21 Mar

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 allowing Germany 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. The tactics of the “wolf packs” were as follows: the submarines 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 Submarines were often withdrawn from one unit and assigned to another.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 and 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, the main principle of the “wolf pack” was in effect - to destroy more ships than the enemy could 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 as 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 for their submarines the Nazis created bases 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 big amount batteries, which made it possible to reach speeds of up to seventeen knots, but the end of the war did not allow the fleet to be rearmed.

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

The Wolfpack's first major victory was the sinking of the USS Coreages. 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.

From the beginning of 1942, German submariners began to conduct 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 the 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 to be carrying unknown secret cargo and two secret passengers to 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.

However, Dönitz's submarines fought for Germany until the last day. Dönitz himself became Hitler's successor, later arrested and sentenced to ten years.

Categories:// from 03/21/2017

The concept of “best submariners” is ambiguous and requires clarification for its correct understanding. Naturally, the definition of “best” is carried out by the name of the submarine commander, who has an important, but not all determining, significance during the voyage. The crew of the boat together with its captain are a single whole, since one without the other, not only achieve any success, but even survive at sea. Thus, the activity of the entire crew, which is represented by the commander, is actually assessed. The criterion for evaluation is the total tonnage of enemy ships sunk. Sometimes the number of ships sunk, the time spent on voyages, and the thousands of miles traveled by submarines are used for assessment. However, these criteria are most often used for qualification assessments in peacetime.

It is generally accepted to consider the commander of a submarine that sank more than 100 thousand tons of ship tonnage to be a “underwater ace” or “tonnage king.” Only German submariners were such record holders in World War II - 34 of them achieved this result. Among submariners from other countries, only about a dozen boat commanders were able to approach this figure, although they were the most productive in their fleet.

In addition to high personal results, German submariners also had high efficiency of the submarine fleet as a whole. They sank 2,603 ​​Allied warships and transport vessels with a total displacement of 13.5 million tons. The Americans destroyed 1314 ships with a total tonnage of 5.3 million tons. British - 403 ships with a tonnage of 1.42 million tons. The Japanese sank 184 ships with a tonnage of 907 thousand tons. The USSR - 157 ships with a tonnage of 462.3 thousand tons.

The contribution of “underwater aces” to these statistics is very significant. For example, only the 5 best German submariners sank 174 Allied combat and transport ships with a total displacement of 1.5 million tons. In terms of tonnage, this is slightly more than the entire British submarine fleet, and three times more than the Soviet one.

The high performance of the German submarine fleet was achieved, first of all, due to the huge German submarine fleet of 2054 submarines (almost 50% of the entire submarine fleet of the world), which in the first half of the war almost completely controlled everything sea ​​routes to Europe. In addition, the success was facilitated by the high training of the crews, advanced submarines, and the incredible intensity of their use in military campaigns. Average trip duration German submarine was 3-6 months, and sometimes 9-10 months a year. And the number of trips of one boat could reach 20 times. At a time when Allied submarines went to sea 5-6 times during the war. The total duration of campaigns rarely reached 3 months during the entire war. It is also necessary to note the high repairability of the German submarine fleet. Almost 70% of the available fleet was constantly in service, at a time when the Allies had only half of the fleet on the move, and the USSR and Japan only 30%.

Not last value The tactics used by the submariners – “free hunt” and “wolf packs” – also contributed to the Germans’ effectiveness. Of the total Allied losses from submarines, 61% were ships sailing outside convoys; 9% were lagging behind the convoys and 30% were traveling as part of the convoys. As a result, 70 thousand military sailors and 30 thousand merchant seamen died.

German submariners paid a high price for this success: 647 submarines were destroyed. Of the 39 thousand submariners who participated in combat campaigns, 32 thousand died. The overwhelming majority were in the last two years of the war.

Below is information about the submarine commanders who achieved the highest results in their country.

UK Submariners

Lieutenant Cmdr. In 1933, he entered service in the submarine fleet and commanded the submarine N-31, which sank in the North Sea. Since the summer of 1940, he commanded the submarine “Upholder”, on which he made 28 combat cruises in 15 months and sank 14 ships with a total tonnage of 93 thousand tons, damaged 3 ships with a tonnage of 33 thousand tons. Among the sunk ships was one destroyer and two enemy submarines. For the destruction of the heavily guarded large Italian liner SS Conte Rosso, Wanklyn was awarded the highest British military award, the Victoria Cross. In April 1942, the submarine Upholder was lost with its entire crew, presumably falling into a minefield.

Submariners of Germany

Admiral of the flotilla. In 1936 he entered the submarine fleet and served as 1st mate on the U-35 submarine. Since 1937 - commander of the U-23 submarine. He laid several mines on it off the coast of Great Britain and sank 8 ships. Since 1940 he became the commander of U-99. On the first patrol, he sank 11 ships, then 8 more. He sank the British auxiliary cruisers Patrocles, Forfar and Lorient, as well as the destroyer Daring. Made 16 military campaigns. In total, he sank 46 ships with a total displacement of 273 thousand tons. and damaged 6 ships with a displacement of 38 thousand tons. He was the most effective submariner in Germany. Awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Captain 1st rank. In 1933, he entered the navy as a cadet, completing a 9-month circumnavigation of the world on the light cruiser Karlsruhe. He served on the light cruiser Königsberg. In 1937 he was transferred to the submarine fleet. In 1939, he was appointed commander of the U-9 submarine, on which he made 6 cruises. Sank the French submarine Doris. Since 1940, he was transferred to the U-138 submarine, on which he sank 4 ships with a total displacement of 34.6 thousand tons. In 1940 - 1942. commanded the boat "U-43" and made 5 trips (204 days at sea), during which he sank 12 ships with a displacement of 64.8 thousand tons. In 1942 - 1943. Commanding the submarine U-181, he made 2 voyages lasting 335 days. Lyut's main victims were not ships in convoys, like many other submariners, but independently moving ships. In total he made 16 military campaigns. He had 46 sunken ships with a total displacement of 225.8 thousand tons, as well as 2 damaged ships with a total displacement of 17 thousand tons. He had the 2nd result among German submarine warfare aces. Awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and Diamonds.

