100th anniversary of German Uboat arm

[Adler17]

On December 14th 1906 Seiner Majestäts Unterseeboot U 1 was commissioned in Kiel. Germany was one of the last naval powers to introduce this weapon, as before the submarines were nearly only suitable in coastal waters. Therefore the German government did not spent much money. And even now, Germany started only slowly.
When war broke out in 1914 only 23 boats were in duty. And the first missions were not promising. So U 15 was rammed and sunk by HMS Birmingham. But soon U 21 was successful by sinking the cruiser HMS Pathfinder. In the return the British sub E 9 sunk the German small cruiser SMS Hela shortly after. But a recognized weapon the submarine became shortly after. On September 22, Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen's U 9 sank the British Armoured cruiser HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy and HMS Hogue within 25 minutes. One of the greatest successes of submarines ever. In the next years the Uboats nearly broke the British supply lines, but that changed due to the entry of the US. The US were angry about the German Uboat attacks. Although it was a reprisal as Britain declared the very same before, unrestricted Uboat warfare escalated in 1915 when HMS Lusitania was torpedoed. The passenger ship Lusitania was officially but secretly listed as auxiliar cruiser and armed. Also it had ammunitions on board, when U 20 sank her. The problem was she was carrying passengers, although forbidden. 1.198 men died, among them 128 US citizens. This lead to an end of the first unrestricted Uboat warfare in 1915 and although the German ambassy warned US citizens not to use British ships, the relations with the US got worse and escalated in 1917, when the second unrestricted uboat warfare was started.
When the war ended in 1918 6.394 Allied merchant vessels were sunk, additionally 10 battleships, 18 cruiser, 20 destroyer and 9 submarines. About 25.000 seamen died. 187 Uboats with 5.132 men were on eternal patrol.
Although the Versailles treaty forbade Germany to have Uboats secretly they were planed and partially even built. In 1935 however a new German submarine fleet was born.
In 1939 57 boats were ready, but Dönitz had demanded 300 to fight Britain. But also the very first day saw another tragedy when Kapitänleutnant Lemp mistook the passenger steamer Athenia for an auxiliar cruiser as this ship was zigzagging and driving without lights. Hitler later ordered to fake the ship's log and denied, a German ship sank the Athenia. Both sides used this accident for propaganda. Nevertheless another heroic deed occured like Weddigen's success in 1914: U 47 was invading Scapa Flow. There the boat sunk the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. In the following time until May 1943 the Uboats were nearly victorious, but again due to several circumstances, US war entry, Enigma code broken, the Uboat arm was losing. But the commanders did not gave up, and indeed the tide turned again with the new type XXI and type XXIII boats. These first real submarines were able to be successful- but too late. The war was over. Of all 1.149 Uboats 711 were lost due to enemy action and 225 scuttled to prevent the capture. About 28.000 crew members were now on eternal patrol. However 2.900 Allied merchant vessels with 30.000 men were lost. Additionally at least 2 battleships, 7 carrier, 7 cruiser, 10 auxiliar cruiser, 47 destroyer, 11 submarines, 32 sloops and frigates and 24 corvettes were sunk as well as a number of smaller warships.
The German federal navy started soon again to build up a Uboat arm. 2 type XXIII and one type XXI uboat were raised, repaired and recommissioned as Hai, Hecht and Wilhelm Bauer. Hai was lost due to heavy seas in 1966 being the only loss of a naval ship since 1945. Later coastal submarines of the classes 205 and 206 followed. These small but very silent boats were designed to attack Soviet shipping in the Baltic and North Sea. 30 were built until the mid seventies.
In 2004 howver the German navy celebrated the commissioning of U 31, a class 212 Uboat. Like the type XXI boats these boats are a revolution. Due to the new air independent propulsion system using H2 and O2 as fuel, the boats are the most advanced conventional submarines of the world. Silence and long endurance make them a perfect reconaissance, espinage and attack platform.
Today you can see following Uboats (midget submarines excluded) as museum boats:

SM U 1: Deutsches Museum, Munich
U 505 (type IX): Chicago
U 995 (type VII): Kiel- Laboe
Wilhelm Bauer (ex U 2540, type XXI): Bremerhaven
U 9 (class 205): Technikmuseum Speyer

Dedicated to all men dying on and due to Uboats in all wars and accidents.

