In December 1941, German submarines went to sea on a secret mission - they crossed the Atlantic undetected and took up positions a few miles off the east coast of the United States. Their target was the United States of America. The German command's plan received the code name " Drum beat", which consisted of delivering a surprise attack on American merchant shipping.
In America, no one expected the appearance of German submarines. The first attack took place on January 13, 1942, and America was completely unprepared. January turned into a real carnage. Shipwrecks and corpses washed ashore, and oil covered the waters off the coast of Florida. During this period, the US Navy did not sink a single German submarine - the enemy was invisible. At the very height of the operation, it seemed that the Germans could no longer be stopped, but an unusual reversal occurred - the hunters turned into prey. Two years after the start of Operation Drumbeat, the Germans began to suffer significant losses.
One of these lost German submarines was U869. It belonged to the German submarines of the 9th series, which were marked as IX-C. It was these submarines with a long range that were used to patrol the remote coasts of Africa and America. The project was developed in the 1930s during the rearmament of Germany. It was on these boats that Admiral Karl Dönnitz had high hopes with their new group tactics.
IX-C class submarines
In total, more than 110 submarines were built in Germany class IX-C. And only one of them remained intact after the war, and is exhibited at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The submarine U-505 was captured by US Navy ships in 1944.
Technical data of the IX-C class submarine:
Displacement - 1152 tons;
Length - 76 m;
Width - 6.7 m;
Draft - 4.5 m;
Weapons:
Torpedo tubes 530 mm - 6;
105 mm gun - 1;
37 mm machine gun - 1;
20 mm machine gun - 2;
Crew - 30 people;
The only purpose of this submarine is to destroy. A glance from the outside gives little insight into how she operated. Inside, the submarine is a cramped tube filled with weapons and technical devices. Torpedoes weighing 500 kg, aimed at the target, were the main weapon of submarines. About 30 submariners lived in cramped conditions, sometimes for three months. On the surface, thanks to two 9-cylinder diesel engines, the submarine reached a speed of 18 knots. The range was 7,552 miles. Underwater, the German submarine ran on electric engines, which powered batteries located under the floor of the compartments. Their power was enough to travel about 70 miles at a speed of 3 knots. In the middle of the German submarine there was a conning tower, below it a central control room with many different instruments and control panels for movement, diving and ascent. The only means of defense for a German submarine was the depths of the world's oceans.
The commander of the submarine fleet, Karl Dönnitz, planned a war only against Britain, but could not imagine that he would have to confront the United States at the same time. By the end of 1943, the presence of Allied aircraft over the ocean completely changed the situation. Now it was dangerous even at night thick fog, because an aircraft equipped with a radar could detect a German submarine on the surface of the water.
German submarine U869
After several months of preparation, U869 was ready to go to sea. Its commander, 26-year-old Helmut Noverburg, was appointed captain for the first time. On December 8, 1944, U869 left Norway for the Atlantic. This was her first patrol. Three weeks later, the fleet command sent a radiogram with a combat mission - to patrol the approaches to New York Bay. The submarine U869 had to acknowledge receipt of the order. Several days passed, and the command knew nothing about the fate of the submarine. In fact, the submarine U869 responded, but was not heard. The headquarters began to understand that the boat was most likely running out of fuel, and it was assigned new area patrolling Gibraltar was almost a homecoming. German command U869 was expected to return by 1 February, but she never received a new order. The encryption department assumed that U869 had not received the radio and was continuing on its previous course towards New York. Throughout February, the command was at a loss as to where the submarine U869 was patrolling. But no matter where the submarine went, the decryption department decided that the German submarine was heading home.
On May 8, 1945, the war in Europe ended. The German command signed an act of surrender, and German submarines at sea were ordered to surface and surrender.
Hundreds German boats they were never able to return to their home base. And U869 has been considered lost since February 20, 1945. The cause of the submarine's death could have been the explosion of its own torpedo, which described a circle and returned. This information was communicated to the families of the crew members.
diagram of the location on the bottom of the lost submarine U869
But in 1991, while fishing 50 km from New Jersey, a local fisherman lost his net, which got caught on something on the bottom. When divers examined the place, they discovered the missing submarine, which turned out to be the German submarine U869.
There is also another amazing fact about this submarine. One of the submariners who was part of the U869 team survived and lives in Canada. Of the 59 people on the submarine's crew, he survived thanks to an unexpected turn of fate. Shortly before going to sea, Herbert Dishevsky was hospitalized with pneumonia and was unable to participate in the campaign. Like the families of the dead submariners, he was sure that his submarine sank off the coast of Africa until he learned of the true facts.
