The scourge of the Atlantic

by Dr. Marshall Michel
52nd Fighter Wing historian


Called at one point by Winston Churchill “The Scourge of the Atlantic,” the Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor had a modest beginning as a four-engine, long-distance transport for the Lufthansa airline. With a slim fuselage, long span, high aspect ratio wing and powered by four Pratt & Whitney BMW 132L engines, the Condor was to fly 26 passengers over long distances. The first prototype flew on July 27, 1937, and quickly lived up to expectations as it became the first airplane to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City, making the journey in 24 hours and 56 minutes.

Adolf Hitler demanded a modified prototype Condor, D-2600 “Immelmann III,” as his personal transport. The aircraft was reconfigured with two cabins and Hitler’s seat was equipped with a wooden table, back-armor plating, and an automatic seat and parachute that opened when the seat dropped from the bottom of the aircraft.
In response to the imperial Japanese navy’s interest in a militarized, long-range reconnaissance version, Focke Wulf built a Condor with some modest structural reinforcement, bigger engines, a long ventral gondola with a bomb bay and fore and aft gun positions, and extra guns in fuselage stations. It could carry about 2,600 pounds of bombs and had an endurance of 14 hours.

The Condors never made it to Japan, but the Luftwaffe ordered a number to support the German navy with reconnaissance missions and shipping attack. The Condors were delivered to Kampfgruppe 40, which from June 1940 operated from Bordeaux-Merignac, France.

Systematic anti-shipping operations began in August 1940 and the Condors made great loops out over the Bay of Biscay, around Ireland, and ended in Norway seeking targets of opportunity.

Initial missions were very successful. Condors sunk 90,000 tons of shipping in the first two months and 363,000 tons by February 1941. The Condors’ attacks were carried out at extremely low altitude and it is a commentary on the woeful state of British merchant ship defenses that initially few Condors were lost, because the first Condors were very fragile.

Only the pilot had any armor, the fuel and hydraulic lines ran unprotected along the bottom of the fuselage, and most importantly the fuselage had been inadequately strengthened for the extra weapons’ weight. The result was that at least eight Fw 200s broke up on landing, a problem that, despite fuselage strengthening in later models, was never entirely fixed, and hard evasive maneuvers could result in structural failure.

Additionally, the Fw 200 had an unimpressive max level speed of less than 200 knots at 12,000 feet and less than 170 knots at sea level.

By mid-1941, the British defenses had improved with CAM launched Hawker Hurricanes, and in December 1941, Royal Navy escort carriers arrived, virtually eliminating the possibly of successful attacks by the Condors.

Condor crews were instructed to avoid combat and began using the Condor in what was to be its most important role, reporting Allied convoy movements. Condors began shadowing convoys and transmitting directional radio signals that were picked up by U-boat “wolf packs” to lead them to the convoys. In August 1942, a Condor had the dubious distinction of beings the first German aircraft to be destroyed by USAAF pilots, shot down by a P-40C and a P-38F over Iceland.

From the end of 1942 through 1943, the need for transport aircraft on the Eastern Front resulted in most Fw 200s being sent there, notably flying supplies into Stalingrad. Later model Fw 200s had structural reinforcement (although still insufficient) and heavier defensive armament but continued improvement in Allied sea borne defenses resulted in the Condors being replaced for the sea reconnaissance mission. A few Fw 200s returned to anti-shipping strikes equipped with radar and the Henschel Hs 293A anti-ship missile. Production ceased in early 1944 after the Luftwaffe had received 263, but in the end, despite its limitations, the Condor must be considered one of World War II’s most successful aircraft innovations.

(For questions or comments, contact Dr. Michel at marshall.michel@spangdahlem.af.mil.)