German submarine fleet during World War II
In this article you will learn:
The submarine fleet of the Third Reich has its own interesting history.
Germany's defeat in the war of 1914-1918 brought it a ban on the construction of submarines, but after Adolf Hitler came to power, it radically changed the arms situation in Germany.
Creation of the Navy
In 1935, Germany signed a naval agreement with Great Britain, which resulted in the submarines being recognized as obsolete weapons, and thus Germany receiving permission to build them.
All submarines were subordinate to the Kriegsmarine - the Navy of the Third Reich.
Karl Demitz
In the summer of the same 1935, the Fuhrer appointed Karl Dönitz as commander of all submarines of the Reich; he held this post until 1943, when he was appointed commander-in-chief of the German Navy. In 1939, Dönitz received the rank of rear admiral.
He personally developed and planned many operations. A year later, in September, Karl becomes vice-admiral, and after another year and a half he receives the rank of admiral, at the same time he receives the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.
It is he who owns most of the strategic developments and ideas used during submarine wars. Dönitz created a new supercaste, the “unsinkable Pinocchios,” from his subordinate submariners, and he himself received the nickname “Papa Carlo.” All submariners underwent intensive training and knew the capabilities of their submarine thoroughly.
Dönitz's submarine combat tactics were so talented that they received the nickname "wolf packs" from the enemy. Tactics " wolf packs"was as follows: the submarines were lined up in such a way that one of the submarines could detect the approach of an enemy convoy. Having found the enemy, the submarine transmitted an encrypted message to the center, and then it continued its journey in a surface position parallel to the enemy, but quite far behind him. The remaining submarines were centered on the enemy convoy, and they surrounded it like a pack of wolves and attacked, taking advantage of their numerical superiority. Such hunts were usually carried out in the dark.
Construction
The German Navy had 31 combat and training submarine fleets. Each of the flotillas had a clearly organized structure. The number of submarines included in a particular flotilla could vary. Submarines were often withdrawn from one unit and assigned to another. During combat trips to sea, command was occupied by one of the commanders of the operational group of the submarine fleet, and in cases of very important operations The commander of the submarine fleet, Befelshaber der Unterseeboth, took control.
Throughout the war, Germany built and fully equipped 1,153 submarines. During the war, fifteen submarines were seized from the enemy, they were introduced into the “wolf pack”. Turkish and five Dutch submarines took part in the battles, two Norwegian, three Dutch and one French and one English were training, four Italian were transport and one Italian submarine was docked.
As a rule, the main targets of Dönitz's submarines were enemy transport ships, which were responsible for providing the troops with everything they needed. During a meeting with an enemy ship, he acted main principle“wolf pack” - destroy more ships than the enemy can build. Such tactics bore fruit from the first days of the war across vast expanses of water from Antarctica to South Africa.
Requirements
The basis of the Nazi submarine fleet were submarines of the 1,2,7,9,14,23 series. At the end of the 30s, Germany mainly built submarines of three series.
The main requirement for the first submarines was the use of submarines in coastal waters, such were the second class submarines, they were easy to maintain, well maneuverable and could dive in a few seconds, but their drawback was a small ammunition load, so they were discontinued in 1941.
During the battle in the Atlantic, the seventh series of submarines was used, the development of which was originally carried out by Finland; they were considered the most reliable, since they were equipped with snorkels - a device thanks to which the battery could be charged under water. In total, more than seven hundred of them were built. Submarines of the ninth series were used for combat in the ocean, since they had a long range and could even sail into the Pacific Ocean without refueling.
Complexes
The construction of a huge submarine flotilla implied the construction of a complex of defense structures. It was planned to build powerful concrete bunkers with fortification structures for minesweepers and torpedo boats, with firing points and shelters for artillery. Special shelters were also built in Hamburg and Kiel at their naval bases. After the fall of Norway, Belgium and Holland, Germany received additional military bases.
So the Nazis created bases for their submarines in Norwegian Bergen and Trondheim and French Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux.
In Bremen, Germany, a plant was installed for the production of series 11 submarines; it was installed in the middle of a huge bunker near the Weser River. Several bases for submarines were provided to the Germans by the Japanese allies; a base in Penang and on the Malay Peninsula was also equipped in the Indonesian Jakarta and the Japanese Kobe. additional center for the repair of German submarines.
Armament
The main weapons of Dönitz's submarines were torpedoes and mines, the effectiveness of which was constantly increasing. The submarines were also equipped with 88 mm or 105 mm caliber artillery guns, and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns could also be installed. However, starting from 1943, the artillery guns were gradually removed, since the effectiveness of the deck guns decreased significantly, but the danger of an air attack, on the contrary, forced the power of anti-aircraft weapons to be strengthened. To effectively conduct underwater combat, German engineers were able to develop a radar radiation detector, which made it possible to avoid British radar stations. Already at the end of the war, the Germans began to equip their submarines with a large number of batteries, which allowed them to reach speeds of up to seventeen knots, but the end of the war did not allow them to rearm the fleet.
Fighting
Submarines took part in combat operations in 1939-1945 in 68 operations. During this time, 149 enemy warships were sunk by submarines, including two battleships, three aircraft carriers, five cruisers, eleven destroyers and many other ships, with a total tonnage of 14,879,472 gross register tons.
Sinking of the Coreages
First biggest victory The “wolf pack” was the sinking of the aircraft carrier Coreyes. This happened in September 1939, the aircraft carrier was sunk by the submarine U-29 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Shewhart. After the aircraft carrier was sunk, the submarine was pursued by accompanying destroyers for four hours, but U-29 was able to escape with almost no damage.
Destruction of Royal Oak
The next brilliant victory was the destruction of the Battleship Royal Oak. This happened after the submarine U-47 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Gunther Prien penetrated the English naval base at Scala Flow. After this raid, the British fleet had to be relocated to another location for six months.
Victory over Ark Royal
Another resounding victory of Dönitz's submarines was the torpedoing of the Ark Royal aircraft carrier. In November 1941, the submarines U-81 and U-205, located near Gibraltar, were ordered to attack British ships returning from Malta. During the attack, the Ark Royal aircraft carrier was hit; at first the British hoped that they would be able to tow the stricken aircraft carrier, but this was not possible, and the Ark Royal sank.
Since the beginning of 1942 German submariners began conducting military operations in US territorial waters. The cities of the United States were not dark even at night, cargo ships and tankers moved without military escort, so the number of destroyed American ships was calculated by the supply of torpedoes on the submarine, so the submarine U-552 sank seven American ships in one exit.