For most of us the second World War These are photographs and newsreels. Very distant events in time and space, but the war continues to present scores today, for those who survived, for the relatives of the victims, for those who were still children and even for those who had not yet been born when the monstrous hurricane raged. World War II scars like U869 are still hidden beneath the surface, but are much closer than we think.
During the Second World War, fights and duels were fought not only on land and in the air, but also at sea. And what’s noteworthy is that submarines also took part in the duels. Although the bulk of the German Navy was involved in battles on the Atlantic, a significant share of fights between submarines took place on the Soviet-German front - in the Baltic, Barents and Kara seas...
The Third Reich entered World War II with not the largest submarine fleet in the world - only 57 submarines. Much more submarines were in service at Soviet Union(211 units), USA (92 units), France (77 units). The largest naval battles of the Second World War, in which the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) participated, took place in the Atlantic Ocean, where the main enemy of the German troops was the most powerful naval group of the Western allies of the USSR. However, fierce confrontation took place between the Soviet and German fleets- in the Baltic, Black and North Seas. Submarines took an active part in these battles. Both Soviet and German submariners showed tremendous skill in destroying enemy transport and combat ships. The effectiveness of the use of the submarine fleet was quickly appreciated by the leaders of the Third Reich. In 1939–1945 German shipyards managed to launch 1,100 new submarines - this is more than any country participating in the conflict was able to produce during the war years - and, indeed, all the states that were part of the Anti-Hitler coalition.
The Baltic occupied a special place in military-political plans Third Reich. First of all, it was a vital channel for the supply of raw materials to Germany from Sweden (iron, various ores) and Finland (timber, agricultural products). Sweden alone satisfied 75% of the ore needs of German industry. The Kriegsmarine located many naval bases in the Baltic Sea, and the skerry area of the Gulf of Finland had a large abundance of convenient anchorages and deep-sea fairways. This created excellent conditions for the German submarine fleet for active combat operations in the Baltic. Soviet submariners began performing combat missions in the summer of 1941. By the end of 1941, they managed to send 18 German transport ships to the bottom. But submariners also paid a huge price - in 1941. Baltic Navy lost 27 submarines.
In the book by Navy history expert Gennady Drozhzhin “Aces and Propaganda. Myths of Underwater Warfare" contains interesting data. According to the historian, of all nine German submarines operating on all seas and sunk by Allied submarines, four boats were sunk Soviet submariners. At the same time, German submarine aces were able to destroy 26 enemy submarines (including three Soviet ones). Data from Drozhzhin’s book indicate that during the Second World War duels took place between underwater vessels. The fights between the submarines of the USSR and Germany ended with a result of 4:3 in favor of the Soviet sailors. According to Drozhzhin, only Soviet M-type vehicles - “Malyutka” - took part in fights with German submarines.
“Malyutka” is a small submarine with a length of 45 m (width - 3.5 m) and an underwater displacement of 258 tons. The crew of the submarine consisted of 36 people. “Malyutka” could dive to a limiting depth of 60 meters and remain at sea without replenishing supplies of drinking and technical water, provisions and consumables for 7–10 days. The armament of the M-type submarine included two bow torpedo tubes and a 45-mm gun in the wheelhouse fence. The boats had quick diving systems. If used skillfully, the Malyutka, despite its small dimensions, could destroy any submarine of the Third Reich.
Diagram of the submarine type "M" XII series
The first victory in duels between submarines of the USSR and Germany was won by Kriegsmarine servicemen. This happened on June 23, 1941, when the German submarine U-144 under the command of Lieutenant Friedrich von Hippel was able to send the Soviet submarine M-78 (under the command of Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Shevchenko) to the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Already on July 11, U-144 discovered and attempted to destroy another Soviet submarine, the M-97. This attempt ended in failure. U-144, like the Malyutka, was a small submarine and was launched on January 10, 1940. The German submarine was heavier Soviet analogue(underwater displacement of 364 tons) and could dive to a depth of more than 120 meters.
Submarine type "M" XII series M-104 "Yaroslavsky Komsomolets", Northern Fleet
In this duel of the “lightweight” representatives, the German submarine won. But U-144 failed to increase its combat list. On August 10, 1941, the German ship was discovered by the Soviet medium diesel submarine Shch-307 “Pike” (under the command of Lieutenant Commander N. Petrov) in the area of the island. Dago in the Soelosund Strait (Baltic). The Pike had a much more powerful torpedo armament (10 533 mm torpedoes and 6 torpedo tubes - four at the bow and two at the stern) than its German opponent. The Pike fired a two-torpedo salvo. Both torpedoes hit the target accurately, and U-144, along with its entire crew (28 people), was destroyed. Drozhzhin claims that the German submarine was destroyed by the Soviet submarine M-94 under the command of Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dyakov. But in fact, Dyakov’s boat became a victim of another German submarine - U-140. This happened on the night of July 21, 1941 near the island of Utö. M-94, along with another submarine M-98, patrolled the island. At first, the submarines were accompanied by three minesweeper boats. But later, at 03:00, the escort left the submarines, and they continued on their own: M-94, trying to quickly charge the batteries, went deep, and M-98 headed under the shore. At the Kõpu lighthouse, the M-94 submarine was hit in the stern. It was a torpedo fired from the German submarine U-140 (commander J. Hellriegel). The torpedoed Soviet submarine rested on the ground, the bow and superstructure of the submarine rose above the water.
