Hitler's Attack U-Boats: The Kriegsmarine's WWII Submarine Strike Force

by Jak P. Mallmann Showell

Overview

“A definitive introduction by a highly recognized authority who writes beautifully and clearly.” —Naval Historical Foundation

The fact that German submarines almost managed to cut off Britain’s vital imports during the First World War hadn’t been forgotten by Hitler—and when, in 1935, he repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain, magnanimously, signed an Anglo-German Naval Agreement. This allowed the Germans to build their submarine strength up to one third of the Royal Navy’s tonnage.

When war broke out in 1939, German U-boats went quickly into action, but with only four years of production and development, the main armament of these submarines was considerably weaker than equivalent boats in other navies and many other features, such as living conditions, were also significantly inferior. Yet, the German U-boat onslaught against British merchant ships in autumn 1940 was highly successful because the attacks were made on the surface at night and from such close range that a single torpedo would sink a ship.

Soon, though, Allied technology was able to detect U-boats at night, and new convoy techniques, combined with powerfully armed, fast modern aircraft searching the seas, meant that by 1941 it was clear that Germany was losing the war at sea. Something had to be done. The new generation of attack U-boats that had been introduced since Hitler came to power needed urgent improvement. This is the story of the Types II, VII, and IX that had already become the ‘workhorse’ of the Kriegsmarine’s submarine fleet and continued to put out to sea to attack Allied shipping right up to the end of the war. The Type II was a small coastal boat that struggled to reach the Atlantic; the Type VII was perfectly at home there, but lacked the technology to tackle well protected convoys; while the Type IX was a long-range variety modified so it could operate in the Indian Ocean.

This book by the renowned Kriegsmarine historian explores these attack U-boats at length, including details of their armament, capabilities, and crew facilities; the story of their development and operational history; and just what it was like to operate such a vessel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526771025
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	10/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	108 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jak P. Mallmann Showell is the author of more than twenty books on the German navy and U-boat operations and is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities in the field. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, 1944. He has lived in England for most of his life.

Table of Contents

Introduction vi

Chapter 1 Attack U-boats of the Second World War 1

Chapter 2 Lessons Learned from the First World War 3

Chapter 3 The Aftermath of the First World War 12

Chapter 4 Early Developments 19

Chapter 5 The Second World War in a Nutshell 38

Chapter 6 1935: The New Generation of Attack U-boats 43

Chapter 7 Attack U-boats: Their Main External Features 57

Chapter 8 Internal Features of a Type VIIC 116

Chapter 9 The Crew: Key U-boat Positions 121

Chapter 10 Operational Command 224

Appendix 1 Wartime Statistics 230

Appendix 2 The Attack U-boat Fleet 234

Appendix 3 Technical Data 238

Appendix 4 German Wartime Ranks 244

Glossary 246

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

"This informative volume provides readers who wish to know more about the subject with a definitive introduction by a highly-recognized authority who writes beautifully and clearly, providing enough for the reader to think about reading more about U-boats and, perhaps, other nations’ submarines as well."

Naval Historical Foundation