The first victims of German submarines More and more German boats sank other people's transports. In the world, Kaiser's Germany acquired the image of an "evil aggressor", but was never able to take control of enemy sea communications. May 7, 1915 on the Liverpool - New York line

German Spare Parts for Soviet Submarines It should be clarified that in the 1920s and 1930s, Germany not only ordered components for its submarines, but also sold them abroad, in particular, to the USSR. So, the military historian A. B. Shirokorad (“Russia and Germany. History

The tasks of the German submarines They were formulated by K. Dönitz on the eve of his assumption of the post of commander of the first flotilla of the Weddigen submarines at the end of September 1935. A few years before the start of an unlimited submarine war, he foresaw its possibility:

The role of German submarines in the Norwegian operation This was the first operation of the Reich command, in which big role all three types of armed forces played - the army, navy (including submarine) and aviation - therefore, the organization of interaction between different types of troops was given

Characteristics

The Germans are sinking British ships: Deciphering the call signs of German submarines The surrender at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the end for Germany. The course of the war was reversed. Although in the south and west the successes of the Allies still did not look convincing enough. in African

Fighting German submarines
During the Second World War

German submarines have been operating in the Atlantic since the early days of World War II. On September 1, 1939 German submarine fleet consisted of a total of 57 submarines, of which: 35 - small boats series II coastal action (with a displacement of 250 tons) and 22 - ocean-going submarines (with a displacement of 500 and 700 tons). With such a small force, the German submarine fleet began the Battle of the Atlantic.

Start of hostilities
German submarines in the Atlantic

At first, the problems of the German submarine fleet were the insufficient number of submarines and their insufficient construction (the main shipbuilding capacities were occupied with the construction of cruisers and battleships) and the very unfortunate location of German ports. German submarines had to go to the Atlantic through the North Sea, which was full of British ships, minefields, and which was carefully patrolled by British base and aircraft carrier aviation.

A few months later, thanks to the offensive campaigns of the Wehrmacht in Western Europe, the situation in the Atlantic changed radically.

In April 1940 d. German troops occupied Norway and thus destroyed the Scotland-Norway anti-submarine line. At the same time, the German submarine fleet received conveniently located Norwegian bases in Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergen and other ports.

In May 1940 Germany occupied the Netherlands and Belgium; Anglo-French troops were defeated near Dunkirk. In June, France was destroyed as an allied state fighting Germany. After the armistice, Germany occupied the northern and western parts of the country, including all French ports on the coast of the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic Ocean.

Britain has lost its biggest ally. In 1940, the French fleet was the fourth in the world. Only a handful of French ships joined the Free French forces and fought against Germany, although they were later joined by a few Canadian-built corvettes that played a small but important role in the fight against Nazi Germany.

The British destroyers were withdrawn from the Atlantic. The campaign in Norway and the German invasion of the Benelux and France put British destroyer fleets under great strain and significant losses. Many destroyers were withdrawn from convoy routes to support the Norwegian operations in April and May and then pulled back to the English Channel to support the Dunkirk evacuation. In the summer of 1940 Great Britain was under serious threat of invasion. The destroyers were concentrated in the Channel, where they were preparing to repel the German invasion. Here, the destroyers were badly damaged by air attacks by the aircraft of the German Air Command in the Atlantic. (Luftwaffe Fliegerführer Atlantik). Seven destroyers were lost in the Norwegian campaign, six more at Dunkirk and another 10 in the Channel and North Sea in May–July, most of them from air attacks because they lacked adequate anti-aircraft armament. Most of the other destroyers were damaged.

In June 1940, Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis. The Mediterranean theater of operations was opened. Great Britain declared war on Italy and strengthened its Mediterranean fleet (6 battleships against 6 Italian ones), deploying a new squadron in Gibraltar, known as the H connection (H) - the newest English battleship Hood with a displacement of 42,000 tons, two battleships Resolution "and" Valiant ", eleven destroyers and the aircraft carrier" Ark Royal "- to counter the French fleet in the Western Mediterranean.

All these events radically changed the situation in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas.

