German U-boats were the german weapons at sea in the two world wars, although German submarines achieved some success during World War I, but the performance and tactics of submarines still did not reach a mature level. During World War II, in order to force Britain, an island nation with scarce resources and high dependence on sea transportation lines, the Germans launched an Atlantic submarine war against Britain. The brutal submarine strangulation war even kept Britain's supplies at dangerous levels for a time. At that time, the Allies had their own submarine forces, so why did only the German U-boats achieve remarkable results that made the Allies daunted?
German U-boat
On September 3, 1939, the German submarine U-30 sank a 1,400-man Athena in the Atlantic Hebrides, kicking off the six-year-long Battle of the Atlantic.
Allied merchant ships were sunk
As the leader of the many submarines in World War II, all submarine models are uniformly named with the letter U and Roman numerals, including various early models and a series of improved models of submarines, such as the early U-type submarine II, VII, and IID submarines derived from type II, the VII submarine series includes VIIB type, VIIC type, etc., as well as the submersible oil tank XIV type for replenishing fuel nicknamed cow, and the X submarine that lay mines in the later period.
The Germans later improved the U-boat
Germany began to build the U-Type II.A submarine in 1935, the first combat submarine of the German army, mainly for training crews and accumulating technical data on the construction of submarines. The early II.A type was not advanced, with only 254 tons of water displacement, and there were design problems with its own power unit and sealing device. The German Navy decided to improve the II.B submarine, the length of the submarine increased to 42.7 meters, while increasing the thickness of the ballast chamber, the submarine diving depth can reach 120 meters. A total of 18 UII .B submarines were built, with German internal designations ranging from U-7 to U-24. After entering service, the German II .B became the main submarine of the early submarine force. The German submarines did not have a particularly large generational advantage over other allied submarines of the same era.
German submarine force
The most widely used Type VII series of submarines in service by the German army, with a water displacement of about 769 tons and an underwater displacement of about 871 tons, a maximum speed of 17.7 knots on the surface, a maximum speed of 7.6 knots underwater, a submarine speed of 4 knots, a maximum submarine range of 80 nautical miles, and a torpedo tube layout in the first four and rear.
Sneak attack on the British Royal Oak U-47
The comprehensive technical indicators of german U-boats are indeed more advanced, with some technical handling details, as well as the quality and ability of crews, the German U-boat force is higher in overall combat capability than the submarine forces of other countries. The technical performance of these submarines is only slightly superior, and it has not yet reached the level of equipment generation difference. The German U-boats were able to achieve impressive results in the war, mainly due to german tactics and technology.
German submarines
The operational tactics used by submarines with excellent performance are also very important, and it is not easy for submarines in the vast sea to find attack targets alone and achieve battle results. As early as the First World War, the German Navy summed up the experience and method of attacking torpedoes when the submarine faced the target alone through a series of actual battles, and the offensive method of attacking in the face of independent merchant ships, and these valuable combat experiences were directly inherited into World War II.
In addition to the submarine single-boat tactics, there are also unique ocean-going deployment tactics of German submarines. When the Allied maritime transport fleets were concentrated in formation, the Deployment of German submarines would change accordingly, and the submarine force faced the merchant ship formation instead of the earlier single-boat combat mode, and the German Army soon introduced the famous U-boat wolf pack tactic.
German submarine base
German U-boats often fought in wolf swarm tactics, with 5-6 submarines operating simultaneously in each attack, communicating with each other through the Poseidon radio communication network and patrolling their respective waters. If one of the submarines finds a merchant ship target, it begins underwater submarine tracking, notifying nearby submarines to pursue it together.
German submarines
At air bases near the Atlantic, the Luftwaffe would also send Fw200 long-range patrol aircraft or seaplanes to patrol and provide accurate aerial reconnaissance information for the cruising submarine force. A wolf-headed submarine is designated in the submarine formation as the commander who directs the wolf pack. Once the British merchant fleet was spotted in the ambush circle, the submarines were ready to attack the merchant fleet that was closely protected by the Allied escort fleet. Since the submarine is easy to expose the target after firing torpedoes, in the face of the attack of the escort formation destroyer, the U-boat that attacks successfully must immediately dive into hiding.
German long-range patrol aircraft
This strategy of concentrating on attacking the formation fleet was very successful, improving the attack efficiency and survival rate of the submarine, and the huge loss in a short period of time was also very easy to deter the enemy.
The technical reason for submarines is the natural concealment, which is a weapon and equipment for underwater raids to conceal the enemy. Submarines are capable of launching sudden attacks, and torpedoes are so destructive that they can often inflict irreparable damage on ships. What really made german submarines unscrupulous was the backwardness of Allied anti-submarine search and attack technology.
German torpedoes
The sonar technology of the World War I period was not mature, relying mainly on visual observation to find the submarine, and was able to find its stealth trajectory before the submarine dived, mainly the submarine's exposed periscope. This manual detection method is extremely inefficient.
At the beginning of World War II, the Allied sonar technology detection submarines still had certain flaws, and many German U-boats were able to escape the attack of merchant ship escort destroyers. In the middle and late period of World War II, the sonar technology developed by the Allies was used in battleships, and the arrogance of german U-boats was counted to an end.
Allied escort destroyer
Allied radar and long-range patrol aircraft have also gradually become another trouble for submarines, in the early days of the Atlantic Naval War, Allied radar high-tech equipment could not equip all warships, the number of small escort destroyers was even smaller, and it was very difficult to find submarine targets with small reflective surfaces in the complex sea conditions of the Atlantic, often affected by sea clutter.
U.S. military long-range patrol aircraft
Many Allied aircraft can take on ocean patrol missions, and the real threat is the way patrol aircraft are deployed. In the middle and late period of World War II, British patrol aircraft began to patrol the sea in a mathematical grid, especially the U-boat base into the Channel of the Atlantic Ocean, the anti-submarine efficiency of the patrol aircraft increased several times, and it was easier to find German submarines sailing on the surface.
Patrol aircraft attack in the air
After the patrol aircraft found the submarine, the initial main use of depth charges attack, the air attack distance is limited, the accuracy rate is low, the surface escort destroyer needs to accurately detect the position of the submarine, must travel above the submarine to attack. The real threat to German U-boats was the hedgehog bomb used by the Allies on a large scale in 1942.
Allied anti-submarine grenade - hedgehog bomb
In the early days of World War II, submarine technology was dominant, the Allies were very backward in both radar, sonar detection technology and attack technology, and the German wolf pack tactics were gradually improved after a long period of time in the Atlantic, which undoubtedly gave german submarines the opportunity to play, and most of the results of the U-boats in World War II were achieved in the early stage. With the strengthening of the Anti-Potential of the Allied forces, the German communication code was deciphered by the Allies, and the loss of U-boats increased dramatically. This technological progress presents a situation in which the advantages are traded off, and the two sides are constantly improving themselves in actual combat confrontation.
U-boat captured by the U.S. Military
These U-boats were often destined to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean or be forced to float up and surrender to the Allies. Throughout World War II, the German Navy paid a total of more than 700 submarines, more than 30,000 submarine officers and men losses, while the German army also sank 2882 Allied merchant ships, with a total tonnage of 14.4 million tons, german U-boats left an indelible mark in the history of world naval warfare.
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