Originally Posted by JamesT73J
This is a subject in itself, and your question was one that Doenitz himself had to wrestle with at the start of WW2.
The German Navy in the 30s were all about Battleships. Big surface groups roaming about the seas pounding convoys, etc. Doenitz favoured the U-Boat, and struggled to get the numbers of hulls he wanted, and started the war with a pretty pitiful number. Research has shown (don't have the details to hand, but Ali Cremer mentions it in his book, U-333) that ultimately Germany still would not have managed adequate numbers even if Doenitz had his way, but that's another story.
In terms of prestige U-Boats were a highly sought-after branch of the Kriegsmarine - an elite. Submarines were - are - dangerous things. The reputation of the U-Boat arm remained high throughout the war, even though - and this cannot be overstated - the odds they faced after 1943 were to all intents suicidal.
The development of the battle of the atlantic is absolutely fascinating history. Aces Of the Deep a 15yr old game, had a large historical section in the manual, and the subject warrants further reading. There's no other form of warfare where the hunter so brutally became the hunted.
As regards the submarine operationally in WW2, as you'll see stated elsewhere, 'submersible torpedo boat' is probably a better name. The submarine was lethal for a period of time; countermeasures existed, but the organisation, structure, and experience to use them meant most U-boats were more at risk of sinking by misadventure than by enemy action. This changed incredibly rapidly though, and from 1941 the U-Boats were basically reactive. The best commanders were dead or POW's; meanwhile allied ASW crews simply got better and better. Huge strides in intelligence (cryptography), technology (direction finding, radar), tactics, statistical analysis (Optimised search patterns for aircraft, something like 2 wellingtons keeping the whole of the Bay of Biscay under surveillance) meant that U-Boats had to stay under, just to avoid detection.
Underwater the VII and IX series were slow, blind, and had limited endurance. This was crucial later on in the war, when ASW groups knew that if they didn't kill a U-boat, they only had to exhaust it.
It remains a credit to the professionalism of the Kriegsmarine that to the end of the war, even when their work was futile, the U-boats attracted such massive, massive allied resources.
James
P.S. Hyman Rickover learnt in the 50's that despite all the improvements in sensors, quietening and speed, Diesel-Electric boats still had the endurance problem; an enemy merely had to stay in contact and exhaust the boat. The answer? What we have today. That man was amazing.
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02-11-10, 11:44 AM
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