Legendary submariners
The most successful submariners of the Third Reich were Otto Kretschmer and Captain Wolfgang Lüth, who managed to sink 47 ships each with a tonnage of over 220 thousand tons. The most effective was the submarine U-48, whose crew sank 51 ships, with a tonnage of about 305 thousand tons. The submarine U-196, under the command of Eitel-Friedrich Kentrath, spent 225 days at sea for the longest time.
Equipment
To communicate with submarines, radiograms encrypted on a special Enigma encryption machine were used. Great Britain made every possible effort to obtain this device, since there was no other way to decipher the texts, but as soon as the opportunity arose to steal such a machine from a captured submarine, the Germans first of all destroyed the device and all encryption documents. However, they still succeeded after capturing U-110 and U-505, and a number of encrypted documents also fell into their hands. U-110 was attacked by British depth charges in May 1941, as a result of the damage the submarine was forced to surface, the Germans planned to escape from the submarine and sink it, but they did not have time to sink it, so the boat was captured by the British, and Enigma fell into their hands. and magazines with codes and maps of minefields. In order to keep the secret of the Enigma capture, the entire surviving crew of submariners was rescued from the water, and the boat itself was soon sunk. The resulting ciphers allowed the British to be aware of German radio messages until 1942, until Enigma was complicated. The capture of encrypted documents on board U-559 helped break this code. She was attacked by British destroyers in 1942 and taken into tow; a new variation of Enigma was also found there, but the submarine began to quickly sink to the bottom and encryption machine drowned along with two British sailors.
Victory
During the war, German submarines were captured many times, some of them were also subsequently put into service with the enemy fleet, such as U-57, which became the British submarine Graf, which carried out combat operations in 1942-1944. The Germans lost several of their submarines due to defects in the design of the submarines themselves. So the submarine U-377 sank to the bottom in 1944 due to the explosion of its own circulating torpedo; the details of the sinking are not known, since the entire crew also died.
Fuhrer's convoy
In the service of Dönitz, there was also another division of submarines, called the “Fuhrer Convoy”. The secret group included thirty-five submarines. The British believed that these submarines were intended to transport minerals from South America. However, it remains a mystery why at the end of the war, when the submarine fleet was almost completely destroyed, Dönitz did not withdraw more than one submarine from the Fuhrer Convoy.
There are versions that these submarines were used to control the secret Nazi Base 211 in Antarctica. However, two of the convoy's submarines were discovered after the war near Argentina, whose captains claimed that they were transporting an unknown secret cargo and two secret passengers in South America. Some of the submarines of this “ghost convoy” were never discovered after the war, and there were almost no mentions of them in military documents, these are U-465, U-209. In total, historians talk about the fate of only 9 out of 35 submarines - U-534, U-530, U-977, U-234, U-209, U-465, U-590, U-662, U863.
Sunset
The beginning of the end for German submarines was 1943, when the first failures of Dönitz’s submariners began. The first failures were due to the improvement of the Allied radar, the next blow to Hitler’s submarines was the growing industrial power of the United States, they managed to build ships faster than the Germans sank them. Even the installation of the latest torpedoes on the 13 series submarines could not tip the scales in favor of the Nazis. During the war, Germany lost almost 80% of its submariners; at the end of the war, only seven thousand were alive.
Categories:// from 03/21/2017However, Dönitz's submarines last day fought for Germany. Dönitz himself became Hitler's successor, later arrested and sentenced to ten years.
Type VII submarines
Historical data
Power plant
Armament
U-Boot Type VII- a series of medium-sized diesel-electric German submarines. They were in service with the Kriegsmarine. A total of 703 boats were built in seven modifications. They took an active part in the Second World War. In total, Type VII submarines sank 6 aircraft carriers (two were scrapped due to serious damage), 2 battleships, 5 cruisers, 52 destroyers and destroyer escorts, as well as dozens of other warships and thousands of transport vessels. A total of 546 boats were lost, not counting those sunk by their crews at the end of the war.
General information
History of creation
The strategy of warfare at sea was influenced by the use of submarines in the First World War. Damage caused to the merchant shipping of the Entente countries from German submarines was huge. Due to attacks by German submarines, the Entente countries lost 12 million tons of transport tonnage. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was prohibited from having submarines, but in the mid-20s of the 20th century, the leadership of the Reichsmarine began building medium and small submarines. The plans were to use the most successful submarine designs of the First World War - type UB III, UC II and UB II.
In 1922, the companies Vulcan, Germany and Weser created design department under the leadership of G. Techel and a staff of 30 engineers. The task of this bureau is to create new types of submarines. The possibility of creating minelayers that would carry mines in addition to torpedoes was considered. Also, the construction of submarines with a displacement of 1,500 tons, floating workshops and boats with a Walter engine was considered. This list included a single-hull submarine with internal fuel tanks; this series was given the name VII. On January 10, 1935, an order for the development of a new submarine was approved. Characteristics of Type VII:
- Surface displacement - 550 tons.
- Immersion depth - 100 m.
- Engines - 2 diesel engines, 1050 hp each.
- Max. surface/underwater speed - 16-17/8-9 knots.
- Cruising range surface/submarine - 6000 miles at 8 knots/75 miles at 4 knots.
Construction and testing
In mid-1935, two things happened at once. significant events On July 18, an Anglo-German agreement was signed and in January 1936 Karl Dönitz was appointed commander-in-chief of the submarine fleet. The construction of the German submarine fleet became legalized, but at the same time it was limited to no more than 45% of the tonnage of submarines in the British fleet.
