Editing Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor (section)

==Operational history==
[[File:Focke-Wulf FW B 200 Condor.jpg|thumb|right|Focke-Wulf Fw 200 B ''Condor'' of [[Deutsche Luft Hansa]] (Model)]]
[[File:Fortepan 163910.jpg|thumb|Fw 200 D-2, export version of B-2 variant, ordered but not delivered to Dai Nippon Kabushiki Kaisha. Later operated by Luft Hansa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/VargaFerenc/10576.htm|title=Focke-Wulf Fw 200 D-2b|website=1000aircraftphotos.com}}</ref> [[Budaörs Airport]], 1938 (?) ]]
[[File:Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Dania.jpg|thumb|right|Danish Fw 200 airliner ''Dania'' at [[Oslo Airport, Fornebu|Fornebu Airport]] in Norway in 1939, with early single-wheel main gear.]]
The Fw 200 was operated by Deutsche Luft Hansa, [[Det Danske Luftfartselskab]] (DDL) and Luft Hansa's Brazilian subsidiary [[Syndicato Condor]].<ref name="Mondey" /> [[Imperial Japanese Airways|Dai Nippon KK]] of Japan also ordered Fw 200 airliners; these could not be delivered to Japan once the war began, so they were delivered to Deutsche Luft Hansa instead.<ref name="Mondey" /><ref name = "smithkay 201"/> On 14 April 1945, an Fw 200 flew Luft Hansa's last scheduled service before the end of the Second World War, flying from [[Barcelona]] to [[Berlin]].<ref name="Mondey" /><ref name = "smithkay 207"/> Other airlines continued to operate the Fw 200 after the end of the Second World War.

The first prototype, Fw 200 V1, upgraded with extra fuel tanks and redesignated Fw 200 S-1, made several record flights. It was the first heavier-than-air craft to fly nonstop between Berlin and [[New York City]], about {{convert|4000|mi}}, making the flight from [[Berlin-Staaken]] to [[Floyd Bennett Field]] on 10/11 August 1938 in 24 hours and 56 minutes.<ref name="Seifert" /> The return trip on 13 August 1938 took 19 hours and 47 minutes.<ref name="Mondey" /> These flights are commemorated with a plaque in [[Böttcherstraße]], a street in [[Bremen]]. Beginning on 28 November 1938, it flew from [[Berlin]] to [[Tokyo]] via [[Basra]], [[Karachi]] and [[Hanoi]].<ref name="Mondey" />

German Foreign Minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] used a specially outfitted Condor "Grenzmark", on his two flights to [[Moscow]] in 1939, during which he negotiated and signed the "Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union", better known as the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]. His aircraft bore the German civil registration of D-ACVH.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQW5c_gMaE |title=Joachim von Ribbentrop in Moscow 1939 |website=youtube.com |language=en}}</ref>

A Danish-owned Fw 200, named ''Dania'', was seized by the British at [[Shoreham Airport]] after [[German invasion of Denmark (1940)|Denmark was invaded]] by German forces in 1940. It was subsequently operated by [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC) and was then pressed into service with the [[Royal Air Force]]. It was damaged beyond repair in 1941.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

During September 1939, the ''Luftwaffe'' took delivery of a batch of ten pre-production Fw 200Cs.<ref name = "smithkay 2012">Smith and Kay 1972, pp. 201-202.</ref> As they were unarmed, the first four aircraft were exclusively used as transports alongside the earlier Fw 200Bs. Amongst other early operations, the type was used during the [[Norwegian_campaign#German_invasion|German invasion of Norway]].<ref name = "smithkay 202">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 202.</ref> Operational sorties of the armed Fw 200Cs, however, did not take place until 8 April 1940. The Luftwaffe used its maritime-configured Fw 200c to support the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]''; a typical patrol flight consisted of large circuits out across the [[North Sea]] and, following the [[fall of France]], the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The type was used for maritime patrols and reconnaissance, searching for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] convoys and warships that could be reported for targeting by [[U-boat]]s. Occasionally, the type was also used to lay [[naval mine]]s around port entrances across the east coast of [[England]].<ref name = "smithkay 2023">Smith and Kay 1972, pp. 202-203.</ref>

A maritime-configured Fw 200 could carry a {{convert|1000|kg|lb|-2|adj=on}} bomb load or mines to use against shipping, and it was claimed that from June 1940 to February 1941, they sank 331,122&nbsp;tonnes (365,000&nbsp;tons) of shipping despite being furnished with a rather crude [[bombsight]]. These attacks were typically carried out at extremely low altitude in order to "bracket" the target ship with three bombs; this almost guaranteed a hit. [[Winston Churchill]] called the Fw 200 the "Scourge of the Atlantic" during the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] due to its contribution to the heavy Allied shipping losses.<ref>{{harvnb|Pimlott|1998|p=52}}</ref>

