JEAN-PHILIPPE | DALLIES-LABOURDETTEU-BOOTE 1935-1945 JEAN-PHitipPe DALUES-LABOURDETTE TLwusTRATIONS : STEPHANE DUFRENE HISTOIRE & COLLECTIONSSUMMARY The Teachings of the Great War The Scuttiing of the German Fleet The Restrictive Treaties 8 eepiers oF tHe u-sour interwar Projects Doenitz and Rader The First Units and Grew Training Pian ‘Z 15 rue wouves ane Loose (1939-1940) Fst Victories Mine Wartare The Norwegian Fiasco New Bases in France: 30 tora war IN THE ATLANTIC (1941-1942) The Kriegsmarine in Grief Brtain Alone to Face the Threat The Now Horizons ‘The Wolves Cross into the Mediterranean Convoys for Stalin New Hunting Grounds in American Waters The Time of the ‘Milk Cows" 76 THe turnin poi AND THE ALLIED REACTION (1943) German Successes of Winter 1942 Britain Strikes Back The Atlantic Under Allied Controt Reinforcing Escorts Technological Improvernents, 90 tHe FINAL EFFORT (1944) German Technical Innovations. The War Goes On Slaughter in the Atlantic ‘Operation 'Neptune" 104 tHe DEaTH oF THE wotvEs ‘Gan New Boats Stem the Tide? Godeword ‘Regenboyer" 117 teapine ricures OF THE GERMAN SUBMARINE SERVICE 126 THE MEN AND THE MATERIEL 130 propacanoa POSTERS AND PAINTINGS 138 in THe movies 142 cuossary 144 sisuiocrarnyom 1914 0 1918, submarines benefted from unpre- ‘cadented technological improvements. Initially conf ned to coastal missions, they soon ventured farther ‘and farther away from ther bases. Led by Kaiser Wiholm Il, Imperial Germany quickly reai- ‘sed the offensive potential of tha new weapon. ‘The Teachings of the Great War Inthe four year conflict, U-boats were engagedin arelent- less fight against Alled shipping, inficting such considerable Josses on thei foe that shipping lanes acruss to Briain were ‘nearly severed. The British, who before the war possessed the worid’s largest commercial fet, fost more than nine mi- lion tons of shipping, oF roughly 90% of their 1814 transport capacity, ‘The crpping lasses suffered by the Alles showed that the submarine hadi matured into a fully fledged weapon during Wierls War 1 ‘This was summed up when the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 between the Germans and the Allies: all submarines had to be handed over to the vicors. The terms of the armistice also specified that submarines in operational ‘order were to retain their full armament while the others would be disarmed and docked. The Scutling of the German Fleet (20 Noverber 1818, along fle of U:-boats proceeded song the coast of ease England on sway to Harwich, A total of 176 submarnes ware handed over to the ABs while f= mraccouied number were sovtled by ther cews Geman pors Two of the men who experienced the hunilton of delet were Kapitin zur Ses Lothar Eugen George von ‘Ammauid de la Perere, whose tally at the end of 1918 stood 22 staggerng 195 ships — amounting to 458,000 ions — the other was a young commander whose submarine had ‘been sunk on 4 October 1918 in the Mediterranean as he was attacking a strongly protected convoy. His name was Kari Doenitz and it was to be under his command that the German submarine would rise again. A new generation of commanders tained by Doentz hiss! woud repeat the explots of hee predecessors ina ggatic cnfontabon on the word's oceans On 16 Apri 1919 the Weimar Republic created the \Voraufige Reichsmarine (Temporary Navy) (0n21 June 1919, the German shipe which, in compkance with the armistice conditions, had been gathered in Scapa Flow, were scutied by their crews, ‘The Restrictive Treaties The harsh conditions of the Versailes Treaty reduced the German feet to its simplest components resulting ints esta- bbishment dwindling to 13,500 men and 1,500 officers. The number of warships was restricted to six batieships, six cr- 6°5, 12 desiroyers, 12 torpedo boats plus a handful of reser ve vessels and smaller units. The Germans were no longer alowed to have sutomarines. The maximum tonnage was res- tricted to 10,000t for battleships, 6,000t for eruisers and 800 for destroyers. At the stat of the 1920s, the German fleet was decaying and obsolete On 31 March 1921, the ‘provisional navy’ became the Feichsmarine; despite ofa slow but efficient modernisation pro- Game, it stl was no match for the French fleet and totally Aiwarted by the Royal Navy when Eric Raeder took command in 1828. in 1929, the fst pocket battleship, Deutschland’, was launched, folwed by Admiral Scheer and Graf Spee. Lighter and smaller than both their British and French counterparts, these ships were faster than ther adversaries and just as power- fly aged On 21 May 1935, two years after Hitler's accession to power, the Kriegsmarine succeeded the Reichsmarine, 4 A-Class U-boat, probably pictured in 1917. The 105mm gun an be seen an the fore deck ‘as wall as the extended net cutter. ‘The Class-Ii submarina wat £0 ‘successful that some 20 years later, the Type Vil was derived {rom this design. The engine room (f 8 U-boat daring tho Great Wa. ‘Standing emong his 700, the officer in the foreground wears thik feather coat for protection against the hur : sans ey a omsurface and take on Aled shipping wwith thew guns. U-11Ts armament consisted of one 150mm gun ifore deck) Seg one Simm gun (rar och) KKapitanloutnant Lothar von Amaud de Ia Periere who, inthe Great War, was credited with the sinking of 194 Allied ships totalling 453,716 tons. A U-boat tackles rough weather off the Holigoland elifts. Even though the ship le 9 UB-II type, the picture has often been purported (o'show a World War 2 submarine. ‘The Deutschtand an ecean-going submarine, Was designed in 1917 to operate in American home waters, Oberieutnant zur See Kart Dénitz during the Great War. At the tim tthe man who rose to become the commanderin-chief of the German submarine service was sarving as wateh offfear on U-30 1919: Garman submarines moored in Harwich harbour atter the armistice room aft to right UC-H, UB-M ad U-154, These ships were sunk by the Britis in 1919.THE REBIRTH OF THE U-BOAT SERVICE Inter-War Projects 1090: two surface voszols, fn the background are U-26 and U-25, ath Type A submarines. ‘exercises in the Atfantic, resulting fn the Usboats training inthe Baltic and a the North Soa.Tae Tyre [A Digaig #00, th Type A wes inode in 1932s prtarmances wee rhe poor ad, becouse o snal se, the submarine could at cope wah sever condos per in th onic The wo Fp sbi in Bremen by Dehn, 15 on 26 wre sed fo riing unl 140. Oa 3 kage 194, U-P5 wos nk by ome in he Herth Se ond went down wither SOenon ew. U26 as sckin he Noch ilo on ly 1940 arog runing bol wi Bich crv HS Giodleond AMS Fogoat Te Type Ik wos 7.4m lng, hd 0 9851 dslcemer (submerged) nde 43:mon cw. omarect wos for bow and twa steered tubes, wih 14rd reserve Lethe Type I, te ship wos eed veh 05am gn ne ra ack ono defen 70 pein the coring owe, ‘THe Tree Il Frared from 0 Fish desig, the C¥707 iikko, the Typ wes the is sabxie ommisioned with the Kriegsmarine wih 2 wns (ix Type is cds Tpe IB entering service in 1935, (ered by 25 men he elavly sll ship (43) hd mite range Ws op speed was 12,3 kas surfaced) ‘nd 74 knots (submerged). The arament conte of tre frpeda bes wih reserve fsx ec tryed. The ID vein wes armed wih one tnt-cixralt 20mm piece ond coud carry up 1 eight mins. Propelled by is dist! engines, the Fype 18 hod 2,700-ee range (surfoced) whereas tho of the 1D sood a 4400 asim diving depth was Btn. A tol of SO Type I units were building si Type Is, 20H, ight Cs nd 0 These submarines operated moy in the Boi and he North Sea where they were deployed apo! he Svit Mary. the eat phae ofthe we, they wre wed wih sucess ogi Bistsh destroyers th most favs Fype Iwas Kretchmer’s 23), "1807; U-25 pictured during an exercise in the Bae Sea. U-25 was a Type FA unit designed to operate on the high seas. On 3 August 1840, the submarine hit 2 sea mine while cruising in the Novth Sea fond went down with her whole crew, 1998 3 Type IC unit during @ series of exercises in the Baltic Seo. Dommanded cessively U25 and UBS, ; sunk in the Mediterranean in faker presoner, Doenitz spent the rest of camp near Sheffield pany one year ord wars, he serv shared the of most European navy tacticians whe ye praceder lame surface vessel, s ion foes Wear he gradually changed his mind, realising crucial role submarines could ply i the onco- But On 28 September paid of when be too submarine service, spearhead of the Keegemarine. The tonnage of the nimble U: boats was restricted to 250t but this did not dampen the determination of Doenitz who launched himself into his duties with enthu- Siasm and great success, traning his men to a high standard of readiness. Soon a new fot named "Weddingen' to commemorate a World War 1 U-boat commander, was ereated and became the floating schoo! of future German submarine staf The First Units ond Crew Training I took Doenitz less than a year ta create a filly tained force and speedily to develop its Us}, 2 TyBe-t-A, was the frst operational submarine ofthe Kriegsmarine ‘ommissioned on 29 June 1309, she was torpedoed n 16 April 1940 ‘by the British submarine HMS Porpoise. Potential. The traning programme lasted six months. Each crew and its captain had to carry ou a total of 66 surface and the same number of underwater sor ths before bong alowed to auch orpedos, Screening tests were so stringent Meat Gnly 2.000 applicants fom a yearly intake of 40,000 were admitted by the veers ante Seto. fice were even more careful selected as only those he highest passes in academic subjects graduated after undergoing a grcling battery of psychological and physical tests including the dreaded {iarcbe est of courage) Inthe lata, the eandidate had to hold a sip of Scant ee in each hand as power was gradual increased, This was aimod Seaaurseeg the capaci of eitance of ach cadel whase moves and reac ren arms Belg recoded by two hidden cama. The succesful apolcants t veral months at Sea on ane of the Kiiegsmarine’s three-masters before studying theory (univer ‘Studying theory (university level tution) atthe Murwick Naval Academy. in 8 itz organi Ships of a pen Otani a sres of mock atack exercises wih al the ie Sea flotila, These exercises took place aut in the Atlantic scent Me comma U9 cso, Crea ed Aba 72 Spt 994 12 CT oe The Saftwadel Flotila with the Saar supply ship which Doni harbour in 1837. As wall as supplying U-boats, Saar alzo took ‘used as an operational base. The picture wa ‘part in the axercises staged in the Bale and the North Sea. Donits was on board and kept in constent touch with the crews of the submarines. Also seen on this documents are U-27, U-28, U-28 and U-20, three Type VII-A submarines. while the submarines improved the ‘Rudeltaktik’ (submarine pack tactics) as suceesstuly used during World War tan later honed to near perfection by Ooenitz in the Atlantic Ocean in spring 1998, The new tactic was developed by Kretschmer who later became a U-boat ace uti captured by the British in 1981 Unike other commanders, Kretschmer was convinced that a submarine attacking at right from the surface could wreak ‘more damage than when launching two or four torpedo salvos al one target from the Immersed position. To that effec, Kretschmer used to attack from asta, launching one torpedo at every ship as his submarine sneaked its way down the comin. Erich Raeder The Kriegsmarine became involved in the war long before ts surface fleet could dety the Floyal Navy ‘Aware of this disadvantage, Admiral Raeder vainly tried to sissuade Hitler trom declaring war prematurely, convinced that the German Navy would require another seven years ta recover from the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. In FRaeder’s view, the Kragsmarine had to be able to take on any ‘other European feet while carefully avoiding @ head-on assault ‘on the Royal Navy: ‘As the son of a Hambueg teacher, Raeder had risen through ‘the ranks of the imperial Navy and served with distinction ‘during the Battle of Juiland, He was highly regarded by Hier who had the highest respect for the maturiy of his judgment and s0, granted him considerable leeway in Fes duties of kKtiegsmarine commanding officer The launch of the Deutschind, a 1,000 pocket batteship on 1 Apni 1933, was closely monitored by the French and the British who felt that their commercial ines were being threate- ‘hed. But in spite of Hiler's accession to power, the rise of the Kriegsmarine had not been as snectacular and thorough as Raeder had wished. Plan “2” in hindsight, with the knowledge of how desperately close to winning the Battle of the Atlantic the German wolpacks se, tis easy to assume thatthe Kriegsmarine was ready for the star of the war. Nothing could be further from the truth After the 1935 Atlantic exercises Doenitz sent a memo to FRaoder requesting a further 300 submarines without which he felt he could nat beat the Royal Navy, In 1937 Hitler too realised that more naval ul required and inated Plan ‘Z' — an ambitious reequipment pro ‘gramme which included battleships, aircraft carers and 190 ‘submarines, Raeder wamed Hitler that it would not be unt 1946 that Plan ‘2’ would come te frution — but war came sconet than that, Gn 1 September 1999, as German troops entered Poland and Wotd War 2 started, Doenitz had under his com ‘mand a feet of 57 U-boats, of which 10 were being used for tra: hing or under repair. Of the remaining 47, only 22 could operate in the Atlantic; the others, because of range problems, were limi ted to operations in the North Sea. The position was perfectly summarised by Doenitz: “The whole world thinks tha! we ve got hundreds of submarines [ur sing in every sea and fears us. But in fact, given the current state of our forees, we look fike a toothless lon casting furious glances: Iwas as wel forthe Alles that this was the case! 13THE WOLVES ARE LOOSE (1939-40) ad just rounded off the November 1900-UA and U90 harbour Initial bult for the Turkish Navy, UA was recovered by the Kriegsmarine before 1545 and eventually scuttled in May 1945. by side in Wilholmshaven The ship, 2 Type VI-C, was then commanded Kapitanteutnant Herbert Schultze and belonged fo U-Fotile Wegener Schultze commanded U-83 unt replaced by Korvetten Kapitan Fasing in May 1940.1509: 9 Type DC-B being built in the naval shipyards Dechimag AG Weser in Bremen U-Boat being constructed in the Germania Wertt shipyards in Kiel ‘The picture shows part of the thick hull winch, during dives hhad to mithatand the effects of pressure, The Germans made use of righ-prade steel so that their submarines could ave fo exceptional depths, #3 much as 270m, without sustaining rorthernmos! tip of Irland and was saling southward at a steady pace of 10 knots, ‘On board the Athenia, among the British passen- gers, were 316 American citizens. who were openiy relieved about retuming to the New Werld just as the x clouds were gathering over Europe, At 9am on that same day, the Bitish ambassador in Bet issued an ultimatum to the Nazis demas German forces be pulled out of Poland, The Germans rejected it out of hand and at 11am, Brtsh forces were Coered to strike Germany with all the means at their ‘Around that time, Lemp received the following mes: sage: ‘To al ommanders at sea. Great Brtain and France have declared war on Germany. Ac the mules of engagement issued by pmarines were ordered to spare French ships and to abide by the rules of undersea warfare, Shorty er Tom, U3O's look-cut noticed a large steamer meandering along. Wrongly assuming that it was an uiser — and without realy bothering to tar emp dived for the sm he gave the order to launch a salvo hit the ‘The stricken ship quichly took a 6 list, Half an hour after the explosion, Lemp surfaced, nly 10 realise that in contravention of intemational laws and his rules of engagement, he hae sunk a civ ‘causing the death of 108 people, 22 of whom sinking of the Athenia stired up a world-wide furore, particularly in the United States, Fearing that the Germans would resort again heir World War 1 tactics and use unrestricted under tor wartare against Brtish shipping lanes, Churchi eck the nature of attack. At 7 of torpedoes, on crea ihe s form convoys $0 as to protect ves better against the U-boat threat "British Admiralty Board was extremely concer abou! the