Description of design
Modifications
Type VII submarines existed in seven modifications:
| Submarine type | Type VIIA | Type VIIB | Type VIIC | Type VII/C 41 | Type VII/C 42 | Type VIID | Type VIIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Years of design | 1933-1934 | 1934-1935 | 1937-1938 | 1941 | 1942-1943 | 1939-1940 | n.d. |
| Years of construction | 1935-1937 | 1937-1941 | 1938-1944 | 1941-1945 | n.d. | 1940-1942 | 1941-1943 |
| Displacement t, surface/underwater | 626/915 | 753/1040 | 769/1070 | 759/1070 | 999/1369 | 965/1285 | 1084/1345 |
| Dimensions in m, length/width/draft | 64,5/ 5,9/ 4,4 | 66,5/ 6,2/ 4,7 | 67,1/ 6,2/ 4,7 | 67,23/ 6,2/ 4,7 | 68,7/ 6,9/ 5,1 | 76,9/ 6,4/ 5 | 77,6/ 7,3/ 4.9 |
| Robust housing, length/diameter in m. | 45,5/ 4,7 | 48,8/ 4,7 | 49,4/ 4,7 | 49,4/ 4,7 | 50,9/ 5 | 59,8/ 4,7 | 60,4/ 4,7 |
| Thickness of the robust housing in mm | 16 | 16 | 18,5 | 21,5 | 28 | 20,5 | 20,5 |
| Power in hp, diesel/electric motors | 2320/ 750 | 2800/ 750 | 2800/ 750 | 2800/ 750 | 4400/ 750 | 2800/ 750 | 2800/ 750 |
| Speed, surface/submarine | 16/ 8 | 17/ 8 | 17/ 7,6 | 17/ 7,6 | 18,6/ 7,6 | 16/ 7,3 | 16,9/ 7,3 |
| Immersion depth in m, working/maximum | 100/ 100 | 100/ 100 | 100/ 165 | 120/ 200 | 300/ 300 | 100/ 100 | 100/ 100 |
| Dive time in seconds, urgent/normal | 30/ 50 | 30/ 50 | 30/ 50 | 30/ 50 | 30/ 50 | 30/ 50 | 30/ 50 |
| Fuel reserve in t., normal/full | 58,6/ 67 | 99,7/ 108,3 | 105,3/ 113,5 | 105,3/ 113,5 | 105/ 159 | 155,2/ 169,4 | 198,8/ - |
| Cruising range at cruising speed in miles | 6200 | 8700 | 8500 | 8500 | 12 600 | 11 200 | 14 700 |
| Crew, people | 44 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 45 | 44 | 46 |
Armament
Artillery weapons
At the beginning of the war, the artillery armament consisted of an 88 mm SKC/35 cannon with a barrel length of 45 calibers and a single-barreled Flak 30 anti-aircraft gun on a C30/37 mount. The ammunition load for the SKC/35 consisted of 220 shells; the shells were fed onto the deck manually from the artillery magazine, along a chain. The Flak 30 ammunition consisted of 1,500 rounds.
In the first months of the war, when German submariners tried to act in accordance with prize rights, submarine artillery was actively used. But already on September 26, 1939, the British Admiralty announced plans to install artillery on all merchant ships. A month later, an instruction was introduced according to which the crew of the boat should not inspect the merchant ship, and after examining the papers delivered on the boat, if there was contraband, they should sink the stopped ship with a torpedo.
In addition, placing merchant ships in convoys deprived the gunners of showing their shooting skills. Subsequently, the use of artillery was one-time. The last such incident occurred on September 19, 1942. Off Cape Hatteras, boat U-701 sank the American armed trawler YP-389 in a fierce surface battle. On November 14, 1942, an order was received to dismantle the 88 mm guns.
This order was not carried out immediately and not in all flotillas. First of all, boats stationed in the West of France underwent modernization of anti-aircraft weapons with the removal of the deck gun. Many boats that were tested and operated in Norway retained their guns until the end of 19944. There is a known case when in August 1944, U-745 arrived from Kiel for operations in the Gulf of Finland and had to return to Gotenhafen to dismantle the deck gun.
Anti-aircraft weapons
The anti-aircraft armament of Type VII submarines was constantly expanded. In the first modifications, the anti-aircraft gun was located on the deck behind the wheelhouse, but already in the first months of the war it was raised beyond the wheelhouse fence. IN initial period During the war, Allied aviation did not pose a threat to German submarines; by the end of 1941, it was able to sink only 4 boats.
In connection with the start of air patrols of the Bay of Biscay by the British, in the summer of 1942 the first steps were taken to build up anti-aircraft weapons on submarines. A low additional platform was mounted behind the standard deckhouse fencing (it received the nickname from German submariners Wintergarten) to accommodate a paired Flak 30. The single-barrel gun on the top was replaced by a two-barreled 20 mm anti-aircraft machine gun MG 151/22, it was distinguished by its smaller dimensions, initial speed and firing range.
But since December 1942, the Submarine Command, having become convinced of the ineffectiveness of the MG 151/20, ordered the installation of faster-firing 20 mm guns Flak 38. This design was called “cabinet 2” (“cabinet 1” was the name given to the scheme with single anti-aircraft guns Flak 30) at the same time, four conventional machine guns were mounted on the bridge railings MG 34 caliber 7.92 mm.
Already the first fights between submarines and aircraft showed that the abundance of small-caliber guns does not guarantee victory over a four-engine flying boat or bomber. New hopes were associated with the entry into service of 37 mm automatic guns, twin and quad guns Flak 38. In 1943, the composition of anti-aircraft weapons called “cabinet 4” was approved; it provided for the installation of two twin Flak 38s on the upper platform and Flakvierling 38 on the bottom.
On June 8, 1943, the U-758 boat with “wheelhouse 4” won the battle against eight aircraft from an American aircraft carrier, although the submarine was seriously damaged and 11 crew members were killed and wounded, the Americans were unable to either drive the boat under water or sink it. On June 30, the Submarine Fleet Command issued an order according to which only those submarines that received “wheelhouse 4” were released for the campaign.
While conventional submarines were awaiting conversion, it was decided to create special "anti-aircraft" decoy boats for airplanes. The first such decoy boat was U-441. She received two Flakvierling 38, in front and behind the wheelhouse and a 37 mm SKC/30 semi-automatic "winter garden". On May 24, on the second boat of the trip, she fought with a British flying boat, and having lost one of the quadruple installations, she was able to shoot it down. After this, the boat went for a 2-month repair. And already on July 12, U-441 entered the Bay of Biscay; in a battle with British aircraft, the boat lost all personnel top watch. At the end of 1943, the Submarine Fleet Command ordered the conversion of decoy boats into regular ones.
In the battles of the spring-summer of 1943, it became clear that 20 mm machine guns could cause fatal damage to a patrol aircraft, but not before its attack, which, if the pilot persisted, could become fatal for the submarine. In order to stop the attacking aircraft, longer-range weapons were required. And this weapon became an automatic 37 mm anti-aircraft gun Flak 42, it entered service in mid-1943.
By December 1, 1943, 18 submarines had replaced the Flakvierling with the Flak 42. The ammunition load for the 37 mm gun was 1,195 shells, and for the 20 mm, 4,260 shells. Further improvement of weapons ceased after the adoption of the snorkel. This ended the confrontation between submarines and aircraft. The greatest successes in the fight against aircraft were achieved by U-333, U-648, which shot down 3 aircraft each, and U-256, which scored victories over 4 aircraft.
Torpedo weapons
The main weapons of the Type VII submarines were torpedoes. To launch them, there were four bow and one stern torpedo tubes with a diameter of 533 mm each. Modification A boats had 6 torpedoes in reserve; on subsequent modifications, the supply of torpedoes increased due to the placement of one spare torpedo in the electric motor compartment and two more torpedoes in the superstructure, but they were abandoned at the beginning of 1943 due to their frequent damage as a result of attacks by Allied escort ships.
