History Daily

Dec 30, 2025

Image: An Arado Ar 196 in flight during the Second World War.

#AradoAr196

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Section I — Opening

Throughout the world’s vast ocean expanses and contested spaces that existed during World War II, where the world’s various fleets maneuvered back and forth across the world’s oceans, and empires gambled their futures on the shifting tides of naval power, the Arado Ar 196 would carve out a quiet but indispensable niche. It was not a machine built for spectacle. It did not thunder across continents like the heavy bombers of the Allied air forces, nor did it duel for air superiority in the skies over Europe. Instead, it skimmed the surface of the sea, its twin floats slicing through spray as it lifted into the air from the catapults of German warships. The Ar 196, created as a shipborne reconnaissance aircraft, was also intended to become a vigilant companion of the Kriegsmarine’s surface fleet; it was designed to act as a set of eyes which extended across the horizon, transforming the ocean from an opaque expanse into a navigable battlespace. Its presence aboard every major German capital ship underscored its importance: wherever the Kriegsmarine sought to project power, the Ar 196 was there to scout, shadow, and report.[1]