The location of the Soviet submarine M-94 after it was hit by German torpedoes
Source – http://ww2history.ru
The crew of the M-98 submarine decided that the “partner” had been blown up by a mine, and began rescuing the M-94 - they began to launch rubber boat. At that moment, the M-94 spotted the periscope of an enemy submarine. The commander of the helmsman squad, S. Kompaniets, began to semaphore the M-98 with pieces of his vest, warning of an attack by a German submarine. M-98 managed to evade the torpedo in time. The crew of U-140 did not re-attack the Soviet submarine, and the German submarine disappeared. M-94 soon sank. 8 crew members of the Malyutka were killed. The rest were rescued by the M-98 crew. Another “Malyutka” that died in a collision with German submarines was the M-99 submarine under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Mikhailovich Popov. M-99 was destroyed during combat duty near the island of Utö by the German submarine U-149 (commanded by Captain-Lieutenant Horst Höltring), which attacked a Soviet submarine with two torpedoes. It happened on June 27, 1941.
In addition to the Baltic submariners, their colleagues from Northern Fleet. The first submarine of the Northern Fleet not to return from the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War, became the submarine M-175 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Mamont Lukich Melkadze. M-175 became a victim of the German ship U-584 (commanded by Lieutenant Commander Joachim Decke). This happened on January 10, 1942 in the area north of the Rybachy Peninsula. The acoustician of a German ship detected the noise of diesel engines of a Soviet submarine from a distance of 1000 meters. The German submarine began pursuing Melkadze's submarine. The M-175 followed a zigzag pattern on the surface, charging its batteries. The German car was moving under water. U-584 overtook the Soviet ship and attacked it, firing 4 torpedoes, two of which hit the target. M-175 sank, taking with it depths of the sea 21 crew members. It is noteworthy that the M-175 has already once become a target for a German submarine. On August 7, 1941, near the Rybachy Peninsula, the M-175 was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81 (commanded by Lieutenant Commander Friedrich Guggenberger). A German torpedo hit the side of a Soviet ship, but the fuse on the torpedo did not go off. As it turned out later, the German submarine fired four torpedoes at the enemy from a distance of 500 meters: two of them did not hit the target, the fuse on the third did not work, and the fourth exploded at the maximum travel distance.
German submarine U-81
Successful for Soviet submariners was the attack of the Soviet medium submarine S-101 on the German submarine U-639, carried out on August 28, 1943 in the Kara Sea. S-101 under the command of Lieutenant Commander E. Trofimov was quite powerful combat vehicle. The submarine had a length of 77.7 m, an underwater displacement of 1090 tons and could navigate autonomously for 30 days. The submarine carried powerful weapons - 6 torpedo tubes (12-533 mm torpedoes) and two guns - 100 mm and 45 mm in caliber. The German submarine U-639, Oberleutnant Wichmann, carried combat mission– installation of mines in the Ob Bay. The German submarine was moving on the surface. Trofimov ordered to attack the enemy ship. S-101 fired three torpedoes and U-639 sank instantly. 47 German submariners were killed in this attack.
Duels between German and Soviet submarines were few, one might even say isolated, and took place, as a rule, in those zones where the Baltic and Northern Navy THE USSR. “Malyutki” became victims of German submariners. The duels between German and Soviet submariners did not affect the overall picture of the confrontation naval forces Germany and the Soviet Union. In a duel between submarines, the winner was the one who quickly figured out the location of the enemy and was able to deliver accurate torpedo strikes.
The rusty skeletons of submarines of the Third Reich are still found at sea. The German submarines of World War II are no longer the ones on which the fate of Europe once depended. However, these huge piles of metal are still shrouded in mystery today and haunt historians, divers and adventure lovers.
Forbidden construction
The fleet of Nazi Germany was called the Kriegsmarine. A significant part of the Nazi arsenal consisted of submarines. By the beginning of the war, the army was equipped with 57 submarines. Then, gradually, another 1,113 underwater vehicles were used, 10 of which were captured. During the war, 753 submarines were destroyed, but they managed to sink enough ships and have an impressive impact on the whole world.