The torpedo tubes themselves had a number of interesting features. The torpedo was ejected from them using a special pneumatic piston, rather than compressed air; this greatly simplified the bubble-free firing system. Also, changing the depth of travel and rotation of the torpedo gyroscope could be carried out directly in the torpedo tubes through the PSA in the command room. Another feature of these torpedo tubes is the ability to lay non-contact mines from them.
The design of the device ensured the release of torpedoes at depths of up to 22 meters. Reloading the devices took relatively little time, only 10 to 20 minutes for torpedoes that were stored inside a durable hull.
Main modifications of Type VII submarine torpedoes
| Name | Date of entry into service | Fuse | Homing or maneuvering device | Other changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G7a T1 | Early 20s | KHB Pi1 (could be equipped with KHB Pi3 from October 1943 to October 1944) | Could be equipped with PM FAT I (from November 1942) or LUT (from summer 1944) | No |
| G7e T2 | 1929 | KHB Pi1 | No | No |
| G7e T3 | December 1942 | KHB Pi2 | Could be equipped with PM FAT II (from May 1943) | No |
| G7e T3a | Mid 1943 | KHB Pi2 | Could be equipped with PM with FAT II (from May 1943) or LUT (from May 1944) | Cruising range 7.5 km at 29 knots |
| G7e T4 Falke | February 1943 | KHB Pi2 | PS | Weight 1937 kg. Cruising range 7.5 km at 20 knots. |
| G7e T5 Zaunkönig | October 1943 | KHB Pi4 | PS "Amsel" | Weight 1497 kg, explosive weight 274 kg. Cruising range 5.7 km at 24-25 knots. |
| G7e Т5b | Early 1944 | KHB Pi4 | PS "Amsel" | Cruising range 8 km at 22 knots |
| G7e T11 Zaunkönig II | April 1944 | KHB Pi4 | Improved substation "Amsel" | No |
Shortwave was considered the most important because it provided communication with headquarters. It included an E-437-S receiver and two transmitters, a 200-watt S-400-S and a spare 40-watt 40-K-39a, and a retractable antenna in the left wing of the bridge fence; if the antenna was missing, then the role of antennas was performed by galvanized network taps , isolated from the body and tensioned with lanyards. The E-437-S receiver was also used to receive VHF signals.
Medium wave equipment was intended for communication between submarines. It consisted of an E-381-S receiver, a 150-watt Spez-2113-S transmitter and a small retractable antenna with a round vibrator in the right wing of the bridge. This same antenna was a direction finder for the CB range. An Enigma cipher machine was used for encoding and decoding.
Hydroacoustic equipment
The most important component of the sonar equipment of Type VII boats was the equipment GHG, which consisted of 11 and later 24 hydrophones, they were placed in the bow of the light hull in a semicircle around the stock of the bow horizontal rudders and were connected to the receiver in the second compartment of the submarine.
To increase the accuracy of direction finding, the KDB system was used at the beginning of the war; it consisted of a rotating T-shaped antenna with 6 hydrophones; the antenna was placed on the upper deck, but since it was not very durable, it was abandoned by the middle of the war. On some boats built in recent months During the war, the hydrophone placement scheme was improved. 24 hydrophones were placed on a round platform extendable from below in the bow. This scheme had greater accuracy in direction finding of the noise source (it was even mechanically attached to the PSA) except for a narrow 60 degree area directly aft. But this scheme was not extended to Type VII, since it was developed for Type XXI boats.
Radar stations
The radars that entered the fleet, in very limited quantities, were primarily equipped with Type IX boats, so only a few Type VII boats received them. The first radar tested in Germany at the beginning of 1939 was the FuMO29 Gema.
The wavelength of the FuMO station is 29-80 cm, a special mast with a 2x3 m mattress-type antenna was placed in front of the wheelhouse, but they refused to install such a bulky radar on production boats. This idea was returned to in 1941; antenna dipoles were mounted on the wheelhouse itself in two rows of six dipoles, the top row being the receiving one, and the lower one transmitting. The detection range of a ship by the FuMO29 station is 6-8 km, an aircraft at an altitude of 500 m is up to 15 km.
In 1942, production of the FuMO-30, an improved version of the FuMO-29, began; it differed from the latter by a mattress-type antenna of 1x1.5 m, the antenna was located in the left wing of the cabin in place of the retractable HF antenna. In 1944, the FuMO-61 entered service, which was a naval version of the FuMG-200 Hohentwil night fighter radar. Having a slightly shorter wavelength of 54-58 cm and an antenna almost identical to the antenna of the FuMO-30 station, the station had a detection range of 8-10 km for ships and 15-20 km for aircraft.
Electronic intelligence stations
In the spring of 1942, an English patrol plane crashed on the territory of French Tunisia, and the Germans completely lost their doubts that the British could use radar to search for boats. In the wreckage of this aircraft, a slightly damaged set of the ASV I station was discovered. Increasing night attacks on boats by Coastal Command aircraft forced the Kriegsmarine Command to look for a way out.
By July 1942, the Germans received the first sample of the station electronic intelligence FuMB1, in honor of the French company that designed this station, it was called “Metox”. On August 26, the Kriegsmarine Command ordered all boats to be equipped with these stations.
“Metox” itself was a simple receiver; it recorded a signal with a wavelength of 1.3-2.6 meters. It connected to the in-boat communication system and the alarm signal was heard by the entire crew, a little later a screen appeared showing the direction to the radiation source. The antenna was rotated horizontally manually; moreover, the installation of this station was not initially envisaged, so the antenna was stored inside a durable housing and, upon ascent, was taken to the bridge and connected to the receiver by cable. The use of Methox made it possible to deprive the British anti-submarine line of effectiveness for six months.
On August 13, 1943, the Kriegsmarine Command banned the use of Methox because the new British ASV III radar detected the Methox radiation. At the same time, the FuMB9 Vanz station was put into production; the antenna of this station was a cylinder with a diameter of 20 cm and a height of 10 cm, it detected radiation in all directions. In November 1943, the second non-emitting modification of FuMB9, and the FuMB10 Borkum station, appeared. The operating range of the ASV III radar was closed by the FuMB7 Naxos station.
Subsequently, Naxos and Borkum (or Vanz) were installed on the boats. In April 1944 they were replaced by the FuMB 24 "Fleige". Due to the emergence of American flying boats with APS-3 and APS-4 radars, the FuMB25 “Mücke” station was created. In May 1944, the FuMB24 and FuMB25 stations were combined into the FuMB26 Tunis complex. But with the introduction of snorkels, the need for electronic intelligence stations disappeared.