Alantic sea la tes for ee reavaii some §§ millon tons of vital foodstuff and raw pro ducts coming into Bish harbours every year. The ost exposed sector was that of the Wester proaches onto which converged the busiest sea routes.to the Bris Isis, Gn 1 September 1939, the Royal Navy's first sue cess was the sinking of the U39 commanded by tanleutnant Giattes was but on 17 Septembe mt Otto Schuhart, patroling in the Westem roaches, chanced on the British carrier HMS uragecus. Schuhart dived and fred three torpedoes. he 22,500t0n ‘amidships. The ship ent. dawn a quarter of an hour later, taking with her B officers and sailors ‘ter the fall of i, Hitler sued for a ‘compro: ‘mised’ peace with Britain but his proposal was imme. iy rejected by Chambertan, ‘German reaction would be sharp and sudder Novernbor 1599- ‘Kapitanteutnant Otto Schuhart is greeted by Admiral Raeder ‘end Vice Adhriral Dénitz in Wihelmshaven harbour: On 17 September 1533, the British aircrart HMMS Courageous was torpedoed OW the Hebrides by U-29 ), commanded by \ “Kepitanieutnane Otto Schunart The carrier took | Pitroxay ane Tt. | betere shetig, (014 October 1808 U-47, a type VIB comman | ‘Shing 51 Brian ed by Leunant Gither Pen, managed (0 verure Paani into the lion's den, the RN base af Scapa Flow in the ney Islands, Scotland, and sank the carer Fcyal ak which went down with her 786+-man crew. The ra been planned by Dénitzhimsef ater an exhaustive study of British defence systems. Aged 31, Prien, a for mat oficer of the Deutsche Lioyd shipping ine who hi ined the Reichemarine in 1933, was personally chosen by Dénitz on account of his outstanding service record (0n 12 October, U-47 closed in on the Orkney base afte ving an the seabed for one day. n the evening of the 13th, the submarine surfaced and slow) sailed down the channel which led to the A Loud Detonation What follows is an excer after his return to Germany; ‘The hart nated. We steered a starboard ct towards the coast. two b Destroyers fa ack the big ones. Far n: one torpedo was lau and two at the southemmost ane. Three tong m elapsed befove the first torpedo exploded against the: full af the narthammast ship. Nothing about the two ather torpe- does! 1.2Jam: torpedo lau 3t from Prien’ journal written ise in sight $0 im. Torpedoes set to rear tube, The two torpedoes from the Gunther Prien is posing ‘was tard with the erew of U-47'2 few days after the Scapa Flow raid. ‘Standing on the right is Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass, who was atthe tine the ship's first watch officer, and who disappeared on 21 December 1941 while serving an board U-67 iched fr front tubes, Three minut rom the nearest shiz slumber The searchigt on, nts of the destroyers were switched18 UAT back in Kio! harbour, 10 days after the Scapa Flow rai Kervetten Kapitin Prien stands in the lat side ‘of the conning tower. Seamine Warfare mn mid-October, tha Germans resumed their offensi ve against British traf, laying magnetic mines near the approaches of British harbours. In the early phase of the war, the Germans had already done this to devastating effect. The German magnetic seamine was a lethal devi- ce, triggered off by the noise of a ship passing immedia- tely above. The Thames estuary also received its fair share of ordnance as two freighters and one large tanker jearnt to their expense. The German offensive seriously hampered British traffic, particularly in their home waters. In early 1840, the Germans considerably increa. sed their campaign along the eastern coast of Britain - 80 much so that by mic+February about 100 merchant ships had been lost to seamines. Increasing Protection ‘Around that time, Admiral Raeder tried to convince Hitler to let his submarines attack convoys as they rea ced the end of their journey near the American coast but the Furr rejacted the proposal because of the like ly eect on American public opinion. In February alone the Alles lost 25,000 tons of shipping, two thirds of which was claimed by 10 submarines, The British tactic af using attack groups against submarines had proved a partial success with only @ dozen U-boats being sunk sinoe the conflict started. The Admiralty realised thatthe only way to eficientty Counter the U-boat threat effectively was to restructure Completely the make-up of convoys and increage their protection Commanded by Kapitinleutnant Otto Schuhort, U-29 sails back fo Withoimshavan in Movemisar 1290. On 17 September 1899, Schuhart torpedoed the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous even though she was, DBrotected by four cruisers. This was the U-Boats" fist ‘major success against the Rayal Navy, Ore month later, Prien sailed into Scapa Flow whore he zarnk the battleship HMS Royal Oak. U-10, 2 Type IB in Withelmshaven harbour ‘in winter 1939. The ship was than commanded by ©. L Gunther Lorentz. ‘TORPEDOES. U-Boat drew mos oft desrciv poe a poe, propa expe dvs wich because ftir cafgertn, ay be ened i reid ied submarines Intl irpedoes were ro pole comps ht oh ce red ey al evasive oon. Between the wos, eseorch and development bose the performance dang ve drop ry fry Intec ena or ond ecal sy co lig ee te ron nti, yb perme se ‘explodes intended to replace contact pistok. Another couse wus. wrong keeping which cused the ore orn unde ts forget on on ul ower supoly was erhas- The wathoad of the torpedo wes prime bo smo devi ied with proper which, fe lunching cond covering same ofthe run its get, woud compete enough anes release the bol wich ep fa nth i Be ee We big HE err ie proxi: ty fsa wes ey for pertona swith spel lei propeled torpedo which explo ded sit creed ship's mane field, axing huge gop under the kel On | Spiomber 1939, Aiiegsmrinesobmrines wre ised wth wo types of torpedoes. cial powered, the st ype had 1p speed af 0 kn ond let no wake The second type was ae nd od a supe ong uot ‘xa propalld by compreid wig wes olen spate ond erty dodged by lid ships Becuse of buble tra Th effete range was 6,000 ot 4 koa, 1000 ot 40 hnos and 70,000 mot 30 kot Meanwhile, onew device wos doveloped ta nated orged oun ines wich considerably inreo- sed hat probably whe eda group of his. Thu mode, the ered culbe se aru in he ek Lorient, August 140: lowing wos rng right re treagh 90°, dig long oho, x thrugh fl 180° ee afer an torpedoes fram U-103, a Type XB iil sraight run. Frtermoe, hs gov the possi to engage fro! forgets wih the sem bes. sell the sped ofthe oped wo sigh cave hot of he anced si, When he sped could not be crt sited, he submarine fed wo torpedo, he fst oe str si cbt fo ies, than the ship ond ihe seca one sgily sow lied sis exposed os mode of tc hardly stood hone of saying Te chores of sexing at were double scr txpedoes ued boc inthe ection ol hi apt if fired foo wie The couse of ‘he erpedo, shor ot og, wr sled befere launching, oni sped computed ta be sigh chore tat of the atocked hip Fur example, arpa hed ot ship troveirg ot 12 knots was eraund 14s to mokeup forth ag rd ccd with the path of he arg! rere un. Fre vanes indesign were mode bythe Germans who tok the ead with torpedoes whch an zgog or gue of ight courses bu mest promingh, the csc ind sith harmed on’ othe trgr’s mob, Fed with o bntry of amples controling he rude, ths ype cold be wsed oven when the fre! hod not Bren sighed. In li autunn 1942, the roe merida he itodutin of ped which had a range ol 5-Tm and old egoge ships a7 13k om a bearing 0180" Ae aig the ie, th peel set ows f ts oj otha sikmerne cre dived pet depth dhage fom the Has meg on he oe of the proper, erp stuck ar heer, destroying viel prs sacha he rudder ond hei ron. A the Abies qochy ered e eters i Shape of rogue wich produced oa ia i's ence od was towed bythe eer. 1320415 1817 21 24035 19mont tare Gunning The ship's streamined! (good handling and te harbour of Lacient an 7 dty 1940. 20 wes the first of many German Usbaats posted to the future German iomanne base which remained person! ctl July 188 U5 mas the frst Garman submarine 0 usd into Bret hartour in Aurpast YO50. 4-45 was » Type Di-6 unit and then commanded by Korvetten Kapitan vor Stockhausen. She was sunk on 28 Kori 1841 by the Brtish corvette His (Giscsohun os she was taking part ln the attach of Conway HA 127 south (OM the Wish coast. The ship went Gown with ai har November 1940: U-69, a Type Vil-C commanded ty Kapitanteutn ‘Motaler, is about to feave for anather mission. The picture ws taken In Saint-dlazsire harbour a few das before the ship departed. {U-69 was commissioned with 7-U-Flotile, based In Saint Nazair nearly November She was sunk an 17 February 1983 by the British destroyer HMMS Viscount. There were no survivors among her crem. The Norwegian Campaign Even though the Norwegian Campaign was a ballant sueeess for the Germans, it brought to ight the shocteomings of the Kriegamarine whieh suffered heavy casualties and found its performance severly impaired by numerous mechanical falures The unreliability of ane type of electrically powe- red torpedo fitted wih a magnetic primer was the start of these setbacks. On numerous occasions Urboat commanders, such as Prien, were let down by faulty equipment as they cared out attacks on Bish shipping. The torpedo problem became so alarming that on 20 Apri, Raed sat up a special commission remedy the malfunctions, but would take two years before the devices were made totaly ralabe. in May a naw type of torpedo which exploded on and successtuly tested by UIT which sunk 11 ships (totaling 49,000 tens) in 26 days, impact was invoducs Breaking British Codes 4é the British who were stil making grat fers una rata te agra machine, the Gennans hid long bean able to decipher tho encoded messages of thee foes. Indeed, Brtsh High Command had rected encipberng machines, ppelering instead to use a manual codebook system. Unbeknownst ther, the German 8, Dienst had bro ken ther codes in 1936 and had since been clos mentorng the signals othe al Nay in the Norwegian Campaign, abovt hall of the Bish reco transmissions ware deciphered by B Dienst. a 50-man team based in the Kregemarine readquatters at Trptz Qua), Bern, and led by Kapaineutnant Kuper. Each month the 8. Dienst recesses about 2000 messages, most of hi eat nth conveys and provided the Germans wih invaluabe information on Allo routes and rend: Yous points wih escort forces inthe Alri, Lane ships Gi not fare better than com data was then forwarded ta Doe ys, The precious 's Wilelmshaven 1U-190 at Lorient in 1940. The ship, a X-C, twas then commanded by Korvetten Kapitin Kals: ‘The barge moored alongside the dock Is laden Wwhh Gr-type forpecioes for submarine use. ‘Tho G7 had its fair shore of teathing problems, partievlary during the Norwegian campaton, Failing fo detonate when Biting French fr British ships. These problems were not solved luntl 1942 By Kriegsmarine engineors. ‘These shortcomings were eradicated with the Introduction of the new generation of Zaunkonig land FAT torpedoes againal mhich the Allies Inter devised countermeasures. A total of ‘37,756 torpedoes were fauncived by German Submorines froma 1 September 1539 0.30 Nowember 1344Tae Tree Vil Aon enlarged version ofthe (1707 Veo, the frst Type VU, 27, entered sevice in Joly 1936. was a Fp Wl A, ony 10 of which were bu, The Spe wes flowed by the Fp WB (24 af which were bit), then bythe Type which became he workhorse of th Kriegsmarine (moe han 600 were butt). There cha ws he VD misloying version (x us) aod te VIF supply ship which cored 26 trpedoes epi 5 (bard) fe ype Cs 7, og fo sped of hts ariel and 14 (mere celts depts Tue Tyee IX atop 10m The Fp FC 4 fs eiforcd bal which lowe be submarine to cv o depths of cout 15m. On some cess gn wily German smart rt know bowed downto 250m a Toccercn exert, the Type Mma be egrde os iho Type I site sip. Meeurng 7m, this oean. ging submarine wos les windy than he Hype Vl somes her dived down to 50m to olde Aled depth charges. The Type Vis surfced range ws: 9,400 miles. The submarine in addition 1 diving slower. The Type DCA wes developed fram the initial series. A tol ef eight of which were bul, induding ove ofthe mos! famous U-boats weed wn wed oe strep ode 14 pedo reserve on San qu (nt edb Model (7 Ye Mend one Pre a conl ge Ths rane ws tin ef ce Tm pete (in fl, 35, pre hs of 55h mre than 20259. Tan come he pe B14 whith vere ut fled by the fp Ferre ee tesa yt ein fom Tm pe (1847) ond utp 20m ik Gn 13), (15 of wich wre ui aed finaly the Tpes Don? of which resect and 30 were ut, plang 12571 submerged, he Ip IK rected 76 Sh cist 13.3 (nated) and 73 kt (bag), Operon an ws 1,40 eles ype IC) ond 73,70 mies (2) Ti th Tpu t,he arn was rma wth si pedo bes wh 2-4 ne 105mm plc and br dana gus (17 end Mo Her ew soared o 48 men 57 fr the Tp D2 The Tp srt he fic,scmig for console roe cf ids, ining he vices ship SS Eck on, kn May 198 hy U-S49 commanded by Kpneinn Dt frunkenhagen and the ith err HAS Anger uk in ovemb 1942 by Kapital tant Al rnin comaning 5. 22 23New Bases Doenitz regan quest of Norway, De Octobe 1940 Before a mission, Korvetten Kapitan Soler, the commander of 7 U-Flotil, 5 Kretschmer car be seen Behind the Flotilla commander fe the crew of U-98. ould plan where to deplay his submarines in the Attack and attack again, Don't be deterred ntanly chased away or campelled to ths. Track the convoy, try fo make contact pived Dosnit's directives to the letter and on U-A7 had accounted for France mak, Belgium, Holland and fh new bases for its U-boats, particularly the on the Ailatic coast which alowed the pand submarine operations. Understandabiy his asa considerable strategic asset le baneft to angie" wbich proved tobe eat War The seu of French 2B -ap during the forces. enable aur submarines to get info action quicker" e der Unterseebootwafe), Boule ber 1940, from his headquarters (BDU - id Suchet, Paris, iy sailed into Lone tz Julius Lemp, U 20 slo @7 magnetic torpedo, tn the conning tower of U-100, Kapitinlevinant Schepe ‘enjoys a Pot drink during hs return a base. Ths peters M25 shot in oary 1341 when the aris otoagee to the Saint-Nazare-based 7 U-Ploile, U-100 was sunk on 17 March 1941 i the Alantic by the Brat estoyere HS Vance and HMS Walker: Ther mere'ne narteo December 1940: close up of the submarine was leaving Lorient conning tawer of U-29 as harbour for a new campaign. Kapitinteutnant Schuhart, withthe whito cap, isthe second from the right in the conning tower 24 the first U-boat to resupply in an Alantic harbour The underwater campaign had entered a new dra ‘matic phase. (Other units followed in August UB5 commanded by Kapitan Hans Gent von Stockhausen docked in Brest, while other submarines pro: ceeded to their new bases of Saint Nazaire, La Palice and Bordaaux Underwater action could naw start on alarger scale, From thelt Atatic coast bases, the ‘gray wolves’ no longer had to venture into the North Sea and run the gauntiet of RAF air raft to reach their operational zone. On 23 June 1940, Admiral Doe inspected Lorient harbour and decided create submarina bases in the French harbours along the Atlantic: coast. On 16 October, Doenitz and i staff took up thelr bil ‘mansion house requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine on Gape Kernevel on the seafront of Lorient Bay. This headquarters became the operatio- nal command of German submart- ne activities in the Atlantic until April 1942 when, for safe! scons, Doenitz was forced to return to Belin after the British raid on Saint-Nazaire At that same time, 2 U-Fiatile commanded by Korvettenkatn Hans Fisher settled in Lorent Aware that his headquarters and French harbours were increa singly threatened by RAF bambers, DDoenitz decided to protect the sub marine bases and had several huge bunkers {patterned on those of Heligoland) bull. This mammoth engineering task was entrusted to the Todt organisation which built the first bunker in Lorient. Others were later constructed in Brest Saint-Nazaire, La Paice and tinaly Bordeaux Known as Keroman | and Keroman |l, the two frst bunkers were operational by October 1941 Keroman Ill was comploted in eat 1943, A total of 15,000 slave labou- rers from several European coun tries were moblised for the projec. The base was large enough to house 30 submarines. In early U-100 returns to