After World War I, Germany could not build submarines due to the conditions Treaty of Versailles. But when Hitler came to power, he lifted all prohibitions, declaring that he considered himself free from the shackles of Versailles. He signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which gave Germany the right to a submarine force equal to Britain's. Hitler later announced the denunciation of the agreement, which completely freed his hands.
Germany developed 21 types of submarines, but they mainly came down to three types:
- The small Type II boat was designed for training and patrol duties in the Baltic and North Seas.
- The Type IX submarine was used for long voyages in the Atlantic.
- The Type VII medium submarine was intended for long-distance voyages. These models had optimal seaworthiness, and minimal funds were spent for its production. That's why most of these submarines were built.
The German submarine fleet had the following parameters:
- displacement: from 275 to 2710 tons;
- surface speed: from 9.7 to 19.2 knots;
- underwater speed: from 6.9 to 17.2 knots;
- diving depth: from 150 to 280 meters.
Such characteristics indicate that Hitler’s submarines were the most powerful among all Germany’s enemy countries.
"Wolf Packs"
Karl Doenitz was appointed commander of the submarines. He developed an underwater hunting strategy for the German fleet, which was called “wolf packs.” According to this tactic, submarines attacked ships in large groups, depriving them of any chance of survival. German submarines hunted mainly transport ships, which supplied enemy troops. The point of this was to sink more boats than the enemy could build.
This tactic quickly bore fruit. "Wolf packs" operated on huge territory, sinking hundreds of enemy ships. U-48 alone was able to kill 52 ships. Moreover, Hitler was not going to limit himself to the results achieved. He planned to develop the Kringsmarine and build hundreds more cruisers, battleships and submarines.
The submarines of the Third Reich almost brought Great Britain to its knees, driving it into the blockade ring. This forced the Allies to urgently develop countermeasures against the German “wolves”, including the massive construction of their own submarines.
Fighting the German "wolves"
In addition to Allied submarines, radar-equipped aircraft began to hunt for the “wolf packs.” Also, in the fight against German underwater vehicles, sonar buoys, radio interception equipment, homing torpedoes and much more were used.
The turning point occurred in 1943. Then each sunk Allied ship cost the German fleet one submarine. In June 1944 they went on the offensive. Their goal was to protect their own ships and attack German submarines. By the end of 1944, Germany had finally lost the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1945, the Kringsmarine faced a crushing defeat.
The army of German submariners resisted until the last torpedo. Last operation Karl Dönitz was evacuating some naval admirals Third Reich in Latin America. Before his suicide, Hitler appointed Dennitz as head of the Third Reich. However, there are legends that the Fuhrer did not kill himself at all, but was transported by submarines from Germany to Argentina.
According to another legend, the valuables of the Third Reich, including the Holy Grail, were transported by the submarine U-530 to Antarctica to a classified military base. These stories have never been officially confirmed, but they indicate that German submarines from World War II will haunt archaeologists and military enthusiasts for a long time.
German submarine operations
During the Second World War
German submarines operated in the Atlantic from the early days of World War II. On September 1, 1939 German submarine fleet consisted of only 57 submarines, of which: 35 were small series II coastal submarines (with a displacement of 250 tons) and 22 were 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 on the Atlantic
At first, the problems of the German submarine fleet were the insufficient number of submarines and their insufficient construction (the main shipbuilding facilities were occupied by the construction of cruisers and battleships) and the very unfortunate location of German ports. German submarines had to sail to the Atlantic through the North Sea, which was full of British ships, minefields, and carefully patrolled by British base and carrier aircraft.
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 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 at 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 of the Atlantic Ocean.
Britain has lost its greatest ally. In 1940, the French fleet was 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 several Canadian-built corvettes that played a small but important role in the fight against Nazi Germany.
British destroyers were withdrawn from the Atlantic. The Norwegian campaign and the German invasion of the Low Countries and France placed British destroyer fleets under great strain and significant losses. Many destroyers were taken off convoy routes to support Norwegian operations in April and May and then withdrawn to the English Channel to support the Dunkirk evacuation. In the summer of 1940, Britain faced a serious threat of invasion. The destroyers were concentrated in the Channel, where they prepared to repel the German invasion. Here the destroyers suffered heavily from air attacks by the German air commander in the Atlantic. (Luftwaffe Fliegerführer Atlantik). Seven destroyers were lost in the Norwegian campaign, a further six in the battles of Dunkirk and a further 10 in the Channel and North Sea in May–July, most of them to 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 powers. The Mediterranean theater of operations was opened. Great Britain declared war on Italy and strengthened its Mediterranean fleet (6 battleships against 6 Italian ones), placing a new squadron in Gibraltar, known as the H force (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 French fleet in the Western Mediterranean.
