German submarine aces: the birth of traditions. In the lair of the “wolf packs”: bunkers for submarines of the Third Reich
The outcome of any war depends on many factors, among which, of course, weapons are of considerable importance. Despite the fact that absolutely all German weapons were very powerful, since Adolf Hitler personally considered them the most important weapon and paid considerable attention to the development of this industry, they failed to inflict damage on their opponents that would significantly influence the course of the war. Why did it happen? Who is at the origins of the creation of a submarine army? Were the German submarines of World War II really that invincible? Why were such prudent Nazis unable to defeat the Red Army? You will find the answer to these and other questions in the review.
general information
Collectively, all equipment in service with the Third Reich during World War II was called the Kriegsmarine, and submarines made up a significant part of the arsenal. Underwater equipment became a separate industry on November 1, 1934, and the fleet was disbanded after the war ended, i.e., having existed for less than a dozen years. In such a short period of time, German submarines of World War II brought a lot of fear into the souls of their opponents, leaving their huge mark on the bloody pages of the history of the Third Reich. Thousands of dead, hundreds of sunk ships, all this remained on the conscience of the surviving Nazis and their subordinates.
Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine
During World War II, one of the most famous Nazis, Karl Doenitz, was at the helm of the Kriegsmarine. German submarines certainly played an important role in World War II, but without this man this would not have happened. He was personally involved in creating plans to attack opponents, participated in attacks on many ships and achieved success in this path, for which he was awarded one of the most significant awards of Nazi Germany. Doenitz was an admirer of Hitler and was his successor, which did a lot of harm to him during the Nuremberg trials, because after the death of the Fuhrer he was considered the commander-in-chief of the Third Reich.
Specifications
It is easy to guess that Karl Doenitz was responsible for the condition of the submarine army. German submarines in World War II, photos of which prove their power, had impressive parameters.
In general, the Kriegsmarine was armed with 21 types of submarines. They had the following characteristics:
- displacement: from 275 to 2710 tons;
- surface speed: from 9.7 to 19.2 knots;
- underwater speed: from 6.9 to 17.2;
- diving depth: from 150 to 280 meters.
This proves that the German submarines of World War II were not just powerful, they were the most powerful among the weapons of the countries that fought with Germany.
Composition of the Kriegsmarine
The warships of the German fleet included 1,154 submarines. It is noteworthy that until September 1939 submarines There were only 57 of them, the rest were built specifically for participation in the war. Some of them were trophies. Thus, there were 5 Dutch, 4 Italian, 2 Norwegian and one English and French submarines. All of them were also in service with the Third Reich.
Achievements of the Navy
The Kriegsmarine inflicted considerable damage on its opponents throughout the war. For example, the most effective captain Otto Kretschmer sank almost fifty enemy ships. There are also record holders among ships. For example, the German submarine U-48 sank 52 ships.
Throughout World War II, 63 destroyers, 9 cruisers, 7 aircraft carriers and even 2 battleships were destroyed. The largest and most notable victory for the German army among them can be considered the sinking of the battleship Royal Oak, whose crew consisted of a thousand people and its displacement was 31,200 tons.
Plan Z
Since Hitler considered his fleet extremely important for the triumph of Germany over other countries and had extremely positive feelings towards it, he paid considerable attention to it and did not limit funding. In 1939, a plan was developed for the development of the Kriegsmarine for the next 10 years, which, fortunately, never came to fruition. According to this plan, several hundred more of the most powerful battleships, cruisers and submarines were to be built.
Powerful German submarines of World War II
Photos of some surviving German submarine technology give an idea of the power of the Third Reich, but only weakly reflect how strong this army was. The majority of the German fleet consisted of Type VII submarines; they had optimal seaworthiness, were of medium size, and most importantly, their construction was relatively inexpensive, which is important in
They could dive to depths of up to 320 meters with a displacement of up to 769 tons, the crew ranged from 42 to 52 employees. Despite the fact that the "sevens" were quite quality boats, over time, Germany’s enemy countries improved their weapons, so the Germans also had to work on modernizing their brainchild. As a result of this, the boat received several more modifications. The most popular of these was the VIIC model, which not only became the personification of Germany's military power during the attack on the Atlantic, but was also much more convenient than previous versions. The impressive dimensions made it possible to install more powerful diesel engines, and subsequent modifications were also distinguished by durable hulls, which made it possible to dive deeper.
German submarines of the Second World War were subject to constant, as they would say now, upgrades. One of the most innovative models is considered to be type XXI. An air conditioning system and additional equipment were created in this submarine, which was intended for a longer stay of the crew under water. A total of 118 boats of this type were built.
Kriegsmarine performance results
Germany of the Second World War, photos of which can often be found in books about military equipment, played a very important role in the offensive of the Third Reich. Their power cannot be underestimated, but it is worth considering that even with such patronage from the bloodiest Fuhrer in world history, the German fleet did not manage to bring its power closer to victory. Probably, it is not enough just to have good equipment and strong army, for the victory of Germany, the ingenuity and courage that the brave warriors possessed was not enough Soviet Union. Everyone knows that the Nazis were incredibly bloodthirsty and did not disdain much on their way, but neither an incredibly equipped army nor a lack of principles helped them. Armored vehicles, a huge amount of ammunition and latest developments did not bring the expected results to the Third Reich.
Submarines dictate the rules in naval warfare and force everyone to meekly follow the routine.
Those stubborn people who dare to ignore the rules of the game will face a quick and painful death in the cold water, among floating debris and oil stains. Boats, regardless of flag, remain the most dangerous combat vehicles, capable of crushing any enemy.
I bring to your attention a short story about the seven most successful projects submarines of the war years.
Boats type T (Triton-class), UK
The number of submarines built is 53.
Surface displacement - 1290 tons; underwater - 1560 tons.
