German seaplanes and inverted rudders

Well, apart from improving the field of fire for the observer what were the reasons for this curious arrangement. I know I've seen a monoplane 2-seater that I think worked for the German navy... it seems like these planes would have been badly mauled by Allied scouts in Flanders and so on... has anybody turned up the history and performance of these curious looking birds?

[PeterL]

Though there were others the main types to which you refer were the Hansa Brandenburg W12 and W29, both of which were extremely effective aircraft. Developements of the W29 continued in service with some Scandinavian air forces well into the thirties. During the war they gave the Royal Navy and the RNAS some serious problems in the North Sea.
The curious rudder configuration was addopted for the reason you describe, better field of fire. The upswept rear fuselage searved the same purpose and was also a feature of some H-B landplane designs as used by Austria-Hungary, the HB C1 being one such.

hth

Peter L

[leo]

The best of the Hansa-Brandenburgers was the w33 powered by a 260 hp Maybach engine introduced late in the war. Most of the damage was done by the w29 as flown by Friederich Christian. Powered either by a 195 hp Benz( three mgs and no communication equipment) or 150 hp Benz (2 mgs and comm. eqpt.) It could also carry 500 lbs. bombs. It was considered to be a two seat fighter. You wouldn't have seen them over Flanders, nor any body elses patrol planes, but they did fly from naval bases in Flanders.