Saint-Nazaire in September 1940, January 1941, similar work was undertaken in Saint-Nazaire where 7 U-Fiatile lad by Korvettenkapitin Sobler had amved in ‘October 1940. Measuring 301 x 1201x 18m, the Sait Nazaire U-Bunker sheltered 14 submarine pens. Its walls were 3m thick. Only in the final stages of the war could Allied babs penetrate the 4 thick concrete slaty why protected its root (On 90 June 1941, U-202 commanded by Kopitanfeutnant Sickel was greeted by ‘Admiral Doertz as she docked in the frst pen 25 atthe Saint- Nazaire bunk: ln October 1941, 3 U-Fotile, led by Kapitinleuinant Herbert Schultze was posted to La Palle where the ‘construction of a bunker haa just stared, Because of its southern position Bordeaux harbour was used by the Germans and the Italians after officers om bers coun- tries had visited the site in August 1940 ant to create a common base there, In ‘August 1940, taian Admiral Angelo Parona ‘and his staff set up their headquarters, pre- ‘ceding the submarines which started t0 ar vain September. Between September 1940,nes stood at.a mere 40, only ‘a fact which probably saved total anniilation. numbers, the U-boats had to restrict 9 British home waters and the availabilty of French harbours farther out into the Atlantic, way Royal Navy escort ships Between July and Noveriber 1940, the aggressive shi of a nen y trained skippers began to pay off, This as also the yearn which some othe great ‘aces’, such as Prien, ‘retschmer, Schepke, Endrass, Schutze, Lemp and tes, made nemselves famous — becoming legends. Celebrated as heroes Germany, ther pictures often hit the tront pages of magazines, Soon, the whole Reich regarced Lorent as a breeding ground for uly one of them, Kretschmer, led U-99 on a patrol swept Scorf estuary and survived 19 hours of inten rarging. A fortnight later, U-99 took to sea again for tthe Alles 65, 137 tons of shipping iacular successes, Doenitz decided d tics ordering his U-boats to conduet surface attacks under the cover of darkness. This was to pay handsome 5 particular convoys were poorly protected. By at the strength ofthe submarine force stood at ST unis the 28 submarines which had been comméssioned in the first a campaign which was year of the war h losses, After Pren's raid on Scapa Flow, Doenitz had blained Hiler's blessing that priority be given to submarine construction but the Futrer subsequent ly yielded to Kriegsmarine High Command planners \who kept on requesting that more surtace vessels be bul. A shortage of copper futher compounded the problem, resulting n deliveries being postponed from 19 10:30 manths. During the frst half of 1940, Doanit received only two of the 29 submarines he wanted, But fortunately for fim, the loyal Navy was just as unprepared and only had about 50 escort ships 10 cope wih the increasingly ecient night attacks carried out bythe wolf packs. In June 1940, U-47 commanded by Prien set off on one of its deadliest forays ever On the 14th he made contact with a42-ship convoy organised into seven 6-unts columns and escorted by five destroyers. A lige freighter, the Balmoral Wood, loaded with aircraft wings and fuselages, was sent to the bottom, During the night of the 1th, Prien attacked another convoy and sank another three freighters, On 17h October, U4? came upon Brain bound Convoy HX79. Four submarines, U3, U U-48 and U-100, joned up wth Prien and togeth accounted for 14 ships ding the night. Added to the 17 ships lost to ancther U-boat unit uring the previous nigh, Alied losses amounted to 4 vessels 'ckaling $25,008 tons The successes achieved by Doenite's men for that period were nothing short of staggering: in June, 58 ships totaling 264,000 tons; in July, 3 ships totaling 196,000 tons; in August, 56 ships totaling 268,000 tons; tolawed by 59 ships in September and 63 in October. Tha U-boats paid for this impressive sting af victories with six of thelr own nuenber In November 1940, about 15 submarines returned docks for servicing, thus considerably reducing the number of Usboats available for missions in the At ring this es lod only 22 Allied ships — a total of 147,000 tons — were sunk Bad weather also contributed to hampering submarine act viies, pariculary the winter storms which swept across the /alantie. The U-boats tossed aboutin the rough swe, anc found themselves further handicapped by ther small ize and low dis placement — a serious disadvantage when tracking larger, more seaworthy tigers. In December, Xretschmer, Srulte and another two cammanders attacked only one convoy, sharing the destruction of four freighters in the process In a memorandum addressed to High Command at the end of the month, Doenitz siressed thatthe submarine fleet would greatly benetit from air reconnaissance to detect convoys, FRaecer managed to ral Joc, chit of stat of Wehrmacht High Command, to is view and on 7 January 1981 Hitler ordered the LLutwate to place a group of Focke-Wulf FW 200 Gondor long range reconnaissance aieraft at the disposal of the U-boat se ‘vice to help locale Alled shipping ing hardly compensated for the [—— September 1940: crew members of U-58 in Brest The submarine has just carried out a ding exercise om bohatf of Kriegsmarine officials. The men are enjoying (a short break sad are relating fr tra bac of the photographer But the results were cisappointing. On account of theirreta- tvaly short range and low numbers, the aircraft were unable ficiently to explore the sectors of the Atlantic used by the yoys, Furthermore, the U-toats’ guidance system was any. thing but rolable, cfien resulting in the ‘woll packs” being ble to oats their quary, ‘Mussolini offered to help and provided 27 submarines but his move was of litle assistance as italian ceaws were poorty trained while their boats, lager than the German Type Vil, tended to be unwieldy. In July 1940, the Italians had only sunk four Alied ships totaling 17,000 tons as opposed to the 260,000 sent to the bottom by the Germans. On Doenitz's order, the alan units left the Western Approaches to redeploy around the Azores, 27A tanker vaniahes inthe Atfatic, finished ‘of the ocean made rescue operations ‘more hazardous ‘of attack evolved during the Great Wa aise U-201 (Type VIC) - K. L Schnee U-77 (Type WIC) «KL. Schonder 1-399 (Type VIC) = KL Cremer U-38 (Type DOA) = Late 1U-29 (Type VIA) -K. L Schuhart U.S018 (Type )-K L Grow (U-2027 (Type 20). L. MateTOTAL WAR IN THE ATLANTIC 1941-42 i eS \ 2Herd Blows for the Kriegsmarine Seon, U-70 suffered the same fate Spring 1641: loacing supplies onto a Type VI-C in Brest. On the right of the picture, camecMloge mets hare beer ‘rung for protection against British ar raids Brest, April 1961: leading supplies belore a mission The sutamarine is 9 Type VIC. The supplies consist of eacentinis such as suger, salt, ice, noodles and Unned tna. Fresh food deteriorated ‘uAckly in te dant stmonghere prevaling na submarine after one ot two masks st saa. Mos! perishable of sl was tread which Often was mouldy when consumed. 33 Saint Nazaire, 1941: the crow of U-567, 9 Type VIE-C victualing before a mission. The submarine was then commanded By ‘Kapitanteuinant Engelbert Endrass who took part in the Scapa Flow raidas Frien's first wateh officer In al, 567 carried ut two offensive missions. In the course ‘of her second patrol, on 21 December 1941, the submarine attacked Convoy HG 76 olf the Azores where she was engaged by the corvette HMS Sapphire and the sloop HMS Deptiord. U-567 went down with allhands. This picture may have been {faken just before U-567 departed on her fast patrol. The young sailors, unfoading suppiies from the deck, look ike teanagars. Their diet consisted basicaly of preserves. Black bread, the staple of German sailors, rotted quickly Experiments were made with tinned 4 cellophane-wrapped bread but these wore unsuccessful Uiualy, after tik weak at 69, the submarine crews had fo content themselves with biscuits, Potatoes were kept in nets But they fo0, Potted quiesly in the stale atmosphere of the submarina, periscope and the inner side of the tower, Schepke was cru shed to death. Just ke U-100, Kretschmer's U-99 was depth charged and disabled to such an extent that she was unable to ive and scuttled by her crew, But Kretschmer was luckier than Prien and Schepke as he and his crew were taken prisoner by the British, Three of his men were kiled in the action ‘News that in less than 10 days, four submarines had been ed with the subsequent capture or death of their cap tains was a considerable boost te British morale, Britain Alone to Face the Threat This dramatic change of fortune in the Western Approaches resulted from both the improved tacties of tha escon forces and tha larger number of destrayers available for escort duties Bosides, the deliveries of Lend-Lease PAY Catalina aircraft from the United States considerably The Copture of Lemp and the Brecking of ‘Ultra’ (On # May 1941, Lomp's U-10 was severely damaged by ish warships. Depth charged by the Erich destoyer Blog, U-110 was forced to surface asa second warship droped setting charges atte submarne, throwing her re Pie parks Hal afc i fa ac arcs Ag fy fhe wrecked oxcumuele bala, th Corinne abandoned ship jst asa Bria booing prt amped ort the stcken Ubeak. Ler attempted to swim back to the submarine to Scute her but was Kile by a machine-gun burst and so, none oud: prevent the Grtish tom recoverog - Enigma machine long wth two spare lettered rotor, the fog anc the sips ranaision records, Tis Doty was spec patched io London anc led to the breaking of tho secret U-47 leaves Saint Nazaire harbour in January 1941 for another combat mission. Two months later, Prien fand his crew died in the tragic encountr with the Buitsh destroyer Wolverine which took place Off the ish coast. Korvetten Kapitin Prien is Standing on the right of the conning tower.re Ata post sqnas were that, to better stave would gath with larger numb ch smaller sector arora ould now concentrate I Command Huds r Thompson located and depth charged famage that the U-boat was forced to | WAS So rough that the crew could not evacuate apitin Hans Rahmiow and his men were next day by a Royal Navy arms h had captured their wer previously been was made of one-inch thick teal plating, so flexible that it could 8 engineers developing nen deto {or depth charges, and setting them to explode at a depth eet As afurtner improvement, a new, more nowerul type Of explosive, Torpex, was used instead of TNT, The Greer Att On § September First German-American Incident 1, the American destroyer USS Greer 82 away from a convoy route. Wrongly 95 January 1981: foading torpedoes aboard U-69, The Final preparations before a mission The submarine f= U-34 commanded by Kapitinioutnant Heriert Kuppish. Jn the picture, a GT torpedo is being foaded into the front room. The picture was probably taken in Saint Nazaire in June 1341,Doenitz’s Offensive in the South Atlantic: hal a sven Nps Koss tated opera avoid return sai, warships degusad as inocuus t who had brekan Garman ce who were gathers to-nather meeting point, this time with the supply ship Python. But A welder at work on the hull of a U-boat Tye VIL, in the Brest dry dock The effects of a colision between a Type IX-C with was probably was 9 surface vessel. Tha viowsnce of the impact Can easily be imagined. The lower part of the prow appears fo have Beer torn off exposing lounching tubes Nf end 2 =Lorient, June 1547: U-124, then commanded bby Kapitinieutnant Wilhelm Schulte, during 2 diving arercise The front end of the ship is already beiow the water HMS Ark Royal fists after receiving torpedo hits from UY and U-205 ‘on 14 Navember 1941. One ofthe torpedoes faunched by U-81 struck amidships, below the tower, resufing ia water flooding the hull In spite of efforts fo keep her afloat, HMS Ark Royal sank on 14 November after her crow had been transferred onta the destrayer HMS Legion. cto safe- k up the Genran sailors as two other o proceed fo the scene and! On 25 November 1941 +331, commanded ty Kapitanieutnant von Tiesenhausen sighted the British battleship HS Barham and tow large units as they were about to intercept an Italian convoy inthe lonian saa off the coast of Bardia, U-331 dived and tired four torpedoes at the British batieshi, three of Which struck home, causing an explosion af sueh vislence that the 31,000-ton ‘Barham was blasted to smithereens. There ware very few survivors among her £858 crewmen, t off Gibraltar be c Efficient Defence Urboats ; Finaly, on 4 December, WMS Galatea, a cruiser, suflered the same fate as MS Barham at the hands of Kapitanievtnant Pauisen commanding U-557, ‘But to achieve these successes, the U-boats frst had to overcome a daun ting obstacle: crossing the Gitratar Straits wherein addon to being hampe- red by very tong head curens, particulary when sailing fom the Atlantic into his submarine = : tha Meciteranean, they had to run the gauntiet of very ecient British anti-sub- tently protected than betore, marine defence. Furthermore, the boats had not been designed for hat weat ack’ attacks were stl the best way of disor concitons and were equipped witha very ncor ventlation system e enemy delence system ar Only the conning tower and the 37mm air ofence place protrude above the waves. ‘The crews, who could spend some time relaxing out an the deck during the ‘fant campaign, were numbed by the Feat, ving ia constant fear of air stacks until they reached the relaive safety of their bases. Furthermore, the waters were sa clea than an immersed submarine coud be seen al a depth of ‘more than 30 metres. From the time the frst cressing took place in September 1941, a folal of 95 U-boats were transfered into the Mediterranean, Gf these, {2 had to turn back and five were sunk on the southbound lag ofthe journey. From the remaining 78 which made it othe Stats, sk were sunk, a further si were severely damaged while four were forced to tn back dung the crossing. Consequently, there were never mare than 26 operational submarines ata ime inthe Mediterranean teat p keep supplies flowing tothe Afrika Korps, ihe Etish Meditoranean Fi trckded through to Romenel's forces. But the ‘grey wolves! support ther Itatan ales only obtained meagre results On the night of 13 November 1941, U-B1, commanded by Guggenberer, and U-205, commanded by Kapinieutne Resch, torpedoed the sicraft carer Ark Royal of Gitraita. in Spite Of her crew's spirted efforts to keep her afloat, the Ark Royal could nck be saved and sank on the next day. With her Impaired Performances fons, fe Betish no longer had any operational care in the The submarine has now But however harsh Medteranean conditions wera, thy stil compared Mediteranean as HWS Rvatious ard HIMS Formcable were ‘aniahed resetting ony ‘favourably wth the Nerwogian climate. Unort, tha weather was tha Germans” the watch and attock periscopes showing ‘above the waves: ‘worst enemy, leing fog resulted in clear ice building up on the superstructure, ‘considerably impairing a submarine's performance on account of the added the Unted States for reiting, Mata was detenceless against the Lactate rac 3B 39The Saint-Nazaire U-Bunker Just after completion. 26 November 19121; the Keroman U-Bunkor under Allied ir attack, Damage fo the U-dunkor was negligible as submarine ‘shelters were proof against all types of Allied Borns. 