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I was reading on some sub background material which stated that at the beginning of WWII the men who went into the German sub service had ***five years*** of training prior to entering the submarine.
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Yup, the original guys in the German subs were vastly experienced sailors in many cases. When the Kriegsmarine training barque
Niobe capsised in a storm in 1932 (with the loss of seventy trainee officers) Admiral Erich Raeder put out a request to the major shipping lines for experienced men, and he got some good guys, among these were Gunther Prien and Heinrich Bleichdrodt!
And the officer training was tough too, it consisted of two days physical fitness testing (with a 25 percent failure rate), followed by five months basic training for successful candidates at Danholm. Then, four months sailing training on a three-masted barque. After that, you got the formal rank of Seekadet at which point you were posted to (typically) a cruiser, and stayed with it on what was usually a trip around the world, this lasted up to nine months. Then you went to Murwick for seven more months' training, at which point you'd get the rank of Fahnrich zur See (midshipman).
Everything up to this point was standard training for every officer, regardless of whether they were going to be on a sub or not. At this point if you were a prospective line officer, you got several months weapon training, then you'd be assigned to a warship for yet another stint of six months, after which, if you did okay, you'd get promoted to Oberfahnrich. Then, you'd serve in that role for up to three years, after which, a vote by your peers would see you promoted to Leutnant zur See.
Anyone who wanted an engineering role, such as a chief, took extra exams at Murwick, which if passed, led to about five months of workshop training, followed by another six month stint on a warship, and after that, if you did alright, you'd be promoted to Leutnant (Ing). But if you wanted to be on a sub as an officer, you'd also have a further 12 week training course with classroom theory and exercises of a practical nature too. And you had to get 15 successful practice attacks in before you were allowed to progress to the next stage, which would be a stint on a U-Boat in a learning role under an experienced commander, followed by a posting to a training flotilla for even more schooling and practice.
If you made it through all that, and were lucky enough to get a new boat, you'd assemble with your prospective crew before the boat was built, this lasting up to 3 months. This was so you literally knew your boat inside out, as you got to see how it was put together. When the boat was nearing completion, any experienced officers or crew you were going to get would join you. Then you'd have three weeks of acceptance trials, followed by one of the toughest tests of all, at the Technical Group for Front U-Boats. This was an extremely realistic exercise where a highly experienced commander would accompany the fledgling captain and 'put him through the mill'. It was dreaded by candidates and many boats were actually lost in this test, at it was extremely tough and realistic. If you passed, your boat was declared ready for the front, and was refitted, during which you might get some leave, then it was off to Kiel, on with the torpedoes, and off you went to active service.
NCO's training was no less tough either, with a typical NCO on a U-Boat having to have
at least three years on U-Boats, and this was on top of the selection for the ordinary seamen on the boat, which was also tough in the extreme, with a high rejection rate and no shortage of volunteers for most of the period right up until the end of WW2.
And we get a paper manual, less than 100 pages long:rotfl:
Chock