Crew - 59…61 people.
Working immersion depth - 90 m (riveted hull), 106 m (welded hull).
Full surface speed - 15.5 knots; in underwater - 9 knots.
A fuel reserve of 131 tons provided a surface cruising range of 8,000 miles.
Weapons:
- 11 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber (on boats of subseries II and III), ammunition - 17 torpedoes;
- 1 x 102 mm universal gun, 1 x 20 mm anti-aircraft "Oerlikon".
HMS Traveler
A British underwater Terminator capable of knocking the crap out of any enemy's head with a bow-launched 8-torpedo salvo. The T-type boats had no equal in destructive power among all the submarines of the WWII period - this explains their ferocious appearance with a bizarre bow superstructure that housed additional torpedo tubes.
The notorious British conservatism is a thing of the past - the British were among the first to equip their boats with ASDIC sonars. Alas, despite its powerful weapons and modern means discovery, the T-type open sea boats did not become the most effective among the British submarines of World War II. Nevertheless, they went through an exciting battle path and achieved a number of remarkable victories. "Tritons" were actively used in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean Sea, they destroyed Japanese communications on Pacific Ocean, have been spotted several times in the frozen waters of the Arctic.
In August 1941, the submarines "Tygris" and "Trident" arrived in Murmansk. British submariners demonstrated a master class to their Soviet colleagues: in two trips, 4 enemy ships were sunk, incl. "Bahia Laura" and "Donau II" with thousands of soldiers of the 6th Mountain Division. Thus, the sailors prevented the third German attack on Murmansk.
Other famous T-boat trophies include the German light cruiser Karlsruhe and the Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara. The samurai were “lucky” to get acquainted with a full 8-torpedo salvo of the Trenchent submarine - having received 4 torpedoes on board (+ another from the stern tube), the cruiser quickly capsized and sank.
After the war, the powerful and sophisticated Tritons remained in service with the Royal Navy for another quarter of a century.
It is noteworthy that three boats of this type were acquired by Israel in the late 1960s - one of them, INS Dakar (formerly HMS Totem) was lost in 1968 in the Mediterranean Sea under unclear circumstances.
Boats of the "Cruising" type XIV series, Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 11.
Surface displacement - 1500 tons; underwater - 2100 tons.
Crew - 62…65 people.
Full surface speed - 22.5 knots; in underwater - 10 knots.
Surface cruising range 16,500 miles (9 knots)
Submerged cruising range - 175 miles (3 knots)
Weapons:
- 2 x 100 mm universal guns, 2 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic guns;
- up to 20 minutes of barrage.
...December 3, 1941, German hunters UJ-1708, UJ-1416 and UJ-1403 bombed Soviet boat, which attempted to attack the convoy at Bustad Sund.
Hans, can you hear this creature?
- Nain. After a series of explosions, the Russians lay low - I detected three impacts on the ground...
-Can you determine where they are now?
- Donnerwetter! They are blown away. They probably decided to surface and surrender.
The German sailors were wrong. From the depths of the sea, a MONSTER rose to the surface - the cruising submarine K-3 series XIV, unleashing a barrage of artillery fire on the enemy. With the fifth salvo, Soviet sailors managed to sink U-1708. The second hunter, having received two direct hits, began to smoke and turned to the side - his 20 mm anti-aircraft guns could not compete with the “hundreds” of the secular submarine cruiser. Scattering the Germans like puppies, K-3 quickly disappeared over the horizon at 20 knots.
The Soviet Katyusha was a phenomenal boat for its time. Welded hull, powerful artillery and mine-torpedo weapons, powerful diesel engines (2 x 4200 hp!), high surface speed of 22-23 knots. Huge autonomy in terms of fuel reserves. Remote control ballast tank valves. Radio station capable of transmitting signals from the Baltic to Far East. An exceptional level of comfort: shower cabins, refrigerated tanks, two seawater desalinators, an electric galley... Two boats (K-3 and K-22) were equipped with Lend-Lease ASDIC sonars.
But, strangely enough, neither high performance, nor the most powerful weapons made the Katyusha effective - in addition to the dark story of the K-21 attack on the Tirpitz, during the war years the XIV series boats accounted for only 5 successful torpedo attacks and 27 thousand brigades. reg. tons of sunk tonnage. Most of the victories were achieved with the help of mines. Moreover, its own losses amounted to five cruising boats.
K-21, Severomorsk, today
The reasons for the failures lie in the tactics of using Katyushas - the powerful submarine cruisers, created for the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, had to “tread water” in the shallow Baltic “puddle”. When operating at depths of 30-40 meters, a huge 97-meter boat could hit the ground with its bow while its stern was still sticking out on the surface. It was not much easier for the North Sea sailors - as practice has shown, the effectiveness of the combat use of Katyushas was complicated by the poor training of personnel and the lack of initiative of the command.
It's a pity. These boats were designed for more.
“Baby”, Soviet Union
Series VI and VI bis - 50 built.
Series XII - 46 built.
Series XV - 57 built (4 took part in combat operations).
Performance characteristics of boats type M series XII:
Surface displacement - 206 tons; underwater - 258 tons.
Autonomy - 10 days.
Working immersion depth - 50 m, maximum - 60 m.
Full surface speed - 14 knots; in underwater - 8 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 3,380 miles (8.6 knots).
Submerged cruising range is 108 miles (3 knots).
Weapons:
- 2 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 2 torpedoes;
- 1 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic.
Baby!
The project of mini-submarines for the rapid strengthening of the Pacific Fleet - the main feature of the M-type boats was the ability to be transported by rail in a fully assembled form.