Captain 2nd rank. Since 1940, he commanded the submarine U-552, which attacked the convoy HX-156. Sank the US destroyer Reuben James. At the end of 1941 he set sail for the Azores region. Made 13 military campaigns. During the war, he sank 35 merchant ships with a displacement of 197 thousand tons and damaged 4 ships with a displacement of 32 thousand tons. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Captain 2nd rank. From 1931 he served on the battleship Schleswig-Holstein. In 1935 he was transferred to the submarine forces. In 1936-1938. commanded the submarine U-2. In 1938, he received the U-38 boat, on which he made 9 trips, spending a total of 333 days at sea. Sank the steamship "Manaar" with a displacement of 7 thousand tons. In 1941, off the coast of Africa, he sank 8 ships with a displacement of 47 thousand tons. Made 9 military campaigns. In total, during the hostilities, he sank 34 ships with a total displacement of 187 thousand tons and damaged 1 ship with a displacement of 3.7 thousand tons. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

Captain 1st rank. In 1925 he entered the navy as a cadet, and four years later he was promoted to lieutenant. Served on torpedo boats. In 1935 he was transferred to the submarine fleet. Commanded the submarines U-19 and U-11. In 1939, he was appointed commander of the U-25 submarine, on which he made 3 cruises, spending 105 days at sea. Since 1940, he commanded the submarine U-103. I spent 4 trips on this boat, lasting 201 days. In total he made 7 military campaigns. During the hostilities, he sank 35 ships with a total displacement of 180 thousand tons and damaged 5 ships with a displacement of 14 thousand tons. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

Submariners of Italy

Carlo Fecia di Cossato (25.10.1908 - 27.08.1944)

Captain 2nd rank. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1928 and served on submarines. At the beginning of the war he commanded the submarines Ciro Menotti and Tazzoli. In 1941, he sank three large enemy transports in one campaign. In 1942, during a two-month campaign, he destroyed 6 Allied ships, and in the next two months - 4 more. In 1943, after Italy signed an armistice, he transferred from the submarine fleet to the commander of a squadron of torpedo boats, on which he destroyed 7 more ships, but this time German ones. Made 10 combat cruises on a submarine. Sank 16 Allied ships with a total displacement of 86 thousand tons. Awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Gold Medal of Military Valor.

Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia (30.08.1912 - 23.05.1943)

Corvette captain. In 1935, after graduating from the Naval Academy, he was assigned to the heavy cruiser Trento, and then transferred to the submarine fleet. He served as first mate on the submarine Domenico Millilire, and then commanded the submarines Archimede and Leonardo da Vinci. In one trip he managed to sink 6 ships with a total displacement of 58.9 thousand tons. In total, he made 11 military campaigns and sank 9 Allied transport ships with a total tonnage of 76.4 thousand tons. On May 23, 1943, the submarine Leonardo da Vinci was sunk with its entire crew 300 miles west of Cape Finisterre by Royal Navy ships. Gianfranco Gazzana Priaroggia was posthumously awarded the Italian gold medal "For military valor", as well as the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Submariners of the USSR

Efficiency Soviet commanders submarines were determined, unlike the rest of the world, not in terms of sunk tonnage, but in the number of ships sunk. It is not difficult to assume that this was done by the Soviet ideological machine to disguise the low efficiency of the submarine fleet in comparison with other countries. After all, it is obvious that the destruction of a cruiser or large transport and a torpedo boat or minesweeper has big difference, both in the amount of damage caused to the enemy and in the value of the ship for the enemy fleet. However, the commissioners “did not see this difference.” Therefore, they compared the 13 declared ships of Ivan Travkin (commander of the submarine Shch-303, K-52, Baltic Fleet) with the number of sunk ships of submarine warfare aces of other countries. Indeed, Travkin’s 13 sunk ships do not look so “sad” in comparison with the 16-19 ships sunk by the British or Americans. True, Travkin was officially credited with 7 sunk ships, although in fact he sank 1 transport of 1.5 thousand tons. Based on this, below we present the rating of Soviet submarine commanders in comparable units of measurement, in the tonnage of ships sunk. Naturally, it absolutely does not coincide with the decades of Soviet military statistics imposed on us.

Topping the list is Alexander Marinesko, who damaged the German military potential greatest damage, in comparison with other Soviet submariners.

Captain 3rd rank. In 1933 he graduated from Odessa nautical school and served as third and second mate on the ships “Ilyich” and “Red Fleet”. In 1933, he was sent to a special course for command staff of the RKKF, after which he was appointed navigator on the submarine Shch-306 (“Haddock”) of the Baltic Fleet. In March 1936 he received the rank of lieutenant, in November 1938 - senior lieutenant. After completing retraining courses at the underwater diving training detachment, he served as assistant commander on the L-1 submarine, then as commander on the M-96 submarine, whose crew, based on the results of combat and political training in 1940, took first place, and the commander was awarded gold medals. hours and promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander.

