaign
was coming to an end in June 1940, Norwegian military pilots were ordered to prevent their aircraft from falling into German hands. Most of the Norwegian He 115s were flown to the UK in order to keep them in the war, but for the three operational M.F. 11s and one He 115 (F.50) this escape route was not possible and flying to Finland was left as the only option for evacuation.
On 8 June 1940 M.F. 11s F.310, F.336 and F.346 landed on Salmijärvi Lake in Petsamo
, immediately being put in internment by Finnish authorities. The three Norwegian aircraft were first stored and repaired at both the Finnish Polytechnic School and the Finnish State Aircraft Factory
before being handed over to the Lentolaivue 15 in August 1941, with the designation numbers NK-171—173. All three M.F. 11s were fitted with chackels for 200 kg depth charges. In addition to normal maintenance NK-172 also received a new engine and propeller.
During the autumn of 1941 the aircraft carried out around 20 reconnaissance and propaganda missions in the Lake Ladoga
area before ice conditions put them into winter storage. The aircraft were also used during the Continuation War
to support long-range patrols
behind the Soviet lines.
For the summer of 1942 the three aircraft were handed over to Lentolaivue 6 and flew anti-submarine
missions over the Baltic Sea
, flying from Mariehamn
, Åland. At two occasions during the summer months depth charges were dropped at Soviet submarines, without any observable results.
During the summers of 1943 and 1944 similar types of missions were flown over the Baltic but, at least in part due to an anti-submarine net having been positioned across the Gulf of Finland
, no submarines were spotted. The Baltic missions ended on 21 August 1944. Following the Moscow Armistice
on 4 September 1944, the M.F. 11s were sent to Detachment Jauri in the far north of Finland to participate in the Lapland War
, flying around 60 transport missions in October. In November 1944 the M.F. 11s were put into permanent storage.
In Finnish service the M.F. 11s were given the designation numbers NK-171—173, after the Finnish abbreviation for "Norwegian Machine" ("norjalainen kone").
Two of the Finnish-operated M.F. 11s were offered for sale to Norway in 1948 and 1950, but no one showed any interest to acquire them before they were scrapped.
(F.3204, F.308 and F.338), at Flatøy
near Bergen
(F.322), at Sola Air Station
(F.324) and at Skattøra Air Station in Tromsø
(F.312, F.334 and F.344). F.314 II and F.326 disappeared from records, but may have been used by the Germans. Also captured were F.348, F.350, F.352 and F.354, still under construction at Horten.
The captured aircraft were probably used for communications and mail flights in support of the German occupation of Norway
, as well as fishery supervision. Records from the German aircraft company Walther Bachman Flugzeugbau shows that operational M.F. 11s were still accepted for maintenance as late as February 1942.
During their German careers the aircraft were operated in an area stretching from Finnmark
in the north of Norway to Warnemünde
in the north east of Germany.
:
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
used by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force.- History :...
for maritime reconnaissance in the decade before the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The fuselage of the M.F. 11 was made of welded steel bars and wood formers, covered with canvas. Crew members used gosport tubes for communication. Twenty-nine aircraft were produced in total.
The M.F. 11 was the main aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service up until the German invasion of Norway
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
in 1940.
Design and production
As the final Hansa Brandenburg W.33 seaplane left the Marinens FlyvebaatfabrikkMarinens Flyvebaatfabrikk
Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk - The Navy's Flying Boat Factory - was the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service' aeroplane producer. It was established in Horten in 1915.It produced a total of 120 planes from 1915 to 1940.-Planes produced:...
in Horten
Horten
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....
in 1929 it was already clear that a new machine was needed to fulfil the needs of the RNoNAS. Thus, by the summer of 1929 Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk and its chief designer, Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
J.E. Høver was ordered to design and construct a new seaplane. In the span of little over a year Høver, in cooperation with pilots, observers and other specialists designed the Høver M.F. 11. During the design period several foreign designs were also evaluated by the Norwegian military, but by 11 October 1930 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence
Norwegian Ministry of Defence
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and defence policy, and for the overall management and control of the activities of subordinate agencies. The ministry is located at Glacisgata 1, Oslo,...
ordered the production of the M.F. 11, which at that time was referred to as a "self-defence scout plane".