In the pursuit of compactness, much had to be sacrificed - service on the Malyutka turned into a grueling and dangerous undertaking. Heavy living conditions, a strong “bumpiness” - the waves mercilessly threw the 200-ton “float”, risking breaking it into pieces. Shallow diving depth and weak weapons. But the main concern of the sailors was the reliability of the submarine - one shaft, one diesel engine, one electric motor - the tiny “Malyutka” left no chance for the careless crew, the slightest malfunction on board threatened death for the submarine.
The little ones quickly evolved - the performance characteristics of each new series were several times different from the previous project: the contours were improved, the electrical equipment and detection equipment were updated, the dive time was reduced, and the autonomy increased. The “babies” of the XV series no longer resembled their predecessors of the VI and XII series: one-and-a-half-hull design - the ballast tanks were moved outside the durable hull; The power plant received a standard two-shaft layout with two diesel engines and underwater electric motors. The number of torpedo tubes increased to four. Alas, Series XV appeared too late - the “Little Ones” of Series VI and XII bore the brunt of the war.
Despite their modest size and only 2 torpedoes on board, the tiny fish were simply distinguished by their terrifying “gluttony”: in just the years of World War II, Soviet M-type submarines sank 61 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 135.5 thousand gross tons, destroyed 10 warships, and also damaged 8 transports.
The little ones, originally intended only for operations in the coastal zone, have learned to fight effectively in open sea areas. They, along with larger boats, cut enemy communications, patrolled at the exits of enemy bases and fjords, deftly overcame anti-submarine barriers and blew up transports right at the piers inside protected enemy harbors. It’s simply amazing how the Red Navy were able to fight on these flimsy ships! But they fought. And we won!
Boats of the “Medium” type, series IX-bis, Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 41.
Surface displacement - 840 tons; underwater - 1070 tons.
Crew - 36…46 people.
Working immersion depth - 80 m, maximum - 100 m.
Full surface speed - 19.5 knots; submerged - 8.8 knots.
Surface cruising range 8,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 148 miles (3 knots).
“Six torpedo tubes and the same number of spare torpedoes on racks convenient for reloading. Two cannons with large ammunition, machine guns, explosive equipment... In a word, there is something to fight with. And 20 knots surface speed! It allows you to overtake almost any convoy and attack it again. The technique is good...”
- opinion of the commander of the S-56, Hero of the Soviet Union G.I. Shchedrin
The Eskis were distinguished by their rational layout and balanced design, powerful armament, and excellent performance and seaworthiness. Initially a German project from the Deshimag company, modified to meet Soviet requirements. But don’t rush to clap your hands and remember the Mistral. After the start of serial construction of the IX series in Soviet shipyards, the German project was revised with the goal of a complete transition to Soviet equipment: 1D diesel engines, weapons, radio stations, a noise direction finder, a gyrocompass... - there were none in the boats designated “series IX-bis”. foreign made bolt!
The problems with the combat use of "Medium" type boats, in general, were similar to the K-type cruising boats - locked in mine-infested shallow water, they were never able to realize their high combat qualities. Things were much better in the Northern Fleet - during the war, the S-56 boat under the command of G.I. Shchedrina made the transition through the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, moving from Vladivostok to Polyarny, subsequently becoming the most productive boat of the USSR Navy.
An equally fantastic story is connected with the S-101 “bomb catcher” - during the war years, the Germans and Allies dropped over 1000 depth charges on the boat, but each time the S-101 returned safely to Polyarny.
Finally, it was on the S-13 that Alexander Marinesko achieved his famous victories.
S-56 torpedo compartment
“Cruel alterations in which the ship found itself, bombings and explosions, depths far exceeding the official limit. The boat protected us from everything..."
- from the memoirs of G.I. Shchedrin
Gato type boats, USA
The number of submarines built is 77.
Surface displacement - 1525 tons; underwater - 2420 tons.
Crew - 60 people.
Working immersion depth - 90 m.
Full surface speed - 21 knots; submerged - 9 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 11,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 96 miles (2 knots).
Weapons:
- 10 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 24 torpedoes;
- 1 x 76 mm universal gun, 1 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, 1 x 20 mm Oerlikon;
- one of the boats, USS Barb, was equipped with a multiple launch rocket system for shelling the coast.
Ocean-going submarine cruisers of the Getou class appeared at the height of the war in the Pacific Ocean and became one of the most effective tools of the US Navy. They tightly blocked all strategic straits and approaches to the atolls, cut all supply lines, leaving Japanese garrisons without reinforcements, and Japanese industry without raw materials and oil. In battles with the Gatow, the Imperial Navy lost two heavy aircraft carriers, lost four cruisers and a damn dozen destroyers.
High speed, lethal torpedo weapons, the most modern radio equipment for detecting the enemy - radar, direction finder, sonar. The cruising range allows for combat patrols off the coast of Japan when operating from a base in Hawaii. Increased comfort on board. But the main thing is the excellent training of the crews and the weakness of Japanese anti-submarine weapons. As a result, the "Getow" mercilessly destroyed everything - it was they who brought victory in the Pacific Ocean from the blue depths of the sea.
...One of the main achievements of the Getow boats, which changed the whole world, is considered to be the event of September 2, 1944. On that day, the Finback submarine detected a distress signal from a falling plane and, after many hours of searching, found a frightened and already desperate pilot in the ocean . The one who was saved was one George Herbert Bush.
The cabin of the submarine "Flasher", memorial in Groton.
The list of Flasher trophies sounds like a naval joke: 9 tankers, 10 transports, 2 patrol ships with a total tonnage of 100,231 GRT! And for a snack, the boat grabbed a Japanese cruiser and a destroyer. Lucky damn thing!
Electric robots type XXI, Germany
By April 1945, the Germans managed to launch 118 submarines of the XXI series. However, only two of them were able to achieve operational readiness and go to sea in last days war.
Surface displacement - 1620 tons; underwater - 1820 tons.
Crew - 57 people.
Working depth of immersion is 135 m, maximum depth is 200+ meters.