Following the debut of what would become the Luftwaffe's primary ''seaborne'' maritime patrol aircraft, the rival [[trimotor]] [[Blohm & Voss BV 138#Operational history|BV 138C flying boat]] in March 1941; from mid-1941,{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Condor crews were instructed to stop attacking shipping and avoid all combat in order to preserve numbers. In August, the first Fw 200 was shot down by a [[CAM ship]]-launched [[Hawker Hurricane]], and the arrival of the U.S.-built [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|Grumman Martlet]], operating from the Royal Navy's new [[escort carrier]]s, posed a serious threat.<ref name = "smithkay 204"/> The six Martlets operated by the Royal Navy from the first escort carrier {{HMS|Audacity|D10|6}} shot down a total of seven Condors while escorting three convoys during her short career in the final months of 1941. On 14 August 1942, an Fw 200C-3 was the first German aircraft to be destroyed by USAAF pilots, after it was attacked by a [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|Curtiss P-40C Warhawk]] and a [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|Lockheed P-38F Lightning]] over [[Iceland]].<ref>{{harvnb|Stanaway|1998|p=43}}</ref>

The Fw 200 was also used as a transport aircraft, notably flying supplies into [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] in 1943.<ref name = "smithkay 205">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 205.</ref> The type was occasionally used in clandestine operations in support of German [[espionage|spies]].<ref name = "smithkay 207"/> After late 1943, the Fw 200 came to be used solely for transport. In the reconnaissance role, it was replaced with the [[Junkers Ju 290]], and even some examples of the [[Heinkel He 177 Greif]] bombers serving with [[Kampfgeschwader 40]]. With the Allied advance into France, maritime reconnaissance by the Luftwaffe became impossible as the Atlantic coastal bases were captured.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-432-0796-07, Flugzeug Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor".jpg|thumb|right|Fw 200 in Greece, circa 1941]]

Several damaged Fw 200s landed in [[Spain]] during the conflict. In the beginning, they were repaired and returned to their bases in France. After [[Operation Torch]] (the Allied invasion of [[French North Africa]]), the Spanish government [[internment|interned]] four aircraft that arrived on Spanish territory (although their crews were still allowed to return to Germany). Since the aircraft could not be used, they were sold by Germany to Spain. One of the three flyable aircraft was then operated by the [[Spanish Air Force]] and the others used for spares. Because of damage and lack of spares, and for political reasons, they were grounded and scrapped around 1950.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Some Condors also crashed in [[Portugal]]. Their crews were allowed to return to Germany while the British authorities were allowed to inspect the aircraft and accompanying documentation. Some crew members died in these crashes and were buried in the civilian cemetery of [[Moura Municipality|Moura]] in [[Alentejo Province]], Portugal. The aircraft that crashed in Spain and Portugal had been based at [[Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport|Bordeaux-Merignac]], France since 1940. Before then, the operational base of the Fw 200 squadrons had been in Denmark.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

===Hitler's personal transport===
{{anchor|Immelmann III}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0011, FW 200 "Condor".jpg|right|thumb|Adolf Hitler's personal Fw 200 Condor, bearing the insignia of the [[Fliegerstaffel des Führers]] on its nose]]

At the suggestion of his personal pilot [[Hans Baur]], [[Adolf Hitler]] specified a modified and unarmed prototype Condor, the Fw 200 V3, as his personal transport, as a replacement for his [[Junkers Ju 52]]. Originally configured as a 26-passenger ''Luft Hansa'' transport (Works No. 3099), it was reconfigured as a plush two-cabin airliner. Hitler's armchair-style seat in the cabin was equipped with a wooden table, seat-back armour plating, and a parachute in the seat cushion, with an escape hatch in the floor. In line with Hitler's aircraft preferences, it carried the markings "D-2600" and was named "Immelmann III" in honour of World War I flying ace [[Max Immelmann]]. As the war progressed it changed designation to "WL+2600" and finally "26+00"; it was destroyed at [[Berlin Tempelhof Airport]] in an Allied bombing raid on 18 July 1944. FW 200s of various types were configured as VIP transports, for the use of Hitler and his staff, other aircraft being assigned to [[Heinrich Himmler]], [[Albert Speer]], [[Hermann Göring]], and [[Karl Dönitz]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What Happened to Nazi Leaders' Luxury Planes? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp9QNPtdDfo |website=youtube.com | date=30 August 2022 |publisher=[[Mark Felton]] |language=en |access-date=7 September 2022}}</ref><ref name = "smithkay 207">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 207.</ref>

=== Allied tactics used against the Condor ===
Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm pilot Captain [[Eric Brown (pilot)|Eric Brown]]'s aircraft was seriously damaged by defensive fire during an attack he made on a Condor in 1940, and he narrowly survived. After this, he studied the design of the Condor seriously for some time. He managed to work out that the forward firing machine gun positions could swivel, but could only fire in a certain arc otherwise they would hit the fuselage of their own plane. Brown worked out where the arc was, and realised this was a blind spot, if one attacked the front of the plane. He used this to successfully destroy a Condor, then informed his fellow squadron pilots who used the tactic to destroy others.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Pilot Who Flew 487 Different Aircraft & Landed 2,271 Times On A Carrier! Eric "Winkle" Brown |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSRAdZzRycc |website=youtube.com | date=20 December 2022 |language=en |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>