10,000 tons of military hardware, The big plying the Murmansk route was not the suface vessels operating from Norwegian America Enters the Fray fn about 400 miles to the south of edb Kaptinleutnant Schutze ata by five American warships, U. Puke, USS Keary, USS Greer USS Livamore. and USS Decatur On 16 October, a second su dy Kapitniutnant d, U-482 commai onvay SCAB escor marine, U-568 comman s,jalned up with U-#32 to stalk ly altering her course, USS Keany presen ied tree to the engine rooms of the American ship. U.20 in front of & shelter baing Bult in Brest This ship was commissioned with 1 U-Flotile. The picture may have been taken as Kapitanieutnant Adolbert Schnee wos in command, U-201 was sunk on 17 February 1941 ‘by the British destroyer HMS Fame and wernt ‘down with her crew. At the time, she was ‘commanded By Oberleutnant Rosenberg. ‘Commanded by Kaphinieuinant Metzeiburg, 1U-213 was the frst submarine to enter {the Nt pen of the Saint-Nazaire U-Bunker (07 30 June IDM. The opening ceremony ‘was attended by Donitz and Doctor Todt 108, a Type BX-B, during 2 diving exercise off Lorient. The picture was faken in 1542 5 the ship was commanded by Kapitinfevinant Wollram. Sparted on both aides of the conning tower, the ship insignia represented a polar baat holding & chunk of foe and Stipleyed nat {0 the emblem ofthe city of Danzig. The ship was scuttled on 28 April 1345 a4Tue Type X The Type X wos on cean-going mine laying submarine built ‘by Germania Werf shipyards. U-116, the first of a series. of eight, es corisioed nly 1941. Submered displacement was 22001 Geored ey $2 men, the 89, en-lng ship cruised ot 11,4 knots (surfaced) ‘nd seven (submerged). ts surface ge, propelled by diese, 05 71,000 miles. On rumerous occasions, Type Xs, like Type Vis, ‘exceeded the maximom theoretical depth of 120m to which they could soldy dive The amare es emed witht bow ped bes, ne 105aim and sme 3Smen ant-circraft gun (or two twin 20am guns). Her offensive lead comprised 11 torpedoes ond 66 mines. Type XBs were «ed inthe mine keying role and supplied Type Vl at seo unt ‘he nrodcton of the ype 31 42 4344August 1541: Us126 leaves Lorient harbour for anther miasion. In September #841, CL Motr took command of the ship which, on 2 Apel 1983, res ited 08 missing, in the North Ationtie after intensive charging trom two Bish tigates Brest, 1841: Type VI-C crewmen loading supplies before leaving for 3 mission. 3 were deployed 46 7 Apri 1941: Kapitanteutnant Erich Topp's U-S52 Sails out of Saint-Nacaire harbour to attack Allied shipping in the Aufantie. Part of the crew have ‘Qathered nonchalantly on the tront deck, around {he 88mm piece. Note the! the crewmen are wearing thick, Ught-coloured leather sus. Near the lower adge of thir forage caps, the crewman sport the same insignias that appearing an the side of the conning tower: the devi holding 2 torch But their small number notwithstanding, the U: boats achieved more successes than expec during the fst six months ofthe offensive ‘From the conning tower of U-213 which just broke surface off New York Harbour, the watchme ‘and their captain could hardly beleve their eyes. The country was at war and yet, its argest city was so igh i that be 1m miles around, The headlights of cars dri be distinguished without binoculars.’ (Log of X Hardegen, January 1942), On 14 Jar Operation ‘Ketledrum’ was dealt when Hardegen's U-123 opened the show by torpedoing a 10,000-ton tanker, Before sinking, the stricken ship transmitted lerse SOS message in clear which said: ‘Struck uth of Lang island? (Hardegen's log) ‘doin the coast could ary 1942 at midnight, the first blow of in all, more than 2 milion tons of ‘lied shipping were lost in the submarine blitz which unfolded ‘along a 2,000-mile coasting, from the St. Lawrence in the porthto the Guff of Mexico in the south, The tankers were the pronity tarpets of U-boats. On 18 January 1942, Kapitinleutnant Zapp commanding U-86 made this entry in his log after sinking the tan- ker Allen Jackson,Change of FortuneThe Time of the ‘Milk Cows” Some of U-103's crewmen have gathered on the font sad ofthe submarine. tring lit jackets and, under tha kindly eye of the photographer, ‘appear to be enjoying a break belore resuming thete vutios By late 1942, such activities became searcer (0n account of the Allied air threat 50 7 af 6 7* i NGG ae U-107 (ype 1X8) - K. K. Hessler 1-108 (Type 0B) - KL Rasch 1-100 (Type VIB) - K. L Sehepke 1U-00 (Type VIB) -K. K. Kretschmer eee S& U.1018 (Type VIC) - 0. L Lines 51 1U-S52 (Type VIC) - KK Topp 96 ype WiC) KL. Lehmann Witenbrock U-137 (Type Mb) «KL. WoitarthEX EN EVANS Preps i fora fire exercise. The fore deck of U-201 as the submarine on itond wu: Vik, bofonged {to Brost-based U-Flotile and wos commanded bby Kapitanteutnant Adaibent Schnee. 55 54Ure on Boao - DescriPTion fore Word War 2 ond inthe erly months af he confi, he submari oe was generathy regarded as 0 surfoce fighting ship. Donat: himself des (peed the widespread bebe! thot sobmarnes were exleively intended for underwater operon, misting that these ships made ue oftheir diving poten ‘ial eny evade enemy destroyers andorra, orto cary out torpedo stack 1m eye Prodecion submarines had» double propabian mode. The man one cos ted of rw power isl engines which poplled the ship speedo abot 17 kts, bt these would not epersieuoderwair or when submerged, ele Wcimotor were eed isteed When o submarines dived, he engine vents ware ‘hstrected thes coin off the onypen supply. Drovng frm he on-board ory get reserve fe keep the engin: runing woul ely resin the shi reoking doen nd the crew dying of asphyuntion Therefore, the electric motors were theo sed 5a0n the sobmarine entered div. Fed by accumulates wei thing several tons each, these engines (uch os the fited to the Type IC) roped he ship to a speed of chou eight knots the immersed made, ts we peed the bones povided enough over to keep he submarine runing fox 26 hoor, representing distance of about 60 mes, cer which they were recharged on the sarfce ts the ship wos being powered by it diesel engines Recharging te bmieries ok from es 10 thee hows, The main component fo sebmorine sits tick bul, which may be compared seth long ste ye sobdided into compariments by wetetight bul heads For the crew's comfort, heath and effeay the inner presure i: he same os thet on the arf, Howeve, the sue: pressure incense 1 quickly when the submarine drs that it severely cesics the depth at which she con safely be ope. ied Ato depth af about 150, outer presse may bec: high a 15kg/m, esahing in cocks appearing inthe hull ond woe ruhing in wih dsasrovs smequenc: for the submarine Located on the ote side of he hull re the Balls tanks which ere fied seth vlves fet i (upper vole) and woe lowe valve) in eed aut When the bells ans or fol of, they provide enaugh hoya c keep the heyy ‘lft: When bth volves are tuned on simultaneous}, washes nce Sing wat the st ond redoing bonyenc fo sath an ext thal he ship begins ta Sink Te contre buoyancy end depth, all fkes is pumging the water out through the wove. Aertel, compresed otis wad to the same elect ater the cir waves have been formed off The depth andthe trim con be edjsed thwghspreing the ding ples which aa fh ene woy won ol The outer ballets ore oo ebeted tate same sess ond 0, hae igh fer srt than that of hoe thick bull fll af woter when the submarine i, immersed, thy oe immune from the merenpresare wich oes the thick bull pret depts. lite the ballasts, he fel bunker, a ited round he bul, ave an upper sand o lower ale, respectively used to let fel ond weter in. As the fel expended, he missing gurtiy i replaced by woes the tk hve ol ‘gies than we with wich it does not mi, go away Mts en ap which reveat wate from being fd inte the engine. Besides, the volume of bre! go: made op fer by wet, ts doing wony wit boyancy effec and preven ing the tank: rom bursting open ite papa bag daring cosh dies. The crew of Type ILC the complement of which omouned fo 44 man and thier, lied in cramped coeditions for several wees. The essential machinery 58 Relaxation in the front rest room of « Type VILE submarine. The man Con the lower bunk seoms 10 be asteop, ‘rere occurrence on board, as the 30a Conditions and the shit work hardly left any time for rest. Furthermore, ‘alerts incroared to such an extent that by 1942, submarines hiad fo avoid ‘cruising an the surface in daytime. i ‘The man’s beard indiestes that the sNp has been at sea For several wooks. A Type VIC submarine has just been depth-charged by a British escort ship, ‘resulting in acid leaking Out of the accumulators (of the electric engines. To counter the effects Of the toxic fumes, the erewmen are usirig respirators fitted with potassium filters. ed euipmeny, epedees, rotons ond 6, wore crammed In very | sal pare Fresh food essed within ery echo in he crew's living quai. When fresh fed sepps hd sen ot, the cooks wed reseres ond tinned fond Toking same exec on bard fo keep phy scaly i we igh ingesting, Tere ws a posit otk « | vol, ond hardly eoough spe fr physical iting AY sa, the only ‘onpertnity © mon hod ake some fresh cr was when vo wath dy ‘dhs never ised very long. Aces from the dek the stations wes ranted though a narrow ‘hath nly wide enough fet one mn na fie, As egos spula ‘ed that ving we Ferbiden unl he we crew wos on bord, onl of ron were cowed ol - ad pitti fying ot wee sce Service wos broken dove int shifts. The same station was momned by three crowmen who worked four-hous-sifts enteded to si haus {or mechani). Ech seam shored his uak wth comrade wha weuld tke over his bedpace when finishing duty. During atc ot alee, wich wes announced by the wail of» pewertol siren, each crew member reported fr duty ot is combat station The monitoring station of U-552. ‘This sophisticated system enabled 4 submarine to locate with relative eccuracy the presence of convoys cruising in the vicinity. The men are wearing abirts for camfort. ‘The officars' room of U-552 \Uving space on board was restricted: fo the extreme, for both officers anc ‘sailors. Besides, there was harety any Cine deft for relaxation. inthe picture, the crewmen taking a meal are absigingly Living condos were inaedbly cramped. The slaty narrow confines wee dutered wih ol kinds of inpedimena. The fresh food, ssualy consumed during the Fist lg ofthe miso, filed most of the living quarters and hampered the moverents of he seamen. The fou! snl of roting feed prevailed over he stench ofthe lk, the coking, the fuel, and he tlt ‘At so, the submoine wos sevevely cffected by the swell ond racked violemly, She pitched ond raled heavily and was tessed by the wares cod reghes h bo fbr, st ol hd well os heovier ves Th torpedo room doubled as crew quote. twos so compe that the men oud ote sond ner ong os ol the arpedoes hod nat been used. Behind it was the officers’ qurtr, known os U-Rou, fi ted with side bunks ond table in the middle on which, usualy, potato bogs were stacked. The aly way the reor quarters could be reached wos Fhrough the “ental, the hither, ond the engine room, al of which weve neil cltered with al kinds of equipment 59Of-dety seamen resed on thie bunks. But the hordes! strin in these borely tolerable conditions wes to eep on immediate readines, expecting 0 come under eftock ot ony time What follows is the oxcaunt given by | Aopiténievioont Reinherd commanding (S54 her erie inthe Ar ‘efore omission, sur 1 pocked with fresh meet, rageloles ond fri. Ofte, one of the anly wo todets wer esed for sovng rans Whee thse were wed up, we had fo make do with conned food e preserves bul respective of the way they mere sioced, they aeays tasted lite fel The biggest probleor was bread which in this donk | aimorphece of humidity and perspiration, rored very guitly. The lots looked lite robbs coved with hoary fungus. We scraped mast of it before eatag, Washing up inthe kitchen (of VIC Type.tubes located in the bows of the U-boat. 62 63U-128, 2 Type eB ‘commanded by Kapitanioutnant Johann Mots, 's boing retuelted by the Python. The picture was taken on 26 or 27 November 404 The Atlantis was sunk ‘an 27 November 1941 by the British cruiser MS Devonshire, and her crew rescued by U-126, Lon Hoses are hoisted aboard {to rei the fuel bunkers of U-124 U-128 tows the ite carrying the survivors of the All Tarpauilis are used £0 3h the men fi sun. On 24 November, U-126 met up with the supply ship Python ‘and handed over the crow of the Atlontis. The survivors of the Atlantis are tranashippse ‘0 the Python. The scene took place (0 24 November 1941. The men looked Father pleased f0 be backed on board faasing about in ife boats for two days. Hlowerer, none could guess that two days later, the Python wour bbe scuttled by her crew to keep her from suttoring the sarne fate a8 the Atlantis ‘sunk by the British cruiser Dorsetshire.| Tae Tyee VII/42 An impraved version of he Type type V2 was ited with | ‘mare powerful desl engines nd benfted fro spain saroedrge | wich hd been exened 1 10,000 ls. The deck rm gun ba ben rele wit riled on-air sorent conising of a quodple Bm mt psp of win gun he same cli, olf which were heed in the er ofthe conning owe, She was crewed by 4 me,‘Several phases of the sinking ‘ol the steamer Eskedena. ESTA cromman of U-124 retrieves the le buoys af hip which has ist been torpedoed pase tropes were highty Bratsed by German saitors Usa wax sunk on 2 Anni #49 in the North Atlantic 'by the Brosh tngates HMS Stonecrop and HMS Bleckawon There were no survivors. On board U-109 jn Apr-May 19:2. All kings of debris Neat on the Aliant: 42.U-109 crewman has recovered a Reeders’ Digest magazine Sutin amore the waves Viste on the front cover, the date reacts “May 1343 Britis propaganda poster prafsing the Bnlish ‘merchant navy, Drawn by Chartes Wood The crow of U-157 watches the agcey of 12 Beth merchantman cut in hall by. 3 torpedo. In the muche of the picture, 1 Meboat carrying British sallors. By 1942, U-basts no longer rescued the survivors of the crews of the Aled merchantmen they had sunk UST! was 3 VILC Type, beved ot Ls Paice and belonging to 3 U-Fiotie. Tria picture may have been taken in spring {i903 28 the submarine was commanaed by Rapitanieyinant Helmut Mhimann, C574 was sunk by Coastal Commands Short Sunderland aircraft on 28 January 146 There were no survivors Ps Ps * * Es PS 71 An unidentified German submarines returns to base after @ svccesstul mission. The pennants fying from the periscape indicate the estimated tonnage of Aliod ‘shipping sunk by the U-boat. The American flag draped around the tower was captured from the freighter $8 Stelly Lykes. ‘Bound for the Saviet Union, Convoy PQ 18 was attacked by several German submarines fon #2 September 1542. In ‘one days, dhe Germans accounted forthe sinking of five marchantmen and fo tankers. In the picture, a tanker has just boon hit aissbips by ‘2 torpedo and this, in spite of the protection of 20 destroyers ‘ad the ascort carrier USS Avengerhip. The mission is aver and the men are beaming laave in Saint Nazaire. Victory pennants displayed after » mission The ship is probably U-564, commanded by Korvetten Kapitan Rheinhard Suhven and Belonging to 1 U-Flotie, a unit based in Brest. U-564 was sunk by British aireraft on 14 dune 1943 in the North Atlantic, near the north-west of Ortegal Cape. At the time, shee was commanded by Oberieutnamt Hans Fiedler: The ship went down Wither 25-man crow. U-204, commanded by Kapitantoutnant Warter Kel, sails into Brest harbour This pleture was taken in spring 1941. ‘the American coastguard vessel USS Swallow: The motto on both aides of the conning tower roads "On les aura Grew members of USES, 2 Type WI-C, ‘oathar in the conning tower after 3 mission in September 1943. At the time, the ship belonged to Saint-Nazaire's 7 U-Fltili In November 1942, U-53 was transferred 0.9 U-Flotife and based at La Pallic. She was then commanded by Korvetten ‘Kapitan Karl Thurmann. On 20 January #! jubmerine variahed in unexplained ‘circumstances during # mission Tn the North Atlantic.Distributing mailto U-38 crewmen on thelr return ta Lorient from mission in June 1941. The seamen | ‘are wearing light grey outfits, U-38, a Type 1X-A, | was commanded ty Kapitinieuinant 1-84, a Type VILE belonging | who took a land command in duty 1941 and was to 7 U-Alotile, returns from 2 mission ‘replaced By Kapitinieutnant Heinrich Schuch, {9 hor Saint-Nazaire home base U-38 was scuttled on 5 Moy 1945. after spending several weeks of sea At that time, spring 1941, the ship } was commanded by Kapiténievinant 1942: U-71, a Type VIl-B commanded bay Kaplténlewtnant Karl Flachsenterg, rotums to Saint: Nazaire, ‘Note that the mail has been distributed to the sailors Bofore they left the ship. Was this tor the requirements of tha photographer? After afew dleys! rst, the men wil st off again for Several weeks at sea, U-71 was scuttled ‘om 2 May 1945 In Wiheimshaven harbour. ‘The Naxos radar system replaced the Metos to ocate the waves transmitted Dy the new centimetra-wavelength radar ‘used by the Altes. The ship ls seen on Per return fo Saint Nlaznre after 9 successful mission. An MG-34, air defence 4n spring 1941 U-94 retues home. version, i mounted on the lft ofthe 37mm anti-aircraft gun. Her commander, Herbert Kupplsch, ‘has just boon awartied the Knight’ The rear and of the conning tower of U-B53 with, Cross of the Iron Grogs by ‘an the fet. Korvetien Kapitan Karl Thurmano. The ship Vice-Admmiral Dénitz. 