Nordholz Naval Airbase Flugplatz Nordholz (Advanced Landing Ground R-56) |
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Nordholz Naval Airbase
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
Owner | German Navy | ||||||||||
Operator | Marineflieger (German Naval Air) | ||||||||||
Location | Nordholz, Germany | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 74 ft / 23 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 53°46′04″N 008°39′36″E / 53.76778°N 8.66000°ECoordinates: 53°46′04″N 008°39′36″E / 53.76778°N 8.66000°E | ||||||||||
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Location of Nordholz Naval Airbase | |||||||||||
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Nordholz Naval Airbase (German: Fliegerhorst Nordholz) (IATA: NDZ, ICAO: ETMN) is a German Naval Air base located near the town of Nordholz in Lower Saxony, 25 km north of Bremerhaven, and 12 km southwest of Cuxhaven. It is the home of Naval Air Command (Marinefliegerkommando), with the Naval Air Wing 3 (Marinefliegergeschwader 3) and Naval Air Wing 5 (Marinefliegergeschwader 5), equipped with the P-3C Orion, Dornier Do 228NG, Mk88A Sea Lynx and Mk41 Sea King.
For the jointly used civil airport see Sea-Airport Cuxhaven/Nordholz
Nordholz Naval Airbase is one of the oldest airports in Germany, dating to 17 December 1912. Construction of the airport installations started a year later and was finished in 1914.
During World War I Nordholz served as the principal airship base for the Imperial German Navy. The first Zeppelin L 3 landing on 2 September 1914 marked the beginning of flight operations. A month later, the Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung moved from Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel Airport to Nordholz, with the first anti-aircraft batteries arriving four days later on 18 October. On 25 December the base was one of the targets of the Cuxhaven Raid. German airships started bombing raids on Britain in 1915, initially using German army Zeppelins; in June, 1915, however, German Navy Zeppelins based at Nordholz began attacks on London. Raids against various places in Britain continued until 1918.
According to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, all airport installations were dismantled in 1919.
Flying returned to Nordholz in 1938, when the Luftwaffe decided to rebuild the airfield. At the outbreak of World War II the Jagdgeschwader 77 Herz As (ace of hearts) fighter wing stationed Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighters at the airfield. These were supplemented by several groups of JG 1, tasked with defending the North Sea shores against British RAF attacks.