Commanders
Submarine aces who fought on the Type VII and sank more than 100,000 tons of transport tonnage:
| First Name Last Name | Dates of combat activity | Submarine | Number of military campaigns | Number of ships sunk/tonnage | Ships damaged/tonnage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otto Kretschmer | U-99 | 16 | 40/ 208 954 | 5/ 37 965 | |
| Erich Topp | June 1940 - August 1942 | U-552 | 12 | 35/ 197 | 4/ 32 217 |
| Heinrich Lehmann-Wilenbrock | November 1939 - April 1942, September - November 1944 | U-96, U-256 | 10 | 24/ 170 237 | 2/ 15 864 |
| Herbert Schulze | September 1939 - June 1942 | U-48 | 8 | 26/ 169 709 | 1/ 9456 |
| Gunter Prien | September 1939 - March 1941 | U-47 | 10 | 30/ 162 769 | 8/ 62 751 |
| Joachim Schepke | September 1939 - March 1941 | U-100 | 14 | 36/ 153 677 | 4/ 17 229 |
| Heinrich Bleichrodt | September 1940 - January 1943 | U-48 | 8 | 24/ 151 260 | 2/ 11 684 |
| Robert Gisaye | November 1940 - November 1943 | U-98 | 8 | 24/ 136 266 | 1/ 2588 |
| Hans Jaenisch | February 1940 - November 1940 | U-32 | 6 | 17/ 110 139 | 2/ 14 749 |
Famous boats
The most productive submarines Type VII:
| Submarine | Dates of combat activity | Number of trips | Total days at sea | Total ships sunk/tonnage | Ships damaged/tonnage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-48 | September 1939 - June 1944 | 12 | 314 | 51/ 306 875 | 3/ 20 480 |
| U-99 | June 1940 - March 1941 | 8 | 119 | 35/ 198 218 | 5/ 37 965 |
| U-96 | December 1940 - March 1943 | 11 | 414 | 27/ 181 206 | 4/ 33 043 |
| U-552 | February 1940 - April 1944 | 15 | 600 | 30/ 163 756 | 3/ 26 910 |
| U-47 | September 1939 - March 1941 | 10 | 228 | 30/ 162 769 | 8/ 62 751 |
| U-94 | November 1940 - August 1942 | 10 | 358 | 26/ 141 852 | 1/ 8022 |
| U-100 | August 1940 - March 1941 | 6 | 106 | 25/ 135 614 | 4/ 17 229 |
| U-32 | September 1939- November 1940 | 9 | 172 | 20/ 116 836 U-96 Not far from the German city of Kiel, in the small town of Laboe, there is a unique museum. This museum is unique in that it represents a German Type VII submarine from the Second World War, which remains in the world in a single copy. Photo 1. U 995 - German museum submarine This locality was chosen for the installation of the museum for a reason - the fact is that in Laboe there is a naval memorial, which at first was dedicated to the fallen German sailors on the battlefields of the First World War, then began to be considered a memorial dedicated to all German sailors who died during the First and the Second World Wars, and ultimately German maritime union reclassified it as a monument to all fallen sailors of all nations and is a call for peace at sea.
Photo 2. Naval Memorial History of the U 995Let's return to the submarine.
Photo 3. Entrance to the submarine Historical reference: This is the information that was presented in the information booklet on English language, which can be taken when purchasing a ticket. Inside the submarineWe go inside and see the aft torpedo compartment and the electric motor control room.
Photo 4. Aft torpedo compartment Electric motors were used during the ascent. Thanks to them, the submarine continued to move without immersing in water, but this noticeably affected its speed.
Photo 5. Electric motor control room In the room with electric engines you can see instruments and a control center with a communications point, where orders from senior officers were sent from the bridge. Electric motor control room The diesel engine room is the heart of the submarine. There is a diesel engine located here, which is monitored by a mechanical engineer (usually 1-2 people). These sailors enjoyed greater privileges and were given more time to rest. The heart of the submarine Are you still complaining about the size of your own kitchen? Then sympathize with the local “chef” who had to cook lunch for a team of 40-50 people on a low-power electric stove of two burners. It is very difficult to expand in this space. In addition, the lighting is still poor. The pan is secured with a chain with a lock - apparently there were precedents for taking it out.
Photo 6. Lunch from the chef
Photo 7. Private rest room The number of beds was always less than the number of crew and often two people shared one bed. This did not cause any inconvenience due to the fact that there was a rotation method, according to which it turned out that one of the sailors was on duty, and the second rested, slept, had lunch and was engaged in other personal matters.
Photo 8. Regiment of an ordinary soldier The largest room on the submarine is the control center and control room.
Photo 9. Hatch to the submarine control center From here orders were given, the route was laid out and the active life. In addition to following orders from above, each officer was aware that he must save the lives of his team. Navigation charts, a periscope, a radio room and other devices for monitoring the movement of the submarine are located here. Immediately after the control center there is a radio room and a receiving point, they are located parallel to the sleeping places of the submarine officers - thus it turns out that even during rest they must be the first to receive information about the situation in the given area, or orders from above, plus interception of allied radio signals. Interception is a responsible task, which, as a rule, was performed by people with excellent hearing and good reaction in order to catch the enemy's signal as early as possible. Largely thanks to the deciphering of the Enigma code by the Allies, German superiority in the Atlantic was lost. Radio room - in addition to communication with the shore and other submarines, much attention was paid to intercepting enemy signals The officers were the only ones who had their own regiment, plus some personal space. Personal space was expressed in a locker and key compartments where they could store dress uniform, personal belongings, letters from home. Personal space of officers I seem to have told you everything, but one more main question remains - what about the latrine? Of course, there is a latrine. The officers have their own, with a washbasin, while the rest of the crew have a shared one. I provide a photo of the officer’s amenities, it’s a pity that it’s through glass.
Photo 10. Officer's restroom The last room, and perhaps the most combat-ready part of the submarine, is the torpedo compartment.
Photo 11. Torpedo room One of the most important tasks faced service personnel torpedo compartment. Basically, the submarine had 5 torpedoes - 4 were loaded into the torpedo compartments, and one was for reloading. Torpedo compartment The torpedoes for U 995 weighed about 300 kg, had an electric motor and, when fired, reached a speed of about 30 km per hour. Reloading the torpedo compartment was perhaps the most important job of the rank and file. The torpedo room was the last one in the U 995 museum. At the exit you can find a machine, as in many places in Europe, which can turn your 5-cent coin into a medallion with the image of a landmark for 1 euro. Not being a particular fan of this setting, I still made a medallion for myself as a souvenir. At the exit from the museum AfterwordThe trip to the museum is over. Visiting such places has always been a priority for me, because I have always been interested in how life was carried out during one of the largest and bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century. The U 995 submarine museum is not the largest, but it is unique. Unique in that here you can fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere that reigns at a depth of hundreds of meters under water - when you cannot know for sure whether you will surface tomorrow or remain at the bottom depths of the sea: without the exact coordinates of the place of your death and without a grave that relatives could visit. How to get there: From the city of Kiel by bus number 100 to Laboe - we get off at the harbor stop and walk along the coast to the monument. If you happen to travel to the north of Germany, be sure to visit these places and get inspired by the spirit of history.