0-08 was sunk ts returning to Saint Nazaire after a successful mission, (on 28 August 1542 south west of dar MG 34 machine-gun, alr defence version, Halt in the Caribbean Seo is mounted on the fet of the anti-aircraft 37mm gun. ‘ay the Canadian corvetio Oakville. 74 751943: THE TURNING POINT AND THE ALLIED REACTION95 was 2 Type VI-B which successively belonged te § U-Fotile (Kil) and 1 U-Flotita (Brest. The ship was commanded fy Kapitinievinant Schug until ‘destroyed on 29: November 1553 west of the Azores by bireraft from the American camer USS Bogue In the picture, the fro men are dleacsembiing the UZO (Uverwasser Ze! Opti, 2 spacial rangefinder used 1 locate targets) zur See Ehrich, the Type VIC was sunk on $5 June 1943 by the British frigate HMS Pelican south ‘west of lealand. There were among her 47.man crew. The second ship ‘on the lofts, another Type ‘Wlec which could not be fant, as much as no longer Types VI-C, 1942 Model, operating somewhere In the Atlantic. Tha 8mm gun has boen replaced ‘y reinforced ant aircraft armament. Jue 1949: U-200 in La Spezia harbour Gn the strength 0 29 U-Flotiie, the ship 's being resupplied before another lesion in the Mediterranean, American war efor. 3 in SeptemberAti In January 1943, U-Boat commanders Merton, Lath, Guggenberger and Tonnies, along with Admiral Dénitz, met Hitler at the Wellschanze. 96 in La Spazib, an italion harbour. " had crossed into the Mediterranean nded by Kapitinieutnant Joseph Rather ‘and Kapitinteutnant Jann. U-3B0 was sunk at Teulon on 11 March 1844 bby American bombers. Badly damaged in an ait raid on 15 September 1944, U.S96 was scuttled by her crew: 80 . S = a == a 2 < U-09 (Type VilC) - Kt. Motzter Ra, U-64 (Type IXB) - KL. Schute-Waholn U-141 Type WO} - 0. L. Scher (U-124 (Type 0XB) - K. L. Schute- Whim a1 U-06 (Type IxG) « K. K: Zapp ~U-564 (Ippe VIR) = K. SuhrenFS and in no pasi- poats, an ttalan submarine and two e scene before he coud be attac- hat never again should Dost and crew at risk ‘The German Successes of Winter 1942 gen though they sank 700,000 tons worth of All Oetober 1942, the 82 In the Atiantic, U-601 searches for conveys Bound for the Soviet Union. The picture was taken In auturrn 1949. the hme, the submarine was commanded by Qberfeutnant zur See Otte Hansen, Extreme woather conditions seriously hampered the operations of the U-boats deployed In this zone. U-EO9 belonged to 13 U-Frotila based at Trondheim int Noeway. U-601 was sunk fn 25 February 1948 by Aled Aircraft south-west of Narvik, Watch duty in bad weather on a Type ¥l-C ‘somewhere in the Atlantic. Resupplying a Type VI-C U-bost {rom U-439 in 1945. In the background, 4 second submarine waits for hor tum te ba refueled. A.convoy of British merchantmen ‘enters the Western Approaches. In the foreground, 2 lookout scans the sky. with binoculars for Luftwarfe airraf Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. This came as the Garman ineligence services had not been able to war the lage Atiante and Medteranean bases that a powerful armada caring more than 70,000, saloirs was heading tor North Aca. 1 the war years, our only real concer was the U-boat perl, Our bloodlines, whether across the: immense ocean or cose to our home shares, mare jeopardised. The submarine was the most potent threat of al and the Germans would ev been bet tor advised 10 stake everyting on it” Winston Church, in January 1943, Doenit’s submarine comple rant amounted to 400 units, 200 of which were operational. Ha fet confident that victory in the Alanis was within rach asthe row materiel deve loped by German eginsers could stil ater the course ofthe conic. ‘Never were the Germans so close to severing communications betwean the Olt and the New Wort asin vary March 1943 Throughout March, the German attacked Aled shipping with great success, resulting in 108 ships being sunk, 72 of which belonging to convoys and ths, in spite of the protection forded by 500 cor hip and 1.100 area ‘Consicerng the losses ofthis manth fs one with awe. Shios werth more than ona milian fons wore losin 20 days. To futher aggravate tho mat ter, two thirds of these ships were sailing under convoy protection. The 100 wolves scourng the “Atantc have sunk 107 Aled ships (Adriral Max Horton The British Response Jn Apri, the number of sunken Allied ships drop. ped to abou hal thal of March. The Bish and he Americans had developed new tactics, resulting in Urboats losing 15 of ther number in that months operations, Under the impuse of Admiral Max Horton, tne escorts now beter prepared fr ant submarine tes, were supported by lighter acral Canter providing close a cove when require. (One the fest steps taken to reduce the U-boat menace was to tum the power of te Briain based Sratog bombing forces against them. To that ‘ect American #th A Force and RAF bombers British Jervin-class destroyers regroup alter leading a convoy to safely. ‘This photograph was taken in Aprikitay 133 after the Alles hod regained control of the Atlantic: 83Convors ‘oavoys never totalled more thon 70 ships, spread out over oir patrols, bu the shortage af aircraft and the inexperien 24 squores miles, nd sciing about 650 m away from each ce of the pilots were «major handicap to British High ‘other. In the ecly stages of the wa foster merchanirmen opera- Commend ted oway from the ‘convoys, relying on their sperien speed ta elude the German sub- marine trest The thick plume of black smoke emitted by cool steamers inevite bly gare oway the pos tion ofa comeay Escort ships protec: fed the conveys along the first 100. miles from the Western Approaches Consequently, smoke emission host be kept to minimum in daytime, ships had fo slay within the There, « heavier ship, usally alight crise, took over, convey and maintain their speed, while © stringent blockout In addition, convoys were protected by Cosstol Command was enforced ot night ic bases in May, fying a tatal o < 33,000 tons of bombs. Bt cat pens caused litle damage, and certainly 7" cost was 88: re results, Brtsh command explored ft greatly contributed to resting ic would soon be filed. The most signif e introduction in March of a new radar ny acral fying at 150m cout the number of submarine sunk ming 280 of the 7 aircraft accounted t new radar, an finding equipment ip convoys detect submarine signats. Thus outfit, Ould skit the dangerous zones as their escort destroyers 6 U-boat signals to attack and sink their adversaries, so a new anti-submarine weapon, the Hedgehog, a system omibs simultaneously over the bows rather than nal depth charpes, and hence was much more Until then restricted to t aoe Islands, by aircraft from the American carrier USS Bogue The submarine was sunk and went down with her 4-mman crew. Under Allied Control ed to put paid to the U-boat threat ‘an a massive six-month shi vergatic guidance af the United St 1 U-boats would have to contend wi aries, two types of which were ineduced in 1943. Known ‘carriers were converted merchant 5 and carrying only between four and 10 ain ged the gap untl the introduction of "Baby Flat Top 10 aircraft iling srt ship port Groups or ‘Hunter Kile y which may venture near the convoys. This fed in well wth the views of the admiral commanding Western Approaches, AS on 1914-18, Horton had assurned that the ans wer layin m of the measures he had been ach unter Ooerit’s U boats whose tactics he had be with, From ferpoal head a new appraach to The destroyer fleet had grown to such an e possible to form a double protection screen to guard the flanks. The escorts closer to the convoys were used in a defensive role wher ly destroyers and frigates, were used to hound for several day, and sink them. 2 Out ‘boats, semetin aw roaring ever the grave of many an Allied marche erton's measures, re implemented, the comoys were protected all the way across, from their homeports to their destination The and of U-664. Near the conning tower, some crew members fre about to abandon ship. In all, 44 survivors, including the commander, Oberleutnant Adolf Gre, were rescued by an American destroyer. a5Tue Type XIV-A Tho first unit ofthis ype, U-4S9 commanded by Korvetenkapitén van \Wilemowitz-Malleedor!, was commissioned in November 1941. 4 total af 10 units we but to vepae the Fp IED and 8 supply ships isplocing 1932 (submerged) the Fype KIV-A was a bully ship as ts length wes cl Sb. Becowe of ts poor manoeurbiiy, the Type XA was can kore ‘ili cow by her revs She cuted ot 144 kets (sacl) nd 6.2 Luhmerged, Fen hough he Type XIV. had no taped bes, ‘he cared a complement of four rpedoes ond 435 ffl. Armament ‘eas ane 20mm ond two 37men guns. It could supply the U-boats operating inthe lone wth fod fv, ommunion nd spre gars. Thre usualy ‘was 0 doctor on bourd. A Fype XIV-4 unit could cater for the needs ‘of between 15 and 20 U-boots i one cruise. Resupplying of va, bower ‘wos o hazardous operation, bath on account of the weather and the threat old econ sps ed ero which steal inceoed wih the ‘niroduction of move effiient Alied countermeasures in June 1943. By une 1944, the whale Reet of ype 1V-As had been lat, ether trough ‘acids or ett the oto by the Ales 86 87U-4S4, 2 Type VI-G, was attacked and sunk on July 1943 inthe North Atlantic. There were no survivors. The destruction of U-TE2 on 23 May 1943 (Ol painting by John Mamton, 1544 Commanded by Kapitinieuinasst Karl Emst Schrater, U-752 was Sunk by Fairey Swordfish sircraft fram carrier HMS Archer as she attacked Convoy HX 238 derstanding of Oetence organised by the noc Aa unidentibved Type VIG attacked by an American ‘stcraft in 1682 When caught out on the surface, ‘the submarine could not elude her pursver A second depth charge has just een dropped (bottom of the picture) An unkSentified German submarine attacked on 3 July 1953 ‘by US Navy aircraft On 11 duly 1943, this Type VILC was attacked by Amarican bombars. Late 1942: this Germim submarine is being depth-charged in the North Atlantic by a British destroyer. 89 Involving more than 100 submarines, the Geman cffensive inthe Atiantic gradually netered out in ate May. as the escart groups protecting the convoys could ven- ‘ure farther and farther out across the ocean, These hips considerably benefited from the fast deciphering of, the German U-boat communications, resutting in Ccomoys being rerouted away from lurking wotfpacks when the threat was too potent. Furthermore, B. Dienst ‘was unable to decipher the new Allied codes and s0, ‘could no longer inferm the U-boats about the convoy, routes. On 24 May 1943, the U-boats were ordered to pro- ceed to the west of the Azores, away from the heavily protected North Alantic shipping lanes. U-boat losses for the frst week of August amounted to 44 un The End af the Milk Cows - Efficient Allied Countermeasures Faced with the failure of his offensive in the north, Doenitz deployed a large number of submarines in the mid-Atlantic, out of the ever increasing reach of Aled aircraft. Protecting the sea lanes was thus entrusted 19 he US Navy, the first priority of which was to sink the Type XIV-A supply shins so as deny the U-bost access to this sector By the end of the year, only twa ‘ik cows! were stil ‘operational from the 10 commissioned in 1942. in late August, 22 U-boats left their Bay of Biscay bases and headed towards their new hunting grounds in the mi Atlantic. The ships were fitted with new receivers which could detect the radars af Allied aircraft Aphrodite decoy buoys. Ths force was strengthened by 3 further six submarines which had sailed trom German and Norwegian bases to be consolidated into group codenamed Leuthen, The ships were equipped with new Zaunktnig (wren) acoustic torpedoes, On 18 September, the U-boats made (ON 18 and ON 202, sinking three destroyers and three merchantmen for the loss of three of their own, In antacts with convoys ‘October, another group, Schleffen, engaged canvoy SC 143 losing four of their number to aircraft and a further two to suface vessels. Their Zaunktnigs were useless as the Americans had devised a countermeasure, the Foxer, a system consisting of two decoy buoys towed by an escort boat, which luted the torpedoes away trom ther targets. Irctng both end ard erie based abcaft1944 - THE | FINAL THROES the bowrding party from USS Pilebury just fF stepped on board U-506 as the submarine,U-235 is fttet with snorkel shown here ‘nthe lowered position. Tis ship is « Type VI-G on the strength of Kit-based 5 U-Fiotite. Severety damaged in 2 British sir rand on 14 May 1943, the ship was repaired and transferred on 29 October to 22 U-Flotile and then to 31 U-Fiotila, two training ‘units based in Germany. Late version of the snorkel Introduced in 1984. Water Iskept out and the system ‘s secured to the conning tower, This model was ‘mostly fitted to Types X00 and 1 | ne tide had tured, Sil reeling from the severe setbacks suffered in Apri and i May 1943, Doenitz felt that the only way of altering the course of events was toimprove the performance af the U:boats and so, German engi- ‘neers explored several aven ves. German Technical Innovations: 1. Ina first move, German engineers increased) the Usboats’ diving capacities by using high grade steel for hull construction, The submarines could dive ta depths of 501m s0 as to be aut ofthe reach of Allied depth charges 2. Torpedoes were also improved, Anew magne: tic torpedo, the Zaunkonig or 75, was. developed and introduced as a replacernent fo the early types ‘which had suffered from functions in the early stages of the an acoust 2001, @ Type XX1 is launched from the A. G. Weser shipyards in Bremen on 30 May 1944, The ship was operational 29 20 July 1944. The ship was scuttiod fon & May 1945 under the command 0f Kapitdnleutnant Peters: U-155 in 194, « Type IX-C commanded bby Kapitinteutnant Erwin Witte. The conning tower has been modified fo accommodate a quadruple air defence 20mm gun mounting. The submarine was handed over fo the British on 30 June 1946, The picture wos taken in 1984 in the Keroman U-Bunker, : EP 93 head, the Zaunkérig homed in on ship propllrs and struck near the boas. Orders spect hat the fou-Zaurkérig complement cared in each subma- fine was intended for use against escort ships ‘etwoen Septomber 1943 and May 1944, T5 torpe oes clamed 25 escort ships. As a further improve iment, they were fied witha tacking system which would doggedly home in, even when the targeted ship took violent evasive action. In sping 1944, Geran engineers devsed another torpedo, the LUT Lage Unabhangige Torpedo — sel track cor rectng torpedo) which would home in a target imespective of he elevation fom whch tas fed Zaunkigs, however, performed disappointingly as they tended to explode prematurely, paridary when soeaking trough the wake ofa ship better counter the ai threat, the anti-air ft armament of Type Vils and Type Is was Lato 1944: the conning tower af an unidentified Type XA in 2 Norwegian harbour, The double 20mm gun tured i visible fon the rear end. Another fret was ocsted at the front. The outfine of the conning towee is markedly ‘Sitferent trom that of the Vil ‘and x series. The streamlined Shape of the German design no longer had anything {eneration of submarines Ss weed in the opening hase of the conflict The Types XXis, the top underwater speed of which was 17.2 knots, intervened too late to bp the scales Inthe Germans’ tavousquadruple not up to exp radar whic bomber shat ted with thes ple warning time that safety. Operating on the the top of a woo of Biscay) by U: boat ted that an Aled aircraft was cost 94 A surfaced U-boat attacked by US Navy aircratt Tested fe first time in summer 1943 at Noustact, the ve method of cruising underwater relaying on electric power for propulsion. USE was used for the experiments. The Schnorkel was a collapsibie uble tube which fed atmospheric air into the submarine and extaust gases while the