The Luftwaffe and the war at sea

The Luftwaffe and the War at Sea is a collection of fascinating accounts written by Germany military officers - both Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe - about the naval war in the air in the North Atlantic and around Great Britain.

Most of the documents were written immediately postwar as part of the Allied debriefing programme though some are wartime German originals produced for internal use by military staffs, but all have the value of immediacy; they were written when memories were fresh and, in many case, by those who were directly caught up in the actions. These men were personal involved in all aspects of the German attempts to control the seas through maritime power, from the use of Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers during the invasion of Norway to the missions of FW 200 Kondors in cooperation with the U-boat campaign against Britain's Atlantic lifelines. The writers include such well-known names as Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz, Kontreadmiral Gerhard Wagner, General der Flieger Ulrich O E Kessler and Vizeadmiral Eberhard Weichold.

The history recounted in these reports is unique and first-hand, allowing the reader a fresh perspective on those famous campaigns. Furthermore, much of that wartime experience was harnessed during the formation of the Bundersmarine's Marineflieger in the 1950s that then served throughout the Cold War and today is participating in the global war on terror with its Atlantic marine patrols.