This is the second of 4 prototypes equipped with twin floats, and 2 had single float with outrigger stabilizers. Test evaluation resulted in selection of twin-float design for production. Became German Navy's standard catapult aircraft of WWII. As many as 4 could be carried aboard larger German battleships. Missions included general recon, light bombing, and submarine hunting--two aircraft of this type having been instrumental in the capture of British submarine HMS Seal. First Ar 196 examples observed in Dec 39 on pocket battleship Graf Spee. Ar 196s encountered over every major sea area in ETO and often employed on coastal patrols in addition to seagoing missions.
This Ar 196 was once on the German cruiser Prinz Eugen.