Adler

 

[Yeeek]

I was born in Brest (Uboats base during world war 2), the submarine base is still there and up. Probably the only building still standing dating from the war as the city was in total ruins when the americans arrived september 1944 after a long summer of fight.

Some pics of what it looks now :

 

[Adler17]

Yes, there is such a bunker here in Hamburg as well. There are even three type XXI boats in, but the whole bunker is closed. Oh, of all bomb attacks on German submarine peans only one single bomb was able to pernetrate the bunker- only to fall on to a rust.

Adler

 

[Yeeek]

Really? Because its about the same story for Brest's uboat base. The USAF and the RAF did countless raids during the war and only one bomb hit the top roof of the base, actully where the submarines are parked and didn't even penetrate it.

 

[Adler17]

As far as I heard. However I never made any researches on that if it is true or not.

Adler

 

[privatehudson]

I hate to burst your bubble guys but the RAF were more than capable of penetrating the concrete protection of U-Boat pens when they used the Tallboy bomb.

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallboy_bomb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat_pen

You see the Allies had their wonder weapons too, the only difference was ours mostly worked so tend to get ignored.

By the way I'm intruiged as to how the tide turned with the Type 21 and 23s seeing as how the former only carried out one combat patrol (sinking nothing) and boats of the latter type only managed to sink 5 ships before the end of the war. That doesn't strike me as being an especially big impact on the conflict nor as sucessful as you claim. Some potential existed with them and both undoubtedly were technical innovations but that doesn't mean they turned the tide or even came close to doing so.

Oh yes and when they finally decide what to do with it you might be able to once again see U534, the only U-Boat to be raised from the sea after it was sunk by the allies in combat. It's currently in Wallasey, England but there's still some debate about its current fate, so its sitting by the side of the docks and you can't go inside.

I've been inside it just before it closed and have some photos somewhere, I'll post them if you're interested. It was fascinating, although 50 odd years of being at the bottom of the North Sea clearly took their toll you could still see all sorts of interesting things.

 

[Adler17]

Well, concerning the abilities of the new boats:

U 2511 (XXI) under Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee pernetrated a well escorted Allied force and made a training attack on HMS Norfolk, as Dönitz only very few hours before ordered to cease all fire. So he did not attack but also retreated without being seen. Also of the 6 boats from the type XXIII making combat patrols they sank without loss 5 ships. Concerning the situation of the other boats a success turning the tide indeed again. I never said, this was relevant to the end of the war, however from the technical point of view the Uboats were now in advance like 2 years before. Or why do you think the Allies were not able to detect one of these 7 units?

Adler

 

[privatehudson]

U 2511 (XXI) under Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee pernetrated a well escorted Allied force and made a training attack on HMS Norfolk, as Dönitz only very few hours before ordered to cease all fire.

The following link confirms that it may or may not be true but unfortunately does not provide the article where the issue is discussed. Regardless it is still possible that the story, whilst often repeated is merely a myth.

http://www.dsm.de/Pubs/23_12.htm

Also of the 6 boats from the type XXIII making combat patrols they sank without loss 5 ships

Well yes, that's what I said I believe.

Concerning the situation of the other boats a success turning the tide indeed again. I never said, this was relevant to the end of the war, however from the technical point of view the Uboats were now in advance like 2 years before

Using a phrase like "turning the tide" implies that something changed course at that point. By using the phrase so soon after discussing them being "nearly victorious" you implied (intentionally or otherwise) that the type XXIs had a significant impact on the course of either the war or the Battle of the Atlantic. In fact they did nothing to change the course of either, and since they were used so sparingly could hardly be said to tip the scales technoogy wise in favour of the U-Boat arm against the RN either. Technology is only useful if it is deployed.