Germany did not have the opportunity to destroy the allied navies in a direct combat clash, so it began to act on enemy communications. For this, she used: surface ships (large or boats), surface commercial raiders, submarines, aircraft.

"Happy Time" of German submarines

The end of the German campaign in Western Europe meant that the U-boats that had been involved in the Norwegian campaign were now relieved of naval operations and returned to the war on lines of communication to sink Allied ships and ships.

German submarines received direct access to the Atlantic. Since the English Channel was relatively shallow and had been blocked by minefields since mid-1940, German submarines had to navigate around the British Isles to reach the most advantageous "hunting grounds".

From the beginning of July 1940, German submarines, after patrolling in the Atlantic, began to return to new bases in Western France. The French bases at Brest, Lorient, Bordeaux, Saint-Nazaire, La Pallice and La Rochelle were 450 miles (720 km) closer to the Atlantic than the German bases in the North Sea. This greatly extended the range of the German submarines in the Atlantic, allowing them to attack convoys much further west and conduct more long time on patrol, doubling the effective number of submarines.

The number of Allied ships sunk began to rise rapidly. In June 1940, the total tonnage of sunk ships of the allied and neutral fleets amounted to 500 thousand tons. In the following months, the British lost transport ships with a total displacement of about 400 thousand tons per month. The UK is in a very difficult position.

The number of submarines on patrol in the Atlantic began to increase. In turn, the composition of Allied escorts available for convoys, which consisted of 30 to 70 mostly unarmed merchant ships, was significantly reduced. The only consolation for the British was that the large merchant fleets of occupied Norway and the Netherlands were under British control. Great Britain occupied Iceland and the Faroe Islands (Faeroe Islands) in order to obtain bases for itself and prevent them from passing into the hands of the enemy after the occupation of Denmark and Norway by German troops.

French Atlantic bases began building concrete bunkers, docks, and submarine yards that were impenetrable to Allied bombers until Barnes Wallis developed his highly effective Tallboy bomb.

German submarine base at Lorient, Western France

From June to October 1940, over 270 Allied ships were sunk. The period from June 1940 to February 1941 was remembered by German U-boat crews as " Happy time» (Die Gluckliche Zeit). 1940 and 1941, when German submarines, with relatively small losses, achieved huge successes on the communications of the allies, the crews of the submarines were also called " fat years».

which was torpedoed but remained afloat

Collections IWM. Photo No.: MISC 51237.

Initial operations by German submarines from French bases were quite effective. This was the heyday of submarine commanders such as Günther Prien (U-47), Otto Kretschmer (U-99), Joachim Schepke (U-100), Engelbert Endras (U-46), Viktor Oern (U-37) and Heinrich Bleichrodt (U-48). Each of them accounted for 30-40 sunken Allied ships.

The most famous of all German submariners was Günther Prien(1909-1941), commander of the submarine U-47, the first holder of the Knight's Cross with oak leaves among submariners. He was one of the most successful submarine commanders. Prien was nicknamed "The Bull of Scapa Flow" after torpedoing the British battleship Royal Oak, which was on a guarded roadstead in the harbor of Scapa Flow. Günther Prien went missing in the Atlantic Ocean along with his submarine and the entire crew on March 8, 1941, after an attack on convoy OB-293 en route from Liverpool to Halifax.

U-47

The greatest difficulty for the submarines was to find convoys in the vastness of the ocean. The Germans had a handful of long-range Focke-Wulf 200 Condor aircraft based in Bordeaux (France) and Stavanger (Norway) which were used for reconnaissance, but were essentially a converted civilian airliner. This aircraft was a temporary solution. Due to ongoing friction between air force(Luftwaffe) and the navy (Kriegsmarine), the primary source of sightings of the convoys were the submarines themselves. Since the submarine's bridge is located very close to the water, the range of visual observation from submarines was very limited.

Long-range naval reconnaissance "Focke-Wulf-200" (Focke-Wulf FW 200)


Source: Aircraft of the Fighting Powers, Vol II. Ed: H J Cooper, O G Thetford and D A. Russell,
Harborough Publishing Co, Leicester, England 1941.