Full speed in the surface position is 15.6 knots, in the submerged position - 17 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 15,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 340 miles (5 knots).
Weapons:
- 6 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 17 torpedoes;
- 2 Flak anti-aircraft guns of 20 mm caliber.
U-2540 "Wilhelm Bauer" permanently moored in Bremerhaven, present day
Our allies were very lucky that all German forces were thrown at Eastern front- the Krauts did not have enough resources to release a flock of fantastic “Electric Boats” into the sea. If they appeared a year earlier, that would be it! Another turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic.
The Germans were the first to guess: everything that shipbuilders in other countries are proud of - large ammunition, powerful artillery, high surface speed of 20+ knots - is of little importance. The key parameters that determine the combat effectiveness of a submarine are its speed and cruising range when submerged.
Unlike its peers, “Electrobot” was focused on being constantly under water: a maximally streamlined body without heavy artillery, fences and platforms - all for the sake of minimizing underwater resistance. Snorkel, six groups of batteries (3 times more than on conventional boats!), powerful electric. Full speed engines, quiet and economical electric. "sneak" engines.
The stern of U-2511, sunk at a depth of 68 meters
The Germans calculated everything - the entire Elektrobot campaign moved at periscope depth under the RDP, remaining difficult to detect for enemy anti-submarine weapons. At great depths, its advantage became even more shocking: 2-3 times the range, at twice the speed, than any of the wartime submarines! High stealth and impressive underwater skills, homing torpedoes, a set of the most advanced detection means... “Electrobots” opened a new milestone in the history of the submarine fleet, defining the vector of development of submarines in the post-war years.
The Allies were not prepared to face such a threat - as post-war tests showed, the “Electrobots” were several times superior in mutual hydroacoustic detection range to the American and British destroyers guarding the convoys.
Type VII boats, Germany
The number of submarines built is 703.
Surface displacement - 769 tons; underwater - 871 tons.
Crew - 45 people.
Working immersion depth - 100 m, maximum - 220 meters
Full surface speed - 17.7 knots; submerged - 7.6 knots.
Cruising range on the surface is 8,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 80 miles (4 knots).
Weapons:
- 5 torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, ammunition - 14 torpedoes;
- 1 x 88 mm universal gun (until 1942), eight options for superstructures with 20 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns.
* the given performance characteristics correspond to boats of the VIIC subseries
The most effective warships ever to roam the world's oceans.
A relatively simple, cheap, mass-produced, but at the same time well-armed and deadly weapon for total underwater terror.
703 submarines. 10 MILLION tons of sunk tonnage! Battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, corvettes and enemy submarines, oil tankers, transports with aircraft, tanks, cars, rubber, ore, machine tools, ammunition, uniforms and food... The damage from the actions of German submariners exceeded all reasonable limits - if only Without the inexhaustible industrial potential of the United States, capable of compensating for any losses of the allies, German U-bots had every chance to “strangle” Great Britain and change the course of world history.
U-995. Graceful underwater killer
The successes of the Sevens are often associated with the “prosperous times” of 1939-41. - allegedly, when the Allies appeared the convoy system and Asdik sonars, the successes of the German submariners ended. A completely populist statement based on a misinterpretation of “prosperous times.”
The situation was simple: at the beginning of the war, when for every German boat there was one Allied anti-submarine ship each, the “sevens” felt like invulnerable masters of the Atlantic. It was then that the legendary aces appeared, sinking 40 enemy ships. The Germans already held victory in their hands when the Allies suddenly deployed 10 anti-submarine ships and 10 aircraft for each active Kriegsmarine boat!
Beginning in the spring of 1943, the Yankees and British began to methodically overwhelm the Kriegsmarine with anti-submarine equipment and soon achieved an excellent loss ratio of 1:1. They fought like that until the end of the war. The Germans ran out of ships faster than their opponents.
The whole history of the German “sevens” is a formidable warning from the past: what threat does the submarine pose and how high are the costs of creating effective system countering the underwater threat.
A funny American poster of those years. "Hit the weak points! Come serve in the submarine fleet - we account for 77% of the sunk tonnage!" Comments, as they say, are unnecessary
The article uses materials from the book “Soviet Submarine Shipbuilding”, V. I. Dmitriev, Voenizdat, 1990.
More than 70 thousand dead sailors, 3.5 thousand lost civilian ships and 175 warships from the Allies, 783 sunken submarines with a total crew of 30 thousand people from Nazi Germany - the Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted six years, became the largest naval battle in the history of mankind . “Wolf packs” of German U-boats went hunting for Allied convoys from the grandiose structures erected in the 1940s on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Aviation in Great Britain and the United States tried unsuccessfully to destroy them for years, but even now these concrete colossi loom fearsomely in Norway, France and Germany. Onliner.by talks about the creation of bunkers where the submarines of the Third Reich once hid from bombers.
In the Second world war Germany entered with only 57 submarines. A significant part of this fleet consisted of outdated Type II small boats, designed to patrol only coastal waters. It is obvious that at this moment the command of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and top management countries did not plan to launch large-scale submarine warfare against their opponents. However, the policy was soon revised, and the personality of the commander of the submarine fleet of the Third Reich played no small role in this radical turn.
In October 1918, at the end of the First World War, during an attack on a guarded British convoy, the German submarine UB-68 was counterattacked and damaged by depth charges. Seven sailors were killed, the rest of the crew was captured. It included Chief Lieutenant Karl Doenitz. After his release from captivity, he made a brilliant career, rising to the rank of rear admiral and commander of the Kriegsmarine submarine forces by 1939. In the 1930s, he concentrated on developing tactics that would successfully combat the convoy system, of which he fell victim early in his service.