In October 1941, Marinesko was expelled from the list of candidates for membership in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) for drunkenness and organizing gambling card games in the submarine division. In August 1942, the M-96 boat went on a combat mission for the first time. According to Soviet reports, it sank a German transport; according to German data, the boat missed. In November 1942, the boat went on a second voyage to disembark a group of reconnaissance officers. For this campaign, Marinesko received the Order of Lenin and the rank of captain of the 3rd rank. In April 1943, Marinesko was appointed commander of the S-13 submarine, on which he served until September 1945. The submarine went on a cruise only in October 1944. She managed to damage the Siegfried transport, with a displacement of 553 tons, which in the report “grew” to 5 thousand tons. For this campaign, Marinesko received the Order of the Red Banner. From January 9 to February 15, 1945, Marinesko was on his fifth military campaign, during which two large enemy transports were sunk - Wilhelm Gustloff (25.5 thousand tons) and Steuben (16.6 thousand tons) . Thus, Marinesko, having completed 6 military campaigns, sank two ships with a total tonnage of 40.1 thousand tons and damaged one with a displacement of 553 tons.

In two outstanding victories in January-February 1945, all Marinesko crew members were awarded state awards, and the submarine "S-13" - the Order of the Red Banner. The boat commander himself, who fell into disgrace, main award was awarded posthumously only in May 1990. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union 45 years after the end of the war.

Vice Admiral. In 1932 he graduated from the Naval Academy, then the Coastal Defense School Naval Forces Red Army, and in 1936 he was trained in the Submarine Training Unit. During the war, he commanded the K-1 submarine in the Northern Fleet. Participant of 13 military campaigns, spent 172 days at sea. Carried out one torpedo attack, 13 mine laying. Destroyed 6 enemy transports and 2 warships with a total tonnage of 18.6 thousand tons. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Nakhimov II degree, two Orders of the Patriotic War and the Order of the Red Star.

Captain 1st rank. In 1931 he graduated from the M.V. Frunze Naval School and served on the Panther submarine. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1940, he served on the L-3 submarine in the Baltic Fleet. Under the command of Grishchenko, the L-3 submarine made one successful torpedo attack, and 5 transports were blown up by the mines it placed. In general, the submarine sank 6 ships with a total tonnage of 16.4 thousand tons. He was awarded 9 orders, incl. two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star and three Orders of the Patriotic War.

Vice Admiral. In October 1942, he organized the transfer of six submarines from Pacific Fleet- to the North. These boats included the S-56. The passage through 9 seas and 3 oceans, about 17 thousand miles long, ended in March 1943 in Polyarny. Under the command of Shchedrin, the S-56 made 8 military campaigns and sank 2 transports and 2 warships with a total tonnage of 10.1 thousand tons. For successful command of the ship and demonstrated courage and heroism, Shchedrin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the medal “ Golden Star" and the Order of Lenin.

US Submariners

At the beginning of the war, military statistics of the US Navy kept records of enemy losses and the effectiveness of combat operations of its own forces according to the generally accepted system - confirming the statements of the command of its troops. However, such statistics did not reflect the real picture, which negatively affected the planning of military operations and even the fairness of rewarding their soldiers. Therefore, in January 1943, the command of all branches of the US armed forces formed the Joint Naval Assessment Committee (JANAC), which, based on 12 various sources information generated statistical reports. To date, these reports are considered to be as objective as possible and have undergone virtually no adjustments with the receipt of new information. In 1947, JANAC compiled a report on the performance ratings of U.S. Navy submarine commanders. The methodology for calculating the rating included not only data on the sunk tonnage of enemy ships, but also their number, the time spent attacking one target, the number and range of cruises, the number of torpedoes fired at one target, etc. As a result, the actual skill of the submariners was assessed, practically excluding luck and fortune. Below is information about the submariners leading this rating.

Richard O'Kane (Richard Hetherington "Dick" O'Kane) (02/02/1911 - 16/02/1994)

Captain 1st rank. In 1934 he graduated from the US Naval Academy. He spent his first years of service on the heavy cruiser Chester and the destroyer Pruitt. In 1938 he graduated from diving school and was appointed navigator on the submarine Wahoo. In 1943, he took command of the submarine "Tang", on which he made 5 combat cruises, sinking 24 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 93.8 thousand tons. In the rating of submarine commanders of the US Navy, he ranks first in terms of performance. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, three Navy Crosses and three Silver Stars.

Captain 1st rank. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1935, he served on the battleship Idaho. In 1938 he completed his studies at a diving school and from the end of 1941 he commanded the submarine Pompano, on which he made three combat cruises before it was seriously damaged. Afterwards he commanded the new submarine Seahorse, on which he sank 4 ships with a total displacement of 19.5 thousand tons in one combat campaign. for which he received his first Navy Cross. In total he made 5 cruises, during which he destroyed 19 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 71.7 thousand tons. He was awarded four Navy Crosses and was recognized as the second most successful submarine commander in the United States.

Captain 3rd rank. In 1930 he graduated from the Naval Academy. Before the start of the war, he served on cruisers and aircraft carriers, and then on R- and S-class submarines. During the year, he made 5 military cruises on the submarine Wahoo, during which he sank 19 ships with a total tonnage of 54.7 thousand tons. In 1943, the boat carrying Morton went missing. He was awarded the Navy Cross, three Gold Stars and the Distinguished Service Cross.

Eugene Bennett Fluckey (05.10.1913 - 28.06. 2007)

Rear Admiral. In 1935, he graduated from the Naval Academy and was assigned to serve on the battleship Nevada, then transferred to the destroyer McCormick. In 1938 he entered a diving school, after graduating from which he served on the S-42 and Bonita submarines. From January 1944 to August 1945, he commanded the submarine “Barb”, on which he made 5 combat cruises, sinking 16 ships with a total tonnage of 95 thousand tons. Among the destroyed ships were a Japanese cruiser and a frigate. He was awarded the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses. It ranks fourth in the performance rankings of the American fleet.

