Role Bomber, reconnaissance
and air-sea rescue flying boat
National origin Nazi Germany
Manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke
Built by Aviolanda
SNCAN
First flight 3 July 1937
Introduction November 1937
Retired 1967 (Spanish Air Force)
Primary users LuftwaffeNetherlands Naval Aviation Service
Produced 1937–1945
Number built 279
The Do 24 was an all-metal parasol monoplane with a broad-beamed hull and stabilising sponsons. Twin tails were mounted on the upswept rear of the hull, while three wing-mounted tractor configuration engines powered the aircraft. Fuel was carried in tanks in the sponsons and the wing centre section. Up to 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) of bombs could be carried under the aircraft's wings, while defensive armament consisted of three gun turrets, one each in nose, dorsal and tail positions. In early aircraft the turrets were each fitted with a machine gun but later aircraft carried a 20 mm cannon in the dorsal turret.
Restored Do 24 ATT re-engined with Pratt & Whitney PT6A-45 turboprop engines
The aircraft captured and produced in the Netherlands were pressed into service with Seenotstaffeln and deployed in the Arctic, Baltic, North Sea, Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean, and Black Sea. They were also used as transports, notably for keeping contact with the troops left behind on the Aegean Islands and Crete, and for supporting the Kuban bridgehead in early 1943.
Thirty-seven Dutch- and German-built Do 24s had been sent to the East Indies by the time of the German occupation of the Netherlands in June 1940. Until the outbreak of war, these aircraft would have flown the tri-color roundel. Later, to avoid confusion with British or French roundels, Dutch aircraft flew a black-bordered orange triangle insignia.
A Dutch Dornier Do 24 is credited with sinking the Japanese destroyer Shinonome on December 17, 1941 while the ship was escorting an invasion fleet to Miri in British Borneo.[7] After the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, six surviving Do 24s were transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in February 1942. They served in the RAAF through most of 1944 as transports in New Guinea.
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Thirty-seven Dutch- and German-built Do 24s had been sent to the East Indies by the time of the German occupation of the Netherlands in June 1940. Until the outbreak of war, these aircraft would have flown the tri-color roundel.
A Dutch Dornier Do 24 is credited with sinking the Japanese destroyer Shinonome on December 17, 1941.
On 31 October 1944, a German Do 24 (CM+RY of Seenotgruppe 81) made a forced landing in neutral Sweden, was impounded and eventually bought, and remained in Swedish service until 1952.