Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe Co-operation in the War against Britain,1939-1945

Abstract

The German contribution to the air war over the sea in the Second World War is associated with the great air-sea battles in the Mediterranean in 1941/42 and the Arctic in 1942. But hardly anything is known about the participation of the Luftwaffe in the battle in the Atlantic from the German perspective. This article illustrates the roots and the course of this important campaign and discusses the fundamental problems in the co-operation of the Luftwaffe with the navy. It shows that in peacetime the navy and during the war the Luftwaffe failed to recognize the importance of a well-planned inter-service co-operation in a theatre of war, where improvisation was hardly possible.