Shadow over the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe and the U-boats: 1943

Shadow over the Atlantic

The Luftwaffe and the U-boats: 1943–45

Shadow over the Atlantic

The Luftwaffe and the U-boats: 1943–45

Description

A unique insight into the U-boat war in World War II, focusing on FAGr 5, the Luftwaffe's only long-range maritime reconnaissance and U-boat cooperation unit.

German U-boats were the scourge of Allied merchant and military shipping in the Atlantic during World War II, threatening to isolate and then starve the UK out of the War. As Germany's war against the Allied convoys intensified in late 1943, German Admiral Karl Dönitz called upon the Luftwaffe to provide a long-range spotting and shadowing unit to act as 'eyes' for his U-boats.

Equipped with big, four-engined Junkers Ju 290s fitted out with advanced search radar and other maritime 'ELINT' (electronic intelligence) devices, Fernaufklärungsgruppe (FAGr) 5 'Atlantik' undertook a distant, isolated campaign far out into the Atlantic and thousands of miles away from its home base in western France. The information generated and reported back to Dönitz's headquarters was vital to the efforts of the U-boats, and FAGr 5's 'shadowing' missions were assigned priority in terms of skilled crews, supplies and equipment.

Shadow over the Atlantic book tells for the first time the fascinating story of the formation and operations of FAGr 5 'Atlantik', drawing on never-before-published historical records of the unit that accounted for the reporting and destruction of thousands of tons of Allied shipping.

Introduction and Acknowledgements
Author's Note
Glossary
Map

1. Dark Waters
2. Junkers' Colossus: the Ju 290
3. Eyes over the Eastern Front
4. Formation
5. 'Now it's serious'
6. The Kommandeur's Report
7. A Burning Question
8. To see, or not to see
9. Black February
10. Fading Shadows
11. Fight and Flight
12. 4./FAGr 5, by Nick Beale
13. Return to the Reich
14. 'Special Tasks'
15. 'Divide and Fall'
16. 'Genieße den Krieg, der Friede wird furchtbar!'

Appendices
Endnotes
Bibliography and Sources
Index

Product details

Published	Jul 27 2017
Format	Ebook (PDF)
Edition	1st
Extent	312
ISBN	9781472820464
Imprint	Osprey Publishing
Illustrations	30 b/w; 40 col
Series	General Military
Short code	GNM
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Robert Forsyth

Robert Forsyth is an author, editor and publisher,…

Illustrator

Jim Laurier

Jim Laurier is a native of New England and lives i…

[Shadow over the Atlantic] is significant in telling the story of [the Battle of the Atlantic] from the point of view of the German maritime reconnaissance flyer, whose story has never before been told outside the official records. The history through to the war's end is thoroughly covered, appealing to both naval and aviation enthusiasts alike.

WWII History Magazine
This is a story never told in such detail, enhanced by a folio of interesting photos, as well as several color profiles of these unusual planes.

The Hook Magazine, Journal of Carrier Aviation
. . . bridges a significant gap in late-war aviation. The story has never been told in such detail. The book contains a folio of interesting photos, as well as several profiles of these unusual German aircraft and the men who flew them.

Peter Mersky, Naval Aviation News