At the outset the Norwegian naval pilots wanted a monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
design for their new naval aircraft, but due to the RNoNAS demanding the new plane to have a maximum wingspan of 15.4 m, to allow it to fit into the existing hangars, a biplane structure became necessary.
The first aircraft, F.300, made its first flight on 29 September 1931. The M.F. 11s were equipped with the British-designed Armstrong Siddeley Panther II radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
, the first 14 of which were made in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. From 1934 license manufacturing of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther II began in Norway at Marinens Minevesen in Horten, with F.314 being the first aircraft equipped with a Norwegian-made engine. As the handmade Norwegian power plants were installed they soon proved to be of superior quality to the machine manufactured originals. The same engine was also produced for the Norwegian Army Air Service
Norwegian Army Air Service
The Norwegian Army Air Service ' was established in 1914. Its main base and aircraft factory was at Kjeller. On 10 November 1944 the NoAAS was joined with the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service to form the Royal Norwegian Air Force....
aircraft. A total of 17 Panther IIs were made in Norway, seven for Navy and ten for Army aircraft. The licence production ended in 1938 as import engines became freely available at a low cost after the Panther II was abandoned by the UK armed forces as it could no longer be used to propel the increasingly powerful British aircraft.
Pre-war service
The M.F. 11 entered service with the RNoNAS in 1932 and was used for numerous tasks along the coast of Norway and in Norwegian territorial waters.After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 this included taking part in all major military exercises, searching for mines and missing ships, and being stationed at the various coastal fortifications around the country as reconnaissance assets. At the dawn of the German invasion some of the robust aircraft had logged close to 900 hours of flight time. Shortly before the war the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service had decided to find a replacement for the M.F.11, and on 8 March 1940 24 Northrop N-3PB
Northrop N-3PB
The Northrop N-3PB Nomad was a single-engined American floatplane of the 1940s. Northrop developed the N-3PB as an export model based on the earlier Northrop A-17 design. A total of 24 were purchased by Norway, but were not delivered until after the Fall of Norway during the Second World War...
s were ordered from the US. None of these were delivered before the 9 April 1940 German invasion of Norway.
Trøndelag Naval District
M.F. 11s saw active service all along the Norwegian coastline following the German invasion, from Western Norway to North Norway. One M.F. 11, F.342, was amongst the first Norwegian units to make contact with the invasion forces. On 8 April 1940 the lieutenants Kaare Strand Kjos and Magnus Lie of the TrøndelagTrøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
Naval District were dispatched to the Kornstadfjord near Lyngstad in Eide
Eide
Eide is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Nordmøre. It is located on the Romsdal peninsula, along the Kornstadfjord and the Kvernesfjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eide...
where a German Arado Ar 196
Arado Ar 196
-See also:-Bibliography:* Dabrowski, Hans-Peter and Koos, Volker. Arado Ar 196, Germany's Multi-Purpose Seaplane. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1993. ISBN 0-88740-481-2....
had made an emergency landing. After the two German pilots, oberleutnant Werner Techam and leutnant Hans Polzin, had approached the locals trying to purchase fuel for their airplane they were captured by a group of civilians. Thereafter they were reported to and arrested by armed police officers. As Kjos and Lie landed shortly thereafter they took command and organised the transport of the Germans and their plane to Kristiansund
Kristiansund
Kristiansund is a city and municipality on the western coast of Norway, in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. It was officially awarded township status in 1742, and it is still the major town for the region. The administrative center of the municipality is the city of Kristiansund...
for internment . The Arado would later turn out to have been catapult launched from the German cruiser Admiral Hipper
German cruiser Admiral Hipper
Admiral Hipper, the first of five ships of her class, was the lead ship of the Admiral Hipper–class of heavy cruisers which served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1935 and launched February 1937; Admiral Hipper...
. A few days earlier the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service' Trøndelag Air Group had been reduced from two to one M.F. 11 when F.340 capsised in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
harbour due to heavy winds.
Romsdalsfjord Air Group
The Air Group's compositionOne of the Norwegian air units in which the M.F. 11 saw action was the highly improvised Romsdalsfjord Air Group (Norw. Romsdalsfjordgruppa). The air group was eventually to consist of a total of four aircraft; one M.F. 11 (F.342, originally from Trøndelag Naval District), one Arado Ar 196 (the one captured at Lyngstad) and two Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
Supermarine Walrus
Supermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...