Rear Admiral. In 1930 he graduated from the Naval Academy and was assigned to the battleship Nevada. He then served on the destroyer Rathburne. After graduating from diving school, he served on various submarines as a first mate, and in 1938 he was appointed commander of the old destroyer Reuben James. In 1941, he was transferred to the position of commander of the S-20 submarine. In 1942, he received the new submarine “Harder”, on which he made 6 combat cruises, sinking 16 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 54 thousand tons. In the performance rating of the US Navy, it ranks fifth. He was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Silver Star.

Captain 2nd rank. He graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1933 and became a career naval officer. During the war, he commanded the submarine Archerfish, which on November 28, 1944 discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano with a military guard. Aircraft carrier with a displacement of 71.9 thousand tons. was considered the most large aircraft carrier in the world until 1961, when the United States built the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Inright attacked the carrier with four torpedoes, which hit the bow of the ship. For the successful operation he was awarded the Navy Cross. And although Joseph Inright was not included in the top ranking of the most successful US submariners, the ego attack is considered one of the most successful in naval battles.

Assessing the performance of American submariners, one cannot fail to note the crew of the Flasher submarine, which, under the command of two commanders, tops the rating of the most productive submarine of the US Navy. This submarine destroyed 21 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 104.6 thousand tons. Information about these captains is below.

Rear Admiral. In 1934 he graduated from the Naval Academy. Commanded the submarine Sturgeon. From September 25, 1943 to October 31, 1944, he commanded the Flasher submarine, on which he sank 15 enemy warships and transports with a displacement of 56.4 thousand tons. He was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star.

Captain 1st rank. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1936 and served on the battleship Mississippi. After graduating from diving school, he was appointed captain of the Skipjack submarine. From October 31, 1944 to March 1946, he commanded the boat “Flasher,” on which he sank 6 ships with a tonnage of 43.8 thousand tons. In total, he made 5 military campaigns. He was awarded the Navy Cross.

Submariners of Japan

Vice Admiral. After graduating from the Naval Academy, he continued his studies at a diving school. Since 1935, he served on submarines as an officer. In 1940, he was appointed commander of the submarine I-21. Participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. During two military campaigns he sank enemy ships with a total tonnage of 44 thousand tons. In total, he made 11 military campaigns and sank 10 Allied transport ships with a total tonnage of 58.9 thousand tons. On November 29, 1943, the I-21 submarine and its entire crew were lost off Tarawa Atoll, presumably from an attack by a TBF Avenger carrier-based aircraft from the convoy aircraft carrier Chenango.

The successes of other Japanese submariners did not exceed 50 thousand tons.

In conclusion. An analysis of the combat activity of submarine fleets during the war shows that the best submariners, who accounted for approximately 2% of the total number of submarines, accounted for up to about 30% of the total tonnage of ships sunk. Thus, during the Second World War, among all branches of the armed forces, it was the category of “best submariners” that turned out to be the most effective and efficient. It is not for nothing that submariners in all countries are treated with the greatest respect and reverence.

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 of such a 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). First world war Schulze met 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 his characteristic appearance to his sons. 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.

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

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.

In the period 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 ocean liner Transylvania, sunk by Otto Schulze, was the newest ship launched in 1914.

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 Schulze

On 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.

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.

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.

“According to the testimony of the only survivor, the crew of the submarine cruiser U 512 consisted of 49 sailors and officers. Its commander was Lieutenant Commander Wolfgang Schulze, the son of an admiral and a member of the "Nose" Schulze family, which left a significant mark on German naval history. However, Wolfgang Schulze was little comparable to his famous ancestors. He did not enjoy the love and respect of his crew, who considered him a narcissistic, incontinent, incompetent person. Schulze drank heavily on board and punished his men very severely for even the most minor violations of discipline. However, in addition to the loss of morale among the crew due to the constant and excessive tightening of the screws by the boat commander, Schulze’s crew was dissatisfied with his professional skills as a submarine commander. Believing that fate had destined him to become the second Prien, Schulze commanded the boat with extreme recklessness. The rescued submariner stated that during U 512 tests and exercises, Schulze was always inclined to remain on the surface during training attacks from the air, repelling aircraft attacks with anti-aircraft fire, while he could give the order to dive without warning his gunners, who after leaving the boats underwater remained in the water until Schulze surfaced and picked them up.”

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. Interestingly, Wolfgang inherited his father's nickname, given to him during 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 Schulze

If 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.

Heinz-Otto Schulze returned from his campaign. To his right is the flotilla commander and submarine ace Robert-Richard Zapp ( Robert-Richard Zapp), 1942

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 in good standing with the command, he was brave and decisive, and at the same time acted prudently and calmly, for which he was nicknamed “Mask” by his colleagues (German: Maske).

Last moments U 849 under the bombs of the American "Liberator" from the naval squadron VB-107

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 Schulze

Admiral 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.

Rudolf Schulze's former boat U 2540 on display at the Naval Museum in Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany

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" dynasties

It 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.

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.

Two submarine commanders from the younger generation of Albrechts participated in World War II. Rolf Heinrich Fritz Albrecht, commander of the U 386 (type VIIC), achieved no success but managed to survive the war. On February 19, 1944, his boat was sunk in North Atlantic 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 that 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.

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

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.

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.

