CCoM

[Kal_Maximus_U669]

".....contrary to the accepted wisdom - and mythology - at no time did the German U-boat force ever come close to winning the "Battle of the Atlantic...."

- Clay Blair

This is from the American point of view not underestimate the marine kriegs of Donitz

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Marco Ramius 001

".....contrary to the accepted wisdom - and mythology - at no time did the German U-boat force ever come close to winning the "Battle of the Atlantic...."

- Clay Blair

This is from the American point of view not underestimate the marine kriegs of Donitz

Actually, facts and the actual history prove it too. For starters, i.e., Operations Torch and Overlord could never have happened if the u-boats seriously impeded convoy traffic.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Marco Ramius 001

".....contrary to the accepted wisdom - and mythology - at no time did the German U-boat force ever come close to winning the "Battle of the Atlantic...."

- Clay Blair

This is from the American point of view not underestimate the marine kriegs of Donitz

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Actually, facts and the actual history prove it too. For starters, i.e., Operations Torch and Overlord could never have happened if the u-boats seriously impeded convoy traffic.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2591183&postcount=2

[Kal_Maximus_U669]

Thank you to you 2 for this documentation but I had already knowledge of these facts my I think it is debatable ... but do not go into polemics

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Marco Ramius 001

Thank you to you 2 for this documentation but I had already knowledge of these facts my I think it is debatable ... but do not go into polemics

Not sure what is debatable; facts are facts. But each his own.

[Aktungbby]

LET'S KICK IT UP A STEP:

The focus on U-boat successes, the "aces" and their scores, the convoys attacked, and the ships sunk, serves to camouflage the Kriegsmarine's manifold failures. In particular, this was because most of the ships sunk by U-boat were not in convoys, but sailing alone, or having become separated from convoys.
At no time during the campaign were supply lines to Britain interrupted; even during the Bismarck crisis, convoys sailed as usual, although with heavier escorts. In all, during the Atlantic Campaign only 10% of transatlantic convoys that sailed were attacked, and of those attacked only an average of 10% of the ships were lost. Overall, more than 99% of all ships sailing to and from the British Isles during World War II did so successfully.
Despite their efforts, the Axis powers were unable to prevent the build-up of Allied invasion forces for the liberation of Europe. In November 1942, at the height of the Atlantic campaign, the US Navy escorted theOperation Torch invasion fleet 3,000 mi (4,800 km) across the Atlantic without hindrance, or even being detected, in what may be the ultimate example of the Allied practise of evasive routing. In 1943 and 1944 the Allies transported some 3 million American and Allied servicemen across the Atlantic without significant loss.
Unlike the Allies, Germany was never able to mount a comprehensive blockade of Britain. Nor were they able to focus their effort by targeting the most valuable cargoes, the eastbound traffic carrying war materiel. Instead they were reduced to the slow attrition of a tonnage war. To win this, the U-boat arm had to sink 300,000 GRT per month in order to overwhelm Britain's shipbuilding capacity and reduce its merchant marine strength.
In only four out of the first 27 months of the war did Germany achieve this target, while after December 1941, when Britain was joined by the US merchant marine and ship yards the target effectively doubled. As a result, the Axis needed to sink 700,000 GRT per month; as the massive expansion of the US shipbuilding industry took effect this target increased still further. The 700,000 ton target was achieved in only one month, November 1942, while after May 1943 average sinkings dropped to less than one tenth of that figure. (POLEMICALLY SPEAKING; THE NUMBERS DO NOT LIE)

DOENITZ'S CONCEPT OF SUBMARINE WARFARE WAS WW I TECNOLOGY MISAPPLIED TO THE 'SECOND WAR OF GERMAN UNIFICATION' ...BETWEEN HITLER'S POOR IDEA TO ATTACK RUSSIA AND DER GROSSADMIRAL'S WASTE OF 75% OFTHE KRIEGSMARINE'S EXPENSIVE ASSETS....NO WONDER THE ALLIES CANCELLED ASSASSINATION PLOT OPERATION FOXLY:

....he (HITLER) was by then considered to be such a poor strategist that it was believed whoever replaced him would probably do a better job of fighting the Allies.

IRONICALLY ADM DOENITZ, HAVING DONE HIS SHARE TO WASTE PRECIOUS AXIS MIGHT, MEN, AND MATERIAL, WAS HIS SUCCESSOR BUT MOVED IMMEDIATELY TOWARD SURRENDER NO POLEMIC ABOUT IT: IN HINDSIGHT, TWO OF THE ALLIES GREATEST 'ALLIES' WERE WASTEFUL FUHRERS I & IIWHO'D GOTTEN THEIR START LOOKING FOR THE KAISER'S' ''PLACE IN THE SUN''.....