As for their undoubted technical abilities sure they were a work of industrial art and genius. They were so far in advance of the other U-Boats that crews had to be entirely retrained in their use. However the war had shown that the allies were not slow in developing counter measures to new German advances. Not that they would need to since it took the Germans so long to develop and deploy the XXIs that the technology was useless to the U-Boat arm. Personally I've always felt that technological breakthroughs are only useful if they assist you in your war effort and frankly I don't think the XXIs qualify.

Or why do you think the Allies were not able to detect one of these 7 units?

I imagine it has something to do with the fact that they were so rarely deployed. Its hard to evaluate their combat performance when so few examples of combat patrols exist for them. We can merely go by their potential which is not entirely a reliable gauge. Do we know if any of the boats even encountered RN elements on their combat patrols?

Anyway if anyone wants those U534 shots posted feel free to say because I have to scan some of them and I'm not going to if no-one's interested

 

[Yeeek]

I am interested, please do so

 

[Adler17]

PH, I also would appreciate the posting of the pictures.
However I have reread my passage and can not see a point there. I mean I said, they were turning the tide. And I said it was too late. Both is true. They were technological advanced, had a remarkable success if you look the boats and circumstances, and not one of these boats on patrol was lost to enemy action (only one was indeed sunk by airplane as being surprised in a training voyage as being the only loss to direct fire). However, as I said, too, war was over.
A turning of the tide is there, where the peak is reached, not more or less.
Concerning Schnee's claim having the chance to sink there are several studies if he was able to do so or not. And there are indeed studies, which say he was able to do so. The Captain of the HMS Norfolk was nonetheless convinced.

Adler

 

[privatehudson]

However I have reread my passage and can not see a point there. I mean I said, they were turning the tide. And I said it was too late. Both is true.

In your opinion they were turning the tide, there's a difference between opinion and truth. Superior technology only turns the tide if you're able to deploy and use it effectively. Since we do not have sufficient combat patrols to draw a conclusion from any speculation about their impact on the war or possible allied countermeasures is little more than guesswork.

They were technological advanced, had a remarkable success if you look the boats and circumstances, and not one of these boats on patrol was lost to enemy action (only one was indeed sunk by airplane as being surprised in a training voyage as being the only loss to direct fire). However, as I said, too, war was over.

As I said, how many confirmed examples of contact with RN elements (or for that matter other anti-submarine units) were there in that period? Sinking half a dozen merchant ships isn't a great return for the expense used on the two types.

Concerning Schnee's claim having the chance to sink there are several studies if he was able to do so or not. And there are indeed studies, which say he was able to do so. The Captain of the HMS Norfolk was nonetheless convinced.

If the captain wasn't aware of it until after the war I'd be intruiged to know how he could be so convinced. The issue is not proven either way.

Photos will be forthcoming soon when I have the time to dig out the scanner.

 

[privatehudson]

Ok I only have time to post 2 pictures today but will add more later. These at least give you some idea of the state of the boat. These are scans from a booklet, the museum wouldn't allow photos to be taken inside the boat. I have some photos I took outside it though which should prove interesting.

The first is the Engine Room of U534, the second a comparison of U534's Foreward Torpedo Room (bottom) and U995s (above).