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

1. Gibson R., Prendergast M. German submarine war 1914–1918. Translated from German – Minsk: “Harvest”, 2002
2. Wynn K. U-Boat Operations of the Second World War. Vol.1–2 – Annopolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998
3. Busch R., Roll H.-J. German U-boat Commanders of World War II – Annopolis: Naval Institute Press, 1999
4. Ritschel H. Kurzfassung Kriegstagesbuecher Deutscher U-Boote 1939–1945. Band 8. Norderstedt
5. Blair S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunters, 1939–1942 – Random House, 1996
6. Blair S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942–1945 – Random House, 1998
7. http://www.uboat.net
8. http://www.uboatarchive.net
9. http://historisches-marinearchiv.de

Dispassionate statistics show that during the Second World War, the best submarine sailors were German submariners. They sank 2,603 ​​Allied warships and transport vessels with a total displacement of 13.5 million tons. As a result, 70 thousand military sailors and 30 thousand merchant seamen died. The ratio of losses to victories was thus 1:4 in favor of German submarines. Soviet submariners, of course, could not boast of such successes, but they still caused major troubles for the enemy. List of German submarine warfare aces who sank ships with a total displacement of more than 100 thousand tons: 1. Otto Kretschmer- sank 44 ships, including 1 destroyer, - 266,629 tons. 2. Wolfgang Lüth- 43 ships, including 1 submarine, - 225,712 tons (according to other sources, 47 ships - 228,981 tons). 3. Erich Topp- 34 ships, including 1 American destroyer, - 193,684 tons. 4. Herbert Schulze- 28 ships - 183,432 tons (he accounted for the first of all ships officially sunk by German submarines - the transport "Bosnia" - sunk on September 5, 1939). 5. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock- 25 ships - 183253 tons. 6. Karl-Friedrich Merten- 29 ships - 180869 tons. 7. Heinrich Liebe- 31 ships - 167886 tons. 8. Gunther Prien- 30 ships, including the English battleship "Royal Oak", sunk by him on October 14, 1939 in the roadstead at the main naval base of the British fleet of Scapa Flow on the Orkney Islands - 164,953 tons. Günter Prien became the first German officer to receive oak leaves for the Knight's Cross. An outstanding submariner of the Third Reich died very early - on March 8, 1941 (during an attack on a convoy traveling from Liverpool to Halifax). 9. Joachim Schepke- 39 ships - 159,130 ​​tons. 10. Georg Lassen- 26 ships - 156082 tons. 11. Werner Henke- 24 ships - 155714 tons. 12. Johann Mohr- 27 ships, including a corvette and an air defense cruiser, - 129,292 tons. 13. Engelbert Endras- 22 ships, including 2 cruisers, - 128,879 tons. 14. Reinhardt Hardegen- 23 ships - 119405 tons. 15. Werner Hartmann- 24 ships - 115616 tons.

Also worthy of mention Albrecht Brandi, which sank a minelayer and a destroyer; Reinhardt Suhren(95,092 tons), sank a corvette; Fritz Jujulius Lemp(68,607 tons), which damaged the English battleship Barham and actually sank the first ship of all destroyed by the German submarine fleet - passenger airliner"Athenia" (this happened on September 3, 1939 and was not then recognized by the German side); Otto Shewhart(80,688 tons), which sank the English aircraft carrier Courageous on September 17, 1939; Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen, which sank the English battleship Barham on November 25, 1941.

Only the five best submariners in Germany sank 174 combat and transport ships allies with a total displacement of 1 million 52 thousand 710 tons.

For comparison: Soviet submarine fleet By June 22, 1941, it had 212 submarines in service (to this we must add 54 submarines built during the war). These forces (267 submarines) were sunk 157 enemy warships and transports- 462,300 tons (only confirmed data is meant).

The losses of the Soviet submarine fleet amounted to 98 boats (of course, excluding the 4 submarines lost by the Pacific Fleet). In 1941 - 34, in 1942 - 35, in 1943 - 19, in 1944 - 9, in 1945 - 1. The ratio of losses to victories is 1: 1.6 in favor of submarines.

The best submariner of the Soviet Navy Alexander Ivanovich Marinesko sank 4 passenger and commercial transport with a total displacement of 42,507 tons:

January 30, 1945 - passenger liner "Wilhelm Gustlow" - 25,484 tons (on the S-13 submarine); February 10, 1945 - major transport ship"General von Steuben" - 14660 tons (on S-13); August 14, 1942 - transport ship "Helene" - 1800 tons (on M-96); October 9, 1944 - small transport "Siegfried" - 563 tons (on S-13).

For the destruction of the Wilhelm Gustlow liner, Alexander Marinesko was “honored” to be included in the list of personal enemies of the Fuhrer and Germany.

The sunken liner killed 3,700 non-commissioned officers - graduates of the diving school, 100 submarine commanders who completed a special advanced course in operating boats with a single Walther engine, 22 high-ranking party officials from East Prussia, several generals and senior officers of the RSHA, battalion support service Danzig port from SS troops numbering 300 people, and a total of about 8,000 people (!!!).

As after the surrender of the 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus in Stalingrad, mourning was declared in Germany, and the implementation of Hitler’s plans to continue the all-out submarine war was seriously hampered.

For two outstanding victories in January-February 1945, all Marinesko crew members were awarded state awards, and submarine S-13- Order of the Red Banner.

The legendary submariner himself, who fell into disgrace, was awarded his main award posthumously only in May 1990. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union 45 years after the end of the war.

Without a doubt, Alexander Marinesko deserved to have monuments erected to him not only in Russia, but also in Great Britain and the United States of America. His feat saved the lives of many thousands of English and American sailors and brought the hour closer Great Victory.

Captain 3rd Rank Alexander Marinesko tops the list of Soviet submarine aces not by the number of enemy ships destroyed, but by the amount of their displacement and the amount of damage inflicted on Germany's military potential. Following him are the following most successful submariners:

2. Valentin Starikov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine M-171, K-1, Northern Fleet) - 14 ships; 3. Ivan Travkin(captain 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-303, K-52, Baltic Fleet) - 13 ships; 4. Nikolay Lunin(Captain 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-421, K-21, Northern Fleet) - 13 ships; 5. Magomed Gadzhiev(2nd rank captain, submarine division commander, Northern Fleet) - 10 ships; 6. Grigory Shchedrin(captain 2nd rank, commander of submarine S-56, Northern Fleet) - 9 ships; 7. Samuil Bogorad(Captain 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-310, Baltic Fleet) - 7 ships; 8. Mikhail Kalinin(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine Shch-307, Baltic Fleet) - 6 ships; 9. Nikolay Mokhov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine Shch-317, Baltic Fleet) - 5 ships; 10. Evgeny Osipov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine Shch-407, Baltic Fleet) - 5 ships.