All these events radically changed the situation in the Atlantic Ocean and the 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. To do this, she used: surface ships (large or boats), surface commercial raiders, submarines, aviation.
"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 fleet operations and returned to the war of communications to sink Allied shipping and shipping.
German submarines received direct access to the Atlantic. Since the English Channel was relatively shallow and was blocked from mid-1940 minefields, German submarines had to sail around the British Isles to reach the most profitable "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 Pallis and La Rochelle were 450 miles (720 km) closer to the Atlantic than the German bases in the North Sea. This greatly expanded the range of German U-boats in the Atlantic, allowing them to attack convoys much further west and spend longer periods on patrol, doubling the effective number of U-boats.
The number of Allied ships sunk began to grow rapidly. In June 1940, the total tonnage of sunken 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 every month. Great Britain found itself in an extremely difficult situation.
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 in order to obtain bases for itself and prevent them from falling into enemy hands 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 in Lorient, Western France
From June to October 1940, more than 270 Allied ships were sunk. The period from June 1940 to February 1941 was remembered by German submarine crews as " Happy time"(Die Glückliche Zeit). 1940 and 1941, when German submarines achieved enormous successes in Allied communications with relatively small losses, the crews of the submarines also called “ fat years».
which was torpedoed but remained afloat
Collections IWM. Photo No.: MISC 51237.
The initial operations of German submarines from French bases were quite effective. This was the heyday of U-boat commanders such as Günther Prien (U-47), Otto Kretschmer (U-99), Joachim Schepke (U-100), Engelbert Endras (U-46), Victor Auern (U-37) and Heinrich Bleichrodt (U-48). Each of them accounted for 30-40 sunk Allied ships.
The most famous of all German submariners was Gunther 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 earned the nickname "The Bull of Scapa Flow", which he received after torpedoing the British battleship Royal Oak, which was located in a guarded roadstead in the harbor of Scapa Flow. Gunther Prien went missing in the Atlantic Ocean along with his submarine and its 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 submarines was finding 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) that were used for reconnaissance but were essentially converted civilian airliners. This plane was a temporary solution. Due to ongoing tensions between air force(Luftwaffe) and the Navy (Kriegsmarine), the primary source of convoy observations was 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.
Further naval reconnaissance 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 ships merchant fleet Allied submarines were sunk. By the end of 1940, the British navy and air force had sunk 33 boats. But in 1941, 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 submarines
In February–March 1941, the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during a raid in North Atlantic destroyed 22 Allied transport ships with a total displacement of 115,600 tons. However, in May 1941, the British sank the largest German battleship"Bismarck", and from the summer of 1941 Germany abandoned the use of large surface ships against Allied communications. Submarines remain the only way 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 simultaneously. Karl Dönitz organized a supply system for submarines directly in the ocean far from the 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 losses when it lost three of its best submarine commanders. They died along with the crews of G. Prien and J. Schepke. O. Kretschmer was captured.
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 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.
Dönitz's "wolf packs" of submarines caused great damage to Allied convoys. Until the end of 1941, the German submarine fleet was the dominant force in the Atlantic. Great Britain defended its transport shipping, which was vital for the mother country, with great effort.
On December 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States, and immediately German submarines began sinking 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 destroyed them without much difficulty. It took several months before Americans began using effective English system convoys, which immediately reduced the losses of American transport ships.
From December 1941 to March 1943, there was a reduction in air support for the "wolf packs" of submarines. During this period, the German navy lost 155 submarines. During the same period, transport ships and warships of the enemy and neutral countries with a total displacement of about 10 million tons were sunk, 80% of them by 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 convoys were escorted by naval “support groups”. The protection of allied communications began to improve, the effectiveness of German submarines began to decline, and the number of their losses increased.
During the first half of 1942, the losses of Allied transports from “wolf packs” of submarines reached a maximum number of 900 ships (with a displacement of 4 million tons). During the entire 1942, 1,664 Allied ships (with a displacement of 7,790,697 tons) were sunk, of which 1,160 ships were sunk by submarines.
Instead of using surface fleet raids, Germany switched to unrestricted submarine warfare (uneingeschränkter U-Boot-Krieg), when submarines began to sink civilian merchant ships without warning and without trying to save the crews of these ships.
On September 17, 1942, German Navy Submarine Commander Karl Dönitz issued the Triton Zero or Laconia-Befehl order, which prohibited submarine commanders from providing assistance to the crew and passengers of sunken ships. This was necessary to avoid pursuit of submarines by Allied anti-submarine forces.
Until September 1942, according to the rules of war, German submarines, after an attack by 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 planes, whose pilots knew that the Germans and Italians were saving the British. As a result of the air raid, the submarine U-156 was severely damaged.
