176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO | |
---|---|
Active | 1938–1960 |
Country | Soviet Union |
Branch | Soviet Air Defense Forces |
Type | Fighter aviation regiment |
Engagements |
The 176th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO was a fighter regiment of the Soviet Air Defense Forces during World War II and the Cold War. The unit was disbanded in March 1960.
History
Prewar and World War II
The unit was formed on 22 March 1938 as the 19th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP) at
The 19th IAP returned to the Leningrad Military District in October, and between 30 November 1939 and 13 March 1940 fought in the Winter War against Finland as part of the 54th Fighter Aviation Brigade of the VVS 7th Army of the Northwestern Front. It initially included three squadrons of I-16s and one I-15bis squadron; the latter was transferred to the north in mid-December and replaced by a new I-16-equipped 4th Aviation Squadron by the beginning of January. During the war, the regiment was officially credited with flying 3,646 sorties, downing three Finnish aircraft in aerial combat and destroying two on the ground, and 74 locomotives and 150 railcars destroyed in ground attacks; it suffered no losses. For its "exemplary performance of combat missions", the 19th IAP was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 11 April.[1]
The regiment became part of the 3rd Fighter Aviation Division (IAD) of the VVS Leningrad Military District in November 1940. At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941, the regiment fielded fifty I-16s, twenty Polikarpov I-153, and fifteen Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighters for a total of 85 aircraft in five squadrons. By this point the 3rd IAD was part of the Northern Air Defense Zone of the National Air Defense Forces (PVO).[1] Senior Lieutenant S.V. Tyutyunnikov claimed the regiment's first aerial victory of the war on 6 July, a German Junkers Ju 88 bomber near Lake Lubenskoye. The regiment became part of the 7th Fighter Aviation Corps PVO when the division expanded into the latter on the next day. During the month, it was reorganized to a three-squadron structure authorized thirty aircraft,[2] transferring the I-153-equipped 4th Squadron to the 192nd IAP and the I-16-equipped 5th Squadron to the 195th IAP. While still flying missions, it converted two squadrons to the MiG-3 and one squadron to the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter. In addition to air defense, the 19th IAP also flew ground attack missions and provided air cover in support of the ground troops of the Leningrad Front until 23 August.[3]
The squadron absorbed five pilots and their MiG-3s from the
The 19th went back into combat with the 269th as part of the
For its courage in the recapture of
Postwar
On 1 December 1951, over Sunchon, at least twenty MiG 15's from the 176th attacked a formation of fourteen Royal Australian Air Force No. 77 Squadron Meteors. Three Meteors were shot down.[7]
The 176th Guards were finally renamed as 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO in February 1952.
Aircraft operated
From | To | Aircraft | Version |
---|---|---|---|
1938 | 1941 | Polikarpov I-15 | I-15bis |
1938 | 1941 | Polikarpov I-16 | |
1938 | 1941 | Polikarpov I-153 | |
1941 | 1942 | Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 | |
1942 | 1944 | Lavochkin La-5 | |
1944 | 1948 | Lavochkin La-7 | |
1948 | 1949 | Lavochkin La-9 | |
1948 | 1949 | Lavochkin La-11 | |
1949 | 1956 | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 | |
1954 | 1960 | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 |
Citations
- ^ a b c Bykov & Anokhin 2014, p. 275.
- ^ Bykov & Anokhin 2014, p. 928.
- ^ a b c d e Bykov & Anokhin 2014, p. 276.
- ^ Bykov & Anokhin 2014, p. 929.
- ^ Bykov & Anokhin 2014, pp. 931–932.
- ^ Bykov & Anokhin 2014, p. 277.
- ^ Krylov; Tepsurkaev, Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War, pp. 48–49
- ^ Michael Holm, 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, accessed 27 September 2018.
References
- Bykov, Mikhail; Anokhin, Vladimir (2014). Все истребительные авиаполки Сталина. Первая полная энциклопедия [All Fighter Aviation Regiments of Stalin. The First Complete Encyclopedia] (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza. ISBN 9785457567276.
- Krylov, Leonid; Tepsurkaev, Yuriy (2008). Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War. Oxford: ISBN 978-1-84603-299-8.