IN United States Navy The crews of the Totog submarine achieved the greatest success - it sank 26 enemy warships and transports. In terms of displacement best result belongs to the crew of the submarine "Flasher" - 100,231 tons. But the most famous US submariner during the Second World War was Joseph Inright.

NewsInfo based on materials from the Russian Submarine Fleet website

Submarines dictate the rules in naval war and force everyone to meekly follow the established order.

Those stubborn people who dare to ignore the rules of the game will face a quick and painful death in the cold water, among floating debris and oil stains. Boats, regardless of flag, remain the most dangerous combat vehicles, capable of crushing any enemy.

I bring to your attention a short story about the seven most successful submarine projects of the war years.

Boats type T (Triton-class), UK
The number of submarines built is 53.
Surface displacement - 1290 tons; underwater - 1560 tons.
Crew - 59…61 people.
Working immersion depth - 90 m (riveted hull), 106 m (welded hull).
Full surface speed - 15.5 knots; in underwater - 9 knots.
A fuel reserve of 131 tons provided a surface cruising range of 8,000 miles.
Weapons:
- 11 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber (on boats of subseries II and III), ammunition - 17 torpedoes;
- 1 x 102 mm universal gun, 1 x 20 mm anti-aircraft "Oerlikon".

HMS Traveler

A British underwater Terminator capable of knocking the crap out of any enemy's head with a bow-launched 8-torpedo salvo. The T-type boats had no equal in destructive power among all the submarines of the WWII period - this explains their ferocious appearance with a bizarre bow superstructure, where additional torpedo tubes were located.

The notorious British conservatism is a thing of the past - the British were among the first to equip their boats with ASDIC sonars. Alas, despite its powerful weapons and modern means detection, the T-type open sea boats did not become the most effective among the British submarines of World War II. Nevertheless, they went through an exciting battle path and achieved a number of remarkable victories. “Tritons” were actively used in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean Sea, destroyed Japanese communications in the Pacific Ocean, and were spotted several times in the frozen waters of the Arctic.

In August 1941, the submarines "Tygris" and "Trident" arrived in Murmansk. British submariners demonstrated a master class to their Soviet colleagues: in two trips, 4 enemy ships were sunk, incl. "Bahia Laura" and "Donau II" with thousands of soldiers of the 6th Mountain Division. Thus, the sailors prevented a third German offensive to Murmansk.

Other famous T-boat trophies include the German light cruiser Karlsruhe and the Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara. The samurai were “lucky” to get acquainted with a full 8-torpedo salvo of the Trenchent submarine - having received 4 torpedoes on board (+ another one from the stern tube), the cruiser quickly capsized and sank.

After the war, the powerful and sophisticated Tritons remained in service with the Royal Navy for another quarter of a century.
It is noteworthy that three boats of this type were acquired by Israel in the late 1960s - one of them, INS Dakar (formerly HMS Totem) was lost in 1968 in the Mediterranean Sea under unclear circumstances.

Boats of the "Cruising" type XIV series, Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 11.
Surface displacement - 1500 tons; underwater - 2100 tons.
Crew - 62…65 people.

Full surface speed - 22.5 knots; in underwater - 10 knots.
Surface cruising range 16,500 miles (9 knots)
Submerged cruising range - 175 miles (3 knots)
Weapons:

- 2 x 100 mm universal guns, 2 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic guns;
- up to 20 minutes of barrage.

...December 3, 1941, German hunters UJ-1708, UJ-1416 and UJ-1403 bombed Soviet boat, which attempted to attack the convoy at Bustad Sund.

Hans, can you hear this creature?
- Nain. After a series of explosions, the Russians lay low - I detected three impacts on the ground...
-Can you determine where they are now?
- Donnerwetter! They are blown away. They probably decided to surface and surrender.

The German sailors were wrong. From the depths of the sea, a MONSTER rose to the surface - the cruising submarine K-3 series XIV, unleashing a barrage of artillery fire on the enemy. With the fifth salvo, Soviet sailors managed to sink U-1708. The second hunter, having received two direct hits, began to smoke and turned to the side - his 20 mm anti-aircraft guns could not compete with the “hundreds” of the secular submarine cruiser. Scattering the Germans like puppies, K-3 quickly disappeared over the horizon at 20 knots.

The Soviet Katyusha was a phenomenal boat for its time. Welded hull, powerful artillery and mine-torpedo weapons, powerful diesel engines (2 x 4200 hp!), high surface speed of 22-23 knots. Huge autonomy in terms of fuel reserves. Remote control ballast tank valves. Radio station capable of transmitting signals from the Baltic to Far East. An exceptional level of comfort: shower cabins, refrigerated tanks, two seawater desalinators, an electric galley... Two boats (K-3 and K-22) were equipped with Lend-Lease ASDIC sonars.

But, oddly enough, neither the high characteristics nor the most powerful weapons made the Katyusha effective - in addition to the dark story of the K-21 attack on the Tirpitz, during the war years the XIV series boats accounted for only 5 successful torpedo attacks and 27 thousand brigade . reg. tons of sunk tonnage. Most of the victories were achieved with the help of mines. Moreover, its own losses amounted to five cruising boats.