In 1940 - early 1941, half of the Allied merchant fleet ships were sunk by submarines. By the end of 1940, the British Navy and Air Force had sunk 33 boats. But in 1941, the German shipyards increased the production of submarines to 18 units per month. In August 1941, the German submarine fleet already had 100 submarines in service.

"Wolf Packs" of Dönitz's submarines

In February - March 1941, the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during a raid in the North Atlantic, 22 Allied transport ships with a total displacement of 115,600 tons were destroyed. However, in May 1941, the British sank the largest German battleship, the Bismarck, and from the summer of 1941, Germany abandoned the use of large surface ships against Allied communications. Submarines remained the only means of combat operations on long-distance communications. At the same time, boats and aircraft operated on close communications.

Commander of the German submarine fleet Vice Admiral Karl Dönitz developed tactics for attacking submarines on convoys of Allied ships (tactics "wolf packs") when a group of submarines attacked at the same time. Karl Dönitz organized a supply system for submarines directly in the ocean away from bases.

Vice Admiral Karl Dönitz,
commander of the submarine fleet in 1935-1943,
Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy in 1943-1945

In March 1941, the German submarine fleet suffered its first significant loss when it lost three of its best submarine commanders. Died along with the crews of G. Prien and J. Shepke. O. Kretschmer was taken prisoner.

In 1941, the British began to increasingly use the convoy system, which allowed large organized groups of transport ships to cross the dangerous Atlantic Ocean under the protection of escorts from warships - cruisers, destroyers and escort aircraft carriers. This significantly reduced the losses of transport ships and caused an increase in the losses of German submarines.

From the beginning of 1941, British aviation began to take an active part in attacks on German submarines. However, the aircraft did not yet have a sufficient range and were an effective anti-submarine weapon only at short distances.

The "wolf packs" of Dönitz's submarines inflicted great damage on the Allied convoys. Until the end of 1941, the German submarine fleet was the dominant force in the Atlantic. Great Britain, with great effort, defended its transport shipping, vital to the mother country.

On December 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States, and immediately German submarines began to sink American merchant ships off the coast of the United States. The American merchant fleet was not ready for war, its single transports were defenseless. German submarines exterminated them without much difficulty. Several months passed before the Americans began to use the efficient British system of convoys, which immediately reduced the losses of American transport ships.

From December 1941 to March 1943, there was a reduction in air support for "wolf packs" of submarines. During this period, the German Navy lost 155 U-boats. During the same period, transport ships and warships of the enemy and neutral countries were sunk with a total displacement of about 10 million tons, of which 80% were submarines. In 1942 alone, German submarines managed to sink transports with a displacement of about 7.8 million tons.

1942–1943 were critical in the Battle of the Atlantic. The British began to use the Asdik underwater detection system, radars, and long-range aircraft. The escorting of the convoys was carried out by naval "support groups". The protection of allied communications began to improve, the effectiveness of German submarines began to fall, and the number of their losses increased.

During the first half of 1942, the loss of Allied transports from "wolf packs" of submarines reached a maximum number of 900 ships (with a displacement of 4 million tons). For the whole of 1942, 1,664 Allied ships (with a displacement of 7,790,697 tons) were sunk, of which 1,160 ships were submarines.

Instead of using surface raids, Germany switched to unrestricted submarine warfare. (uningeschränkter U-Boot-Krieg), when submarines began to sink civilian merchant ships without warning and at the same time did not try to save the crews of these ships.

On September 17, 1942, the commander of the submarine fleet of the German navy, Karl Dönitz, issued the order Triton Zero or the “order Laconia” (Laconia-Befehl), which forbade submarine commanders to provide assistance to the crew and passengers of sunken ships. This was necessary to avoid harassment of the submarines by Allied anti-submarine forces.

Until September 1942, according to the rules of warfare, German submarines, after attacking Allied ships, provided assistance to sailors of sunken ships and ships. On September 12, 1942, the submarine U-156 sank the British transport ship Laconia and assisted in the rescue of the crew and passengers. On September 16, 4 submarines (one Italian), with several hundred rescued on board, were attacked by American aircraft, whose pilots knew that the Germans and Italians were rescuing the British. As a result of an air raid, the U-156 submarine was badly damaged.