Goodbye Laboe! The submarine fleet of the Kriegsmarine of the Third Reich was created on November 1, 1934 and ceased to exist with the surrender of Germany in World War II. During its relatively short existence (about nine and a half years), the German submarine fleet managed to fit itself into military history as the largest and deadliest submarine fleet of all time. German submarines that inspired terror in sea captains from North Cape to Cape Good Hope and from Caribbean Sea to the Strait of Malacca, thanks to memoirs and films, they have long turned into one of the military myths, behind the veil of which real facts often become invisible. Here are some of them. 1. The Kriegsmarine fought with 1,154 submarines built in German shipyards (including the submarine boat U-A, which was originally built in Germany for the Turkish Navy). Of the 1,154 submarines, 57 submarines were built before the war, and 1,097 were built after September 1, 1939. The average rate of commissioning of German submarines during World War II was 1 new submarine every two days. Unfinished German submarines type XXI on slips No. 5 (in the foreground) 2. The Kriegsmarine fought with 21 types of German-built submarines with the following technical characteristics: Displacement: from 275 tons (type XXII submarines) to 2710 tons (type X-B); Surface speed: from 9.7 knots (XXII type) to 19.2 knots (IX-D type); Submerged speed: from 6.9 knots ( type II-A) up to 17.2 knots (type XXI); Immersion depth: from 150 meters (type II-A) to 280 meters (type XXI). 3. The Kriegsmarine included 13 captured submarines, including: 1 English: “Seal” (as part of the Kriegsmarine - U-B); 2 Norwegian: B-5 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UC-1), B-6 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UC-2); 5 Dutch: O-5 (before 1916 - British submarine H-6, in the Kriegsmarine - UD-1), O-12 (in the Kriegsmarine - UD-2), O-25 (in the Kriegsmarine - UD-3 ), O-26 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UD-4), O-27 (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UD-5); 1 French: “La Favorite” (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UF-1); 4 Italian: “Alpino Bagnolini” (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-22); "Generale Liuzzi" (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-23); "Comandante Capellini" (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-24); "Luigi Torelli" (as part of the Kriegsmarine - UIT-25). 4. During World War II, German submarines sank 3,083 merchant ships with a total tonnage of 14,528,570 tons. The most successful Kriegsmarine submarine captain is Otto Kretschmer, who sank 47 ships with a total tonnage of 274,333 tons. The most successful submarine is U-48, which sank 52 ships with a total tonnage of 307,935 tons (launched on 22 April 1939, and on 2 April 1941 received heavy damage and did not participate in hostilities again). 5. During World War II, German submarines sank 2 battleships, 7 aircraft carriers, 9 cruisers and 63 destroyers. The largest of the destroyed ships - the battleship Royal Oak (displacement - 31,200 tons, crew - 994 people) - was sunk by the submarine U-47 at its own base at Scapa Flow on 10/14/1939 (displacement - 1040 tons, crew - 45 people). 6. During World War II, German submarines made 3,587 combat missions. The record holder for the number of military cruises is the submarine U-565, which made 21 trips, during which it sank 6 ships with a total tonnage of 19,053 tons. 7. During World War II, 721 German submarines were irretrievably lost. The first lost submarine is the submarine U-27, sunk on September 20, 1939 by the British destroyers Fortune and Forester off the coast of Scotland. The latest loss is the submarine U-287, which was blown up by a mine at the mouth of the Elbe after the formal end of World War II (05/16/1945), returning from its first and only combat campaign. English admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham said: “It takes the fleet three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to create a tradition." The German fleet, the enemy of the British at sea during both world wars, was very young and did not have that much time, but German sailors tried to create their traditions in an accelerated version - for example, using the continuity of generations. A striking example A similar dynasty is the family of Admiral General Otto Schulze. Otto Schultze was born on May 11, 1884 in Oldenburg (Lower Saxony). His naval career began in 1900, when at the age of 16 Schulze was enlisted in the Kaiserlichmarine as a cadet. Having completed his training and practical training, Schulze received the rank of lieutenant zur see in September 1903 - at that time he served on the armored cruiser Prince Heinrich (SMS Prinz Heinrich). Schulze met the First World War already on board the dreadnought SMS König with the rank of lieutenant commander. In May 1915, tempted by the prospect of service on submarines, Schulze transferred from battle fleet to the submarine, took courses at the submariner school in Kiel and received command of the training submarine U 4. At the end of the same year, he was appointed commander of the ocean-going boat U 63, which was under construction, which entered service with the German fleet on March 11, 1916. Otto Schulze (1884–1966) and his middle son Heinz-Otto Schulze (1915–1943) - it is clear that, in addition to the love of the sea, the father passed on to his sons characteristic appearance. His father's nickname "The Nose" was inherited by his eldest son, Wolfgang Schulze. The decision to become a submariner was fateful for Schulze, since service on submarines gave him much more in terms of career and fame than he could have achieved on surface ships. During his command of U 63 (03/11/1916 - 08/27/1917 and 10/15/1917 - 12/24/1917), Schulze achieved impressive successes, sinking the British cruiser HMS Falmouth and 53 ships with a total tonnage of 132,567 tons, and deservedly decorated his uniform with the most prestigious award in Germany - the Prussian Order of Merit (Pour le Mérite). Among Schulze's victories is the sinking of the ex-liner Transylvania (14,348 tons), which was used by the British Admiralty during the war as a troop transport. On the morning of May 4, 1917, the Transylvania, which was sailing from Marseilles to Alexandria guarded by two Japanese destroyers, was torpedoed by U 63. The first torpedo hit amidships, and ten minutes later Schulze finished it off with a second torpedo. The sinking of the liner was accompanied by a large number of casualties - the Transylvania was overcrowded with people. On that day, in addition to the crew, there were 2,860 soldiers, 200 officers and 60 medical personnel on board. The next day, the Italian coast was littered with the bodies of the dead - U 63 torpedoes caused the death of 412 people. After leaving the bridge of U 63, Schulze headed the 1st Boat Flotilla based at Pola (Austria-Hungary) until May 1918, combining this position with service on the headquarters of the commander of all submarine forces in the Mediterranean. The submarine ace met the end of the war with the rank of corvette captain, becoming a recipient of many awards from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Between the wars he held various staff and command positions, continuing to move up the career ladder: in April 1925 - frigate captain, in January 1928 - captain zur see, in April 1931 - rear admiral. At the time of Hitler's rise to power, Schulze was commander of the North Sea Naval Station. The