K-21, Severomorsk, today

The reasons for the failures lie in the tactics of using Katyushas - the powerful submarine cruisers, created for the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, had to “tread water” in the shallow Baltic “puddle”. When operating at depths of 30-40 meters, a huge 97-meter boat could hit the ground with its bow while its stern was still sticking out on the surface. It was not much easier for the North Sea sailors - as practice has shown, the effectiveness of the combat use of Katyushas was complicated by the poor training of personnel and the lack of initiative of the command.

It's a pity. These boats were designed for more.

“Baby”, Soviet Union
Series VI and VI bis - 50 built.
Series XII - 46 built.
Series XV - 57 built (4 took part in combat operations).

Performance characteristics of boats type M series XII:
Surface displacement - 206 tons; underwater - 258 tons.
Autonomy - 10 days.
Working immersion depth - 50 m, maximum - 60 m.
Full surface speed - 14 knots; in underwater - 8 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 3,380 miles (8.6 knots).
Submerged cruising range is 108 miles (3 knots).
Weapons:
- 2 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 2 torpedoes;
- 1 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic.

Baby!

Mini-submarine project to quickly strengthen the Pacific Fleet - main feature M-type boats now have the ability to be transported by rail in a fully assembled form.

In the pursuit of compactness, many had to be sacrificed - service on the Malyutka turned into a grueling and dangerous undertaking. Difficult living conditions, strong roughness - the waves mercilessly tossed the 200-ton “float”, risking breaking it into pieces. Shallow diving depth and weak weapons. But the main concern of the sailors was the reliability of the submarine - one shaft, one diesel engine, one electric motor - the tiny “Malyutka” left no chance for the careless crew, the slightest malfunction on board threatened death for the submarine.

The kids quickly evolved - performance characteristics of each new series differed significantly from the previous project: the contours were improved, the electrical equipment and detection equipment were updated, the diving time was reduced, and the autonomy increased. The “babies” of the XV series no longer resembled their predecessors of the VI and XII series: one-and-a-half-hull design - the ballast tanks were moved outside the durable hull; The power plant received a standard two-shaft layout with two diesel engines and underwater electric motors. The number of torpedo tubes increased to four. Alas, Series XV appeared too late - the “Little Ones” of Series VI and XII bore the brunt of the war.

Despite their modest size and only 2 torpedoes on board, the tiny fish were simply distinguished by their terrifying “gluttony”: in just the years of World War II Soviet submarines type M sank 61 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 135.5 thousand gross tons, destroyed 10 warships, and also damaged 8 transports.

The little ones, originally intended only for operations in the coastal zone, have learned to fight effectively in open maritime areas. They, along with larger boats, cut enemy communications, patrolled at the exits of enemy bases and fjords, deftly overcame anti-submarine barriers and blew up transports right at the piers inside protected enemy harbors. It’s simply amazing how the Red Navy were able to fight on these flimsy ships! But they fought. And we won!

Boats of the “Medium” type, series IX-bis, Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 41.
Surface displacement - 840 tons; underwater - 1070 tons.
Crew - 36…46 people.
Working immersion depth - 80 m, maximum - 100 m.
Full surface speed - 19.5 knots; submerged - 8.8 knots.
Surface cruising range 8,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 148 miles (3 knots).

“Six torpedo tubes and the same number of spare torpedoes on racks convenient for reloading. Two cannons with large ammunition, machine guns, explosive equipment... In a word, there is something to fight with. And 20 knots surface speed! It allows you to overtake almost any convoy and attack it again. The technique is good...”
- opinion of the commander of the S-56, Hero of the Soviet Union G.I. Shchedrin

The Eskis were distinguished by their rational layout and balanced design, powerful armament, and excellent performance and seaworthiness. Initially a German project from the Deshimag company, modified to meet Soviet requirements. But don’t rush to clap your hands and remember the Mistral. After the start of serial construction of the IX series in Soviet shipyards, the German project was revised with the goal of a complete transition to Soviet equipment: 1D diesel engines, weapons, radio stations, a noise direction finder, a gyrocompass... - there were none in the boats designated “series IX-bis”. foreign made bolt!

The problems with the combat use of "Medium" type boats were, in general, similar cruising boats type K - locked in shallow water infested with mines, they were never able to realize their high combat qualities. Things were much better in the Northern Fleet - during the war, the S-56 boat under the command of G.I. Shchedrina crossed the Tikhy and atlantic oceans, moving from Vladivostok to Polyarny, subsequently becoming the most productive boat of the USSR Navy.

No less fantastic story connected with the “bomb catcher” S-101 - during the war years, the Germans and Allies dropped over 1000 depth charges on the boat, but each time the S-101 returned safely to Polyarny.

Finally, it was on the S-13 that Alexander Marinesko achieved his famous victories.

S-56 torpedo compartment

“Cruel alterations in which the ship found itself, bombings and explosions, depths far exceeding the official limit. The boat protected us from everything..."

- from the memoirs of G.I. Shchedrin

Gato type boats, USA
The number of submarines built is 77.
Surface displacement - 1525 tons; underwater - 2420 tons.
Crew - 60 people.
Working immersion depth - 90 m.
Full surface speed - 21 knots; submerged - 9 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 11,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 96 miles (2 knots).
Weapons:
- 10 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 24 torpedoes;
- 1 x 76 mm universal gun, 1 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, 1 x 20 mm Oerlikon;
- one of the boats, USS Barb, was equipped with a multiple launch rocket system for shelling the coast.

Ocean-going submarine cruisers of the Getou class appeared at the height of the war in the Pacific Ocean and became one of the most effective tools of the US Navy. They tightly blocked all strategic straits and approaches to the atolls, cut all supply lines, leaving Japanese garrisons without reinforcements, and Japanese industry without raw materials and oil. In fights with "Getow" Imperial Navy lost two heavy aircraft carriers, lost four cruisers and a damn dozen destroyers.