boat was just below the surface. An automatic plunger-type valve was used to keep he intakes. Propelled 1 operating underwater, Schnorkel bbe detected by aircraft radars, '943, the introduction of the Schnorkel onto existing ‘perational boats proceerded slowly 'n early 1944, the U-Boats were deployed again in British homew where they had been chased in 1940-41 but with meagre resus in view af the powerful Alled anti-submari- ne defences, Vout everytime. a wave swept o by their ese engines whe fitted submarines couad nt lat Introduced too late to have any significant effect on the out OF the war, an improved Schnerke) and the commissio I enabled the Germans to resume the offensive with some success in early 1945, but only fares taling the unavoidable outcome, 5. As eatty as the beginning of 1933, Professor Helmut ientst, began to consider the design a high-speed submarine capable f speeds of upto 0 knots. His System used hydrogen peroxide to break down water into high-pressure, oxygen-based gas which would de the tub ropeling the submarine through water, This new system boosted considerably the potential of submarines asf alowed them to overtake and attack in the rear desiroyers cruising at ara Ms KL Kuppiech 1-122 (Type IXB) - K. L Hardegen 94 (Type Vc)The entrance of the Trondheim U-Bunker in September 144 showing cn the left U-953, a Type VIC and U-861, reinforced anti-aircraft armament inching one 377m gun om Of the conning tower and ene 20mm twin gun maunting en the upper Bart U-853 wes then commanded by Oberieuinant Herbert Werner, and U85t by Korvetien Kapiti Jangen Osten, s processes slowed alter boats were commissioned it idhave given the Alles seve prompted Doeritz to pressure Hitler new types of submarines based "Type MICs were becoming nt of their limited storage space g on the surt Th crow of 307 commanded erfeutnant Kruger pictured ln 1044 in Narvik harbour U:307 was a Type VIC which formerty belonged to 8 U-Flotie, based a Danzig, before transfering She wa ‘near Murmansh by the British frigate HMS Lochinch. sed before the ‘end af the conflict, 20 of which were completing thelr testing and training cruise in March 1945. In the closing stages of the war, only two Type XXls, U-2511 ane U-200B, were involves offensive actions, respectively an 20 Apel and 3 May 194 Most of the Types 'Xls were scuttled by their crews du (Operation ‘Regenbogen' rainbow) A Smaller Craft ‘Along withthe Type X, Kriegsmarine enginears developed a new submarine, tha Type Xi, a smaller craft designed for coastal operations in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Because of the ship's nimble size, the cree’ living quarers vere extremely cramped and th Jement restric fed to two units which had to be loaded into their tubes from Type Xl was broken down into four the total of $8 Type 20s launched be! taok part in offensive actions, si a lasses to themselves. A total of 447 U-boats were operational in January 1944. T invocuction of the Schnorkel in February made them harder to rowiad in British homewaters again. But becau- ‘se its tel-ile wake was vesible to the naked eye, the Schnorkel ‘could only be safely used at right. Consequenty, U-boat crews spent the dy ying on thelr bunks, sient and mationlass to save exygen uni, darkness allowing fresh air could flow in again from the extended Schnorkel tube perking just above the surface In contrast to the Germans, the Alias moved from strength to strength, and found that Doenitz' decision to concentratetis U-boats in British waters facitated ther task as escorts no longer has to rush tothe rescue when convoys were attacked in the mic-Attantic. Uke the Germans, the Ales had improved {her arsenal, resuiting in the Hedgehog being replaced by the Squid, a three-baroled, morta-ike weapon which fired bomb-shaped projectiles over the bows of the ship from which Mt was used. Fire control was achieved with an ASDIC/Septh gauge combination. Weighing 175kg, the charge sank at 2 Ars, roughiy twice as fast asthe Hedgehog. I only tok 5-10 seconds forthe sx charges to crash inte the water ‘some 250m ahead of the launching ship. The danger zone had the shape of a cyinder, measuring about 50m for a 20m da: meter Along with the Squid, the American-built MAD (magnetic etector was introduced in early 1944 and used successfully in the Gibratar Stats Fitted to an aircraft, the system responded to the magnetic variations given out by a submerged submar ne. Once its prey had been located, the aircraft would at wth rockets, often in conjunction with surface escort vessels rally, the Sonoboy, a sone which was dropped from an ‘rcraft, and transmitted data on underwater activity to any machine fying within receiving range (35 nautical miles for an aircraft fying at 1,500n). On hitting the water, the Sonoboy activated a microphone which, hanging from the buoy seven metres below the surface, reacted to the presence of submarines Slaughter in the Atlantic In February 1944, several convoys were attacked by U- Boats. Often acting in cooperation with Luftwaffe aireraf, the: Gormans failed to achieve any significant successes while incurring grievous losses themselves, resulting in this mode of ‘combined attacks soon being dropped altogether. Meanwhile, ‘American “Hunter Killers' stepped up their offensive against the U:-boats operating in the Azores, around Gape Verde and Asuncion Islands, scoring numerous victories against the grey wolves lurking in these waters. The soaring losses were blamed on the submarines! radars which, oF so Kriegsmarine High command was corvin ced, gave their positions away to the Alles, Consequently, German scientists set about to develop new types of detec tion systems, even though the metric lengthwave radar had been introduced long after the Metox had been phased out U-441 Type VI-C Flak U-Boot conning tower ‘tied with two 20mm quadruple mountings ‘and one B7imm gun (1543). Oberteutnant Erhard Wendelberger, the commander of U-720, pictured in December 1945. 1U-720, 3 Type VI-C was handed over tothe Brats (on 26 June 195 and scuttledthus directly tiveataning German U- boat bases on the Atlantic coast. Furthermore, these bases had become 30 increasingly exposed to massive air bombings that the U-boats filed out of their pens between 18 August fo late September and headed for the relative af Norwegian waters. Of the 17 is based in Brest in June 1944, oniy four made it to Norway as eight were sunk during actions against the Allied feet and five were lost Guring the 1U-505, « Type DK-C, surfaces ater being vient dapth-eharged by USS Chatelain on 4 June 1944, some 450 nautical miles rom the coat of Rio oe Oro. Rescued Dy USS ‘Chatelain and USS Jenks, Oterteutnant Harald Lange anc his crow were then transshipped fe USS Guadalcanal Right Gaptain Den Gatiery, commanding Task Group 21-12, composed of escort ‘carrier USS Guadalcanal and the destroyers USS Pillebury, Pope, (Chatelain, Flaherty and Jenks. Gallery (standing in the conning tower of U-505 sitar the capture of the U-boat. weanc cect Pe Bree ew atc Secnee we De corn tact 7 of TadTHE DEATH OF THE ae vac "tween 1 September and late December 1944, the U-boats cli med 14 merchantmen in Brtish waters, 11 of which were saling in convoys Dut from this total, only wo were sunk in the 12,168 ships sailed across one unmolested. From 1 July 1 December 1944, Alied des escort aircraft cariers accoun ied even though, in only one Schnorkel-equipped submarine was dama ded off the nor U.808 on 14 May 1946. This submarina, 1 Type IX-C, befonged to 33 U-Flotile bated at Penang in Malaysia. Qn receiving the order fo capitulate, this unit headed for the Amarican’ hnarbour of Portsmouth. Inthe picture, US Navy salors take over ofthe ship 4s the Garman crew fs stil on Board. The Fu MB 7 Naxos detection radar, which replaced the obsolete Meton. to the rear end of the tower, includes fone LM 42 U 37mm gun and ‘one LM 49 U 20mm bwin mounting excerpt is drawn Kapitanieutnant mer a8 he Was A lype oy intelligence services were not iche, did not Peas ee hg ce te, pee underestimate the new threat, resulting in he men ae bing onthe (eels the bulking yards being sstmited 10 The ship. relentless bombings, concentrating on the denne water ways in northern Germany used to lanier ferry the XXI subassemblies In December ‘Gormany 1944, 90 Type Xs and'31 lls were dl | capitulation vered to the Reichsmarine but the crews - Dies ie ee haa had to be retrained as the new boats had Lap in thors, little in common with the Type Vils and becom esmttcetrby to! ee Type Dts. In January 1945, the new U-Boat i training zones were severely bombed the USAF and the RAF resuting In a serious delay tothe programme. To make things worse, the Baltic Sea was icebound through mest of wire | om the stench of Heavy Toll of U-Boats eee oeven in Yaar 1045, tho frst optional ; he air | Theses phe! Xx, commanded by Kapi wre foe now rules the sees. Our belenged Hass, left her Bergen harbours cha rviving have dropped to one in | to 8 U-Fotite February, she sank a Btish merc Soden ees ere ee 1 Te ] off Sunderland. The five Type XXllls com rmissioned in the flowing weeks sank six Allied shins without losses to themseh | But in the last five weeks ofthe war, as the submarines were being redeployed to Norwegian bases, Alied aircraft took a heavy toll of the Usboats as they left the shelter of thelr Kiel oc Baltic bases on their vay north (On 25 February 1945, the Reich's submarine complement amounted 10 4440 units, only 177 of which — mostly olete Type Is, ils and IXs, and two or three Type 20s — were operational, while 1 cont hall of which sounds like a torture. quently, we no longer know where we are. String an obstacle on the sea bed may remeckably damage the propellers and rudders — or even spring a leak. No one will ever be fold of our sutlerings. Four Type XX! submarines moored in Bergen harbour In May 1955. The new Type 100s and JOG entered sennce in Apri 1945. According to. pre ima, 200 Type Xs sam 10 bo Beh Borgen, 1845: 9 Type XX! belonging 199 boats were undergoing testing and a 1943, 140 of which were to be commissio 10--Fltita. This pfeture ware taken further 98 used for waning purposes. A ned in February 1944, But the Alles, whose Whey IBAS a Yew days affor total of 114 were in the building yards. 106 197Tue Tye XXI ‘As ety othe being of 199, the Geman sits Helnt Weer was considering the design ow highspeed sabmarine powered by hydrogen peroxide rie The poe, however, wos dopped by the Kcegumorine wich regarded the new design «© « detocion fom the construction of onveatina Type and Fpe W Whos, the ae of wih ad ob ined te ck up forthe lass suffered in the lon Compaq. et Downs recgnised te poten! ofthe frin ad od Profese Oelken delay {new Sbrarin wih, in obdtono Diesel engines, woud retain sae of ‘he characteris f Wales bind his was oboe the Type Xt st obvnced orig of heim. Http sbmeried speed wes 17 kts nd sh cold five doom sel ow deh of 3m. Tanks o her sake, she cad remcin submerged TE dos ad sited who get acuinn system ack Ad ships without ‘acocing The shi’ length wos 76,6 mfr 1,819 dsplocenent. The top sufoce rd somesdSpeds wee respective 15,6 nt and 172 nay, uly rermarkble herent. Te rage wes 11150 les. The Type XI wes ted with sin pedo bet nd cried o reserve of 7 pads. Secondary armament conse ol we hreled ‘Hom toa gon fied othe reat sd rear ends ofthe conning tower. Only to lhe 119 pe Hts but war isle in oper ten isons: 2511, commanded ky Noreteskapiten Adar Shee, ad U3O08 commanded by Koptnltont Marsch. The ener wo ped by te Bchin 1945 od banded ove othe Americas. Mest Fype Cs wave sted by thet crews dering Operation Regenboge 108men to lay down thelr gentina and a further iad to port. Cn § May, nine Type 100 being builtin the A. G. Weser shipyards th Bremen. This photograph, taken in June 1948, ‘hows that the German industrial capacity has hardly been affected ky Allied bombings. 110 3U-Flottie La Paice - La Rochelle 12 U-Flttile - BordenuxTue Tyre XXII! Messing only 34,7m fr « 258 submersed spleen, | the Type XI was designed lo operate in he Mederaneon end | the Moth Sea but was ampere by he nimble size and he complet afer to torpedoes. The Type ALN- wos ard with tw ow rpc tubes. Creed by 14 me, her op speeds were 9,7 knots (surfaced) ond 125 knots immersed fo 7,600 mils rong. in outumn 1343, 140 units were deed from the Deutsche Wert shipyrd but only 5 were delvered as prity had heen given tothe Fype XL. The sx Type Xl ‘pertain the ding stoges of he confit counted fo four ito without loses to hese 412 113tographed on 14 May 1945 after his ship had sailed into Portiand harbour in the USA Three Type XXts, U-2502. U-3614 and U-2017, SAeZI, U-3614 and U-3017 inthe kis harbour of Lisahaly in Jue 148. wer 10 the British on 29 May Teta, 114 The derelict wrecks of two Type Xs seuttied in Hamburg harbour in Bay 1945. Inthe background, Wing on her side, is the liner New York, belonging to the Hapog ‘Company and used before the war for the Hamburg-New York ru. Tha New York was the victim of Allied bombings. The conning tower af U-3008, 1 Type XX which was soired by the British an 21 June 1985, then handed over to the Americans wha kept her at Key West in Florida, ‘hows how the US Navy modified the stip. The tront find rear 20enm turrets have Been removed and @ radar ited to the right-hand Side of the turret The US Navy drew its Inapiation from tha ship tien, a few years tater, was designed. Four Type XXI-U-boats with trom loft to right, 0-077 handed over 10 tho British (on 25 May 1348 when Operation Deadtight was imptomented, and later renamed N41 and tod By Be Roya Navy for experiment tun 1952-2800 alsa handed over (0 he Sritish vets U4. Fn 10-2518, handed o to the Franch Navy in 1 renamed Roland Mos fared poi ft i 798LEADING PERSONALITIES OF THE GERMAN SUBMARINE FORCE 2,841 have an active command, four committed suicide, two were court-martial- incapacitated for long periods af time But these successes were dearly paid for: 28,000 saliors, most af whom aged about 24, never returned tothe fatherland. This galery is dedicated to them. Erich Topp on his retum fo Saint-Nazaire harbour ‘tera mission on board U-S52. 