Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor bombers of Kampfgeschwader 40 attacking British shipping in early 1941

Kampfgeschwader 40 was the Luftwaffe's primary maritime patrol unit in WWII and is best remembered as the unit operating a majority of the four-engine Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor maritime patrol bombers.

Although the Fw 200 was the heaviest Luftwaffe bomber, the bomb load was a relatively light 1000kg. The plane was a converted airliner, and had not been designed to withstand damage. They were manned by the best graduates of the bomber training schools, and supervised by former Lufthansa pilots already expert at long-distance flying by dead reckoning navigation. The number of available aircraft was insufficient to effectively patrol approaches to the British Isles. Monthly production of four or five aircraft barely compensated for operational losses; and the number of serviceable Fw 200s could often be counted on the fingers of one hand. The opportunity for effective maritime patrol had passed before the purpose-designed He 177 became available.

The initial production reconnaissance version supplied to the unit was the Fw 200 C-1, armed with one 20mm MG FF cannon in the nose, one 7.92mm MG 15 machine gun in the ventral gondola, as well as the rear and forward dorsal positions. Offensive armament included four 250kg bombs on under-wing racks. Due to the Fw 200 C's origins as an airliner and not generally being designed to handle the rough maneuvering at low altitudes that could occur in maritime patrol engagements against the Allies, the Fw 200 C-1 was prone to enduring much more stress than its airliner-class airframe could handle: it could be prone to breaking its back on landings and at least eight Fw 200 Cs were lost when the fuselage fractured just aft of the wing, with further examples of the Fw 200 C also known to have had a wing panel dropping loose from the wing root after a hard landing.

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. It was claimed that from June 1940 to February 1941, they sank 331,122 tonnes (365,000 tons) of Allied shipping. This successful stint was short-lived however, as by mid 1941 the combination of fighter protection from escort carriers and deadlier anti-aircraft fire from the convoys made such direct attacks a costly affair that were increasingly avoided.

0:00 The F8 Geschwaderkennung code for KG 40 is visible as the crew board their aircraft in the small hours wearing some warm headgear, and in a later shot the ring-around-the-globe squadron insignia is also apparent

0:54 German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper underway below during her second sortie into the Atlantic

1:33 Top turret gunner mans his 7.92mm MG 15 machine gun fitted with a shell catcher

1:43 20mm MG FF autocannon in the ventral gondola fitted with a 60 round drum magazine

2:39 20mm MG FF autocannon fitted with a less common 20 round box magazine

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