U545 for those who do not know was a type IXC/40 U Boat which had been comissioned in 1942. On May 5th 1945 she was sitting just off the Danish coast with three type XXIs when she recieved the order to surrender. Despite being only 26 U534's commander - Captain Nollau was the oldest of the four and he chose to sail for Norway without flying any surrender flag. The group was quickly picked up and three Liberators took off from Scotland to intercept them. When they attacked E-Edward was shot down in the attack but G-George pressed it home. The three XXIs dived quickly, leaving the older boat to face the attack. G-George's first attack failed to damage the boat but a second pass saw a depth charge explode near the hull, cracking it and mortally wounding U534. Fortunately 47 of the 52 crew were able to escape before she sank, and of the remaining 5 (trapped in the foreward torpedo room) all left the boat eventually when the pressure equalised. One of the five didn't reach the surface, and two of the 47 died before rescue.

In 1986 she was located once more by a Danish diver. Because no crew had died on board her it was possible for her to be raised, she was not a war grave. A Danish publisher called Karsten Ree funded the project and when she was brought up 8 survivors from the boat and 4 from G-George were present. They then secured her (even after nearly 40 years under the sea ammunition can still be unstable) and recovered a large ammount of material on the mainland and then finally relocated her to Wallasey Docks. The docks, alongside the port of Liverpool had been the major part of the Battle of the Atlantic, so it seemed fitting to place her there.

I'll have more photos later on in the week

 

[privatehudson]

One of the many items found on board U534 when she was raised was her enigma machine. Ironically it was the ability of the allies to crack the Enigma Cipher which caused U-Boats so much grief.

One of the most important parts of the boat of course was the galley, small and compact.

The following two photos show views of the inside of the boat

The Motor Room

I'll post the photos I took of the outside soon

Oh and uhmmm... applogies for the unusual marks on the pictures, I need to clean the scanner's glass

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Nice pictures

Thanks for posting them

 

[privatehudson]

As I mentioned earlier U534 was moved to Wallasey in 1994 and remained on display until recently. Unfortunately about 18 months ago the charity who ran the collection (which included 2 Falkland Wars vessels, the only surviving LST which served on D-Day and a boat which Prince Charles once commanded) fell into financial problems. The local council then decided to approve a proposal to convert the mill buildings which the collection sat alongside into flats. These two blows coming at the same time meant that the collection was dispersed around the nearby docks and is no longer on display to the public.

A view of U534 in its original position when it was still possible to view it.

U534 in its current position, sitting on a dockside where it is fortunately pretty secure.

This photo shows just one aspect of the damage inflicted on U534 with the outer hull buckled severely. Inside the boat you can still see blocks of wood that the crew had used in an attempt to plug the damage up.

This photo was taken from the front of the boat looking back on the conning tower. You can also see on the right the stairway leading onto the boat and a walkway for moving to the entrance to the boat. These were built by trainees at the nearby Cammel Lairds yard and added soon after it arrived in Wallasey.

U534's AA arnament, damaged and rusty but still in place.

The front of the boat from just by the Conning Tower. Usually this area would be covered in wood but obviously 40+ years under the North Sea removed it. In the foreground is the point where visitors entered the U-Boat, I think it was a torpedo loading hatch.

I only visited U534 once just before it closed but was treated to a fascinating guided tour by one of the collection staff. He had served in submarines himself, even seeing action in the Falklands on the submarine in the collection. His unique insight about life on the boat and annecdotes about the crew were priceless. A few years after U534 joined the collection one of the surviving crew members visited her and spoke with the guide about his time there. This man had been just 20 years old when the ship sank and yet he was the third oldest man on board. He was the man who lead the escape of the trapped submariners after the ship sank.

Overall it was really quite eerie walking along a ship where everything was still pretty much in the same place the crew left it 50+ years earlier. It was a real sense of being on a time capsule rather than a museum piece. You could see more of how and where they lived. I really hope the local council can arrange some sort of "rescue" package for her. If she does I would heartily recommend a visit to U534 for she is truly unique.

 

[privatehudson]

One final photo I'm going to share for fun.

Just across the dock from U534's current location lies a partially sunk boat. I've seen pictures of this same boat in the same position for more than 20 years now, but a small part of me likes to jokingly think of this boat as U534's last victim.