Fw 200 Condor vs Atlantic Convoy: 1941-43

This is the account of the machines of war pitted against each other and the combatants who operated them. Step onto the battlefield and immerse yourself in the experience of real historic combat.

After the fall of France in 1940, Germany attempted to strangle Britain into submission by attacking the Atlantic Convoys, which brought much-needed supplies and war materiel from the USA and Canada. While the U-boats attacked from beneath the seas, the Germans converted a civilian airliner design into the Fw 200 Condor and attacked from the skies. By the summer of 1941, Condor attacks had been so successful that Winston Churchill called them "the scourge of the Atlantic." This book discusses the development of the Condor, and analyzes the various Allied responses, from arming civilian vessels and providing Royal Navy escorts, to the Grumman Martlets and Sea Hurricanes launched from catapults on modified merchant ships or from specially-designed carriers to meet this aerial threat.

With the fall of France in 1940, Germany suddenly had the opportunity to strike at poorly guarded Allied convoys. The Luftwaffe pressed into service the Fw-200 Condor, a plane that had originally been designed as a civilian airliner and the first plane to fly non-stop from Berlin to New York in 1938. After various modifications, the Fw-200 became the Luftwaffe's long-range maritime patrol and strike bomber. It was devastatingly effective; a single attack by five Condors on a convoy in February 1941 resulted in the sinking and damaging of 11 ships. Furthermore, the Condors passed on convoy sightings to the U-boats with devastating effect.

By the summer of 1941, the threat posed by the Condor was so great that Winston Churchill dubbed them "the scourge of the Atlantic." Losses to Condor attacks resulted in various crash efforts to find a solution to the predator. One solution was the Hurricate, a modified Hurricane that was launched by catapult from a converted merchant ship. But a more robust solution was required. This was delivered with the creation of the escort carrier to provide continuous air cover over a threatened convoy. By 1941 the duel for supremacy over the Atlantic began to turn in favor of the Allies and was furthered by the entry of the US into the war. The Germans made a last ditch attempt to turn the tide by equipping Condors with anti-shipping missiles, better defensive armament and airborne radar. But their numbers were too few to combat the ever-increasing might of the Allies.

This volume highlights a classic duel between opposing tactics, doctrine and technology, with the Germans attempting to field an airborne weapon that could intercept the Atlantic convoys, while the Allies attempted to provide an effective defense umbrella over the ships carrying vital war-time supplies.

Robert Forczyk has a PhD in International Relations and National Security from the University of Maryland and a strong background in European and Asian military history. He retired as a lieutenant-colonel from the US Army Reserves having served 18 years as an armour officer in the US 2nd and 4th infantry divisions and as an intelligence officer in the 29th Infantry Division (Light). Dr Forczyk is currently a consultant in the Washington, DC, area. The author lives in Washington, DC.