Nice video of the FW200C 4-Engine Luftwaffe aircraft

[The Kraken]

Beautiful plane, thanks for the video! As many converted airliner designs, the FW-200 wasn't suited too well for a combat role compared to a dedicated bomber design, except for patrol duty due to its exceptional range. Not sure I'd want to fly a full maritime patrol mission in real time though...

[Blackdog_kt]

Actually, the He111 was also used as a civilian transport and mail carrier to sidestep the restrictions of the Versailles treaty, so it's not really that strange seeing the Fw200 following a similar route.

The difference was that the 111 was probably designed from the start as a combat aircraft and disguised as a civilian one, while the Fw200 was a genuinely civilian airliner pressed into military service for lack of other alternatives.

The reason that the luftwaffe lacked strategic heavies is usually attributed to the way the air force was used under the blitzkrieg doctrine, a mostly tactical tool to support the advance of a mechanized ground army.

[rivalsavages]

My father served on sloop HMS Starling during the Battle of the Atlantic and he told me a preposterous story about an incident where Johnnie Walker, the ship's Captain complained about how the convoy was being shadowed. Apparently the tactic of the Condors was to circle clockwise out of reach of Anti Aircraft Fire for hours at a time.

Walker apparently got his morse code operator to send a message to the Condor. It read "You are making us dizzy. Could you fly round in the opposite direction please?"

Astoundingly, back came the reply "Anything to oblige!" and the Condor turned and flew in an anti clockwise direction for the rest of the afternoon!

[BadAim]

LOL! That one puts a humorous twist on a not-so funny reality. Even though there were rarely more than 40 Condors in service at any given time, with only 20 or so actually flyable, they were a deadly menace to the convoys.

When used properly as a long range patrol aircraft, they proved more than adequate, in spite of their being of poor construction for military use. I suspect the laughs were over for rivalsavage's father and his mates when said condor was done marshaling in a Wolf pack. (I'm glad he survived)

Hermann Goring put paid to the program though when he sent them all to Stalingrad for the airlift operations (for which they were utterly useless) loosing every one. They were never again available in sufficient numbers to be effective.

[rivalsavages]

Look up HMS Starling BadAim and you will see they were more than a match for any U Boat packs. Walker's tactics changed the face of the war against the U Boats. When sailing into battle he used to play "A-Hunting we will go" on a gramophone miked up to the ship's message system!

[Kittle]

Originally Posted by rivalsavages

Look up HMS Starling BadAim and you will see they were more than a match for any U Boat packs. Walker's tactics changed the face of the war against the U Boats. When sailing into battle he used to play "A-Hunting we will go" on a gramophone miked up to the ship's message system!

I just did, and what a boat she was!!! More U-Boats sunk then any other ship in WWII, that is impressive!!! Your father must be/have been proud to serve on such a ship, and I thank him for his service.