'. The first Walrus (P5649) of 700 Naval Air Squadron was one released by Norwegian authorities after having been interned in Kristiansund
Kristiansund
Kristiansund is a city and municipality on the western coast of Norway, in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. It was officially awarded township status in 1742, and it is still the major town for the region. The administrative center of the municipality is the city of Kristiansund...
on 8 April after failing to return to the battleship HMS Rodney after a scouting mission due to high waves. The other arrived in Molde
Molde
is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...
on 13 April to inform the Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
command of the imminent arrival of an RN task force. After meeting with Captain Ullring, the commander of the local RNoN district in the Romsdal
Romsdal
Romsdal is the name of a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named for the valley of Romsdalen, which covers part of Rauma.The...
area, the crew of the Walrus decided on joining the Romsdalsfjord Air Group for the time being. The air group was based out of Eidsøra, where the newly built school was utilised as a barracks and the local rifle association provided a guard force of riflemen for observations of air and naval activity. A group of local women provided the force of around twenty-five officers and men with food and other supplies.
Operations
Operations of the Romsdalsfjord Air Group, including M.F. 11 F.342, was almost completely restricted to scouting the coast of Romsdal for enemy forces. This was because the group had only 2,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, no tracer ammunition or bombs and only fuel for a few days if all four planes were to be used. On 12 April, on one such mission, F.342 discovered and reported the exact position of two German merchant vessels to Captain Ullring. This report lead helped RNoN warships in seizing the German ships that same day (see: HNoMS Sleipner). Actual contact with German forces occurred very seldom; on one reconnaissance mission over Trøndelag F.342 came under fire from German aircraft, but escaped without suffering any damage. The only real combat involving the air group came off Vigra
Vigra
Vigra is an island and former municipality on the west coast of Norway. It is in the present-day municipality of Giske in Møre og Romsdal county. The former municipality was made up of the island of Vigra along with many smaller islets surrounding it...
on 14 April when F.342 encountered a German Heinkel He 115 and exchanged fire with it from ranges varying from 300 to 50 meters. Neither the German or the Norwegian aircraft was hit and when the He 115 turned to escape northwards F.342 lacked the speed to chase after it.
Escape to the UK
On 17 April ltns Kjos and Diesen met with RNoN Commander Gottwaldt and decided that the four aircraft had to be evacuated as fuel reserves were down to only five to six hours flying time. The British pilots' wish to return to their own units also played in on the decision. The hope and plan was for the Norwegian pilots to return as soon as possible with better aircraft and supplies. At 0330hrs the next day the Arado Ar 196 flew off first with a crew of three, making the journey to Shetland without problems and landing safely at around 0630. As the air group had only two sets of maps F.342 had to fly in formation with the two Walrus' planes. When the planes approached Orkney F.342 had straggled behind the British aircraft and was intercepted by three Gloster Gladiator
Gloster Gladiator
The Gloster Gladiator was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it...
s from Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
. The Gladiator crews misread the situation, believing that the Norwegian biplane was chasing the two Walrus' flying boats, and began to attack the M.F 11. Luckily for the Norwegians lieutenant Diesen managed to immediately land on the water. Although their aircraft was hit by forty to fifty machine gun rounds the crew survived without injury. After this initial friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
episode the Norwegians were welcomed as allies and gave the British commanders a report of the situation in the Romsdal area. The German Arado Ar 196 attracted especial attention amongst the British and a Fleet Air Arm Commander was given the task of flying it down to Helensburgh
Helensburgh
Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....
where aircraft designers were waiting to disassemble and study the modern German design. This did however not go quite as planned as the plane tipped over and sank during landing, although the pilot made it out alive. Even though the Norwegian officers expressed their desire to return to Romsdal to continue the fight there no one of them were to return to Norway in time to take part in the remaining fighting there.
Use in Finland
Norwegian Campaign
The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
was coming to an end in June 1940, Norwegian military pilots were ordered to prevent their aircraft from falling into German hands. Most of the Norwegian He 115s were flown to the UK in order to keep them in the war, but for the three operational M.F. 11s and one He 115 (F.50) this escape route was not possible and flying to Finland was left as the only option for evacuation.
