Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor: books - history and deployment

Focke-Wulf Fw 200

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor was originally designed as a civilian airliner but became a key weapon in World War II, attacking convoys supplying Britain. Described by Churchill as "the scourge of the Atlantic, " it played a crucial role in German naval operations, serving as a long-range reconnaissance bomber for the Kriegsmarine. While effective early on, its weaknesses became more apparent as the Allies improved their defenses.
Aviation historian Matthew Willis explores the aircraft's transformation from a state-of-the-art airliner into a military transport, maritime bomber, and reconnaissance plane. He details its increasing armament, the addition of radar, and its use of radio-controlled glider bombs.
The book covers the Fw 200's operations across the Atlantic, Arctic, and North Africa, providing a comprehensive account of its wartime service.

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Focke-Wulf Fw 200 - The Condor at War 1939-1945

Conceived and developed as a civilian airliner during the 1930s, the elegant four-engined Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor soon became one of the Luftwaffe's most immediately recognisable and potent maritime armed reconnaissance aircraft.
Following its introduction into service in 1939, the Condor took part in the German campaign against Norway and the British Isles in 1940 before being subsequently deployed over the Mediterranean in 1941 and the Atlantic between 1940 and 1944.

Used as a transport for high-level German personnel in the Fliegerstaffel des Führers, as well as military transport missions on the Eastern Front, the Condor became involved in the catastrophic Stalingrad airlift.
Later in the war, over the Atlantic convoy routes and despite the introduction by the Allies of escort carriers, catapult-fighter ships and long-range patrol aircraft, the Fw 200 continued to wage an anti-shipping campaign, but by the autumn of 1944 and into 1945, it was relegated to pure transport missions flying from bases in Norway.

In "Focke-Wulf Fw 200-The Condor at War", Chris Goss presents the most richly detailed narrative ever written on the campaigns undertaken by the Fw 200. Their account is accompanied by hundreds of rare images, many previously unpublished, representing the largest assembly of photography relative to the aircraft ever published.

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Focke-Wulf Fw 200 the Luftwaffe's Long Range Maritime Bomber : Rare Luftwaffe Photographs from Wartime Collections (Air War Archive)

Originally built as an airliner that could carry passengers across the Atlantic for Deutsche Lufthansa, the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor developed into the Luftwaffe's principal long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
It was used in the North Sea and in the Atlantic, searching for Allied convoys and warships, passing on information to waiting U-boats. The Fw 200 was also capable of carrying a bomb load of up to 2,000kg, and it was claimed that Condors sank more than 300,000 tons of Allied shipping.

By September 1940, one unit, KG 40 based at Bordeaux-Merignac in Occupied France, had sunk over 90,000 tons of Allied shipping. For the next three years the C-series Condors were described by Winston Churchill as 'the scourge of the Atlantic'.
The Fw 200 also used as a troop transport, capable of carrying thirty fully-armed soldiers. One Fw 200 was even converted into a luxury, two-cabin airliner for use as Hitler's personal aeroplane.

In this selection of unrivalled images collected over many years, and now part of Frontline's new War in the Air series, the operations of this famous aircraft are portrayed and brought to life through the first-hand accounts of the pilots who flew them and those that fought against them.

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Fw 200 Condor Units of World War 2 (Osprey)

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor first made an appearance over Norway in April 1940, flying with the unit that eventually become synonymous with it - Kampfgeschwader 40.
As the war in the west progressed, and German forces advanced, French airfields opened up, allowing the Condor to fly around the UK and out into the Atlantic, where it rapidly established itself as one of the key menaces to Allied shipping.
Able to attack shipping directly, or able to guide U-Boats to their prey the Condor scored its first major success when it crippled the liner Empress of Great Britain.

But the tables were to turn on the 'Scourge of the Atlantic' as mechanical failures induced by their harsh operating environment and changes in Allied tactics began to take a toll.
Vulnerable to aerial attack, the deployment of Allied carriers and their associated fighters combined with the introduction of more loing range maritime patrol aircraft exposed the Condor's deficiencies.

Packed with rare first-hand accounts, profile artwork and photographs, this is the history of one of the unsung types to take to the skies during World War 2.

Contents:
1941 - Early Successes
1941 - Happy Times
1942-43 - Beginning of the End
1944-45 - Nowhere left to go
Appendices

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Fw-200 Condor vs Atlantic Convoys - 1941-43 (Osprey)

After the fall of France in 1940, Germany attempted to strangle Britain into submission by attacking the Atlantic Convoys, which brought much need supplies and war materiel from the USA and Canada. While the U-boats attacked from beneath the seas, the Germans modified a civilian airliner to create the Fw-200 Condor to attack from the skies. By the summer of 1941, the Condor attacks had succeeded to the extent that Winston Churchill called them 'the scourge of the Atlantic'.

This book discusses the development of the Condor, and analyzes the various Allied responses, including the development of the Hurricat, a modified Hurricane that could be launched via catapult from modified merchant ships.

Contents: Introduction - Design & development - Technical Specifications - Combatants - Combat - Statistics & Analysis - Conclusion - Further Reading.

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