Luftwaffe aircraft and anti-shipping tactics

[MarcusAurelius]

For the Luftwaffe, the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Kondor met its requirement for a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

Fw 200 patrol bombers operated from Bordeaux-Merignac, with anti-shipping operations beginning in August 1940. Flights led over the Bay of Biscay, around Ireland and ended in Norway. By February 1941, the Luftwaffe claimed almost 400,000 tons of shipping sunk. Churchill called the Fw 200 the "Scourge of the Atlantic."

Flight time was 14 hours, for a range of about 2,400 miles. Cruising speeds were around 150 mph. The common bomb load on long-range missions was just four 550-pound bombs.

In mid-1941, a change of tactics occurred. Fw 200 crews were instructed not to attack and to evade all combat unless unavoidable. Instead, the Kondors were to be used to report Allied shipping movements. To guide the U-boats to the convoys they shadowed, they transmitted a direction-finding signal — but didn't directly communicate with the German U-boats.

By 1943, after growing losses due to the introducing of catapult-equipped merchant ships and escort carriers, the Kondors were recalled to be used as transports on the Eastern front. The Kondor was largely replaced in the maritime reconnaissance role by the Junkers Ju 290.

Produced ended in early 1944, after the Luftwaffe had received 263 aircraft.

[MarcusAurelius]

The Junkers Ju 88 was one of the most versatile and effective combat aircraft of World War II.

Its closest counterparts on the Allied side were the Mosquito and Beaufighter. The German aircraft was larger and slower, but nevertheless very effective. More than 14,000 were built — including a staggering 104 prototypes for its 60 different versions.

The Ju 88 was certainly an excellent aircraft. It was easy to fly, gentle, responsive and maneuverable. When the war broke out, the Ju 88 was an excellent bomber — but only a handful were available and production was not more than one per week.

The most important bomber version was the Ju 88A-4, with a longer wingspan, stronger airframe, and more powerful engines. It appeared in the summer of 1940. The strong points of the Ju 88 were speed and a significant bomb load. Its weak points were its short range, a cramped and inefficient cockpit, and poor defensive armament.

The Ju 88C (a fighter-bomber version) started flying anti-shipping patrols and escort missions from bases in France starting in September 1942. This helped counter the growing threat Allied aircraft posed to German U-boats. But while patrol bombers such as the Short Sunderland were slow and operated alone, the well-armed flying boats weren't easy targets.

The fight was most intense in the summer of 1943. However, the Germans were on the losing side — the Luftwaffe Ju 88 unit was disbanded shortly after the Allied invasion in Normany.

[MarcusAurelius]

The Junkers Ju 290 replaced the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Kondor as the Luftwaffe's primary long-range reconnaissance aircraft in late 1943.

The plane underwent a protracted development process. In 1937, Junkers completed a prototype for the Ju 90 — a long-distance airliner designed to compete with the Fw 200. Only 10 production aircraft were built, primarily used as transports by the Luftwaffe. Although the Ju 90 featured a modern duralumin fuselage structure, it was underpowered and slow.

Further prototypes gave the Ju 90 a modified wing, longer fuselage, more powerful engines and defensive armament. Finally, the Ju 90V11 prototype officially became the Ju 290. It flew in August 1942, with production starting immediately.

The first combat model was the Ju 290A-2. Equipped with Hohentwiel search radar, it could detect convoys out to 60 miles. This was followed in 1944 by the Ju 290A-5 — featuring protected fuel tanks, armor plating for the crew positions and upgunned to carry 15mm cannons.

The Ju 290 gave crews a far more capable aircraft than the old Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Kondor. But only 65 Ju 290s were built, and no more than about 20 aircraft were ever available at one time.

[Kaufschtick]

Good stuff here, very good.:)

[Grandviceroy]

I made up stat cards for German and Italian bombers used in the convoy battles (PQ-17 and Pedastal)

HE111J "Doppel Blitz" (Double Lightning)
Long-Range Torpedo Bomber
Torpedo 2
Armor 5, Vital 7
Special: Anti-Aircraft Self Defense. If Attacked by enemy fighters in the Anti-Air Step, may RETURN fire, even if Aborted or Destroyed, with Anti-Air of 4.
Land Based

JU88 A6U Sea Surveyor
Long-Range Dive Bomber/Night Fighter
main gun 3
anti-air 5
armor 5, vital 7
Alternate Payload 8: At the start of the the Air Mission step player must decide if this unit is to fly as a fighter or asa dive-bomber. If it isto fly as a dive-bomber it may NOT conduct an Anti-Air Attack. This unit may instead make an 8 Bomb Attack during your Air Attack Step
Land Based

Savoia-Marchetti SM79
Long-Range Tri-Motor Naval Torpedo Bomber
Torpedo 2
Armor 4, Vital 6
Press the Attack: Whenever this unit is aborted by Ship's Anti-Air attack you may roll 1 die. On a 1, destroy this unit. On a 4 or higher this unit makes a Bomb attack during your Air Attack step, but rolls only ONE attack die.
Superior Torpedoes: Each torpedo hit rolled by this unit deals 1 extra point of damage.


(The Italians led the field in pre-war aerial torpedo design -- and supplied the Germans with torpedoes when Mussolini refused to allow the Navy to develop its own fleet air arm -- when that came later, in 1941, the SM79 pilots were the elite of the Italian fliers, and while their lumbering tri-motors were big and vulnerable, they were an incredibly stable platform from which to launch aerial torpedoes)