The next day, having learned about what had happened, the commander of the submarine fleet, Admiral Dönitz, issued the order: “ It is prohibited to make any attempts to rescue the crews of sunken ships and vessels. ».
In 1942 fighting in the Atlantic they went with with varying success. German submarines were heading to the shores of the Northern and South America, Central and South Africa, some to the Indian and Pacific oceans. However, the German submarine fleet was unable to achieve the complete destruction of the Allied Atlantic communications.
The 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 his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy 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 thousand ships and up to 2,700 Allied aircraft operated against 100-130 German submarines searching communications.
By the beginning of 1943, the Allies had created new types of aircraft with large radius actions, as well as new radars. The Allied navies improved their anti-submarine tactics. Since April 1943, American and British anti-submarine strike groups, led by escort aircraft carriers, began operating in the Atlantic.
In 1943, the number of German submarines reached 250 units. However, in March - May, the Allies sunk 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 whom 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 with a total displacement of 500 thousand tons in the Atlantic. However, losses of Allied merchant fleets began to decline. In June they dropped to 28 thousand tons. Construction in the USA large series Liberty-class transport ships made it possible to make up for losses by the end of 1943.
Since May 1943, great changes have occurred. Allied aircraft began flying constantly over the Bay of Biscay, where the main German submarine bases were located along the French coast. Many of them began to die even before the Allies reached the Atlantic communications. Since submarines of that time could not remain constantly under water, they were constantly attacked by planes and ships of the Allied fleets on their way to the Atlantic. A small number of German submarines managed to approach the heavily guarded convoys. Neither the submarines' own radars, nor enhanced anti-aircraft weapons, nor homing acoustic torpedoes helped in attacks on convoys.
In 1943, a turning point came - for every Allied ship sunk, the German submarine fleet began to lose one submarine.
A German submarine under fire from an Allied aircraft in the South Atlantic in 1943.
The Collection Database of the Australian War Memorial under the ID Number: 304949.
On November 5, 1943, the German submarine U-848 type IXC repels an air attack in the South Atlantic. In the submarine's conning tower there is a twin 20-mm anti-aircraft gun artillery installation Flak 38, on deck – 105 mm SKC /32 cannon.
The end of the Battle of the Atlantic.
Defeat of the German submarine fleet
From April 1943 to June 1944, the final turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic occurred. The Allies went on the offensive. During this period, there was a qualitative and quantitative growth in the anti-submarine forces and weapons of the allied fleets. The Allies deciphered the radio communication codes of German submarines, and a new type of radar was developed. 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 defend their communications, but also attack German submarine bases.
After Italy left the war, Germany lost its bases in the Mediterranean.
The German Navy and its submarine fleet finally lost the Battle of the Atlantic by the end of 1944. The Allies by that time had absolute superiority at sea and in the air.
January 30, 1945 Soviet submarine S-13 (commander Alexander Marinesko) sank a German ship in the Baltic Sea passenger airliner "Wilhelm Gustlow" with a displacement of 25,484 tons. For the destruction of the Wilhelm Gustlow liner, Alexander Marinesko was included in the list of personal enemies of Adolf Hitler. On the Wilhelm Gustlow, the elite of the German submarine fleet was evacuated from the Danzig port (Gdansk): 100 submarine commanders who completed an advanced course in operating boats with a single Walther engine, 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 Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), SS battalion support service 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) - the Sea Wolf detachment - entered the Atlantic. The group was heading towards the United States. The Americans received false information that German submarines were carrying V-2 ballistic missiles to bombard cities on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Hundreds of American aircraft and dozens of ships were sent to intercept these submarines. As a result, five of the six submarines were destroyed.
Over 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 combat losses Germany's submarine fleet consisted of 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 big number German submarines were destroyed during massive bombing of naval bases and submarine sites.
Of the 39 thousand sailors and submarine crew members, about 32 thousand people died. The vast majority - in the last two years of the war.
On April 30, 1945, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz gave the order to launch Operation Regenbogen, during which all German ships, including submarines, except those necessary for fishing and post-war mine clearance, were to be destroyed. However, at the request of the Allies, on May 4, Doenitz gave the order to cancel Operation Regenbogen. The crews of 159 submarines surrendered. But submarine commanders in the Western Baltic did not comply last order Dönitz. They sank 217 combat-ready submarines, 16 decommissioned submarines and 5 submarines on the stocks.
After the surrender of Germany, the Allies carried out Operation Deadlight. From November 1945 to January 1946 west coast Great Britain's allies sank 119 captured 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's, Newfoundland, June 1945.
German submarines sank a total of 2,828 Allied or neutral ships—a total of 14,687,231 tons. According to confirmed data, 2,603 Allied transport ships and warships with a total displacement of 13.5 million tons were sunk, of which 11.5 million tons were losses of the British fleet. At the same time, 70 thousand military sailors and 30,248 merchant seamen died. The British Navy lost 51,578 men killed and missing in action.
