Scary

[Gargamel]

I knew the back half of the war was rough on the uboatwaffe, but I didn't realize HOW bad.

http://www.kbismarck.org/uboatlosses.gif


I know that's partially due to the increased number of boats operating, and the greeness of the crews, but still staggering. And of course, mainly due to improvements in ASW tactics.

[Tessa]

In 39' and 40' they had a large pool of already experienced sailors (be it merchant marine or sailing ships) in which to draw from. This original group received relative to future crews more training than some captains careers at sea lasted. During the first year and change the KM really had a large pool of very good talent in which to pull from. Once that pool was depleted it never got replenished to anything close to its original caliber. While there were still many successful captain that took their first command in 42'/43' and still had successful careers, theirs was more of a trial by fire/running of the gauntlet on the job experience than training to properly prerpare them for what was awaiting them out there.

[Jimbuna]

Have a read of this:

http://www.uboataces.com/boa-uboat-end.shtml


Of the 1,155 U-boats Germany sent into combat, 725 had been sunk in the longest battle of the war. Lasting nearly six years, over 35,000 German sailors had put to sea, with 28,744 never returning – a death rate of 82 percent, the highest casualty rate of any armed forces of any conflict in the history of modern war.

[Tinman764]

There were 3 hours of documentaries on UK TV late last night (midnight til 3am) covering the whole of the Battle of the Atlantic. Some really great interviews with U-boat commanders and staff officers, aswell as RN and Merchant Navy personnel.
The thing that struck me was just how quickly the tables turned on the U-boat fleet. 1 month they are sinking ships at will and enjoying great success the next they are falling like flies.
I think the combination of SHARK being cracked, the introduction of radar, and radio direction finding equipment and new effective tactics employed by the RN all in such a sort space of time would have been too much for any navy to withstand.