- Origin and combat history of Germany's Arado Ar 196 This superb monograph is devoted to the Ar 196, a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft, which became the standard aircraft of the Kriegsmarine throughout World War II. Loved by its pilots for its superior handling both in the air and on the water, the A-1s were added to coastal squadrons, and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations...