Statistics related to the Kriegsmarine Unterseebootwaffe

shegeek72 · 08-25-06, 04:35 AM

This may have been posted already . . .

Statistics related to the Kriegsmarine Unterseebootwaffe.

According to Professor Jürgen Rowher, who has made exhaustive studies of the subject, 1 156 U-boats were constructed during the Second World War (this takes no account of 14 captured foreign submarines). Of these only 863 were in operational use. The remainder were either undergoing final fitting, in training or some form of transit to an active U-boat flotilla.
From the total number of U-boats the following statistics have been drawn regarding their fates.

663 lost in combat - 266 by enemy aircraft; 243 by enemy naval units; 46 by combined air and sea attacks; 28 for unknown reasons; 24 by enemy submarines; 18 by mines; 12 scuttled as a direct result of combat damage; 10 scuttled due to the impossibility of regaining a friendly port; 9 sunk by collision; 6 captured for some length of time; 1 sunk by Italian Torpedoboat by mistake.

142 lost (not through combat) - 53 destroyed by bombing in Germany; 34 decommissioned in port before the war's end; 19 scuttled in France or Norway; 16 lost to training accidents; 9 to "friendly" mines; 7 in friendly waters through accidents; 2 handed over to the Japanese; 2 interned in Spain.

Total percentage of U-boats lost: 65% of all boats lost while 77% of operational boats were lost in combat.

365 remaining on date of surrender 8th May 1945 - 201 scuttled in or near friendly port; 114 anchored in friendly port; 30 still at sea, made way to Allied port; 10 at sea returned to Germany; 4 scuttled at sea; 4 in Japanese ports; 2 sailed to Argentina and were interned.
Further to these figures are the interesting observations made by Jak-Mallmann Showell in his book "U-boats under the Swastika" (again based on Rohwer's statistics) that:

25 boats attacked and at least damaged 20 or more ships
36 boats attacked and at least damaged between 11 and 19 ships
70 boats attacked and at least damaged between 6 and 10 ships
190 boats attacked and at least damaged between 1 and 5 ships.

Given these figures, 73% of U-boats constructed during the Second World War (including all 1,170 U-boats - whether frontline or training machines) achieved no success against the enemy.
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Camaero · 08-25-06, 05:14 AM

That is interesting... Any info on the subs sent to Japan? Didn't one of them have a few Japanese soldiers or something? Didn't it also have nuclear materials? If I remember right, the Japanese soldiers were killed in route to Japan because once Germany surrendered, the Japanese called all Germans enemies. So the U-Boat couldn't go to Japan after all.

shegeek72 · 08-26-06, 03:06 AM

Here's the link that I forgot to include:
http://www.uboatwar.net/uboats.htm
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08-25-06, 04:35 AM	#1
shegeek72 WAV Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: somewhere in the Pacific Posts: 603 Downloads: 95 Uploads: 0	Statistics related to the Kriegsmarine Unterseebootwaffe This may have been posted already . . . Statistics related to the Kriegsmarine Unterseebootwaffe. According to Professor Jürgen Rowher, who has made exhaustive studies of the subject, 1 156 U-boats were constructed during the Second World War (this takes no account of 14 captured foreign submarines). Of these only 863 were in operational use. The remainder were either undergoing final fitting, in training or some form of transit to an active U-boat flotilla. From the total number of U-boats the following statistics have been drawn regarding their fates. 663 lost in combat - 266 by enemy aircraft; 243 by enemy naval units; 46 by combined air and sea attacks; 28 for unknown reasons; 24 by enemy submarines; 18 by mines; 12 scuttled as a direct result of combat damage; 10 scuttled due to the impossibility of regaining a friendly port; 9 sunk by collision; 6 captured for some length of time; 1 sunk by Italian Torpedoboat by mistake. 142 lost (not through combat) - 53 destroyed by bombing in Germany; 34 decommissioned in port before the war's end; 19 scuttled in France or Norway; 16 lost to training accidents; 9 to "friendly" mines; 7 in friendly waters through accidents; 2 handed over to the Japanese; 2 interned in Spain. Total percentage of U-boats lost: 65% of all boats lost while 77% of operational boats were lost in combat. 365 remaining on date of surrender 8th May 1945 - 201 scuttled in or near friendly port; 114 anchored in friendly port; 30 still at sea, made way to Allied port; 10 at sea returned to Germany; 4 scuttled at sea; 4 in Japanese ports; 2 sailed to Argentina and were interned. Further to these figures are the interesting observations made by Jak-Mallmann Showell in his book "U-boats under the Swastika" (again based on Rohwer's statistics) that: 25 boats attacked and at least damaged 20 or more ships 36 boats attacked and at least damaged between 11 and 19 ships 70 boats attacked and at least damaged between 6 and 10 ships 190 boats attacked and at least damaged between 1 and 5 ships. Given these figures, 73% of U-boats constructed during the Second World War (including all 1,170 U-boats - whether frontline or training machines) achieved no success against the enemy. --

08-25-06, 05:14 AM	#2
Camaero The Old Man Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: USA, Massachusetts Posts: 1,477 Downloads: 18 Uploads: 0	That is interesting... Any info on the subs sent to Japan? Didn't one of them have a few Japanese soldiers or something? Didn't it also have nuclear materials? If I remember right, the Japanese soldiers were killed in route to Japan because once Germany surrendered, the Japanese called all Germans enemies. So the U-Boat couldn't go to Japan after all. __________________

08-26-06, 03:06 AM	#3
shegeek72 WAV Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: somewhere in the Pacific Posts: 603 Downloads: 95 Uploads: 0	Here's the link that I forgot to include: http://www.uboatwar.net/uboats.htm --