#u-boat

[chernobog13]

A scene from Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel The Land That Time Forgot by Joe Jusko.

[carbone14]

Sous-marin U-255 en train de faire le plein d’un hydravion Blohm & Voss BV 138 – Opération Wunderland – Front de l'Est – Août 1943

Photographe : Hirschfeider

Le ravitaillement en mer par des sous-marins allemands permettait de s’affranchir des ravitaillements à terre trop lointains pour patrouiller longuement la zone de la mer de Barents et de la mer de Kara pour détecter les navires soviétiques et les couler. Ici, l’opération de ravitaillement pour survoler le Svalbard, archipel norvégien en mer de Barents.

[whencyclopedia]

U-Boat: Germany's Submarines of WWI & WWII

The U-boat, short for Unterseeboot (undersea boat), was the name for submarines used by the German Navy during the First World War (1914-18) and Second World War (1939-45). In the two Battles of the Atlantic, U-boats sank thousands of ships, but defensive strategies such as dropping depth charges, providing air cover, and, above all, the convoy system, ensured Britain was supplied with the resources it needed to continue both wars until victory was achieved on land.

U-Boats in WWI

When WWI began in 1914, the German Imperial Navy had only 20 operational submarines or Unterseeboots (undersea boats), as they were known, a name soon shortened to U-boat. Together, Britain and France had around 200 submarines. German production went into overdrive to catch up. The German navy constructed several classes of submarines to meet different requirements, such as coastal patrols, laying mines, and long-distance vessels. By 1917, Germany had 140 U-boats. While the British Admiralty focused on smaller submarines for the defence of ports, Germany opted for a vessel that could attack enemy shipping anywhere at sea. U-boats became particularly important following the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 (a strategic victory for the Royal Navy, but one with high losses), after which the giant German battleships were largely confined to port. U-boats, on the other hand, were free to roam hidden beneath the waves and attack at will any enemy target they came across in the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and the coastal waters of the British Isles.

The earliest U-boats, the UB class, were limited to coastal operations, but developments improved their operational capacity as the war wore on. The typical WWI U-boat had a range capable of reaching the Western Atlantic Ocean, a top speed of 17 knots, and displaced around 700 tons. U-boats carried six torpedoes. Two torpedoes could be fired from the bow and two from the stern. The submarine also had a gun which could be fired when on the surface; this had a minimum calibre of 4.1 inches (10.4 mm). A diesel engine was used when on the surface, and twin electric engines when submerged. The crew on board numbered up to 39 persons. Conditions on board were extremely cramped and uncomfortable, and made worse by the constant stench of diesel fuel, which even permeated the taste of the submariner's food.

The German Navy built a larger class of U-boats, which was unarmed but capable of carrying cargo. The Deutschland was the first of this type, put in service in 1916. Some of these cargo submarines were subsequently converted into armed vessels known as U-cruisers, although the first were not operational until 1918. The U-cruisers had an impressive range of 12,000 nautical miles, and they could well have turned the tide of the war if they had been produced earlier and in larger numbers.

The UC-class submarines were used as minelayers from 1915. With a slow speed of six knots and a limited range of 750 nautical miles, these vessels were designed to stay near coastlines and lay mines, 12 per trip. The mines were released from near-vertical tubes that had been flooded. An upgrade to the class in 1916 increased the range tenfold and the mine load to 18. The UC II class was also armed with a 3.4-inch (8.8 cm) gun. The UE-class submarine was a larger, ocean-going version of the UC-class. The UE-boats, in service from 1915, could voyage 8,000 nautical miles and carry 34 mines. A class upgrade in 1918 meant the newer UE-boats could carry 42 mines in their tubes and another 30 in deck containers.

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⇒ U-Boat: Germany's Submarines of WWI & WWII

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Das Boot (1981)

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Type IIB coastal submarines from the Kriegsmarine's 1st U-boat Flotilla "Weddigen"

German vintage postcard

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The Kaiserlichemarine (German Imperial Navy) U-boat UC 5 after its capture in 1916. UC 5 was a Type UC I U-boat and commissioned on 19 June 1915 at Hamburg. She served in WWI under the command of Herbert Pustkuchen (June 1915 - December 1915) and Ulrich Mohrbutter (December 1915 - April 1916). UC 5 had an impressive career, with 29 ships sunk for a total of 36,288 tons on 29 patrols. She ran aground on Shipwash Shoal while on patrol on 27 April 1916 and was scuttled, but the charges failed to explode. Her crew were captured by the British destroyer HMS Firedrake and the submarine was displayed at Temple Pier on the Thames river, and later New York for propaganda purposes

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U-boat resupply

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1943 07 30 Caught on the Surface - Robert Taylor

In a strange quirk of fate, a Sunderland of 461 Sqn RAAF identification letter U, destroys submarine U-461, a type XIV tanker, one of three German submarines caught on the surface by Allied aircraft in the Bay of Biscay on July 30, 1943. At extreme low level, Sunderland 'U' braves a barrage of gunfire from all three encircling German submarines to deliver a successful depth charge attack, sinking U-461 in a single pass. In an act of grace, the Sunderland pilot returned to the scene to drop a dingy to the U-boat survivors.