Forsyth, Robert, 1959-

Shadow over the Atlantic : the Luftwaffe and the U-boats: 1943-45 / Robert Forsyth. - 312 pages : illustrations, map, portraits ; 24 cm

Dark waters -- Junkers' colossus: the Ju 290 -- Eyes over the Eastern Front -- Formation: Achmer, March-November 1943 -- 'Now it's serious': Atlantic operations, November-December 1943 -- The Kommandeur's report -- A burning question: Atlantic operations, December 1943 -- To see, or not to see: Atlantic operations, January 1944 -- Black February: Atlantic operations, February 1944 -- Fading shadows: March-May 1944 -- Flight and fight: June-August 1944 -- 4./FAGr 5, by Nick Beale -- Return to the Reich: August-September 1944 -- 'Special tasks': KG 200 and Metallbau Offingen/Sonderkommando Nebel, July 1944 to February 1945 -- Divide and fall: the final months, January-May 1945 -- 'Geniesse den Krieg, der Friede wird furchtbar!': May 1945 -- Appendix 1: Ju 290A-2 -- A-7 spedifications -- Appendix 2: List of known aircraft and losses (FAGr 5) -- Appendix 3: List of officers -- Appendix 4: Aircraft strength, July 1943 to March 1945 -- Appendix 5: Navigational methods employed by FAGr 5.

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.This 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.

9781472820457 1472820452


Germany. Luftwaffe --History--World War, 1939-1945.
Germany. Kriegsmarine --Submarine forces--History--World War, 1939-1945.
Germany. Kriegsmarine.
Germany. Luftwaffe.


World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, German.
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations.
Submarines (Ships)--Germany.
World War, 1939-1945--Atlantic Ocean.