Dornier Do 26 The Dornier Do 26 was an all - metal gull winged flying boat produced before and during World War II by " Dornier Flugzeugwerke " of Germany . It was operated by a crew of four and was intended to carry a payload of 500 kg ( 1 , 100 lb ) or four passengers on the Lisbon to New York route . Design and development . The elegant Do 26 , sometimes referred to as the " most beautiful flying - boat ever built " , was of all - metal construction . The hull had a central keel and a defined step ; the wings were of gull wing configuration , the outer sections being equipped with fully retractable narrow stabilising wing - floats , instead of Dornier ' s famous " water - wing " sponsons extending from the lower hull for lateral stabilization . Its four engines , Junkers Jumo 205 C diesels , were mounted in tractor / pusher pairs in tandem nacelles located at the joint between the dihedral and horizontal wing sections . The rear ( pusher ) engines could be swung upwards through 10° during take - off and landing , to prevent contact between the three - blade airscrew and water spray created by the forward propellers . The tail unit was of conventional design , comprising a horizontal tailplane and a single , vertical fin with rudder . Operational history . Pre - war . In 1937 , " Deutsche Lufthansa " ordered three Do 26 aircraft , which were designed to be launched by catapult from special supply ships , for transatlantic air mail purposes . The first , " Do 26 A " D - AGNT V1 " Seeadler " ( " Sea eagle " ) , was piloted on its maiden flight by Flight Captain Erich Gundermann on 21 May 1938 ; D - AWDS V2 " Seefalke " ( " Sea Falcon " ) , followed on 23 November 1938 , piloted by Flight Captain Egon Fath . Both were completed and handed over to " Deutsche Lufthansa " before the outbreak of World War II . Due to opposition from the United States , the German airline was unable to operate these aircraft on the intended transatlantic route ; instead , in 1939 they were used to carry air mail between Bathurst and Natal in South Africa . The third aircraft , " Do 26 B " D - ASRA " Seemöwe " ( " Seagull " ) was completed shortly before the start of World War II . One notable Do 26 civilian mission was carried out by V2 " Seefalke " , when on 14 February 1939 the veteran " Lufthansa " pilot Flight Captain Siegfried Graf Schack von Wittenau embarked on a mercy flight to Chile , taking 580 kg ( 1 , 279 lb ) of medical supplies for earthquake victims in Chile . The 10 , 700 km ( 6 , 600 mi ) flight lasted 36 hours . World War II . All three " Deutsche Lufthansa " aircraft were impressed into military service in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II , as " P5 + AH " , " P5 + BH " and " P5 + CH " respectively . Three other Do 26 aircraft ( V4 - V6 ) were built as " Do 26 C " for the " Luftwaffe " with the more powerful 648 kW ( 880 hp ) Junkers Jumo 205 D engines ; the original three aircraft were similarly converted for military service . Armament consisted of one 20 mm MG 151 / 20 cannon and three 7 . 92 mm ( . 312 in ) MG 15 machine gun s . Norwegian Campaign . The Do 26s saw service in April and May 1940 in the Norwegian Campaign , transporting supplies , troops and wounded to and from the isolated German forces fighting at Narvik under the command of General Eduard Dietl . During this campaign three of them were lost : On 8 May 1940 , V2 ( ex " Seefalke " ) was shot down by three Blackburn Skua s of 803 Naval Air Squadron , Fleet Air Arm , operating from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier while carrying 18 Gebirgsjäger s to the Narvik front . After a running fight V2 crash - landed in Efjorden in Ballangen . Siegfried Graf Schack von Wittenau , the crew and 18 soldiers , were captured in bloody fighting with Norwegian forces . One of the Skuas , flown by future Fleet Air Arm fighter ace Sub - Lieutenant Philip Noel Charlton , was hit by return fire from V2 and made an emergency landing at Tovik near Harstad . Then , on 28 May 1940 , both V1 ( ex " Seeadler " ) and V3 ( ex " Seemöwe " ) were set ablaze with gunfire and sunk at their moorings at Sildvik in Rombaksfjord near Narvik , when discovered and attacked by three Hawker Hurricanes of No . 46 Squadron RAF led by the New Zealander Flight Lieutenant ( later Group Captain ) P . G . " Pat " Jameson , DSO , DFC and bar shortly after landing . Three guns s destined for the German forces fighting in the mountains east of Narvik were lost with the destruction of V1 and V3 , whilst one gun was recovered from one of the aircraft before it was lost . Later World War II service . V5 was lost on 16 November 1940 , killing its crew , after being launched at night from the catapult ship " Friesenland " in Brest , France . The fate of V4 and V6 , which in 1944 were still assigned to the Test Unit ( German : " Erprobungsstelle " ) in Travemünde , is unclear . Survivors . The wrecks of V1 " Seeadler " and V3 " Seemöwe " were located in Norwegian waters off Narvik after the war . " Seemöwe " has been removed but the fuselage and wings of " Seeadler " remain in situ ( and are an attraction for divers ) . Some components from " Seeadler " , including the cockpit instrument panel and a propeller , are on display at the Narvik War Museum ; another propeller can be seen at the flying club in Bodø , Norway .