German submarines had the greatest success compared to surface ships and aircraft. They accounted for 68% of the sunk transport ships and 37.5% of the sunk Allied warships.
Of the total number of ships sunk by submarines, 61% are single ships; 9% were ships that lagged behind the convoys, and 30% were ships sailing as part of the convoys. The ratio of losses to victories was 1:3.3 in favor of submarines according to Anglo-American data and 1:4 according to German data.
Germany began the war with 57 submarines, of which 35 were Type II littoral 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 in German shipyards. In total, therefore, the German submarine fleet was armed with 1,214 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 combat operations at sea. By the end of the war, US and British industry were building new transport ships and warships faster than the Allies suffered losses. As a result, Germany was defeated in the Battle of the Atlantic.
During the First World War, submarines began to be produced with a diesel engine for movement on the surface and an electric engine for movement under water. Even then they were extremely formidable weapons. The German submarine SM UB-110, which cost 3,714,000 marks, however, did not have time to show its power, having lived for only a couple of months.
SM UB-110 of the Type UB III class of coastal torpedo boats was built in the Hamburg docks of Blohm & Voss for the needs of the Kaiserlichmarine and launched on March 23, 1918. Four months later, on July 19, 1918, she was sunk by the British ships HMS Garry, HMS ML 49 and HMS ML 263. 23 crew members were killed. The submarine was later taken ashore to be repaired at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson docks in Wallsend, but the project was not completed and she was sold as scrap.
Perhaps the most unique acquisition of the 20th century in terms of naval weapons were submarines. Before they even appeared, they gave rise to a lot of fulfilled and unfulfilled hopes. It was believed that new combat weapons would revolutionize the war at sea, leveling the “old values” in the form of armadas battleships and armored (battle) cruisers; will nullify general battles as the main means of resolving military confrontation at sea. Now, more than 100 years later, it is interesting to evaluate to what extent such bold predictions were confirmed.
In fact, DPs were most effective in the fight against trafficking, where they achieved truly impressive results. From the standpoint of high strategy, this does not contradict the ideas about achieving the main goals in war. “Trade disruption” hits particularly hard on island, highly developed countries that are traditionally and heavily dependent on exports and imports; in addition, the very concept of “sea supremacy”, which was considered the prerogative of the greats, is discredited sea powers and great fleets. First of all, we are talking about the confrontation between Germany and England and its allies in the world wars and about the United States against Japan. These largest and most instructive examples formed the basis for an extensive and in-depth analysis, search for patterns, up to the development of motivated views on the use of submarines in the future.
As for the capabilities of submarines against military fleets, their main forces, this section is covered in less detail and leaves many questions.
It is noteworthy that even today this is not some routine scholastic question. naval history or applied sections of the development of the combat use of torpedo weapons (BITO). It is relevant in determining the prospects for the construction and development of the fleet. Increased interest he is aroused by the objectively existing national aspect of the problem. It is no secret that the Navy, especially in post-war period, had a clearly visible underwater orientation. And this despite the fact that both world wars ended with the official defeat of the idea of submarine warfare. After the First World War - with the introduction of the convoy system and Asdikom, in the Second - the introduction of radar and aircraft. In general, following this logic, betting on submarines in the future seemed pointless. Nevertheless, we did it, just as the Germans did before us in World War II. Disputes about the legality of such a step and the actual appearance of the Navy in the years are still raging. cold war: How justified was such a step under the current conditions? The question is not simple, still awaiting its competent researcher.
The most “subtle” point in objective analysis, and therefore in the formation of a specific answer, is the lack of support from combat experience. Fortunately for humanity and inconvenient for specialists, there has been no opportunity to rely on one for 67 years. We are talking about an axiom: only practice is the criterion of truth, in military affairs, in any case. That is why the experience of the 1982 Falklands crisis between Great Britain and Argentina is considered so valuable and unique. But it only strengthens the confidence that, no matter how far submarines go in their development - right up to equipping them with nuclear power plants, space communications and navigation, advanced electronics and nuclear weapons, - they were not able to completely free themselves from the inherent burden of features and limitations of this type of force. The Falklands “underwater experience” turned out to be doubly interesting. This is the experience of combat operations against enemy surface ships (NS). However, we will stick to the chronology and start with the participation of submarines in world wars.