In 1939, Doenitz sent a memorandum to the commander of the Third Reich Navy, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, in which he proposed using the so-called Rudeltaktik, “wolf pack tactics,” to attack convoys. In accordance with it, it was planned to attack an enemy sea convoy with the maximum possible number of submarines concentrated in advance in the area where it passed. At the same time, the anti-submarine escort was dispersed, and this, in turn, increased the effectiveness of the attack and reduced possible casualties on the part of the Kriegsmarine.
“Wolf packs,” according to Doenitz, were to play a significant role in the war with Great Britain, Germany’s main rival in Europe. To implement the tactics, the rear admiral assumed, it would be enough to form a fleet of 300 new type VII boats, capable, unlike their predecessors, of long ocean voyages. The Reich immediately launched a grand program for the construction of a submarine fleet.
The situation changed fundamentally in 1940. First, by the end of the year it became clear that the “Battle of Britain,” whose goal was to persuade the United Kingdom to surrender only through aerial bombing, was lost by the Nazis. Secondly, in the same 1940, Germany carried out a rapid occupation of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and, most importantly, France, receiving at its disposal almost the entire Atlantic coast of continental Europe, and with it convenient military bases for raids across the ocean. Thirdly, the U-boat type VII required by Doenitz began to be introduced en masse into the fleet. Against this background, they acquired not just significant, but decisive importance in the effort to bring Britain to its knees. In 1940, the Third Reich entered into unrestricted submarine warfare and initially achieved phenomenal success in it.
The goal of the campaign, which was later called the “Battle of the Atlantic” at the instigation of Churchill, was to destroy the ocean communications that connected Great Britain with its allies overseas. Hitler and the Reich's military leadership were well aware of the extent of the United Kingdom's dependence on imported goods. The disruption of their supplies was rightly seen as the most important factor in Britain’s withdrawal from the war, and the main role in this was to be played by Admiral Doenitz’s “wolf packs.”
For their concentration, the former Kriegsmarine naval bases on the territory of Germany proper with access to the Baltic and North Sea turned out to be not very comfortable. But the territories of France and Norway allowed free access to the operational space of the Atlantic. The main problem was ensuring the safety of the submarines at their new bases, because they were within the reach of British (and later American) aviation. Of course, Doenitz was well aware that his fleet would immediately be subjected to intense aerial bombardment, survival of which became for the Germans a necessary guarantee of success in the Battle of the Atlantic.
The salvation for the U-boat was the experience of German bunker building, in which the Reich engineers knew a lot. It was clear to them that conventional bombs, which only the Allies possessed at the beginning of World War II, could not cause significant damage to a building reinforced with a sufficient layer of concrete. The problem with protecting submarines was solved in a costly, but quite simple way: ground bunkers began to be built for them.
Unlike similar structures designed for people, the U-Boot-Bunker was built on a Teutonic scale. A typical lair of “wolf packs” was a huge reinforced concrete parallelepiped 200-300 meters long, internally divided into several (up to 15) parallel compartments. In the latter, routine maintenance and repair of submarines was carried out.
Particular importance was attached to the design of the bunker roof. Its thickness, depending on the specific implementation, reached 8 meters, while the roof was not monolithic: concrete layers reinforced with metal reinforcement alternated with air layers. Such a multilayer “pie” made it possible to better dampen the energy of the shock wave in the event of a direct bomb hitting the building. Air defense systems were located on the roof.
In turn, thick concrete lintels between the internal compartments of the bunker limited possible damage even if a bomb did break through the roof. Each of these isolated “pencil cases” could contain up to four U-boats, and in the event of an explosion inside it, only they would become victims. Neighbors would suffer minimal or no harm at all.
First, relatively small bunkers for submarines began to be built in Germany at the old Kriegsmarine naval bases in Hamburg and Kiel, as well as on the Heligoland islands in the North Sea. But their construction gained real scope in France, which became the main location of Doenitz’s fleet. From the beginning of 1941 and over the next year and a half, giant colossi appeared on the Atlantic coast of the country in five ports at once, from which “wolf packs” began to hunt for Allied convoys.
The Breton city of Lorient in northwestern France became the Kriegsmarine's largest forward base. It was here that Karl Doenitz’s headquarters was located, here he personally met each submarine returning from a cruise, and here six U-Boot-Bunkers were erected for two flotillas - the 2nd and 10th.
Construction lasted a year, it was controlled by the Todt Organization, and a total of 15 thousand people, mostly French, participated in the process. The concrete complex in Lorient quickly showed its effectiveness: Allied aircraft were unable to inflict any significant damage on it. After this, the British and Americans decided to cut off communications through which the naval base was supplied. Over the course of a month, from January to February 1943, the Allies dropped tens of thousands of bombs on the city of Lorient itself, as a result of which it was 90% destroyed.
However, this did not help either. The last U-boat left Lorient only in September 1944, after the Allied landings in Normandy and the opening of a second front in Europe. After the end of World War II, the former Nazi base began to be successfully used by the French Navy.
Similar structures on a smaller scale also appeared in Saint-Nazaire, Brest and La Rochelle. The 1st and 9th Kriegsmarine submarine flotillas were located in Brest. The overall size of this base was smaller than the “headquarters” in Lorient, but the largest single bunker in France was built here. It was designed for 15 compartments and had dimensions of 300x175x18 meters.
The 6th and 7th flotillas were based in Saint-Nazaire. A 14-penal bunker, 300 meters long, 130 meters wide and 18 meters high, was built for them, using almost half a million cubic meters of concrete. 8 of the 14 compartments were also dry docks, which made it possible to carry out major repairs of submarines.
Only one, the 3rd, Kriegsmarine submarine flotilla was stationed in La Rochelle. A bunker of 10 “pencil cases” with dimensions of 192x165x19 meters was enough for her. The roof is made of two 3.5-meter concrete layers with an air gap, the walls are at least 2 meters thick - in total, 425 thousand cubic meters of concrete were spent on the building. It was here that the film Das Boot was filmed - probably the most famous movie about German submariners during the Second World War.
