Savoia-Marchetti SM.84bis

Savoia-Marchetti SM.84bis

In the use of the SM.84 bomber, a number of problems (unreliable engines, lack of handling and performance) were encountered which the SM.84bis version was intended to remedy. This version was to improve the cooling of the engines, modified the wing and other partial changes. A total of 62 aircraft were produced and introduced into the armament of the Slovak Air Force.

Since its inception, the Slovak Air Weapons, in addition to fighting the external enemy, had been struggling doggedly with a rapidly aging (both technically and morally) air fleet. The machines that in 1938 should have been a worthy opponent of the German Luftwaffe were already morally and technically obsolete by autumn 1939, and the command was desperately trying to secure material for rearmament, especially for bomber aircraft, which Slovakia did not actually possess (the only modern bomber aircraft B.71 suffered from recurring problems with the Avia 12 Ydrs engines). After repeated requests for the purchase of German machines (Ju 87 and He 111), on the basis of which Slovakia was to receive 15 aircraft each Ju-87 and He 111 H-10, the deliveries of which were delayed (in 1943 the first two He 111 H-10s were delivered in. No. 5313 and 5468), the army officials gladly welcomed the offer of the Italian kingdom to sell off the Ba.65, SM.84 and Nardi 315. After careful consideration of the offer, the Air Command recommended the purchase of a complete squadron of SM.84 bombers, including ground support (tanks, trolleys and others), which could also be used for civilian transport if required. As early as 14.07.1943 the first SM.84bis (v.no. 22.660¹⁾) arrived from Italy for its preliminary introduction (note: this aircraft, although never taken over by the Slovaks due to technical problems, remained in Slovakia and according to the VVZ report no. 44.395 Dôv. tech.1943 it was in September 1943 inoperable in a hangar at the airfield in Trenčianske Biskupice). Subsequently, an order was processed at the Air Weapons Command in Trenčín for a total delivery of 20 aircraft with the relevant auxiliary material (sources give the date of processing the order as 14-16.07, or 19.07.1943), despite the fact that the command was aware that it was not a top-of-the-range design. The value of the delivery amounted to 80 million lire (60 million own aircraft, 20 million auxiliary material and spare parts).

Delivery and acceptance of a trio of SM.84bis aircraft followed in August 1943 - on 25.08.1943 these were v.nos. 24.661 and 22.774 and on 31.08. v.no. 22.775. Further deliveries were halted due to political changes in Italy, associated with the German intervention and the subsequent seizure of all military equipment.

The delivered aircraft were assigned to Squadron 41 (established on 30.06.1943 and from 15.12.1943 in the subordination of III Squadron of the Aviation Regiment based in Poprad). The aircraft in Slovakia underwent several technical modifications to adapt them to Slovak conditions (e.g. side reversal of instruments and gas levers in the cockpit).

After negotiations with the German side, as the owner of the confiscated 17 "Slovak" SM.84bis, further deliveries were agreed only in mid-1944. On 20.06.1944 a group of airmen went to Italy to take over the remaining aircraft. On the basis of available information, the group took over at least 4 SM.84bis aircraft at Sesto Calende airfield in August (11.08.1944 v.nos. 24.654 and 24.585 and 14.08.1944 v.nos. 24.650, 24.572). The aircraft were no longer new, but used, with a number of minor technical deficiencies and about 30% wear. The technical condition was also affected by Allied air raids on airfields and the storage of aircraft on open areas and the associated weather effects. At the request of the acceptance committee, the aircraft had to be overhauled and serviced by the employees of the manufacturing company (according to the memoirs, these were only superficial overhauls, except for v.no. 24.572, where the engine and other technical equipment were originally missing and had to undergo a more thorough overhaul. The aircraft was flown by pilot Lt. Grun a few days after the remaining three aircraft).

The planes were delivered by Italy on 13.07.1944 and armament - cluster bombs of 50 kg (650 pcs), 100 kg (650 pcs) and 250 kg (76 pcs) calibre, corresponding fuses (649 pcs for 50 kg bombs, 650 pcs for 100 kg bombs and 76 pcs for 250 kg bombs, 76 pcs of bottom fuses for 250 kg bombs), primer cartridges (1452 pcs), delayers (250 pcs), delayer cases (1751 pcs), detonators (1452 pcs), stabilisers for 50 kg (650 pcs), 100 kg (650 pcs) and 250 kg (100 pcs) bombs, slings (100 pcs) for 250 kg bomb, 12,7 mm armour-piercing illuminating (24,999 pcs) and fragmenting illuminating (25,000 pcs) cartridges, 7.7 mm fragmenting (20,000 pcs), illuminating (10,000 pcs) and plain (17,988 pcs) cartridges, 7.9 mm (4,718 pcs) cartridges, 7.9 mm (1,720 pcs) cartridge belt cells, cartridge chests (200 pcs. for 12.7 mm calibre cartridges and 25 pcs. for 7.7 mm calibre cartridges) and delayers (3 pcs.), boxes for 250 kg bomb fuses (12 pcs.) and boxes for stabilisers and fuses for 50 kg and 100 kg bombs (162 pcs.). The list also includes one irregular small crate.

After the outbreak of the SNP, 3 SM.84bis were located at Mokrad airfield, from where they were to be flown to Three Oaks by Combined Squadron scribes. One aircraft was actually flown over on 31.08.1944, the other was damaged beyond repair in a German raid on Mokrad at 18:30 on the same day. A third aircraft was not flown over Three Oaks until 05.09.1944. Meanwhile, on 04.09.1944, one SM.84Bis (pilot Lt. Viliam Grun) flew with the rebel delegation to the Soviet Union. After crossing the front line, the aircraft was escorted by Soviet fighters to the airfield to Ľvov, where it remained with the crew until 10.09.1944, when the crew flew it to Kiev on the orders of Soviet officials and handed it over to the members of the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement. Here the traces are lost for the time being.

On 10.09.1944 the German Air Force made a raid on the Three Oaks airfield, during which one SM.84Bis was destroyed by a bomb and another was shot down by the accompanying fighters.




After the end of the war, in 1946-1947, a demand was made by the aircraft manufacturer to Czechoslovakia for payment of the 8 aircraft delivered (despite the fact that they had been duly paid for by the Slovak side), as well as the costs of the remaining aircraft not taken and other costs (fuel, oil, packing and storage of the aircraft), which on the basis of the surviving documents and the testimonies of the direct participants was refused by the Czechoslovakian side.


The ¹⁾ v.n. is sometimes given as 24.660 - even in one document both variants of the v.n. occur for this aircraft, which may be due to a mistranscription from the original archival material

Source: Šumichrast, Peter: Slovak Savoie Marchetti SM-84bis in documents (1943-1944), Vojenská História 4/2008 and 1/2009

http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bww2/sm84.html

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http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bww2/sm84.html

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