Submarines as a branch of the navy are just over 100 years old. The beginning of a wide combat use and their intensive development dates back to the period of the First World War. Overall this debut can be considered successful. About 600 submarines (372 of them were German submarines, but the Germans also lost the most - 178 submarines), then in service with the warring parties, sent to the bottom more than 55 large warships and hundreds of destroyers with a total displacement of more than 1 million tons and 19 million b.r.t. (gross register ton is a unit of volume equal to 2.83 cubic meters, not currently used) merchant tonnage. The Germans turned out to be the most numerous and productive, chalking up more than 5,860 sunk ships with a total displacement of 13.2 million b.p.t. trade tonnage. The blow mainly fell on English trade and was extremely effective.
The record of sunk tonnage will be repeated, but not surpassed, during the Second World War and, characteristically, by a much larger number of submarines. But the personal record belonging to the German commander Arnaud de la Perriere is more than 440 thousand b.r.t. – not achieved by anyone. The best submariner of the Second World War, also German, Otto Kretschmer, will leave the arena with a score of 244 thousand b.r.t. and 44 sunk ships in the spring of 1941.
If we look at the effectiveness of submarines against the enemy navy, the successes are much more modest even where such actions were specifically planned. This is difficult to reconcile with the hopes and expectations from the first resounding successes of Otto Weddigen, who already in the first days of the war on the primitive U-9 sank three armored cruisers in just over an hour. Other high-profile achievements of German submariners in terms of defeating large enemy tanks are also known, but that will come later. In the meantime, “mobilization” of almost all available (about 20 units) submarines for combing North Sea, supposedly swarming with dreadnoughts, did not bring any results. Having learned about the operation in advance, the British removed all valuable oil and gas from the North Sea.
The participation of submarines in the Battle of Jutland, on which great hopes were pinned - after all, by 1916, submarines had already gradually managed to prove themselves - was generally discouraging. They didn't even find anyone there. The main forces of the fleets turned around and converged on the greatest in history naval battle without even being noticed. True, the death of the British Minister of War Field Marshal Lord Kitchener on the cruiser Hampshire, which was blown up by mines, is considered an indirect success of the submarine, but this is nothing more than a consoling “bonus”.
Strictly speaking, the goals in the fight against trade were also unachieved. The blockade of England, hastily declared by the German leadership at the beginning of the war, was not achieved, because it was not reinforced with real forces. Then followed a series of bans due to the international scandal over the Lusitania, the accompanying declines in submarine warfare, and a return to the principle of prize law. The belated announcement of unlimited submarine warfare in 1917 did not help either: the enemy had time to prepare.
However, let's return to unfulfilled hopes in terms of the struggle between submarines and NK. It should be noted that in the interwar period (1918-1939) there was no shortage of analysis, researchers and theories on this subject, more profound and interested than in Germany. If in all the variety of reasons and explanations we single out the main ones and discard the particular, biased and secondary ones, which, by the way, are widely used at the “school-cadet” level, the bottom line is that the actions of the German fleet in the First World War were based on the absence of a corresponding to its tasks and material strategy level.
For once, Germany, with a huge effort of all its strength, managed to build the world's second fleet. In combination with recognized the best army this gave rise to hopes of taking a dominant position in Europe, and not only in it. Moreover, such serious military preparations, according to the laws of strategy, are irreversible. But the military-political leadership and naval command of Germany did not have the appropriate strategic guidelines regarding the war at sea. This is recognized primarily by their own specialist researchers. Proceeding from the general to the specific, it is appropriate to extend this problem to the submarine fleet, then a very young branch of the force. In this, apparently, we have to look for the main reason for the failure of the German submarine fleet to achieve its goals in the war.
One can also see in this quite profound general operational-strategic consequences. Let's not forget that the British Grand Fleet was almost a third stronger than the German Fleet Open sea, and to enter into a general battle with such a balance of forces was, to say the least, reckless. Based on this, the idea of the German naval command was to first weaken the Grand Fleet by luring the British into the sea with part of their forces and catching them there with superior forces, equalizing the forces for a future general battle. After Admiral Hugo von Pohl missed a similar unique opportunity, hopes to equalize forces focused primarily on the successes of submarines. 200 of more than 5,000 transports were lost to mines (1.5 million tons) laid by submarines.
As for other reasons, it is customary to say: the Germans entered World War II with a strategy and a well-developed system for training and using submarine forces. Compared to the Second, the First World War, without exaggeration, was a battle of talented, daring and enterprising single submariners. This is understandable, the young branch of the force had few experienced specialists, submarines had limited numbers until the war tactical specifications. The fleet command itself lacked clear and distinct views on the use of submarines. Young submarine commanders with their modest captain-lieutenant stripes and sometimes valuable proposals against the backdrop of brilliant and venerable flagships and ship commanders of the High Seas Fleet were simply lost. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main decisions on the conduct of underwater warfare were made without taking into account and deep knowledge of the peculiarities of using submarines. Throughout the war, submarines remained a thing in themselves for naval operators and high command.