In this series, the naval base in Bordeaux stands out somewhat apart. In 1940, a group of submarines, not German, but Italian, the main allies of the Nazis in Europe, was concentrated here. Nevertheless, here too, by order of Doenitz, the program for the construction of protective structures was carried out by the same “Todt Organization”. The Italian submariners could not boast of any particular success, and already in October 1942 they were supplemented by the specially formed 12th Kriegsmarine flotilla. And in September 1943, after Italy left the war on the side of the Axis, the base called BETASOM was completely occupied by the Germans, who remained here for almost another year.
In parallel with the construction in France, the command of the German Navy turned its attention to Norway. This Scandinavian country was of strategic importance for the Third Reich. Firstly, through the Norwegian port of Narvik, iron ore, vital for its economy, was supplied to Germany from the remaining neutral Sweden. Secondly, the organization of naval bases in Norway made it possible to control the North Atlantic, which became especially important in 1942 when the Allies began sending Arctic convoys with Lend-Lease goods to the Soviet Union. In addition, they planned to service the battleship Tirpitz, the flagship and pride of Germany, at these bases.
So much attention was paid to Norway that Hitler personally ordered the local city of Trondheim to be turned into one of the Reich's Festungen - "Citadels", special German quasi-colonies through which Germany could further control the occupied territories. For 300 thousand expatriates - migrants from the Reich, they planned to build a new town, which was to be called Nordstern (“North Star”). Responsibility for its design was assigned personally to the Fuhrer's favorite architect, Albert Speer.
It was in Trondheim that the main North Atlantic base for the deployment of the Kriegsmarine, including submarines and the Tirpitz, was created. Having begun the construction of another bunker here in the fall of 1941, the Germans unexpectedly encountered difficulties unprecedented in France. Steel had to be brought in; there was also nothing to produce concrete from on site. The extended supply chain was constantly disrupted by the efforts of the capricious Norwegian weather. In winter, construction was forced to stop due to snow drifts on the roads. In addition, it turned out that the local population was much less willing to work on the great construction site of the Reich than, for example, the French did. Had to attract forced labor labor from specially organized nearby concentration camps.
The Dora bunker, measuring 153x105 meters into just five compartments, was completed with great difficulty only by the middle of 1943, when the successes of the “wolf packs” in the Atlantic began to quickly fade away. The 13th Kriegsmarine Flotilla with 16 Type VII U-boats was stationed here. Dora 2 remained unfinished, and Dora 3 was abandoned altogether.
In 1942, the Allies found another recipe for fighting the Dönitz Armada. Bombing bunkers with finished boats did not produce results, but shipyards, unlike naval bases, were much less protected. By the end of the year, thanks to this new goal, the pace of submarine construction slowed down significantly, and the artificial decline of the U-boat, which was increasingly accelerated by the efforts of the Allies, was no longer replenished. In response, German engineers seemingly offered a way out.
In unprotected factories scattered throughout the country, it was now planned to produce only individual sections of boats. Their final assembly, testing and launching were carried out at a special plant, which was nothing more than the same familiar bunker for submarines. They decided to build the first such assembly plant on the Weser River near Bremen.
By the spring of 1945, with the help of 10 thousand construction workers - prisoners of concentration camps (6 thousand of whom died in the process), the largest of all U-Boot-Bunkers of the Third Reich appeared on the Weser. The huge building (426×97×27 meters) with a roof thickness of up to 7 meters inside was divided into 13 rooms. In 12 of them, a sequential conveyor assembly of the submarine from ready-made elements was carried out, and in the 13th, the already completed submarine was launched into the water.
It was assumed that the plant, called Valentin, would produce not just a U-boat, but a new generation U-boat - Type XXI, another miracle weapon that was supposed to save Nazi Germany from imminent defeat. More powerful, faster, covered with rubber to impede the operation of enemy radars, with the latest sonar system, which made it possible to attack convoys without visual contact with them - it was the first truly underwater a boat that could spend the entire military campaign without a single rise to the surface.
However, it did not help the Reich. Until the end of the war, only 6 of the 330 submarines that were under construction and in varying degrees of readiness were launched, and only two of them managed to go on a combat mission. The Valentin plant was never completed, suffering a series of bomb attacks in March 1945. The Allies had their own answer to the German miracle weapon, also unprecedented - seismic bombs.
Seismic bombs were a pre-war invention of the British engineer Barnes Wallace, which found its application only in 1944. Conventional bombs, exploding next to the bunker or on its roof, could not cause serious damage to it. Wallace's bombs were based on a different principle. The most powerful 8-10-ton shells were dropped from the highest possible height. Thanks to this and the special shape of the hull, they developed supersonic speed in flight, which allowed them to go deeper into the ground or pierce even the thick concrete roofs of submarine shelters. Once deep within the structure, the bombs exploded, in the process producing small local earthquakes sufficient to cause significant damage to even the most fortified bunker.
Due to the high altitude of their release from the bomber, accuracy was reduced, but in March 1945, two of these Grand Slam bombs hit the Valentin plant. Having penetrated four meters into the concrete of the roof, they detonated and led to the collapse of significant fragments of the building's structure. The “cure” for the Doenitz bunkers was found, but Germany was already doomed.
At the beginning of 1943, the “happy times” of successful hunting by “wolf packs” on allied convoys came to an end. The development of new radars by the Americans and the British, the decryption of Enigma - the main German encryption machine installed on each of their submarines, and the strengthening of convoy escorts led to a strategic turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic. U-boats began to die in dozens. In May 1943 alone, the Kriegsmarine lost 43 of them.
