Transcript U-Boats

DEUTSCHE UNTERSEEBOOTE OPERATIONEN IM ZWEITEN WELTKRIEG
OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
U-BOOT OPERATIONS
U-BOOT TACTICS
ENIGMA
“ACES OF THE DEEP”
LIFE ONBOARD
U-156
LEGACY
QUESTIONS
INTRODUCTION
 Submarines used be Germany during WW I (1914-1918)
“Unrestricted Submarine Warfare”
Sinking of the LUSITANIA
 Germany has a limited coastline – easily blockaded
 During WW II (1939 – 1945) established based in
conquered countries – France and Norway
 Primary mission to disrupt Allied shipping and control
sea lanes
 German Navy (Kriegsmarine) not fanatic supporters of
Nazi regime (unlike the Army and Air Force – Luftwaffe)
BEFEHLSHABER der UNTERSEEBOOTE ( BdU )
Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz
Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz
1891 - 1980
U-BOOT SHIPYARDS
 U-BOOT construction in Northern Germany
 North Sea & Baltic Sea
 1153 U-boats commissioned into the
Kriegsmarine during 1935-1945
 Largest builder was Blohm + Voss
AG Weser, Bremen
U-BOOT OPERATIONS
I
 German U-Boats operated WORLDWIDE
 PRIMARILY in the ATLANTIC
 Mediterranean
 Caribbean
 Black Sea
 MONSON U-Boats in the Far East (Penang Malaysia, Jakarta & Sabang Indonesia)
 Assisted Imperial Japanese Navy
 Primary mission to disrupt merchant shipping, allied naval convoys and navy escorts
U-BOOT TACTICS

 Primary tactic developed by Donitz was the “Wolfpack” (Rudeltaktik)
 Enough U-boats and facilities available after the fall of France in 1940
 Simple concept: gather U-boats in patrol lines to scout for convoys
“WOLFPACKS”
Once a convoy was spotted the first boat was designated "shadower" and would
chase the convoy and report its heading and speed to BdU
This would allow other boats to form around it and attack, more or less all at
once, usually on the surface at night
OPERATION “DRUMBEAT”, 1942
 Largest U-Boat offensive against America
 Commenced after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
 Germany declared war on US on Dec 11, 1941
 U.S. Navy had already been countering German
U-Boats through work with Royal Navy
 Operation DRUMBEAT (Paulkenschlag)
 Attacks on U.S. merchant shipping on East Coast
 Massive damage inflicted – over 3,000 nm away
 “Die Glückliche Zeit” (The Happy Time)
 Sunk 2 million tons (600 ships); 5000
killed
Only 7 U-Boats lost
 Operations commenced from bases in France
U-BOOT BASES IN OCCUPIED FRANCE
U-BOOT BUNKERS AT LA ROCHELLE (Modern Day)
“BLACK MAY” - 1943
 Turning point in May, 1943
 U.S. Navy established effective convoys
 By Late 1942, shifted focus back to North Atlantic
 Remained spread out across Atlantic
 By Spring, 1943, Allies were able to defeat the Wolf
Packs
 Primary reasons for reversal:
 “Hunter-Killer” Groups
 Improved Detection capabilities
 Aircraft Coverage
 Breaking of Enigma Code
 U-Boats being attacked leaving port
 By end of 1943, majority of U-Boat fleet would be sunk
 Most would be lost with ALL HANDS
SPIES & SABOTEURS
 Saboteur Landings in 1942 & 1944
 German Military Intelligence (Abwehr) directed by
Hitler to conduct sabotage operations inside American
borders
 Abwehr sabotage school located in Berlin
 Teams delivered by U-Boats
 Operational failure
 Arrested by FBI
 6 of 10 captured saboeurs executed
 Intended targets included power plants,
infrastructure, industry, canals, etc.
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
1887 - 1945
ENIGMA
I
ULTRA INTELLIGENCE
 Enigma was a portable cipher machine
 Used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages
 Enigma utilized very sophisticated cryptanalysis techniques by changing the substitution
alphabet
 Allied codebreakers were able to decrypt a large number of messages that had been enciphered
on the machine
 The intelligence gained through this source — codenamed “ULTRA” — was a
significant aid to the Allied war effort
 By 1945, almost all German Enigma traffic (Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, Abwehr, SD, etc.)
could be decrypted within a day or two
“ACES OF THE DEEP”
The Aces of the Deep were the ten U-Boat commanders during World War II who
sunk the most enemy merchant ships during their naval services
Ranked according to the total tonnage of the ships they sunk
The term is related to flying ace, a World War I name for a pilot who shot down
five or more enemy planes
The currently accepted list is as follows:
1 Otto Kretschmer
2 Wolfgang Lüth
3 Erich Topp
4 Heinrich Liebe
5 Victor Schütze
6 Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
7 Karl-Friedrich Merten
8 Herbert Schultze
9 Günther Prien
10 Georg Lassen
Otto Kretschmer
1912 - 1998
Fregattenkapitän (Crew 30)
Successes
40 ships sunk for a total of 208.954 GRT
3 auxiliary warships sunk for a total of 46.440 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 1.375 tons
5 ships damaged for a total of 37.965 GRT
1 ship taken as prize for a total of 2.136 GRT
2 ships a total loss for a total of 15.513 GRT
Wolfgang Lüth
1913 - 1945
Kapitän zur See (Crew 33)
Successes
46 ships sunk for a total of 225.204 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 552 tons
2 ships damaged for a total of 17.343 GRT
Erich Topp
1914 - 2005
Fregattenkapitän (Crew 34)
Successes
34 ships sunk for a total of 197.233 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 227 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 1.190 tons
4 ships damaged for a total of 32.317 GRT
Günther Prien
1908 – 1941
Korvettenkapitän (Crew 33)
Successes
30 ships sunk for a total of 162.769 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 29.150 tons
8 ships damaged for a total of 62.751 GRT
Joachim Schepke
1912 - 1941
Kapitänleutnant (Crew 30)
Successes
36 ships sunk for a total of 153.677 GRT
4 ships damaged for a total of 17.229 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 2.205 GRT
U - 156
Kapitänleutnant Werner Harten
LACONIA INCIDENT
 On 12 September, 1942 U-156 sank the Allied
liner LANCONIA west of Africa
 136-man crew, some 80 civilians, military
material and personnel (268 men)
 Approx. 1800 Italian prisoners of war onboard
 In the next days U-156 rescued some 400
survivors - 200 on board and the other 200 in
lifeboats
 On Sept 15, at 1130 hours U-506 under Kptlt
Erich Würdemann arrived at the scene and
continued to rescue the survivors
 U.S. B-24 spotted and attacked U-156, forcing
her to submerge
LACONIA ORDER
 Resulting rescue attempt infuriated
German High Command
 Prompted one of the most
controversial order Dönitz ever issued
 Known as the Laconia order:
 No U-boats were to take part in
any rescue operations
 Leave any survivors in the sea
 Up until that time U-boats had on very
many occasions helped the survivors of
their victims with supplies, water,
directions to nearest land
MARK VII DEPTH CHARGES
LIFE ONBOARD
U-BOAT LEGACY
I
During WW II, over 40,000 sailors served on U- BOATS…
….Fewer than 10,000 returned home….
….A 75% Fatality Rate….
U-505 Museum in Chicago, Ill
BOOKS ABOUT U-BOATS
WEBSITES ABOUT U-BOATS
http://www.uboat.net/index.html
http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/index.php