On 8 June 1940 M.F. 11s F.310, F.336 and F.346 landed on Salmijärvi Lake in Petsamo
Pechengsky District
Pechengsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the five in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is located to the northwest of the Kola Peninsula on the coast of the Barents Sea and borders with Finland in the south and southwest and with Norway in the west, northwest, and north...
, immediately being put in internment by Finnish authorities. The three Norwegian aircraft were first stored and repaired at both the Finnish Polytechnic School and the Finnish State Aircraft Factory
Valtion lentokonetehdas
' was a Finnish aircraft manufacturing company that was founded on 23 February 1928 from the IVL or I.V.L. factory . The company was transferred from being subordinate to the Finnish Air Force to being subordinate to the Ministry of Defence...
before being handed over to the Lentolaivue 15 in August 1941, with the designation numbers NK-171—173. All three M.F. 11s were fitted with chackels for 200 kg depth charges. In addition to normal maintenance NK-172 also received a new engine and propeller.
During the autumn of 1941 the aircraft carried out around 20 reconnaissance and propaganda missions in the Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
area before ice conditions put them into winter storage. The aircraft were also used during the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
to support long-range patrols
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, or LRRPs , were special small four to six-man teams in the Vietnam War on highly dangerous special reconnaissance missions deep into enemy territory....
behind the Soviet lines.
For the summer of 1942 the three aircraft were handed over to Lentolaivue 6 and flew anti-submarine
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
missions over the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, flying from Mariehamn
Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
, Åland. At two occasions during the summer months depth charges were dropped at Soviet submarines, without any observable results.
During the summers of 1943 and 1944 similar types of missions were flown over the Baltic but, at least in part due to an anti-submarine net having been positioned across the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
, no submarines were spotted. The Baltic missions ended on 21 August 1944. Following the Moscow Armistice
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...
on 4 September 1944, the M.F. 11s were sent to Detachment Jauri in the far north of Finland to participate in the Lapland War
Lapland War
The Lapland War were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the...
, flying around 60 transport missions in October. In November 1944 the M.F. 11s were put into permanent storage.
In Finnish service the M.F. 11s were given the designation numbers NK-171—173, after the Finnish abbreviation for "Norwegian Machine" ("norjalainen kone").
Two of the Finnish-operated M.F. 11s were offered for sale to Norway in 1948 and 1950, but no one showed any interest to acquire them before they were scrapped.
German-operated M.F. 11s
During and after the Norwegian Campaign the German invasion forces captured perhaps as many as 16 Norwegian M.F. 11s. The aircraft were seized in repair shops (F.302 and F.318), abandoned at DrøbakDrøbak
Drøbak is an unincorporated city and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,358 inhabitants....
(F.3204, F.308 and F.338), at Flatøy
Flatøy
Flatøy is one of two smaller islands that together with the larger island Holsnøy make up the municipality Meland Kommune, in the district of Nordhordland, north of Bergen, in western Norway....
near Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
(F.322), at Sola Air Station
Sola Air Station
Sola Air Station in Sola municipality in Norway is operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Air Wing 134 is stationed at Sola along with helicopter Squadron 330....
(F.324) and at Skattøra Air Station in Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
(F.312, F.334 and F.344). F.314 II and F.326 disappeared from records, but may have been used by the Germans. Also captured were F.348, F.350, F.352 and F.354, still under construction at Horten.
The captured aircraft were probably used for communications and mail flights in support of the German occupation of Norway
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
, as well as fishery supervision. Records from the German aircraft company Walther Bachman Flugzeugbau shows that operational M.F. 11s were still accepted for maintenance as late as February 1942.
During their German careers the aircraft were operated in an area stretching from Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
in the north of Norway to Warnemünde
Warnemünde
Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
in the north east of Germany.
Users
:- Finnish Air ForceFinnish Air ForceThe Finnish Air Force is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions...
- (Three aircraft) Norwegian aircraft that were interned in June 1940 after evacuating from North Norway to Petsamo
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- LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
- Up to 16 captured Norwegian aircraft used to support the German occupation of Norway
- Luftwaffe
:
- Royal Norwegian Navy Air ServiceRoyal Norwegian Navy Air ServiceThe Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force.- History :...
- (25 aircraft)