The next day, having learned about what had happened, the commander of the submarine fleet, Admiral Dönitz, issued an order: “ It is forbidden to make any attempts to rescue the crews of sunken ships and vessels ».

In 1942 fighting in the Atlantic went with varying degrees of success. German submarines were heading for the shores of the North and South America, Central and South Africa, some - in Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, the German submarine fleet could not achieve the complete destruction of the Atlantic communications of the allies.

A turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Losses of the German submarine fleet in 1943

On January 30, 1943, Grand Admiral Raeder was removed from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the German Reich and Karl Dönitz was appointed in his place, who was awarded the military rank of Grand Admiral.

At the beginning of 1943, about 3,000 ships and up to 2,700 Allied aircraft operated against 100-130 German submarines searching for communications.

By the beginning of 1943, the Allies had created new types of aircraft with a long range, as well as new radars. Allied navies improved their anti-submarine tactics. From April 1943, American and British anti-submarine strike groups began to operate in the Atlantic, led by escort aircraft carriers.

In 1943, the number of German submarines reached 250 units. However, in March - May, the Allies sank 67 German submarines - the maximum number.

In total, in May 1943, the German submarine fleet lost 41 submarines and more than a thousand crew members, among which was Peter Dönitz, from depth charges of Allied aircraft and destroyers, mainly in the Central Atlantic younger son Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy.

In 1943, German submarines sank Allied transport ships in the Atlantic with a total displacement of 500,000 tons. However, Allied merchant fleet losses began to decline. In June they dropped to 28 thousand tons. The construction in the United States of a large series of transport ships of the Liberty type made it possible by the end of 1943 to make up for losses.

Since May 1943 great changes have taken place. Allied aircraft began to carry out constant flights over the Bay of Biscay, where the main bases of German submarines were located on the base of the French coast. Many of them began to die even before reaching the Atlantic communications of the allies. Since the submarines of that time could not be constantly under water, they were constantly attacked by aircraft and ships of the allied fleets on their way to the Atlantic. A small number of German U-boats managed to approach the heavily guarded convoys. Neither the submarines' own radars, nor the reinforced anti-aircraft weapons helped, and when attacking convoys, homing acoustic torpedoes.

In 1943, a turning point came - for every Allied ship sunk, the German submarine fleet began to lose one submarine.

German submarine under fire from Allied aircraft in the South Atlantic in 1943

The Collection Database of the Australian War Memorial under the ID Number: 304949.

November 5, 1943 German submarine U-848 type IXC repels an air attack in the South Atlantic. In the conning tower of a submarine - a twin 20-mm anti-aircraft artillery mount Flak 38, on deck - 105 mm SKC / 32 gun.

End of the Battle of the Atlantic.
The defeat of the German submarine fleet

From April 1943 to June 1944 the final turning point took place in the Battle of the Atlantic. The allies went on the offensive. During this period, there was a qualitative and quantitative growth in the anti-submarine forces and means of the allied fleets. The Allies deciphered the radio codes of German submarines, developed a new type of radar. There was a massive construction of escort ships and escort aircraft carriers. More and more aircraft were allocated to search for submarines. As a result, there was a reduction in losses in the tonnage of transport ships, and the losses of the German submarine fleet increased significantly. The Allies not only protect their communications, but also attack German submarine bases.

After Italy's withdrawal from the war, Germany lost its bases in the Mediterranean.

By the end of 1944, the German navy and its submarine fleet had finally lost the battle for the Atlantic. By that time, the Allies had absolute superiority at sea and in the air.

