As a fighter ace, he was credited with 99 aircraft shot down in over 300 combat missions, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front.

Following the Anschluss in March 1938, the forced incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany, Steinbatz was transferred to the Luftwaffe and trained as a fighter pilot at the Jagdfliegerschule in Wien-Aspern.

[2] World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, with the German Invasion of Poland.

Gruppe (3rd Group) and was then assigned to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (Luftwaffe Mission Romania) under the command of Generalleutnant Wilhelm Speidel [de].

The military mission from Germany supported General Ion Antonescu in the reorganization of the Rumanian armed forces.

Gruppe flew to Plovdiv, Saloniki, Tatoi Airfield north of Athens and then to Molaoi where he stayed until 10 June.

Gruppe was ordered to Mizil ready for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.

[9] Here on the 4 August, Steinbatz claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Polikarpov I-16 fighter southeast of Kiev, while escorting Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers to Brovary.

Gruppe had reached an airfield named Stschastliwaja about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east-southeast of Oleksandriia where they stayed until 12 September.

Staffel of JG 52 in March, and by the beginning of April, his unit had accumulated over 200 victories in Russia, for the loss of only eight pilots.

Gruppe had relocated to Zürichtal, a small village at the Inhul in the former German settlement west of Feodosia in the Crimea during the Crimean campaign.

[29] On 12 May, German forces launched Operation Fredericus, also referred to as the Second Battle of Kharkov, to eliminate the Izium bridgehead over Seversky Donets.

Gruppe was moved to the Kharkov-Rogan airfield, southeast of Kharkov and subordinated to the Stab (headquarters unit) of JG 52.

Gruppe predominantly flew fighter escort missions for Ju 87 dive bombers from VIII.

Fliegerkorps attacking Soviet ground forces on the northern pincer and claimed 52 aerial victories for the loss of one aircraft damaged.

[30] The Gruppe claimed 89 victories in its first two days over Kharkov, with Graf becoming the first pilot in JG 52 to reach the century (on 14 May).

Ofw Steinbatz got his 75th on 20 May and although the ground offensive was blunted by the next day, the intense aerial combat continued.

The first was Oberfeldwebel Heinrich Hoffmann, who received the distinction on 19 October 1941, the second was Feldwebel Gerhard Köppen who was honored on 27 February 1942.

"[24] On 19 May, the Gruppe moved to Barvinkove where they stayed until 12 June mostly fighting over the encircled Soviet forces in the Izium salient.

[39] Shortly after, he was killed in action when his Bf 109 F-4/R1 (Werknummer 13357—factory number) was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery northwest of Shebekino.

Gruppe, Major Hubertus von Bonin, ordered Feldwebel Edmund Rossmann and three other men to search for him.

German soldiers in a forward infantry position reported a Bf 109 crashing into a forest from low altitude.

[45][46] On 30 June 1942, his father wrote a letter to Adolf Hitler asking for a promotion of his son to an officers rank.

On 23 July 1942, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe-Personalamt (LWA—Air Force Staff Office), on orders of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, announced the promotion of Steinbatz to Leutnant (Second Lieutenant) of the Reserves, effective as of 1 June 1942.

[47] Spick also lists him with 99 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front in an unknown number of combat missions.