High speed, lethal torpedo weapons, the most modern radio equipment for detecting the enemy - radar, direction finder, sonar. The cruising range allows for combat patrols off the coast of Japan when operating from a base in Hawaii. Increased comfort on board. But the main thing is the excellent training of the crews and the weakness of Japanese anti-submarine weapons. As a result, the "Getow" mercilessly destroyed everything - it was they who brought victory in the Pacific Ocean from the blue depths of the sea.

...One of the main achievements of the Getow boats, which changed the whole world, is considered to be the event of September 2, 1944. On that day, the Finback submarine detected a distress signal from a falling plane and, after many hours of searching, found a frightened and already desperate pilot in the ocean . The one who was saved was one George Herbert Bush.

The cabin of the submarine "Flasher", memorial in Groton.

The Flasher trophy list sounds like a naval joke: 9 tankers, 10 transports, 2 patrol ship with a total tonnage of 100,231 GRT! And for a snack the boat grabbed Japanese cruiser and a destroyer. Lucky damn thing!

Electric robots type XXI, Germany

By April 1945, the Germans managed to launch 118 submarines of the XXI series. However, only two of them were able to achieve operational readiness and go to sea in last days war.

Surface displacement - 1620 tons; underwater - 1820 tons.
Crew - 57 people.
Working depth of immersion is 135 m, maximum depth is 200+ meters.
Full speed in the surface position is 15.6 knots, in the submerged position - 17 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 15,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 340 miles (5 knots).
Weapons:
- 6 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 17 torpedoes;
- 2 Flak anti-aircraft guns of 20 mm caliber.

U-2540 "Wilhelm Bauer" permanently moored in Bremerhaven, present day

Our allies were very lucky that all the forces of Germany were sent to the Eastern Front - the Krauts did not have enough resources to release a flock of fantastic “Electric Boats” into the sea. If they appeared a year earlier, that would be it! Another turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The Germans were the first to guess: everything that shipbuilders in other countries are proud of - large ammunition, powerful artillery, high surface speed of 20+ knots - is of little importance. The key parameters that determine the combat effectiveness of a submarine are its speed and cruising range when submerged.

Unlike its peers, “Electrobot” was focused on being constantly under water: a maximally streamlined body without heavy artillery, fences and platforms - all for the sake of minimizing underwater resistance. Snorkel, six groups of batteries (3 times more than on conventional boats!), powerful electric. Full speed engines, quiet and economical electric. "sneak" engines.

The stern of U-2511, sunk at a depth of 68 meters

The Germans calculated everything - the entire Elektrobot campaign moved at periscope depth under the RDP, remaining difficult to detect for enemy anti-submarine weapons. At great depths, its advantage became even more shocking: 2-3 times greater range, at twice the speed of any wartime submarine! High stealth and impressive underwater skills, homing torpedoes, a set of the most advanced detection means... “Electrobots” opened a new milestone in the history of the submarine fleet, defining the vector of development of submarines in the post-war years.

The Allies were not prepared to face such a threat - as post-war tests showed, the “Electrobots” were several times superior in mutual hydroacoustic detection range to the American and British destroyers guarding the convoys.

Type VII boats, Germany
The number of submarines built is 703.
Surface displacement - 769 tons; underwater - 871 tons.
Crew - 45 people.
Working immersion depth - 100 m, maximum - 220 meters
Full surface speed - 17.7 knots; submerged - 7.6 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 8,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 80 miles (4 knots).
Weapons:
- 5 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 14 torpedoes;
- 1 x 88 mm universal gun (until 1942), eight options for superstructures with 20 and 37 mm anti-aircraft mounts.

* the given performance characteristics correspond to boats of the VIIC subseries

The most effective warships ever to roam the world's oceans.
A relatively simple, cheap, mass-produced, but at the same time well-armed and deadly weapon for total underwater terror.

703 submarines. 10 MILLION tons of sunk tonnage! Battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, corvettes and enemy submarines, oil tankers, transports with aircraft, tanks, cars, rubber, ore, machine tools, ammunition, uniforms and food... The damage from the actions of German submariners exceeded all reasonable limits - if only Without the inexhaustible industrial potential of the United States, capable of compensating for any losses of the allies, German U-bots had every chance to “strangle” Great Britain and change the course of world history.

U-995. Graceful underwater killer

The successes of the Sevens are often associated with the “prosperous times” of 1939-41. - allegedly, when the Allies appeared the convoy system and Asdik sonars, the successes of the German submariners ended. A completely populist statement based on a misinterpretation of “prosperous times.”

The situation was simple: at the beginning of the war, when for every German boat there was one Allied anti-submarine ship each, the “sevens” felt like invulnerable masters of the Atlantic. That's when they appeared legendary aces, which sank 40 enemy ships. The Germans already held victory in their hands when the Allies suddenly deployed 10 anti-submarine ships and 10 aircraft for each active Kriegsmarine boat!

Beginning in the spring of 1943, the Yankees and British began to methodically overwhelm the Kriegsmarine with anti-submarine equipment and soon achieved an excellent loss ratio of 1:1. They fought like that until the end of the war. The Germans ran out of ships faster than their opponents.

The whole history of the German “sevens” is a formidable warning from the past: what threat does the submarine pose and how high are the costs of creating effective system countering the underwater threat.

A funny American poster of those years. "Hit the weak points! Come serve in the submarine fleet - we account for 77% of the sunk tonnage!" Comments, as they say, are unnecessary

The article uses materials from the book “Soviet Submarine Shipbuilding”, V. I. Dmitriev, Voenizdat, 1990.