WWII Uboat campaign - Term Paper Example

WWII U boat Campaign Germany built its first U submarine in 1905. U-boats were effectively employed during Second World War in the Atlantic Ocean until allied implemented antisubmarine tactics to counter the U-boat threats to its merchant and naval fleets. German boats were equipped with 5 torpedoes and one main gun (Russell 122). U- Boats were mainly constructed for intelligence gathering of enemy movement and for launching special operations. German war planners very efficiently used U-boats to threaten and ultimately target the royal and merchant navy. U-boats sunk Royal navy and merchant ships sunk in huge numbers in different occasions. Restrictions of “treaty of Versailles” could not compel German navy to do away with submarine tactics during the Second World War (Gannon 47). Besides sinking battleships, boats also sunk an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic waters. U-boats almost compelled Britain war planners to consider surrender in the war. After the completion of German campaign in Western Europe, Hitler’s navy employed all the u-boats in Atlantic for patrolling the waters. This posed great threat to British merchant fleet as very less escort was available to guard the ships against German u-boat attacks. Submarines had already proved the metal in the First World War but after passing about 20 years the U-boat tactics played havoc in Atlantic waters (Russell 119). U-boats played an important part in world war two, Winston Churchill claimed that U-boat war in Atlantic was so impressive and result oriented that Britain was forced to consider surrender during the Second World War. Germany was efficiently operating its u-boat fleet from their north German bases before the fall of France in 1940. After the fall of France, Germans used French bases for operating their U-boats fleet. The same French bases were used to approach Atlantic and threaten British navy and trade (Stern 56). Previously submarines were a new weapon used against merchant navy by the Germans in First World War. During Second World War, merchant fleet used the Atlantic route from America to Britain for trade purposes. Germen navy was very well aware of this sea trade route between America and Britain (Gannon 52). German navy decided to target merchant fleets to threaten trade in the Atlantic. Merchant fleets used to travel with inadequate fleet so vulnerability to German attacks was already increased. It was almost impossible for Britain to provide complete protection and aerial cover to fleets throughout their Atlantic route. German navy started analyzing the points on the sea route where these fleets were coverless and no aerial or naval support available to merchant ships (Showell 71). Mid Atlantic was one of the lucrative options for attacking these fleets. The royal Britain navy was already over tasked in different regions of the world. Royal navy was facing challenging situation in accomplishment of the tasks in Atlantic, Far East and the Mediterranean. Therefore, the royal navy was already overstretched in the war. Such huge tasks of royal navy demanded careful planning and use of intelligence and tactics from naval and army commanders (Russell 132). Royal navy was greatly assisted by the French navy in defending the Mediterranean. Germany had 56 boats out of which only 46 were operational at the start of the war. According to the understanding of the famous “treaty of Versailles” Germany was not allowed to maintain any submarine as part of its naval fleet (Stern 58). Therefore, Germany took other measures by sending the troops abroad for submarine training. The treaty posed no restrictions on training the troops for anti submarine tasks. U-boat commanders were told to target merchant ships in Atlantic to break the backbone of British trade. In august 39, seventeen U-boats were sent to Atlantic Ocean with the mission of patrolling and laying mines (Showell 72). At the start of the battle, u-30 attacked and sunk liner “thania” casting 112 life causalities (Gannon 57). This incident shook the Britain leadership, as they were unable to ensure safety of merchant fleets in future as well. Initially limit of 300 miles was decided to the west of Britain for British naval ships but still more than 1700 miles were left unattended. By the end of 1939, U-boats clearly showed dominance in the sea by sinking 114 merchant ships and loosing 9 U-boats in the campaign. This was an acceptable battle for German navy as 9 boats make 20% percent of the operational u boats of Germany (Russell 136). This was an acceptable lose for Germany against the damage done to merchant ships. Germany was also working hard to build its submarine fleet but it was not possible to complete the project in months. U-boats again showed remarkable performance on 14th September 1939 when u-39 did great job but could not manage to sink aircraft carrier “Ark Royal” (Showell 76). The boat had sunk and crew captured by royal navy. Just three days later u29 sunk aircraft carrier “Courageous”. The carrier sunk resulted in loss of 520 lives. Royal navy leadership decided to withdraw aircraft carriers from the submarine hunting role because of vulnerability to u-boats. In the same year, u-47 sunk Britain battleship “Royal Oak” in Scapa Flow (Showell 76). This conveyed a strong message to royal navy that if battleships are not safe from U-boat attacks than there is no question of safety for merchant ships. U-boats did massive destruction to merchant ships in second quarter of the 1940. U-boats alone sunk about shipping of 700000 tons by 1942 (Stern 63). An American vessel had been sunk in Atlantic in 1942 in U-boat attack. Winter storms were the only part of year when some merchant ship activity could take place because U-boats were unable to face the storms being light in weight and small as compared to merchant ships (Russell 124). U-boat tactics did a wonderful job for German navy in the Second World War. Royal navy had left with no options to safeguard its trade interests in the Atlantic region. 46 U-boats sunk few important battleships of the royal navy including an aircraft carrier. Huge lose was caused to Britain trade by targeting the merchant ships in the mid of Atlantic. French naval bases were very useful for making an easy access to Atlantic and threatening the royal navy. German navy very efficiently compensated the deficiency of submarines in its naval fleet. U-boat warfare should be remembered in German war history because of miracles done by the fleet. Works Cited Gannon, Michael. Black May. New York: Random House Publishing, 1998. Russell, Jerry C. ULTRA and the Campaign against the U-boats in World War II. Bennington, Vermont: Merriam Press, 2006. Stern, Robert C. Battle beneath the Waves: U-boats at war. Chicago: Arms and Armor/Sterling Publishing, 1999. Showell, Jak Mallmann. The U-boat Century: German Submarine Warfare, 1906-2006. London: Chatham Publishing, 2006. Read More