page_title: Fliegerführer Atlantik
section_title: 1943: the "living corpse"
hierarchical_section_title: Fliegerführer Atlantik / Combat operations / 1943: the "living corpse"
caption_attribution_description: English: Cover photo of German Lt. Gen. Unlrich Kessler, who was picked up from a U-boat; he is shown in the galley of a Coast Guard boat en route to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Photo appeared on the the June 15, 1945 British edition of Yank, the Army Weekly, a weekly U.S. Army magazine fully staffed by enlisted men.
context_page_description: Fliegerführer Atlantik was a World War II Luftwaffe naval air command dedicated to maritime patrol, and maritime interdiction. The air command fought exclusively in the Battle of the Atlantic.
  At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Luftwaffe had few specialised naval aviation units and aircraft. By 1940, the Wehrmacht occupied much of Western Europe and Scandinavia. The Kriegsmarine and its commander-in-chief Erich Raeder saw this as an opportunity to destroy the sea communications of the United Kingdom, Germany's last significant opponent in Europe.
  In February 1941, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe was ordered by Adolf Hitler to form a naval air command to support the Kriegsmarine's U-boat operations in the Battle of the Atlantic. Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, agreed to the formation of the specialised naval command which remained under the operational control of the Luftwaffe and was subordinated to Luftflotte 3, commanded by Hugo Sperrle. The command had jurisdiction over all Luftwaffe operations in the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel and Irish Sea. The organisation's first commanding officer was Martin Harlinghausen.
context_section_description: At the turn of the year more of the precious Fw 200s were siphoned off to other theatres. Operation Torch, the landings in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia absorbed more anti-shipping forces from Western Europe. On the Eastern Front, the Battle of Stalingrad led to the encirclement of several Axis armies and Fw 200s, with other long range types, were required to supply land forces trapped in the city.
  The command was briefly supplemented with the newly formed Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG  6), but Kessler soon learned he was to lose this wing. In a conversation with Hans Jeschonnek, chief of the general staff, Kessler recommended Fliegerführer Atlantik, which he described as "a living corpse", be disbanded. Kessler continued to protest the diversion of aircraft to bombing Britain and the failure to upgrade the command to Fliegerdivision. Kessler demanded torpedo aircraft and radar with high altitude bomb sights. Kessler told Jeschonnek sinking Allied convoys was the only way to render American and British industrial superiority irrelevant.
  Meanwhile, the defensive air war over the Bay of Biscay intensified during 1943. The Luftwaffe could rarely provide adequate aircraft to protect U-boats in 1943. The air superiority operations became counterproductive for the signals traffic clued the British in as to when such an operation was under way. German radar operators plotted 2,070 aircraft intrusions over the Bay during the spring.
  In February 1943, John Slessor Air Officer Commanding, Coastal Command, preferred attacking German vessels in the Bay of Biscay, in transit to the Atlantic. Slessor assigned No. 19 Group RAF. Operation Gondola, lasting from 4–16 February 1943, mounted 300 sorties. It achieved 19 sightings and 8 attacks. Only U-519 was sunk. The activation of H2S radar squadrons enabled the British to attack undetected until a Short Stirling bomber was shot down over Rotterdam, enabling the Germans to develop counter measures. Supplemented by Leigh Lights, Coastal Command posed a danger to submarines. Operation Enclose, 20–28 March 1943, detected 26 of 41 U-boats passing through the Bay and resulted in 15 attacks. Only U-665 was sunk. Operation Enclose II, on 6 to 13 April, sighted 11 and attacked four of the 25 submarines passing through, sinking U-376. Operation Derange soon followed. 19 Group deployed 70 ASV III equipped B-24 Liberators, Vickers Wellingtons, and Handley Page Halifax aircraft. U-526 became the only casualty, sunk by a mine. The offensive ended on 30 April 1943. The Command had flown 80,443 hours, lost 170–179 aircraft, sank 10 submarines, and damaged 24. German fighters achieved one aerial victory in April 1943, albeit without recording any losses.
  From 3 June 1943, V./KG 40 increased fighter patrols prompting RAF Fighter Command to send flights of four de Havilland Mosquito long range aircraft to protect Coastal Command patrols. V./KG 2 began converting from the Do 217 to Messerschmitt Me 410 for fighter operations. U-boat command ordered all submarines to travel in groups of three to four in daylight on the surface through the Bay, and fight it out with their powerful anti-aircraft artillery if intercepted. The OKL placed faith in the Ju 88C-6, then R-2 fighters, to hold off the air attacks. ZG 1 was transferred to the Bay of Biscay in July but unsustainable losses were suffered reducing the number of experienced crews causing probable morale problems. In "Black May", 1943, ZG 1 was called into action with greater frequency as the U-boats were driven from the Atlantic Gap. The lack of combat training was expose and losses rose. A notable incident was the death of film star, Leslie Howard, killed when shot own by a Ju 88 from V./KG 40. Five fighters were lost in May 1943, a further four in June to 11 in July. In August and September 1943 five aircraft were lost in each month. The size of Fliegerführer Atlantik remained minuscule. On 10 July 1943 V./KG 40 and III./KG 40 were the only gruppen (groups) available. 1./SAGr 128 with Ar 196 an Fw 190 with Aufklstaffel (see) 222 were squadron-size strength units; t
caption: Ulrich Kessler in 1945. In 1942, he called Fliegerführer Atlantik " a living corpse"[114]
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