Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor: książki - historia

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.

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

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.