The Battle of the Atlantic was the largest and longest naval battle in human history. In six years, from 1939 to 1945, Germany sank 3.5 thousand civilian and 175 warships of the Allies. In turn, the Germans lost 783 submarines and three-quarters of all the crews of their submarine fleet.
Only with the Doenitz bunkers the Allies were unable to do anything. Weapons that could destroy these structures appeared only at the end of the war, when almost all of them had already been abandoned. But even after the end of World War II, it was not possible to get rid of them: too much effort and expense would have been required to demolish these grandiose structures. They still stand in Lorient and La Rochelle, in Trondheim and on the banks of the Weser, in Brest and Saint-Nazaire. Somewhere they are abandoned, somewhere they are turned into museums, somewhere they are occupied industrial enterprises. But for us, the descendants of the soldiers of that war, these bunkers have, above all, a symbolic meaning.
Armament
- 5 × 355 mm torpedo tubes
- 1 × 88 mm SK C/35 gun
- 1 × 20 mm C30 anti-aircraft gun
- 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines
Same type ships
24 Type VIIB submarines:
U-45 - U-55
U-73 - U-76
U-83 - U-87
U-99 - U-102
The German Type VIIB submarine U-48 is the most productive Kriegsmarine submarine in World War II. Manufactured at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in 1939, she completed 12 military campaigns, sinking 55 Allied ships with a total displacement of 321,000 tons. In 1941, U-48 was transferred to a training flotilla, where it served until the end of the war. She was scuttled by her crew on May 3, 1945, near Neustadt.
History of creation
Prerequisites for creation
The results of the First World War showed the offensive power of the submarine fleet, which practically “strangled” Great Britain with a naval blockade. Due to attacks by German submarines, the Entente lost 12 million tons of its fleet, not counting 153 warships. Therefore, the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty prohibited the development and construction of submarines in Germany. This circumstance forced the Reichsmarine to look for workarounds to revive its submarine fleet. German shipbuilding companies began to create foreign design bureaus in which designs for new submarines were developed. To implement the ideas being developed, orders were needed, for which the bureaus agreed to set more attractive prices than their competitors. The losses were compensated by the finances of the Reichsmarine. One of the most valuable orders was from Finland, for which they built the small boat Vesikko and the medium Vetehinen, which became the prototype for submarines of the II and VII series.
Design
Description of design
Frame
The submarine U-48, like all boats of the VII series, had a one-and-a-half hull (the light hull was not located along the entire contour of the durable hull). The robust hull was a cylinder with a diameter of 4.7 m in the area of the central post, tapering towards the bow and stern. Also, from the center to the extremities, the thickness of the sheet of the durable body changed (18.5 and 16.0 mm, respectively). The design was designed for operational immersion up to 100-120 m, and it must be taken into account that the safety margin adopted for submarines in the German fleet was a factor of 2.3. In practice, Series VII boats dived to depths of up to 250 m.
The following were welded to the strong hull: bow and stern ends, side bulges, surge tanks, as well as a deck superstructure with a wheelhouse fencing. The space between the strong and light hulls was freely floodable. A ventilation system pipeline was laid under the deck superstructure, storage for the first shots for the deck gun and anti-aircraft gun, a lifeboat, spare torpedoes for the bow apparatus, as well as compressed air cylinders were equipped.
The interior of the boat was divided into six compartments that had different purposes. The compartments were separated from each other by light bulkheads designed for the surface position of the submarine in the event of an accident. The exception was the central post, which also served as a rescue compartment. Its bulkheads were made concave and designed for a pressure of 10 atmospheres. The compartments were numbered from stern to bow to clearly determine the location of various mechanisms and equipment relative to the sides of the ship.
| N | Purpose of the compartment | Equipment, devices, mechanisms |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stern torpedo and electric motors |
|
| 2 | Diesel |
|
| 3 | Stern residential (“Potsdamer Platz”) |
|
| 4 | Central post and conning tower |
|
| 5 | Bow living compartment |
|
| 6 | Bow torpedo compartment |
|
Directly on the bridge there were periscope guides and a stand for the optical fire control device (UZO), used when attacking from the surface, the main compass binnacle and the hatch leading down to the conning tower. On the wall of the cabin on the starboard side there was a slot for a retractable radio direction finder antenna. The rear part of the bridge was open and overlooked the aft platform, which had a fence in the form of handrails.
Power plant and driving performance
The U-48's power plant consisted of two types of engines: diesel engines for surface navigation and electric motors for submerged navigation.
Two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines of the F46 brand from Germaniawerft developed a power of 2800 hp, which made it possible to sail on the surface with a maximum speed of 17.9 knots. When pursuing a convoy, both diesel and electric motors were often used simultaneously, which gave an additional 0.5 knots of speed. The maximum fuel supply was 113.5 tons and provided a 10-knot cruising range of up to 9,700 miles. For fuel combustion, air was supplied to the diesel engines through a pipeline laid to the wheelhouse fence between a strong and light hull, and to remove exhaust gases, each diesel engine was equipped with exhaust pipes.
Underwater propulsion was provided by two AEG GU 460/8-276 electric motors with a total power of 750 hp. The engines were powered by a 27-MAK 800W battery, consisting of 124 cells. Maximum speed movement under water was 8 knots, the radius of action in a submerged position was 90 miles at 4 knots and 130 miles at 2 knots. The battery was charged from running diesel engines, so the boat had to be on the surface.
The U-48 dived by filling ballast tanks with water, and surfaced by blowing them with compressed air and diesel exhaust gases. The urgent submersion time of the boat was 25-27 seconds with coordinated work of the crew.
Crew and habitability
The U-48 crew consisted of 44 people: 4 officers, 4 petty officers, 36 non-commissioned officers and sailors.
