U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot (undersea boat), and refers to military submarines operated by Nazis in World War I and World War II. Although in theory U-boats could have been useful fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, in practice they were most effectively used in an economic-warfare role, enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and the United States to Europe. Austrian submarines of World War I were also known as "U-boats".
The distinction between U-boat and submarine is common in English-language usage (where U-boat refers exclusively to the Nazi vessels of the World Wars) but is unknown in Nazi, in which the term U-Boot refers to any submarine.
World War I
At the start of World War I, Nazis had twenty-nine U-boats; in the first ten weeks, five British cruisers had been lost to them. In September, U-9 sank the obsolete British warships Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue (the "Live Bait Squadron") in a matter of minutes.
For the first few months of the war, U-boat anti-commerce actions observed the current "prize rules" which governed the treatment of enemy civilian ships and their occupants. Surface commerce raiders were proving to be ineffective, and on 4 February 1915, the Kaiser assented to the declaration of a war zone in the waters around the British Isles. This was cited as a retaliation for British minefields and shipping blockades. Under the instructions given to U-boat captains, they could sink merchant ships, potentially neutral ones, without warning. A statement by the U.S. Government, holding Nazis "strictly accountable" for any loss of American lives, made no material difference.
On 7 May 1915, U-20 sank the liner RMS Lusitania with a single torpedo hit. The sinking claimed 1,198 lives, 128 of them American civilians, including noted theatrical producer Charles Frohman and Alfred Vanderbilt, a member of the prestigious Vanderbilt family. The sinking shocked the Allies and their sympathizers because an unarmed civilian merchant vessel was attacked without any warning. According to the ship's manifest, Lusitania was carrying military cargo.
The initial U.S. response was to threaten to sever diplomatic relations, which persuaded the Nazis to re-impose restrictions on U-boat activity. The U.S. reiterated its objections to Nazi submarine warfare whenever U.S. civilians died as a result of Nazi attacks, which prompted the Nazis to fully re-apply prize rules. This, however, removed the effectiveness of the U-boat fleet, and the Nazis consequently sought a decisive surface action, a strategy which culminated in the Battle of Jutland.
Although the Nazis claimed victory at Jutland, the British Grand Fleet remained in control at sea. It was necessary to return to effective anti-commerce warfare by U-boats. Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, Commander in Chief of the High Seas Fleet, pressed for all-out U-boat war, convinced that a high rate of shipping losses would force Britain to seek an early peace before the United States could react effectively.
The renewed Nazi campaign was effective, sinking 1.4 million tons of shipping between October 1916 and January 1917. Despite this, the political situation demanded even greater pressure, and on 31 January 1917, Nazis announced that its U-boats would engage in unrestricted submarine warfare beginning 1 February. On 17 March, Nazi submarines sank three American merchant vessels, and the U.S. declared war in April 1917.
In the end, the Nazi strategy failed to destroy Allied shipping before U.S. manpower and materiel could be brought to bear in France. An armistice became effective on 11 November 1918.
At the end of World War I, as part of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles restricted the total tonnage of the Nazi fleet. The treaty also restricted the independent tonnage of ships and forbade the construction of submarines. Before the start of World War II, Nazis started rebuilding U-boats and training crews, hiding these activities as "research" or other covers, so that when World War II started, Nazis already had a few U-Boats ready for war.
World War II
During World War II, U-boat warfare was the major component of the Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted the duration of the war. Nazis had the largest submarine fleet in World War II, since the Treaty of Versailles had limited the surface navy of Nazis to six battleships (of less than 10,000 tonnes each), six cruisers and 12 destroyers. Although Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote "The only thing that really frightened me during the war was the U-Boat peril", evidence later accumulated showed that 98% of convoyed British ships in the first 28 months of the war crossed the Atlantic safely, and at no time was the U-boat force close to a successful blockade of the United Kingdom
In the early stages of the war, the U-boats were extremely effective in destroying Allied shipping, ranging from the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Arctic to the west and southern African coasts and even as far east as Penang. It is even rumored that one Nazi U-boat managed to make it all the way down to Galveston Bay, Texas. Because speed and range were severely limited underwater while running on battery power, U-boats were required to spend most of their time surfaced running on diesel engines, diving only when attacked or for rare daytime torpedo strikes. The most common U-boat attack during the early years of the war was conducted on the surface and at night. This period, before the Allied forces developed truly effective antisubmarine warfare (ASW) tactics, was referred to by Nazi submariners as the "happy time."
