Название: Vom Original zum Modell: Focke-Wulf Fw 200
Автор(ы): Karl H. Regnat
Издательство: Bernard & Graefe
Серия: Vom Original zum Modell
Год: 2005
ISBN: 3763760369
Страниц: 104
Язык: German
Формат: PDF
Размер: 62 MB
The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor was a German all-metal four-engine monoplane that entered service as an airliner, but was later developed for use in military service when war broke out. The Luftwaffe initially used the aircraft to support the Kriegsmarine, making great loops out across the North Sea and, following the fall of France, the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft was used for maritime patrols and reconnaissance, searching for Allied convoys and warships that could be reported for targeting by U-boats. The Fw 200 could also carry a 900-kilogram (2,000 lb) bomb load or naval mines to use against shipping, and it was claimed that from June 1940 to February 1941, they sank 331,122 tonnes (365,000 tons) of shipping despite a rather crude bombsight. The attacks were carried out at extremely low altitude in order to attack the target ship with three bombs in succession; this almost guaranteed a decisive hit. Winston Churchill called the Fw 200 the"Scourge of the Atlantic" during the Battle of the Atlantic due to its contribution to the heavy Allied shipping losses. In August 1942, a Fw 200C-3 was the first German aircraft to be destroyed by USAAF pilots, after it was attacked by a P-40C and a P-38F over Iceland.