arrival of the Nazis did not affect his career in any way - in October 1934, Schulze became a vice admiral, and two years later he received the rank of full admiral of the fleet. In October 1937, Schulze retired, but with the outbreak of World War II he returned to the fleet, and finally left service on September 30, 1942 with the rank of admiral general. The veteran survived the war safely and died on January 22, 1966 in Hamburg at the age of 81. The underwater ace had a large family. In 1909, he married Magda Raben, with whom six children were born - three girls and three boys. Of the daughters, only the youngest daughter Rosemary was able to overcome the age of two; her two sisters died in infancy. Fate was more favorable to Schulze's sons: Wolfgang, Heinz-Otto and Rudolf, having reached adulthood, followed in their father's footsteps, enlisting in the Navy and becoming submariners. Contrary to Russian fairy tales, in which traditionally “the eldest was smart, the middle one was this and that, the youngest was completely a fool,” the abilities of the sons of Admiral Schulze were distributed quite differently. Wolfgang SchulzeOn October 2, 1942, an American B-18 anti-submarine aircraft spotted a submarine on the surface 15 miles off the coast of French Guiana. The first attack was successful, and the boat, which turned out to be U 512 (type IXC), disappeared under water after the explosion of bombs dropped from the plane, leaving an oil slick on the surface. The place where the submarine lay on the bottom turned out to be shallow, which gave the surviving submariners a chance of salvation - the bow depth gauge showed 42 meters. About 15 people ended up in the bow torpedo compartment, which in such situations could serve as a refuge. It was decided to go outside through the torpedo tubes, but there were half as many breathing apparatus as there were people in the compartment. In addition, the room began to fill with chlorine, which was released by the batteries of electric torpedoes. As a result, only one submariner managed to rise to the surface - 24-year-old sailor Franz Machen. The crew of a B-18 circling over the scene of the sinking noticed the surviving submariner and dropped a life raft. Machen spent ten days on the raft before being picked up by a US Navy ship. During his solo sailing“The sailor was attacked by birds, which inflicted significant wounds on him with their beaks, but Machen fought back the aggressors, and two winged predators were caught by him. Having torn the carcasses into pieces and dried them in the sun, the submariner ate bird meat, despite its disgusting taste. On October 12, it was discovered by the American destroyer Ellis. Subsequently, while being interrogated by the US Navy Intelligence Department, Machen gave a description of his deceased commander.
Of course, one person's opinion may be too subjective, but if Wolfgang Schultze lived up to the description given to him, then he was very different from his father and brother Heinz-Otto. It is especially worth noting that for Wolfgang this was the first military campaign as a boat commander, in which he managed to sink three ships with a total tonnage of 20,619 tons. It is curious that Wolfgang inherited his father’s nickname, given to him during his service in the navy - “Nose” (German: Nase). The origin of the nickname becomes obvious when looking at the photo - the old underwater ace had a large and expressive nose. Heinz-Otto SchulzeIf the father of the Schultze family could be truly proud of anyone, it was his middle son, Heinz-Otto Schultze. He joined the fleet four years later than the elder Wolfgang, but managed to achieve much greater success, comparable to the achievements of his father. One of the reasons why this happened is the history of the brothers’ service until they were appointed commanders of combat submarines. Wolfgang, after receiving the rank of lieutenant in 1934, served on shore and on surface ships - before joining the submarine in April 1940, he was an officer for two years on the battlecruiser Gneisenau. After eight months of training and practice, the eldest of the Schulze brothers was appointed commander of the training boat U 17, which he commanded for ten months, after which he received the same position on U 512. Based on the fact that Wolfgang Schulze had practically no combat experience and despised caution , his death in the first campaign is quite natural. Unlike his older brother, Heinz-Otto Schulze deliberately followed in his father's footsteps and, having become a naval lieutenant in April 1937, immediately chose to serve in submarines. After completing his training in March 1938, he was appointed watch officer on the boat U 31 (type VIIA), on which he met the outbreak of World War II. The boat was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Johannes Habekost, with whom Schulze made four military campaigns. As a result of one of them, the British battleship Nelson was blown up and damaged by mines laid by U 31. In January 1940, Heinz-Otto Schulze was sent to a course for submarine commanders, after which he commanded training U 4, then became the first commander of U 141, and in April 1941 he took delivery of the brand new “seven” U 432 (type VIIC) from the shipyard. Having received his own boat, Schulze showed an excellent result on his first voyage, sinking four ships totaling 10,778 tons during the battle of the Markgraf boat group with convoy SC-42 on September 9–14, 1941. The commander of the submarine forces, Karl Doenitz, gave the following characterization of the actions of the young commander of U 432: "The commander achieved success in his first campaign by persevering in the attack of the convoy." Subsequently, Heinz-Otto made six more combat trips on U 432 and only once returned from the sea without the triangular pennants on the periscope with which German submariners celebrated their successes. In July 1942, Dönitz awarded Schulze the Knight's Cross, deeming that he had reached the 100,000-ton mark. This was not entirely true: the personal account of the commander of U 432 was 20 ships sunk for 67,991 tons, two more ships for 15,666 tons were damaged (according to the website http://uboat.net). However, Heitz-Otto was on good standing at the command, he was brave and decisive, while acting prudently and calmly, for which he was nicknamed “Mask” by his colleagues (German: Maske). Of course, when he was awarded by Doenitz, the fourth cruise of U 432 in February 1942 was also taken into account, with which Schulze confirmed the hope of the commander of the submarine forces that the boats of the VII series could successfully operate off the east coast of the United States together with the submarine cruisers of the IX series without refueling. On that voyage, Schulze spent 55 days at sea, during which time he sank five ships totaling 25,107 tons. However, despite his obvious talent as a submariner, Admiral Schulze's second son suffered the same fate as his older brother Wolfgang. Having received command of the new submarine cruiser U 849 type IXD2, Otto-Heinz Schulze died along with the boat on his first voyage. On November 25, 1943, the American Liberator put an end to the fate of the boat and its entire crew off the east coast of Africa with its bombs. Rudolf SchulzeAdmiral Schulze's youngest son began serving in the navy after the war began, in December 1939, and not much is known about the details of his career in the Kriegsmarine. In February 1942, Rudolf Schultze was appointed watch officer of the submarine U 