The Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking (Pronounced "Veeking") was a large, six-engined German flying boat of World War II. Originally designed as a commercial transport, it was the largest German seaplane to attain production status during the war. Design and development Prior to World War II, the German airline Luft Hansa had carried out many transatlantic mail flights. Their main interest was passenger transport, and they initiated a program in 1936 for which Hamburger Flugzeugbau offered the Ha 222, a very large flying boat designed by Dr. Richard Vogt. By the time an order for three was received and work began, the company had changed its name to that of its parent company, Blohm & Voss, and the design was redesignated the BV 222. Construction of the first prototype, V1, began in January 1938, with construction of the V2 and V3 following within weeks. V1 made its test flight on 7 September 1940, carrying the civil registration D-ANTE. During trials it demonstrated that it could carry up to 92 passengers, or 72 patients on stretchers over short distances at a maximum speed of . The flight characteristics were found to be satisfactory, but with some improvements required. Further trials lasted until December 1940, when the V1 passed into Luftwaffe service, receiving a military paint scheme and the Stammkennzeichen individual alphabetic military aircraft registration code of CC+EQ, later changed to the alphanumeric Geschwaderkennung "wing code" designation of X4+AH, when in service with Lufttransportgruppe (See) 222. The type had a long flat floor inside the cabin and a large square cargo door aft of the wing on the starboard side, with such a flat floor for the hull interior being a welcome novelty for that era. The usual balance floats for a flying boat design were ingeniously designed as a matching pair of retracting float units per side, which extended from beneath the wing's outer panels in "clamshell" fashion when fully extended, and fit fully flush with the wing panels' undersides when retracted. Only 13 aircraft are thought to have been completed. Originally powered by Bramo 323 Fafnir radial engines, later aircraft were powered by six 746 kW (1,000 hp) Jumo 207C inline two-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines. The use of diesels permitted refueling at sea by special re-supply U-boats. C-13 aircraft was a sole example fitted with Jumo 205C and later Jumo 205D engines. Early aircraft were identified as V1 to