Arado Ar 196 Units in Combat

The Arado Ar 196 was a successful shipborne reconnaissance seaplane of World War II, replacing the Heinkel He 60 biplane. It flew various combat missions, including coastal patrol, submarine hunting, light bombing, general reconnaissance, and convoy escort sorties. It was operated from various vessels, including pocket battleships, battlecruisers, and cruisers, as well as shore-based aircraft in coastal ports.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 25 February 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The Arado Ar 196, a biplane seaplane designed by the German Air Ministry in 1936, emerged victorious in a design competition, securing its place as the Kriegsmarine's premier shipborne reconnaissance aircraft during World War II. It replaced the Heinkel He 60 biplane and became the standard catapult-launched floatplane aboard the Kriegsmarine's capital ships. The Ar 196A-1s were first embarked on the pocket battleship Graf Spee in the autumn of 1939, and the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz could carry six Arados each, while the battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst could carry four, and smaller pocket battleships and cruisers could carry two. Shore-based aircraft were also operated from coastal ports on the Channel, Baltic, North Sea, and Bay of Biscay coasts, as well as in the Balkans and Mediterranean. In this title, supported by an excellent selection of photographs and full-colour illustrations, Peter de Jong explores the history of the Arado Ar 196, detailing their development and assessing the combat capabilities of one of the last fighting seaplanes.

Weight: 308g
Dimension: 423 x 248 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472844972