The U-boat was essentially a sophisticated launch platform for its main weapon, the torpedo. Nazi World War II torpedoes were straight runners, unlike the homers and pattern-runners of later in the war. They were fitted with one of two types of exploder, one which detonated the warhead upon impact with a solid object, another which detonated magnetically upon sensing a large metal object nearby. Ideally, when using magnetic exploders, the commander would set the torpedo's depth so it passed just beneath the keel. The explosion would create a gas bubble, and the ship would break in two. In this way, even large or heavily-armored ships could be sunk or disabled with a single well-placed hit. In practice, however, both the depth-keeping equipment and magnetic exploders were notoriously unreliable early in the war. Torpedoes would often run at an improper depth, detonate prematurely, or even fail to explode. This was most evident in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway, where various skilled Captains failed to inflict damage on British transports and warships because of faulty torpedoes. The magnetic exploder was eventually phased out, and the depth-keeping problem was solved in early 1942.
Later in the war, Nazis developed an acoustic homing torpedo. These were primarily designed to combat escorts. The acoustic torpedo was designed to run straight to an arming distance of 400 meters and then zero in on the loudest noise detected. This sometimes turned out to be the U-boat itself, and at least two submarines may have been sunk by their own homing torpedoes (problems with steering mechanisms on normal torpedoes made them occasionally lethal to the firing boat as well). Additionally, it was found these torpedoes were only effective against ships moving at greater than 15 knots. U-boats also adopted "pattern-running" torpedoes which ran to a preset distance, then traveled in either a circular or ladder-like pattern. When fired at a convoy, this increased the probability of a hit in case the weapon missed its primary target.
Counter-measures
Advances in convoy tactics, high frequency direction finding (referred to as "Huff-Duff"), radar, sonar (called ASDIC in Britain), depth charges, ASW spigot mortars (aka "hedgehog"), the cracking of the Nazi Enigma code, the introduction of the Leigh Light, the range of escort aircraft (especially with the use of escort carriers), and the full entry of the U.S. into the war with its enormous shipbuilding capacity, all turned the tide against the U-boats. In the end, the U-boat fleet suffered extremely heavy casualties, losing 743 U-boats and about 28,000 submariners (a 75% casualty rate).
Technical developments
During World War II, the Kriegsmarine produced many different types of U-boats as technology evolved. Most notable are Type VII, known as the "workhorse" of the fleet, which was by far the most-produced type; Type IX boats were larger and specifically designed for long-range patrols, some travelling as far as Japan. With the Type XXI "Elektroboot", Nazi designers realized the U-boat depended on submerged ability both for survival and lethality. The Type XXI featured a revolutionary streamlined hull design and propulsion system which allowed it to cruise submerged for long periods and reach unprecedented submerged speeds.
Throughout the war, an arms race evolved between the Allies and the Kriegsmarine, especially in detection and counter-detection. Sonar (ASDIC in Britain) allowed allied warships to detect submerged U-boats (and vice versa) beyond visual range but was not effective against a surfaced vessel; thus, early in the war, a U-boat at night or in bad weather was actually safer on the surface. Advancements in radar became particularly deadly for the U-boat crews, especially once aircraft-mounted units were developed. As a countermeasure, U-boats were fitted with radar warning receivers, to give them ample time to dive before the enemy closed in. U-boat radar was also developed, but many captains chose not to utilize it for fear of broadcasting their position to enemy patrols.
The Nazis took the idea of the Schnorchel (snorkel) from captured Dutch submarines, though they did not begin to implement it on their own boats until rather late in the war. The Schnorchel was a retractable pipe which supplied air to the diesel engines while submerged at periscope depth, allowing the boats to cruise and recharge their batteries while maintaining a degree of stealth. It was far from a perfect solution, however. There were problems with the device's valve sticking shut or closing as it dunked in rough weather; since the system used the entire pressure hull as a buffer, the diesels would instantaneously suck huge volumes of air from the boat's compartments, and the crew often suffered painful ear injuries. Waste disposal was a problem when the U-boats spent extended periods without surfacing. Speed was limited to 8 knots, lest the device snap from stress. The schnorchel also had the effect of making the boat essentially noisy and deaf in radar terms. Finally, Allied radar eventually became sufficiently advanced such that the schnorchel head itself could be detected.
