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| Gotha Go 145 RP+NR Werk.Nr. 2866. |
The Gotha Go 145 is a German World War II-era biplane of wood and fabric construction used by Luftwaffe training units. Although obsolete by the start of World War II, the Go 145 remained in operational service until the end of the War in Europe as a night harassment bomber.
On 2 October 1933 the Gotha aircraft company was re-established. The first aircraft manufactured was the Gotha Go 145, a two-seat biplane designed by Dipl-Ing Albert Kalkert made out of wood with a fabric covering. The Go 145 featured fixed landing gear and was powered by an Argus As 10C inverted V8 air-cooled engine fitted with a two-blade fixed-pitch propeller. The first prototype took to the air in February 1934, and was followed by a production model, the Gotha Go 145A, with controls in both cockpits for trainee and instructor.
In 1935, the Go 145 started service with Luftwaffe training units. The aircraft proved a successful design and production of the Go 145 was taken up by other companies, including AGO, Focke-Wulf and BFW. Licensed versions were also manufactured in Spain and Turkey. The Spanish version, called the CASA 1145-L actually remained in service until long after World War II.
Ignoring prototypes, 1,182 Go 145s were built in Germany for Luftwaffe service. An unknown number of license-produced Go 145s were also built. Further development of the aircraft was done. The Gotha Go 145B was fitted with an enclosed cockpit and wheel spats (an aerodynamic wheel housing on fixed-gear). The Go 145C was developed for gunnery training and was fitted with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun in the rear cockpit, requiring removal of that cockpit's flight controls. The Go 145D was fitted with a 240 hp (180 kW) Argus As 410 engine.
By 1942, the Soviet Union began using obsolete aircraft such as the Polikarpov Po-2 to conduct night harassment missions against the Germans. Noting the success of the raids, the Germans began conducting their own night harassment missions with obsolete aircraft on the Eastern Front. In December 1942, the first Störkampfstaffel (harassment squadron) was established and equipped with Gotha Go 145 and Arado Ar 66 training biplanes. The night harassment units were successful and by October 1943 there were six night harassment squadrons equipped with Gotha Go 145s.
Also in October 1943, the Störkampfstaffeln were brought together into larger Nachtschlachtgruppe (NSGr) (night ground attack group, literally night battle group) units of either three or four squadrons each. In March 1945 Nachtschlachtgruppe 5 had 69 Gotha Go 145's on strength of which 52 were serviceable while Nachtschlachtgruppe 3 in the Courland Pocket had 18 Gotha Go 145's on strength of which 16 were serviceable. When the war in Europe ended on 8–9 May 1945 the Gotha Go 145 equipped the majority of the Nachtschlachtgruppen.
Surviving Aircraft
Gotha Go 145A – Museum für Verkehr und Technik. Berlin, Germany.
Gotha Go 145A – Norsk Luftfartssenter. Bodø, Norway.
Both examples are badly damaged and are in storage.
Bibliography
Bishop, C. Luftwaffe Squadrons, 1939–1945. Amber Books, 2006.
Donald, D. (ed.) Warplanes of the Luftwaffe: Combat aircraft of Hitler’s Luftwaffe, 1933–1945. Aerospace Publishing, 2001.
Gerdessen, Frederik. "Estonian Air Power 1918 – 1945". Air Enthusiast, No. 18, April – July 1982. pp. 61–76.
Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 (fourth impression 1979).
Metzmacher, Andreas (2021). Gotha Aircraft 1913-1954: From the London Bomber to the Flying Wing Jet Fighter. Brimscombe, Stroud: Fonthill.
Munson, Kenneth (1978). German Aircraft Of World War 2 in colour. Poole, Dorsett, UK: Blandford Press.
Nowarra, Heinz J. Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 (in German). Koblenz, Germany: Bernard & Graeffe Verlag, 1993.
Wood, Tony and
Gunston, Bill. Hitler's Luftwaffe: A pictorial history and technical
encyclopedia of Hitler's air power in World War II. London: Salamander Books
Ltd., 1977.
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| Gotha Go 145A, KE+WF, tandem two-seat training biplane. |
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| British troops inspecting abandoned German Gotha Go 145, and a solitary Arado Ar 96, training aircraft at Celle airport, 13 April 1945. |
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| Gotha Go 145A Spanish Nationalist air force (1936-1939). |
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| Gotha Go 145 (CA + UU) of an unknown FFS A/B, ca. 1939-40. |
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| Gotha Go 145 (?? + XX), FFS A/B 121 Straubing (Mitterharthausen), probably at an outside work station of the school, 2 May 1941. Note in the background on the right a work barrack of the school at the edge of the forest. |
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| Gotha Go 145, Fl.Ausb.Reg. 13 Pilsen, photo taken around summer 1940 in Pilsen. A presumably civilian car had been driven into the background on the left. The aircraft hangar on the right at the back was covered with camouflage-patterned tarpaulins, and the bow of a shiny silver Fw 44 D 'Stieglitz' can also be seen. The company logos of the manufacturer Propellerwerk Gustav Schwarz KG, Berlin-Waidmannslust, can be seen on the two wooden propeller blades of the Go 145. |
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| Gotha Go 145, 1 August 1937. |
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| British troops inspecting abandoned German Gotha Go 145 training aircraft at Celle airport, 13 April 1945. Imperial War Museum BU3432. |
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| Gotha Go 145. |