7ither Prien roned in sabeerine pers ‘ons cn U-26 (o Type 14) td took command ef U7, 2 Type VB wth the rank of Keptinevinant on 17 December 1938, (hn 14 Ocaber 1939, be ventured isto the bans den, the RN bbe ot Scape Fow in the Orkney lon, where he larpedoed the (beh MS ya! Oak. he further eight pals wich flo ‘wed, Prien ond his ew dcinguited themes: nthe Alani ond i the weer ff Noreny een though he, ie ther commander, chen found ther ers fvcrated by mounting tepadse (On 8 Mey 1941, U-47 was sk by HS Wolerine she oa bed Convoy 08 203. There were no survive. Aged 33 ond ¢ [orvetiekapion atthe ime of hs deh, Prien hd sank 31 ships toting 192,102 ras Onto KRETSCHMER Brena jin Hedow, Ona Aoechmer elie in the being Resbaring tthe begining of the wa be com imanded U-23 Chpe Ui), anadking meron shiping and ain mines in he North Sea, Henk cbout eight hig in his compoign. ‘v1 Ail 1940, Kesher tao command of 1.99 (ype {8} ond sank 11 ships on sist pot wih hs new submarine Hho very sucess imei he fling months, dng he eto, Gaon Ubots ed he Mont (0017 Mach 1941, (99 atocked successively Convoys OM 799 ed HC 112. a ths oc, the U-boat wa hay depth zhorged by the Bch desryers MS Yanoc and HS Water ile ond nal ndiv,U-99 wes sued wh ber captin ond crew being token prone Tonsered oa Po camp in Conad,sulen Ono indontbie sperm him the respec of hs capt. ith Ships tet 313.61 sis ey, eeatnkopn Co Ketch the mest cel submarine captain of World Wer E ENGepert ENDRASS. Ai wos, thee board UAT, Endross sled with rien ino Sapo Flom daring the famous roid. in which AS Rayo! Ook wos sunk He then tock cormmand of U4 (a Type VB) with which be sonk 24 lied ships Posted o 7 UFtlle based in Soi Nazis, Ends chose 0 charging bulls is ship's emblem, he same which odrned the conning ower of UT Diving hi second sion wt USP (0 ype UC Endros ws ‘ngoged oft Aaa bythe sloop HMS Spire ond he ove HMS Deptford. U-547 went down with oll hands ENRICH LEHMANN- WILLENBROCK fopitanlevinent hmonn Wilenbrock took command af U9, & Type MIC on 14 December ‘140, Inthe couse of sight Combat mins, he sank 25. ‘hips wing 183,253 tos tn February 1942, U-¥6 took partin Operation Kerdedrum al, off the nahewestem American coos, adding frve American ships his tly In March 1942, KoreteskoptinLebmor-Willenrack took rommond of $file bose in Brest which be led unt Augist 194, When the Als ced non es, Lohmann Wienbock exc ped ino bared boot o Regen ond wes erred wh he cm trond of 11 Ul pst he held uni ihe wor ended JOACHIM SCHEPKE ined ia the same course Lechner, | Schepke enlisted in the Reichamerine in 1930. in 1938, bis first sorties on ‘board 0-3 (0 Type 1A) were = mine loyng operations off the Engish cet Ia Janwary 1940 he took command of U1 but met with bed sucess ding saveral poras in the Channel cod in the North Sex. Things impro ved when Schepke wos iransferred to U-100, c Type Vil Ben 30 Mey 1900. He tah several corey the follwing mate, counting fora secu beary tl al led sigpg (On 17 March 1941, U-100 was forced to sara otro ong pponwt ond rommed by the destroyer HIBS Yanock: Schae wos bled. Only fre member of his ew were rescued by the Brith tthe time of is death, his tally stood ot 35 ships otling 145 042 tos. Hennich UEBE Fon wu Uiche wes capiin of U2 Cpe It os wel os sa Ying 0 an isracr of naval codes inthe Wat sel in Nel Os 28 October 1938, he took cieamond of U8, « Type I belonging othe th Hund Fila bse t Kel Between 1939 and 1941, ibe had the oppor Yo make the mst of his si, attacking mumeros Dh onvys nd sinking 37 ships ting 18,506 tors. June 1941, he fooaok his comand when prsed to the Kiegzmorne High ormand wih te rank of Krveienkapitn, 118 REINHARD HARDEGEN heinhard_Hardegen ves pre th sb marine service in winer 1939 nally, he sere os Woich fier on 124 (ype 1B), portpating in two pot belore taking cor mand of 147 (ype HD) on 11 December 1940. He then took over from Kapila! esl, cammandingU:123, 0 Type 18 bed ot Loven, wth which he sank fe his during is fst msion. When Operon oukenhiog’ wes lune in December 1941, Hardegen bad @ mat sacs run in American woes, peng on ln, fen pleted tes ren though Havdegen’ tll soed ot 23 ships totaling 119405 fon, he wos paredoially transfered from U-boat com mand fo the 2nd Marin Dison i which be rou 0 the rank of Morvetieckapitan. SCHNEE 0 god of das | 1934, Adar Schnee stored his carer wath the | eine. In1936, he wos pose «young Leva 0 the ia Leip. 1938, be boca equ wie beat serie when sarin os etch oer oder Oso Kebamer on bord U2, a pe i a Choc 1939, be provinaly ack command of U6, «pe A elas thing ve rom Kaptan Geary Scheve os skipper of U4, pe Clery 1942 be wes cere agin and tok co mand of 20), oye IC Me cid i oor ws wh ot fe, fiaking sxe Comes OB 38 od OG 71 in ceparaon ‘ih ch ep’ 552. By Ap 194,201 ve poli of te ener os, vetinarian Freon, ad ski bout 10 Mid sigs inh pres. On 29 Seplenber 194, See Yok command of U-251], he ft Ip 3X) crise wth the Aegnern, bt bdo wi wl Ail 1944 Yo ve he opertunty to pce the usar quis of sen hip rig a eet fon witha Bitch ue the ee he wa, Karveekapin She hod nk 24 hig, ing 88995 os ord damaged nthe he, ADALBERT | 1191th outreak ofthe wer, Topp jied the | boot arm sarge woth iat on U6 ender the cde of Kapteletnont Sales Jon 1940, he ook command of 57, «ype vehich ws rommed nd snk bythe Morwogion freighter ona in he Brumbitelchonel. 1-57 vest down with si ober crew bt fap ws late dered of ory pony in ths cident. In December 1940, he wes trams U5, Type VC on which be served uni ages 140, (Os 31 Ociber 1941, 1.552 stacked and sink the Arsen Aesroyer USS Reoben James whch, slog wh rh sree ship, ses hunting German abmorne: ever hgh he United Sales hd fo yet dedored wor on German. erly 142, lop se of on his fr pal et Lmercn hoe wots, tr concert onde ces atocing Med siping in hs thee hs wos flowed by his psig tothe Tail Bat Ft in Gotesoen wich be Jed stl ting command inte 1944 of 2513, oye Kl bee ny to Bergen-bosad 11 foe. Te cpion of Germany, were: reves he for tokng bs new sh ina eto REINHARD SUHREN 1 he uta: ofthe wo, Rehard Sehr wring os wth ffir o0 U8 under Kopitar Set. ns aoa os pedo fic, be feo port in see lerive poo dig which 20,0001 of Aled sip og were snk (dn 3g 194, e ook command of U5 Type VC, with which sank 18 Aled ships toiling 95,092 (hn 3 Apri 194, ha wes commisioned no board S64, a Tipe VIC, and sank 18 lis ships, tvaling 95,0971 in 20 months Inthe dosing stoge of he wes, he wes cmmanding the Wb At ie Nowy. US64 wos snk on 14 Je 1943 inthe north Alan othe rth wes of Cpe Origa by Bsih sro The ship went down wis 29-0un cones Harro SCHACHT rveltenkopilan Schacht took com: mand of U:S07, 0 ype VIC | con 8 October 1941. In March 19142, during his ist pal he sunk 44,7821 worth of lied shipping. ‘ering hs second psl which tok othe Brain co, he sank oneher si ships, In the cous of is ne! two campaigns, December 1942 and Jonuary 1943, Schacht sonk bro Bri freighes, induing the 5154 Dokbonk 13 January 1943, 0-507 wos atocked ond sunk by on American irroft off the Bazin cons. There were n0 survivors ‘mang her 55;mancew. Kart Freprich MERTEN rion joined the Kriegsmarine in 192, st serving 2 gre ry offer on the vier ice bfre posing 3 Type 17 exert slip. He then ‘ear code raring offer othe scooby Sei Halen ner 140, he yoke osu service od wes ‘omisined os wach ofc on U3 onmanded by Kapton Heri be. Oo 11 Ferury 194, he tock comand af U8, 0 Tipe LC ith hich he cried ou isons siking 12 ship. U8 wes one of he ght serine hich ok pr inthe rece os ‘ors when the Aas and Pon up shps wee snk. Man pic ke p72 savin ws he tan orn bss et pata ok plinth wes off the es ran os and inh Rd Sea te then ck cormand of 26 Bot iil in Mere ro ver, i 1945, be ed the evocation of 56 00 pope hrecenad bthe dare of Soviet trop. opti nS Har Fdich Mere ay mourted 79 tip ali 81,8491 Hees no ng command ein Ap 194, 48 wos skin he nic by art fre USS Goad! Tesubmaree vent dum wh of hae STOCKHAUSEN 1998, von Scan | jus pected te the Arapmeree beige 8 etl fe que hc sword of saben, fing rw command of L453 pe OO tek to Bess bed 7 Fa Wi or rn Sebo ak 1p eig 107 dpe abe tree be Jamar, Kaptnlevnant Hoppe tok over command of U-65 vic wos sok: on 76 Age 1941 off southern eld. The bt vat down with ol hones Oro ‘SCHUHART chart else inthe | Kriegsmarine in 1929 nd served sucesily on ‘he cruisers fmden ond Karkrube. Before the out ‘break of the wor, he took cemmand of 0-29, 0 ype YW ui, ceniineed with fl Satz t Wishaw. a 199, U9 wes operating isthe anc where she sank 17 ships nding he Bes ir ‘carrier HAS Courageous on 17 September 1939. Fromaed to he ronk of Kervetenkpita,Schuhat’ tect 1 posing was cmmander of 1 Seton of the Feusbury Hal Academy 1-29 wo sted ot ub on 4 Way 1945 Frirz Juuus LEMP Kar! Goer ordered his submarines open hos lies on Great Bein ire ltl, Jos emp wos then in command of 30, 0 Type WIA belonging tov Fil Saewedel Inthe eve ring, Lege wr ated that» Bitch op ranspart wos rutin i his seco with al igh ei. Mew hours ater, U0 made conto wt the slip th Ala, ond sant. Tae were 2B Ameria zs meng he 112 posongas who lt is ves in theta Tht lrpeding ofthe Athenio ove profsnd emotion ihe United Sites ond embarrased the Germans whe mito great Tangs to explain that he sinking wasters of «tragic mii, Lemp wos hen rostered U:110, Type IB, wth wih he cord ut only two mins. bn May 1947, be made cel with Convoy 08 318 nd tepadoed wo ships. One doy later the subma rine wos deed by two Bish destroyers, AMS Bug and HS roodey, nd feces. Met of the ce serine ut Lemp a lsh edo si Bde o U1 1 cues, Ill eho snk 17 sis totaling 68 607. Grore LASSEN hen the wor broke ca, Georg Lmsen served os scond woth of ‘er on U-24 commanded by Kopitirlvinort Scuba. Gn 16 Oxaker 194, he took command of 0-160, « fpe nC nd wos psied ta 10 Atl in Lovet, In March 1942, daring is st pt ff the Eee cos ofthe eed States bern Cpe Haters and Cape Lookout, U-160 sank five ships. mang the cis was the 14,647 Brita sooner Uses In Odober and November 1942, ses patroled the Cariteon where he sank igh Aid ships In Febrory ond March 943, Len vested ner he SoutAricon com, ih picking ground, where he taspedbed six ships ond damaged frber Wo. Inthe course of fou miso, 160 sank 16 ships ting 156,032, in 1943, san hnded ovr bis command to Obeeuiart Porma-Echa and wos rsd fo Plu os on isrcor ond tough cadets or fw yar Hs farmer boot, U-16, wos sunk on 14 Jay 1943 of the Azoces by seh from cari US Ste, with the es of be 52-nan ew. 121Rito (10 Aagest 1940, Kapich wes pote 94, «pe VC. wh wich he eteciad fve convoy from September May 141, si King 17 shige totaling E2 Ht bn Joy 1943. be took oer come 1 Type D2, fom Kapila Jot Meta On $4 wes sak by orl ren the learn a: GUNTHER HESSLER corn in 1909, Giinther esr eoted in he Kriegsmarine ot the age of 1 fis saving on cur Scleie before king com mond of the torpedo boot Oh October 1940, he vohmiewredfsobmarine eve ond wo ced with he om mand of U-102, 0 Type IX8. ese commanded ths bot ror her cms in Ober 1940 to hate 1941, sinking 21 ships totalling 118,822. bn the cour caf the ngs ord mot sues ison cid ty boat, Hse srk 14 ships otaing 8,59 in free mony He es espa by Nar, «boot of be same dos as nt and Python Ino 1941, he was posed the tof he U-boot omen der oes handing re hs command his saxcessr Kaplan Geli. On 18 gest 1944, U-107 wes sank by Bish cnr bet ween Lorient ad La Police. She wos hen cormanded by Leon! fn. WERNER HARTMANN ferner Hartman, hood fined the Reichsmarie of 18, wes one af the fist capi comnis sioned withthe German U bot serve. in ay 1936, he took command of 26 ype 1) on whith Ginter Prien served os woth officer, Infos 1938, Mrirnnn vs peste 37, Type tt balan sing U File Word, ond cord ot eval isin. In Apri 1940 he ws eal rae dt by Doe who opin ted him commonder ef the 2nd Woot Tiining Divsian ia otebalen lo November 1943, be took to so again os copii of 198, sang of ono 200-tay pana vbich ek i oh Suh enn vier whee he sank seen sis In. 1944, Homan was ogpited commander ofthe U Boot Fovein te Meerronen. On 14 February 1945, he ok common afte 6th Regiment lhe Kriegsmarine’ nd Warne Divison, ont wich defended the val rh uli Canal hough whith German Foxes nd evauees cssed i fom the es ei Herbert SCHULTZE nearly September 1939, Herbert Schule as commanding U8, 0 Trp Vil which then belon- edt U ltl Wegener nthe fist math of he confi, bot wesinvolied im the ockode ofthe rich ‘es, inking U6 hips ling 109,074 during it fst four miss. (Os several coins, Schule rescue the srs af the bps be had suk o surmoned real boas the cee ick thee op. Wy May 1940, 0 severe ines forced him to hand over (UABve Horetenhoin Rising wha replaced him fr ew mon, (n recente resumed command of te submarine nd cx rid out ree miso daring whith he sank 12 sis U8 wich he horde over to Obeeuioant zur Se Azinger when Schule tok conmond of 3 too lil bse in La Folie and La Rochelle which be led amt replaced by freqneskontin txbard Zap. Frorote ithe rank of Koreteskopin in une 1942, Suite wos eppined inca he SchlesagSubmorine School ond sa- ‘ed enin ths role un the end ofthe wa. tthe and of is ccive caret his aouned 78 Ais ships toting 183.4371 Werner HARTENSTEIN Tee wer we chs fe years old hes Bene Sane varet ned for serving wih the bes rm othe ime, be ws commanding # xp bot Be wes apponsed te 1156, 8 Type UE sobre, ond sank five saps in Febroary 1947 daring hs fit patrol He ded furs 1 i hay 1942 dering bes soon sion. (00 12 September 1947, Hrtncein snk the poxange ship oro, aang thet she we trop ompert Marae tre fe some os many sarin, os be cold bel we: bombed by a Aeercae arth sed ited Sc ore Se ee Dasng ns mex pool wo 8 March 1943, 1-154 wos bombed sod sk by Brie Sr i the Mane of Barbe Tae amare vet dove wth tes Hn onglert HARALD GELHAUS chow. sank: his first samy sip 5 cp von of 110 Cpe ID) ‘which be had token over from Kepner epten few months later, he sxcee- ‘ded Loptenievinant Hessler ne eo te! yrs Gb rk 1 ld is otal 100,71 25 oppo e Noval igh Command (arth) nd euined his fing vel the end ofthe war U-107, «Type 118 bait in Bremen by Dechimog, wos sunk on 1 kage 1944 by Bish irra between Loin! ond La Police. These were no survivors. Ihe fie of er sinking, U-107 bod sank ‘8 sigs taling 217,750 WOLFGANG LUTH fellgong_ Lith, 0 Bahic German, joi ned the submarine service immediatly er his promo ion 9 the rank of ‘beleinot 2ur Se, ond Fit served a 1st wich aff: er unt 38, Type Di, com sanded by Ube. In Dcombar 1939, be was rosfered 1 U9, 0 “ype Ik wth whith sank he Fem sbmaie Dor (9 My 1943, ek command of U8, the fis! pe = D2 a eer sare. Wh his Bt, he oid saver aces patrol During he host ane which lesed 206 ays, be aie the ape ond Modagoca, sinking 10 shi inte ecess. Read 0 staf dates by Doe, he to amond of he Fehon Murwi ‘naval school On 14 May 1945, Lith was tragically Kiled when he feed to answer he clengo of ser. Wi i ly enouning 1047 sunken sis (ting 211,58), Lith, lang wah Keb ‘nd Pen, have become legends ofthe German Ube serve Kuus KORTH oth ented in the Kregsmerine on. | Ape 1932. On 28 December 1938, he fook command of UST, 0 Type HC elegig Io Uflotileasrann, Doing the fit fre months ofthe confit, Koh sank seven ships indudiog the Greifeld, 10,191 Bish tank. In Jane 1940, be handed over the command of 1-57 rh Top when be wos pated to 93,0 Type VI submarine These wre te ‘Boppy dos’ inthe Aa os the por eo tac Aled cnroys wer esy meat othe wolf pocks which ho ried them meres. Between Octobe 1940 and September 14, Ath ated fv ony, inking esis in te proces In September 1941, Kus Kath wos rome tothe rak of Arveteskpitin ond given aso! posting wich he retined vei the end af he wa nwo yor of conic, be hod ound far 5 ships eing 74.301. Commanded by Oberleutnant ff, Koh farmer bot, 93, wos unk ff Mader by HS Hesperus, 0 Brith destroyer. Sx Ces wet down wih te submarine. 123WERNER HENKE Jermes Heske Wok am 5714 in foe operation th cd at misin,on 9 Ap 1944, 0.515 ws soil ol Stee, Reng ond Beret From 7 Joe ogc 141, be commanded 1146, «pe tees sd 1 Fie. a September 198) be 1 54a Te VOC tking over from Herbert 5 acid peat sane, skig 14 Aled sip, sxmoaing 70.7111 7 gt 1947, a es was prowig for uneertd tk inthe wars south we of Hai, 94 wer Speed nd depth char | get 2 US ary Cots, ton rammed by te (anak corvte ae edt eye eT ha Bes ed the srvivers were taken prisoner 125,MEN AND EQUIPMENT Back ashore, and now cleanly shaven, a U-Boat captain has recovered from his ewantful journey. His walking out uniform consists of a ‘Schirmmdtze’, a double-breasted tunic of fine bi serge with matching trousers. On the left side of the tunic, the officer spars the First Class iron Cross and the badge awarded fo submarine crews after two engagements with the enamy. A white cotton shirt and 9 black tie complete the uniform Action stations! The ‘Matrosengetretier'has donned his lite presarvar ores his pea-jacket. With his blue helmet 0. i ready to man the 20mm anti-aircraft gun which, along ‘2 37mm and 105mm guns, make up the ‘main armame rane ood, guns, make up the U-124' ‘badge issued to the ‘man with the gokden ar Consists of a red arrow, embroidered in ved toad, thrusting down through the waves, For protection against the awful Atlantic weather during watch duties, the sailor's wearing a sult ‘of grey ollskins fastening with a strap. The sult has rk blue collar which can Bo Repl up by a button strap. Kapitiniouinant on deck duties, When the weather aflowed, this grey dill unio Could be wor on deck duties 23 shown ‘by the man's 7x50 navy binoculars128 The “Matrasengetreiter' is about to take the watch ln the conning tower in which, for ong hours, he will sca the horizon. At night, to ease the strain on his eyes hhe wears goggles with redc-tinted lonses. His cap, made of dork blue serge, is adorned by an edelwoiss 0m its lft side. initially issued to Heer's mountain troops, the edelweiss became U-124's unofficial insignia Made of yellow ochre materia, the ite jacket temaler type) 's firmly vecured by two buckled straps. For BUOYaNCY, Mts anges are filed with kapok, a rol proot, watertight ‘materi gathered trom a tropical tree. The large laggi003 are made of dark grey eubber. This sturdy footwear helps fe protect the man during the long vigils in the cerving lower a8 he unceasingly scans the horizon with ‘hia binoculars, the black leather