608 under the command of Oberleutnant Rolf Struckmeier. On it, he made four military campaigns in the Atlantic with a result of four sunk ships for 35,539 tons. In August 1943, Rudolf was sent to a training course for submarine commanders and a month later became commander of the training submarine U 61. At the end of 1944, Rudolf was appointed commander of the new “electric boat” XXI series U 2540, which he commanded until the end of the war. It is curious that this boat was sunk on May 4, 1945, but in 1957 it was raised, restored and in 1960 included in the German Navy under the name “Wilhelm Bauer”. In 1984, she was transferred to the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, where she is still used as a museum ship. Rudolf Schulze was the only one of the brothers to survive the war and died in 2000 at the age of 78. Other "underwater" dynastiesIt is worth noting that the Schulze family is no exception for the German fleet and its submarines - history also knows other dynasties when sons followed in the footsteps of their fathers, replacing them on the bridges of submarines. Family Albrecht gave two submarine commanders in the First World War. Oberleutnant zur See Werner Albrecht led the underwater minelayer UC 10 on his first trip, which turned out to be his last when on August 21, 1916, the minelayer was torpedoed by the British boat E54. There were no survivors. Kurt Albrecht successively commanded four boats and repeated the fate of his brother - he died on U 32 along with the crew northwest of Malta on May 8, 1918 from depth charges of the British sloop HMS Wallflower. Two submarine commanders from younger generation Albrechtov. Rolf Heinrich Fritz Albrecht, commander of U 386 (Type VIIC), achieved no success but managed to survive the war. On 19 February 1944, his boat was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Spey. Part of the boat's crew, including the commander, was captured. The commander of the torpedo carrier U 1062 (type VIIF), Karl Albrecht, was much less fortunate - he died on September 30, 1944 in the Atlantic along with the boat during the passage from Penang, Malay to France. Near Cape Verde, the boat was attacked by depth charges and sank by the American destroyer USS Fessenden. Family Franz was noted by one submarine commander in the First World War: Lieutenant-Commander Adolf Franz commanded the boats U 47 and U 152, surviving safely until the end of the war. Two more boat commanders took part in World War II - Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Franz, commander of U 27 (type VIIA), and Ludwig Franz, commander of U 362 (type VIIC). The first of them, within a matter of days after the start of the war, managed to establish himself as an aggressive commander with all the makings of an underwater ace, but luck quickly turned away from Johannes Franz. His boat became the second German submarine sunk in World War II. Having unsuccessfully attacked the British destroyers HMS Forester and HMS Fortune west of Scotland on September 20, 1939, she herself became the prey instead of the hunter. The boat commander and his crew spent the entire war in captivity. Ludwig Franz is interesting primarily because he was the commander of one of the German boats, who became a confirmed victim of the USSR Navy in the Great Patriotic War. The submarine was sunk by depth charges of the Soviet minesweeper T-116 on September 5, 1944 in the Kara Sea along with the entire crew, without having time to achieve any success. Surname Hashagen in the First World War was represented by two successful submarine commanders. Hinrich Hermann Hashagen, commander of U 48 and U 22, survived the war, sinking 28 ships for 24,822 tons. Ernst Hashagen, commander of UB 21 and U 62, achieved truly outstanding successes - 53 ships destroyed for 124,535 tons and two warships (the French armored cruiser Dupetit-Thouars and the British sloop Tulip) (HMS Tulip)) and the well-deserved “Blue Max”, as Pour le Mérite was called, around the neck. He left behind a book of memoirs called “U-Boote Westwarts!” During World War II, Oberleutnant zur See Berthold Hashagen, commander of the submarine cruiser U 846 (type IXC/40), was less fortunate. He died along with the boat and crew in the Bay of Biscay on May 4, 1944 from bombs dropped by the Canadian Wellington. Family Walter gave the fleet two submarine commanders in World War I. Lieutenant Commander Hans Walther, commander of U 17 and U 52, sank 39 ships for 84,791 tons and three warships - the British light cruiser HMS Nottingham, the French battleship Suffren and the British submarine C34. Since 1917, Hans Walter commanded the famous Flanders submarine flotilla, in which many German submarine aces of the First World War fought, and ended his naval career in the Kriegsmarine with the rank of rear admiral. Oberleutnant zur See Franz Walther, commander of UB 21 and UB 75, sank 20 ships (29,918 tons). He died along with the entire crew of the boat UB 75 on December 10, 1917 at a minefield near Scarborough ( West Coast Great Britain). Lieutenant zur See Herbert Walther, who commanded the boat U 59 at the end of World War II, did not achieve success, but managed to survive until Germany surrendered. Concluding the story about family dynasties in the German submarine fleet, I would like to note once again that the fleet is, first of all, not ships, but people. This applies not only to the German fleet, but will also apply to military sailors of other countries. List of sources and literature
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The wake of German submarines (Type II-A) at sea during maneuvers, 1939 
Kriegsmarine officers inspect the British submarine Seal (HMS Seal, N37), 
U-48 is the most successful German submarine. She is in the picture 
Commander of the German submarine U-47 Lieutenant Commander 
German submarine (type VII-B) during a combat campaign 
British destroyer HMS Forester, 1942
The British cruiser Falmouth was sunk by U 63 under the command of Otto Schulze on August 20, 1916. Before this, the ship was damaged by another German boat U 66 and was taken into tow. This explains the small number of casualties during the sinking - only 11 sailors died
The ocean liner Transylvania, sunk by Otto Schulze, was the newest ship launched in 1914.
By the beginning of World War II, the main American bomber, the Douglas B-18 Bolo, was outdated and was replaced from bomber units by the four-engine B-17. However, there was also something to do for the B-18 - more than 100 vehicles were equipped with search radars and magnetic anomalous detectors and transferred to anti-submarine service. In this capacity, their service was also short-lived, and the sunk U 512 became one of the Bolo’s few successes.
Heinz-Otto Schulze returned from his campaign. To his right is the flotilla commander and submarine ace Robert-Richard Zapp ( Robert-Richard Zapp), 1942
The surviving sailors from the submarines U 386 and U 406 sunk by the British frigate Spray disembark the ship in Liverpool - for them the war is over.
The armored cruiser Dupetit-Thouars was torpedoed by the U 62 boat under the command of Ernst Hashagen on the evening of August 7, 1918 in the Brest area. The ship sank slowly, which made it possible for the crew to leave it in an orderly manner - only 13 sailors died
The battleship "Suffren" is a victim of a submarine attack by U 52 under the command of Hans Walter on November 26, 1916, off the coast of Portugal. After the explosion of the ammunition, the ship sank in seconds, killing all 648 crew members.