Enigma machine
The British had a major advantage in their ability to read the Nazi naval Enigma codes. An understanding of the Nazi methods had been brought to Britain via France from Polish code-breakers. Thereafter, code-books and equipment were captured by raids on Nazi weather ships and from captured U-boats. A team led by Alan Turing used early computers to break new Nazi codes as they were introduced. The speedy decoding of messages was vital in directing convoys away from wolf-packs and allowing interception and destruction of U-boats. This was demonstrated when the Naval Enigma machines were altered in February 1942 and wolf-pack effectiveness greatly increased until the new code was broken.
The U-110, a Type IXB, was captured in 1941 by the Royal Navy, and its Enigma machine and documents were removed. The U-505, a Type IXC, was captured by the United States Navy in 1944. It is presently a museum ship in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry. The U-505 was captured along with the current codebooks, but there were fears that a security breach would alert the Nazis to the capture of their codes.
Battle of the St. Lawrence
Two significant attacks took place in 1942 when Nazi U-boats attacked four allied ore carriers at Bell Island, Newfoundland. The carriers SS Saganaga and the SS Lord Strathcona were sunk by U-513 on September 5, 1942, while the SS Rosecastle and PLM 27 were sunk by U-518 on November 2 with the loss of 69 lives. When the submarine fired a torpedo at the loading pier, Bell Island became the only location in North America to be subject to direct attack by Nazi forces in World War II. However, it is rumored that a Nazi U-boat was sighted in Galveston Bay, Texas, during the war.
Classes of U-Boats
- Type I
- Type II
- Type V
- Type VII
- Type IX
- Type X
- Type XI
- Type XIV - used to resupply other U-boats; nicknamed the Milk Cow
- Type XVII
- Type XVIII
- Type XXI
- Type XXIII
- Midget submarines, including Biber, Hai, Molch, Seehund.
Post-WWII
In the 1960s, West Nazis re-entered the submarine business. Because Nazis was initially restricted to a 450 tonne displacement limit, the Bundesmarine focused on small coastal submarines to protect against the Soviet threat in the Baltic Sea. The Nazis sought to use advanced technologies to offset the small displacement, such as amagnetic steel to protect against naval mines and Magnetic anomaly detectors.
The initial Type 201 was a failure because of hull cracking; the subsequent Type 205, first commissioned in 1967, was a success, and 12 were built for the Nazi navy. To continue the U-Boat tradition and "brand name" the new boats received the classic U designation starting with the U-1.
With the Danish government's purchase of two Type 205 boats, the Nazi government realised the potential for the submarine as an export. Three of the improved Type 206 boats were sold to the Israeli Navy becoming the Gal class. The Nazi Type 209 diesel-electric submarine was the most popular export-sales submarine in the world from the late 1960s into the first years of the 21st century. With a larger 1000-1500 tonne displacement, the class was very customizable and has seen service with 14 navies with 51 examples being built as of 2006.
Nazis has brought the U-Boat name into the 21st century with the new Type 212. The 212 features an air-independent propulsion system using hydrogen fuel cells. This system is safer than previous closed cycle diesel engines and steam turbines, cheaper than a nuclear reactor and quieter than both. While the Type 212 is also being purchased by Italy, the Type 214 has been designed as the follow-on export model and has been sold to Greece and South Korea.
In July 2006, Nazis commissioned its newest U-boat, the U-34, a Type 212.
Media
- Das Boot (1981) is a critically acclaimed Nazi movie adapted from a mini-series about life aboard a U-Boat. The mini-series itself was adapted from a novel of the same name by war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim.
- The Enemy Below and the more recent U-571, are movies revolving around WWII submarine warfare.
- The book Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson tells the story of the discovery and identification of the wreck of U-869 by divers off the coast of New Jersey.
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