case of which ie shang by a trap over the shoulder, 129 (On 15 May 1944, Dénite decided to create.» new bados for German submarine forces, the 'U-Boot Frontspange’ By mid 1544, U-boat losses have considerably soared with Boats and crews vanishing under the biows of the Alls. U-Boat combat badge created on 13 October 123% it was wom onthe left side of the tunie or shir, and awarded to erewmen who had carried out Int least two combal missions. U-106 returrs to hase in February 1941. This German Submorne crewman hasbeen presented wih basket Of otranberries (0 celebrate his retum and the successes of fis ship. This pleture was taken during the ‘happy days when the German submarines ruled the Ailantc. The cop insignia, 9 awfish, is noteworthy.ART WORK, PAINTINGS, | PROPAGANDA POSTERS | ~ AND POSTCARDSLET REE ; r nl 7in the conning tawer of a U-boat (ells on canvas, Rudolph Hausknecht, 1545} 1941; ina French harbour, these U-boat crewmen aft being rewarded after a successful mission (4ax70cm oils on canvas, Eduard Schiooman). ‘Masting on the high x03, somewhere in the Atlantic (Brxd20m ells on canvas) In Saint-Nazaire harbour (Asotr Back)IN THE MOVIES AND ON 3 In the foreground af the conning tower, the ‘oki man’. nthe background, fon the right, is ‘Famnrich’ (ensign) Ullman. Thess scane was thot in the Bavaria ‘uals, in a conning tower placed The exiguty of the focale does not seem to effect the relaxed mood of these seamen inho share their breakfast fn the NCOs" mess, located between the dlasal room ‘and the ‘Zentrale U-96 is depth-charged ‘bya British warship ‘9s she crosses the Glbraftar Strats rowing ron hs own experience es 0 war crepe: dent, ths Ginter Bach's noel, ‘Des Boat (he beet) besed on is recon: garnered daring to | the course of hs duties, Duchheam covered two offen ive missions with the German submarine service, first in xanax bord UF commanded by Ml Hearich mm ec, fr ne ro bd Deaced by Wllgang Fetenen, the mie which wes fires yrs in the moking (1979-81), wes 0 sce in (Germany well 0 cbrood. Indoor scenes were sot in the Bovare statics hhurach where the intervor of ¢ U-boat had (U-96 loaves: tes coehyrcmarced for exten eien her pan ‘he acon perorm convincingly wooogh, poticrly La Patice Jrgen Prochnow who pay: the role of the ‘old man’ com. U-Bunker. anny IE A full-size Gudea seqeaces wart dt in the U-Brkar of La ore Type Vi-C fli rome. Fst,» bbsiaed mck of © Type Sos ured for 1 hd been bd nd prope by 2 el eng er this scone omen Trotin trot Uipiied 138 Jorgen Prochnow who played the part ‘of tha “old from Kapiti who was the skipper of U: ‘command of Brest-based 9 U-Flote The ENEMY BELow (Motion Picture) jd on Hed Rayesrovel ofthe sane le, he fir recurso relents duel betwen © German Ufo en rsh deste ounonded by KL von Salberg. 1-121 i eaher way to venders punt wh German rider srewhare in the Alantic inode orecover an enihering stem cop turd fom on Aid ship. Bot she wl ever mak it: de ted by an American destroyer commanded by Coptn Hore 12 sed into desperate ale oer vin trying fo elude er pursue Died by Dick Powel and disibted by Twefich Cntr Fox ia 1957, the movie focuses onthe bar wis between von Silber and Hurl, strikingly portrayed by Cord Jurgens ond Reber Machu, 0 hey ty Yo out ‘manoeuvre ech other in deadly game of hide ond ack which wl nd aby wth he destin af ene of th po Aogenists For the mavieo British worip, HMS Hac, wes ‘converted iio the American destrayar while © Type IB vs sed for W121. Thought the vr, hs Ue sr Ved 0 troning ship commisoned withthe sbi fila of lou where se wes sted on 2 May 1948 Poring over « map in the Zentrale, the captain and his offeers eomnmant ‘on the route the submarine wil Yoow ‘uring the oncaming mission.U-boat FLorittas Tor Scominc SUBMARINES im Bort Worto Wars aaah m2i,sah 2120001 wwnslor 140 1 U-Flottille (Weddigen) ‘based in Germany and ltr operting rom Bret Fronce: UG eU139UI5 @UI7 U9" U1 © U2, 2 U-Fotle(Salrwedel) ‘bed in Germany od Lae operting fom Loin! in Fron 26+ 027 +28 U29U 90-31 «92 U3 35 3 U-Fotile (Labs) (sd in Germany and lee peri rom la Police Lo Rochen France UI26U.I4U-16 UIE U20*U-72 90.24 4 U-Flotle:Irning ft bosed in Kl, Germany 5 U-Fletille(Emsmann) 56 °U57 1-58» 58 6 U-Flotille (Hund) based in Germany nd later operating from Saint Maire in France: UU WU39e VAOe UA) 7 U-Fltile (Wegener) bored in Germany and ne pectin rom Sait Norcire in France and Fray, rom Norway: U5 + UA6 UAT #148 U5] « 52 © U53, 8 Ulett: Tiiciy Hat bse ot Dani, Germany. 9 U-lttile: Bose Bet in re ‘VO U-Flottille; lesed ot Lorient in France, UF: ed ot Bergen Nore. V2 U-Fletile: ed ot Bordon Fone 13 UF: edo Toad in Norway, ‘VE U-Fetile: edo arid in Harwoy. 15 U-Fletil: Ui vase in ec 195, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 U-flonille: Tring its based in Germany. 26 et 27 U-Flonle a Pilow pour la 19 tla 70. es tes serant bse Ke et Wihemshefen 29 Uo: toda Geran, ker operating fmf Spe ‘nBialy and Toulon. 301 fot: sed ot Keston nthe Back ea ‘31 U-flottle: Trin fra eed in Germany. 32 U-lotile: Traning Fila bed in Germany. 32 U flomile: sd t Femburg in Gemany salar stl el be ‘raining submarines UleU2UIeU4 eUSeU4 o U7 ous + UID =U oU-25. [Sree ie es eee eee cece rues, Proms of U-Boar Tyres ate | | ‘Typeta ‘Type vic — Typella Type vio “Type VIIA ft Type WA | Type XB Type XIVA ‘Type X¥IIA (Wa201) ‘Type xvIIA (wn202) Tepe x8 Type XX! leer (HZ ‘Type Xx 141GLOSSARY ‘Asie: High ‘requency apparatus for detecting the presence and postion of immersed substarines. ‘Automatic Pilot In 1344, 2 German engineer, F Tuschka, deve- loped 2 system which automaticaly controlled a submarine aiong 2 preset couse at periscope depth. As well as releving the corswains, the system allowed the submarine to run a steader couse Ballasts: Surtaong and diving are controlled by water ballasts which reguate the weight and buoyancy of the submarine Replacng the expended fuel with sea water enables the outer fuel bunkers to double as ballasts. [Bathythermogram: A mathod of recording variations in water temperature and densty which result from the inversion of layers, tareby soversely affecting the effisency of underwater Setecton systems. B-Dienst (Beobechtung): Kiiegsmarine's monitoring service ‘tasked with deciphering radio messages. B.DW (Belehishaber der U-Boote}: Commander in chiet-ot the German submarine service. Biscay Gross: Gross-shaped radar detector aerial capable of detecting the pulses of radar operating in the broad wave- Jengtn range (dozens of centimetres). First used in the Bay of ‘Biscay, hence ts name, the system was phased out when the ‘Albed reduced the wavelengths of ther radars. (Covtation: The formation of a cavty or parial vacuum bet- een a fod anda ld in rapid relative motion. g. on apro- (pelee The cavtation 6 3 noisy phercmenen. Conning tower: Raised structure on a submarine housing the periscope and used for watch cuties. Contact Pistol: Stes! device activating the warhead of a torpedo. Gonvoys: Eriish convoys were designated as folows: HO: Gibraltar-Great Britain; OG: Great Britain-Gibraltar, HX: Halfax- Great Britain; ON: Great Britain-Halitax; ©$: Sydney-Nova, Scotia; ONS: Great Brita- Sydney. SL: Sierra Leone-Great Briain: GS: Great Brtain-Sierra Leone; WS: troop transports to the Middle East Enigma: Word War 2 German enciphering system. Flak: Acronym of Flugabwebrkanone’- air defence gun. ‘Fly’ (Fliege’|: Sophisticated dipole aerial and direction finder operating on centimetre-wavelength radar, Gat (Micke): More sophisticated than the ‘Fege’ the Blccay Cross and Metox, this system could detect the pulses of radars operating in the centimetre-wavelength ranges. Gyroscopic Angle: The angle at which the gyrescopic control of a forpedo is set belore launching, ‘Zero angle’ results in the course ofthe torpedo being inline with that ofthe launch sub- marine, Aitermatively, the torpedo can be set fo adopt an ablique course or veer to the left or right after leaving the tube. Hatch: an opening or door in an aircraft, submarine et. Horizon: The circular line at which sky and earth appear to meet. The horizon seems to be moving away or drawing clo ser depending on weather conditions and the level trom which I is wiewed. On 4 clear day, from the conning tower © ‘@ submarine, the horizon appears to be 16 miles away (29,692km). Hydrophone: An instrument for detecting sound by water usec! in naval warare to detect submarines etc Hydroplanes: Fin-like device fitted to both ends of a submar ‘eto enable the ship to raise and descend, Kriegsmarine: On 21 May 1995, the German Navy became the Kriegsmarine. Consequently, the Maltese Cross and the imperial Egle on its flag were replaced by a swastika. [Leigh Ught: Developed by Squadron Leader H. V Leigh is ‘device was nothing more than a powerful searchlight mount on the underside of an arcaft, and which would be switche gn dr he fol i aia te U-boat had bee? located by radar. With its range about 2:000m, the system was successtlly used at right, 142 Metox: Replacing the obsolete ‘Biscay Gross’, this German, electronic system could detect ASV arcraft radars operating on. short wavelengths from ranges of up to 30 miles, Nautical mile: Measure of length or distance representing 1,852m. ‘0.bd.M. (Oberbefehishaber der Marine): German Navy High ‘Command. ‘O.KM. (Oberbetehishaber der Marine}: German Navy com- ‘mander-in-chiet ‘O.K.W, (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht German Army High Command, Periscope: An optical instrument for viewing an object ‘concealed from view by an obstacle. The basic principle is ‘the use of two mirrors, parallel but separated by a distance. Ina submerged submarine, a periscope enables to above the surface. A high altitude pariscope (Luftzielonr) was used to observe the sky when the submarine operated in the submerged mode. This, however, was restricted to right attacks because the head of the periscope was too conspicuous. ‘Naval Charts: German naval charts (Marine-Quadrakarte) used ‘grid system to locate targets. Letters such as 0G, CD and 8G denoted broad operational areas whereas precise positions. within these were identfied by the four-digit numbers ag. BF 7124) after the letters Pressure Hull: Inner hull ofa submarine, Radar: An acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging, a sys- tem developed in the 1930s whereby the postion and cistan ce of objects can be determined by measuring the ime taken for high frequency radio waves to be reflected and returned Fitted to most Alied and German ships atthe outbreak ofthe war, radars were improved and later operated on the short wave mode, thus becoming capable of detecting very small objects. Radio Direction Finder: Apparatus for fining the bearings of a transmitting radio station. Regulating Tanks: Small intemal tanks which could be flooded {to keep the submarine from raising to the surface, Snorkel (Schnorkel): A device by which a submerged subma- {he an take ae ep. rat ited ote Geran -boets in 1943, ‘Sonar {Asdich: The acronym of Sound Navigation and Ranging, ‘a means of detecting underwater vessels and objects, The Cevice emits pulsed bursts of sound underwater and listens for reflected echoes (active sonar) or simply listens to for the sound a tarpet itself may make (passive sonar. The sonar can belikened witha radar but uses a a sonic pulse instead of wlec= twomagnetic waves which do not propagate through water Target Optical Apparatus: Known to the Germans as UZO (Uboot-Zilopti, this system was fitted to the bridge of a sub- marine and used to define the bearings of an objective. The data obtained was fad ito a calculator which would compute the roursa ofthe torpedo. Tonnage: A ship's intemal cubic capacity or freight capacity expressed in tons. Tha displacements the amount of hid dis placed by a ship floating or immersed in i. The displacement is atlected bythe load cx, fora submarine, by the amount of waler in the ballasts, ‘Trimming Dive: A routine operation in which the balance, the buoyancy and the weight of @ submarine are comacted in accordance with density and temperature variations of the wate Trimming Tanks: Fitted in pars to bath ends of the hull to adjust the trim through transfering water trom the front tothe rea Valves: Contrivance used to control the flow af a fu in and cut of a container. Fited to both the upper and lower parts of a submarine’s balasts, valves were use 10 flood or drain the ballasts. Western Approaches: A geographical area stretching from Brittany to a zane about 200 mies off the western irish coast Zentrale: Contr reom, located under the conning tower 143,BIBLIOGRAPHY ‘RACIQURS ag Ut esc Ar Er a Pr 8 ALLAN SOEL. JP UE gg in Ke! yo ten ‘ASH ng 7 wu Ere Pek Par 8 scot 18S Moat rg St 8 (RITES ais Meme ess re Ret Lat Pr 182 MAGON De to pt rr Hoe Reed cons ae mee (ROR Jar Let sare L Perse are a (exer Mb. 88 (BARA fawn Ue hae ny Mn Wy Sa MEER rch sma nF Bir Ec ghar 1t ROREOE snow (2a nga Se name ara MESENCEN Chin Wo! Mr 2 AB Bok Lt 10 sorte tpn Pa MOLLOW Aten e MCGPEDOR Me. (EYE Sapp KOOP Gea That The Gea yf hr 5 1 Na Marea Face oe We Wi? Bar Ps 10% ‘Soe Rtg Ae PT CU ar (ap are, soreness Eat ce A, (RIOR Lats Grte Le Sp Estos A ce Pr 17 Faget Pi 8 SFERUT YL gear IS Mes Es PRLUD dP Uo Loran ras err eat As [REFER Yo Les aetna fas Mare sre ‘3S Magure Spca ne Fray ach 5 (Se aren Pesaran Fores Ce Er Pa 38 FELLARD sos Hace rr cb pare sna Peet af Pa, AT (ANCY mS Ear A Me a. 58 FELLA Leon Lata ck Aina Raat alr Pate 1H COSTELLO am ns UES Ry Late et [RESTON Aegon no Ltr een rads Fra Na Pa 1578 a REDE rE Fars nore Pa, 0 (DR a ag ape a ag fe Pa Pac RANEHOA Top us Ate Ret Litt Pr em we ag Po nn 1k FOSETSON wes Le ip de Atrg Th ater Homan, ENT a gaa ae ‘rates Pr 15. ‘SOT no mer PP OSL Er Theta Me Goin! ac Mey Game Stare Fea ae Ud cee mare aes Am Pe 98 ‘ee ea Ph Ln 1 GUESPE Marte Rea 2 ram ae SOMETRMer US Papen saa sera mor Can uP 180 lore hd cect Pn ESQDG om ec (Ao HD TJ Larrea, 16A STEW Reed neon Sate at katong Caren (9 5 SESE om oe rT Care ag 72 “WERE VE fre - a anc ee en HTS, {CRON Far pe a er Ue Meera ar Sg Marah eg Sept 13 ‘RONG Fare Rags Com toes of Pe i Sve ‘ACNE ete De ee ps ao Pb LP 9M Sore Uy oer sae FE \ELPCH Weigh Aeegecra 7 (oc COR Ma Ba WELDON Ga tt Ome 94 TS er gy ee, 1%. {aS a ae cmt TS MUD Mage 45 7s. tur ioe § Cote Pr, ‘com ‘eon joyereas nate ore 28.5 Lage IAI Ay Aga (Ste eee 1 tr ch {OO Gere Mer oe ees i Goan Ser (Ci ars ace Saar 1 roa Meer Lon RE (Gag ten ci Fra 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The autor wishes to thank Freire: Bachmann, Christophe Deschodt, Glan) Gorckhat, ean de Lagarde, Jear-Ciaude Mauro and particulary (Ene Michelet for hs assistance, Jean-Yves Masse, Jacques Rivet an Anaka Yasuo, as wel as ECPA, Bundesarchi, the Imperal War Memoral, Mara Magaene andthe National Archies PICTURE CREDITS ‘Sm hema 2 p84 15 ton 8 ork. Ph 18 or. 29s 2¢ Roman, 925.289 9.2. p.35 9.37. pot p38 nd 5 £1 i on p.m... 5.58 atom. EL HO Bat Kp eo p ES tor p. p68 pp eon 5 baton. Of Pp 72 feck p. PSB 6 tem 75.1 ope om ah Senden bet 51... 1S fp cri. 18 to 18,20 rt alto. 21 crea boar. fp el bata A. 7. 5-60 CEL. pA. 47 e952 ok pS fp ebm 57 Bk 50a 6 fk 8 rt 7 pana cee P2 Bat 979 Ra 78 7 op 70 eth. ah Pe. op Nope 9.0 and 128 amo. Spr 5 eto a. HT eo chine: T1748 Pop dow. pO Op, ph 114 el md. 15h UMM Sd 5p nT 58 Fh 3B en PY emo 7H til Rp Rona OK. Hw emi. 10. p41 te, Bitip Lah nO 1K. 108, 107m 0p aaa Magus 13 oe 116 ade Bem 138 ek Peer am 1p. p56 5 pS bom 4 barn. pp f Seren mei armas enema memes tpmeate Publishing Manager: Patrick RIVIERE Design: FABECO ‘Aiights reserved. No part cf tis publication Published by Histoire & Collections Eto Sttrmeeierviceacioas Seemdanmnen somes” (he prior wen consent ofthe publehes. 75541 Pars Codex 1t France Colour separation: igo sane 208 122418 ‘Tel:tntemational (00.0140.21.18.29 Printed by Herssoyin France, Prchers numba: 2 908 182 FF Intermationel OL.O147.0081.11 fourth quarter of 1906. 144U-Boats, 1935-1945 patience of Word War 1 had shown thatthe 1939, the Kriegsmarine’ submarine compo 48, he forerunners of he excel Kopitnleuinant Gut systems ond air supe dings in Normandy could nal be toved fbmarine wart nd American | ithe 10 Mpa we de lo République 75541 Paes CEDEX 11 Tél. : 40 21 18 20