January 30, 1945 Soviet submarine S-13 (commander Alexander Marinesko) sank a German passenger liner in the Baltic Sea "Wilhelm Gustlow" with a displacement of 25,484 tons. For the destruction of the Wilhelm Gustlov liner, Alexander Marinesko was included in the list of personal enemies of Adolf Hitler. The elite of the German submarine fleet was evacuated from the port of Danzig (Gdansk) on the Wilhelm Gustlov: 100 submarine commanders who completed an advanced course in managing boats with a single engine of the Walter system, 3,700 non-commissioned officers of the submarine fleet - graduates of the diving school, 22 high-ranking party officials from East Prussia, several generals and senior officers of the main department of imperial security (RSHA), an SS battalion of the auxiliary service of the Danzig port (300 people). In total, about 8 thousand people died. In Germany, mourning was declared, as after the surrender of the 6th Army in Stalingrad.

Captain 3rd rank A.I. Marinesko, commander of the Soviet submarine S-13

In March 1945, the last special group of German submarines (6 units) entered the Atlantic - the Sea Wolf detachment. The group was heading towards the United States. The Americans received false information that V-2 (V-2) ballistic missiles were on board German submarines to bombard cities on the US Atlantic coast. Hundreds of American planes and dozens of ships were sent to intercept these submarines. As a result, five of the six submarines were destroyed.

During the last five weeks of the war, the German submarine fleet lost 23 submarines with crews, while sinking 10 ships with a displacement of 52 thousand tons.

During the Second World War, the combat losses of the German submarine fleet amounted to 766 submarines. In 1939, 9 were sunk, in 1940 - 24, in 1941 - 35, in 1942 - 86, in 1943 - 242, in 1944 - 250 and in 1945 - 120 submarines.

At the end of the war, a large number of German submarines were destroyed during massive bombardments of naval bases and submarine moorings.

Of the 39 thousand sailors, members of the crews of submarines, about 32 thousand people died. The vast majority - in the last two years of the war.

On April 30, 1945, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered the start of Operation Regenbogen, during which all German ships, including submarines, except for those necessary for fishing and post-war mine clearance, were to be destroyed. However, at the request of the Allies, on May 4, Doenitz ordered the cancellation of Operation Regenbogen. The crews of 159 submarines surrendered. But the submarine commanders in the Western Baltic did not follow Dönitz's last order. They sank 217 combat-ready submarines, 16 decommissioned and 5 submarines on stocks.

After the surrender of Germany, the Allies carried out Operation Deadlight (Death Fire). From November 1945 to January 1946, off the west coast of Great Britain, the Allies sank 119 captured combat-ready German submarines by dropping bombs on them from aircraft.

Canadian sailors on the captured German submarine U-190, June 1945


Edward W. Dinsmore / Canada. Dept. of National Defense. Library and Archives Canada No. PA-145577.

Canadian sailors raise their banner above the German flag over the captured German submarine U-190, St. John, Newfoundland (St. John "s, Newfoundland), June 1945

German U-boats sank a total of 2,828 allied or neutral ships, with a total displacement of 14,687,231 tons. According to confirmed data, 2,603 ​​Allied transport ships and warships were sunk with a total displacement of 13.5 million tons, of which 11.5 million tons were lost by the British fleet. At the same time, 70 thousand military sailors and 30,248 sailors of the merchant fleet died. The British Navy lost 51,578 killed and missing.

German submarines were the most successful compared to surface ships and aircraft. They accounted for 68% of the sunken transport ships and 37.5% of the sunken Allied warships.

From total ships sunk by submarines, 61% are single ships; 9% - ships that lagged behind convoys, and 30% - ships that sailed as part of convoys. The ratio of losses and victories was 1:3.3 in favor of submarines according to Anglo-American data and 1:4 according to German data.

Germany started the war with 57 U-boats, of which 35 were Type II small coastal submarines. Then Germany launched a large program to build an ocean-going submarine fleet. During World War II (5 years and 8 months), 1,157 submarines were built at German shipyards. In total, therefore, the German submarine fleet was armed with 1214 submarines, of which 789 (according to Anglo-American data) or 651 (according to German data) were destroyed.

After the loss of advanced, and then some of the main naval bases, Germany lost favorable conditions for military operations at sea. By the end of the war, US and British industries were building new transport ships and warships faster than the Allies were losing. As a result, Germany was defeated in the Battle of the Atlantic.

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