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