Warplanes of Germany: Luftwaffe Dornier Do 18

Dornier Do 18

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Dornier Do 18, 1935 bomber/reconnaissance flying-boat.

The Dornier Do 18 was a development of the Do 16 flying boat. It was developed for the Luftwaffe, but Deutsche Luft Hansa received five aircraft and used these for tests between the Azores and the North American continent in 1936 and on their mail route over the South Atlantic from 1937 to 1939. On 27–29 March 1938, a "Do 18 W" established a seaplane record, flying non-stop a straight distance of 8,391 km (5,214 mi) from Start Point, Devon to Caravelas in Brazil. (Wikipedia)

In Luftwaffe service, it was obsolete by the outbreak of World War II, but, as the only military flying boat, 62 (58 serviceable) Do 18s equipped a Staffel in each of five Kürstenfliegergruppen (Coastal aviation groups)[8] mainly on North Sea reconnaissance missions. In 1940 some squadrons changed their base to Norway. The vulnerable and underpowered flying boat was soon relegated to training and the air/sea rescue role. In the middle of 1941, only one squadron was still operational on Do 18. The Blohm & Voss BV 138 had superseded the Dornier.

A Do 18 was the first German aircraft to be shot down by British aircraft during the war, when one of a formation of three was caught over the North Sea by nine Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua fighter-bombers of 803 Naval Air Squadron flying from HMS Ark Royal on 26 September 1939. The flying boat was able to make an emergency landing but was sunk by the destroyer HMS Somali. (Wikipedia)