The officer corps included a boat commander, two watch commanders and a chief engineer. The first watch commander performed the functions of the first mate and replaced the commander in the event of his death or injury. In addition, he was responsible for the operation of all combat systems of the submarine and supervised torpedo firing on the surface. The second watch commander was responsible for the lookouts on the bridge and controlled artillery and anti-aircraft fire. He was also responsible for the work of radio operators. Chief mechanical engineer was responsible for controlling the movement of the submarine and the operation of all its non-combat mechanisms. In addition, he was responsible for installing demolition charges when the boat was flooded.
Four foremen performed the functions of navigator, boatswain, diesel operator and electric motor control.
The personnel of non-commissioned officers and sailors were divided into teams according to various specializations: helmsmen, torpedo operators, engine crew, radio operators, acousticians, etc.
The habitability of the U-48, as well as all VII series submarines, was one of the worst compared to submarines of other navies. Internal organization was aimed at maximum use tonnage of the boat for its combat use. In particular, the number of beds barely exceeded half the number of the crew, one of the two available latrines was almost always used as a food storage, the captain's cabin was a corner separated from the passage by an ordinary screen.
It is characteristic that the aft living compartment, where the non-commissioned officers were located, was nicknamed “Potsdamer Platz” because of the constant noise from working diesel engines, conversations and commands at the central post and the running of the crew.
Armament
Mine and torpedo weapons
The U-48's main weapon was torpedoes. The boat was equipped with 4 bow and 1 stern 533-mm torpedo tubes. The supply of torpedoes was 14: 5 in the tubes, 6 in the bow torpedo compartment, 1 in the aft torpedo compartment and 2 outside the pressure hull in special containers. The TA was fired not with compressed air, but with the help of a pneumatic piston, which did not unmask the boat when launching torpedoes.
The U-48 used two types of torpedoes: the steam-gas G7a and the electric G7e. Both torpedoes carried the same warhead weighing 280 kg. The fundamental difference was in the engine. The steam-gas torpedo was driven by compressed air and left a clearly visible bubble trail on the surface. The electric torpedo was driven by a battery and was free of this drawback. In turn, the steam-gas torpedo had better dynamic characteristics. Its maximum range was 5500, 7500 and 12500 m at 44, 40 and 30 knots, respectively. The range of the G7e model was only 5000 m at 30 knots.
Torpedo firing was carried out using a TorpedoVorhalterechner calculating device (SRP) installed in the conning tower. The commander and boatswain entered into the SRP a number of data about the boat and the target being attacked, and within a few seconds the device generated settings for a torpedo shot and transmitted them to the compartments. The torpedo operators entered data into the torpedo, after which the commander fired. In the event of an attack from the surface, a pedestal of surface sighting optics UZO (UberwasserZielOptik) mounted on the bridge of the boat was also used.
The design of the torpedo tubes made it possible to use them for mine laying. The boat could take on board two types of proximity mines: 24 TMC or 36 TMB.
Auxiliary/anti-aircraft artillery
The U-48's artillery armament consisted of an 88 mm SK C35/L45 gun mounted on the deck in front of the wheelhouse fence. First-feed shells were stored under the deck deck; the main ammunition was located in the forward living compartment. The gun's ammunition capacity was 220 shells.
To protect against aircraft, a 20-mm Flak30 anti-aircraft gun was installed on the upper platform of the wheelhouse fence.
Communications, detection, auxiliary equipment
Zeiss binoculars with multiple magnification were used as observation tools on the U-48 when the boat was on the surface or in a positional position. The watch officer's binoculars were also used as part of the UZO during a surface torpedo attack. In a submerged position, commander or anti-aircraft periscopes were used.
To communicate with headquarters and other submarines, radio equipment operating on short, medium and ultra-long waves was used. The main one was shortwave communication, which was provided by the E-437-S receiver, two transmitters, as well as a retractable antenna in the left wing of the bridge fence. The medium-wave equipment intended for communication between boats consisted of an E-381-S receiver, a Spez-2113-S transmitter and a small retractable antenna with a round vibrator in the right wing of the bridge fence. The same antenna played the role of a direction finder.
In addition to optics, the submarine used acoustic equipment and radar to detect the enemy. Noise direction finding was provided by 11 hydrophones installed in the bow of the light hull. Radar reconnaissance was carried out using FuMO 29. The detection range of a large ship was 6-8 km, an aircraft - 15 km, direction determination accuracy - 5°.
The acoustician and radio operator posts were located next to the captain’s “cabin” so that the commander could be the first to receive information about the changed situation at any time.
Service history
Death
Commanders
- 22 April 1939 - 20 May 1940 Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
- 21 May 1940 - 3 September 1940 Korvetten-Kaptain Hans Rudolf Rösing (Knight's Cross)
- 4 September 1940 - 16 December 1940 Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Bleichrodt (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
- 17 December 1940 - 27 July 1941 Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
- August, 1941 - September, 1942 Oberleutnant zur See Siegfried Atzinger
- 26 September 1942 - October 1943 Oberleutnant zur See Diether Todenhagen
see also
Awards
Notes
Literature and sources of information
Image gallery
Kriegsmarine
| Commanders | Erich Raeder Karl Dönitz Hans Georg von Friedeburg Walter Warzecha |
| Main forces of the fleet | |
| Battleships | Germany type: Schlesien Schleswig-Holstein Scharnhorst type: Scharnhorst Gneisenau Bismarck type: Bismarck Tirpitz Type H: - Type O: - |
| Aircraft carriers | Graf Zeppelin type: Graf Zeppelin Flugzeugträger B |
| Escort carriers | Jade type: Jade Elbe Hilfsflugzeugträger I Hilfsflugzeugträger II Weser |
| Heavy cruisers | Germany type: Germany Admiral Count Spee Admiral Scheer Admiral Hipper type: Admiral Hipper Blucher Prinz Eugen Seydlitz Lützow Type D: - Type P: - |
| Light cruisers | Emden Königsberg type: Königsberg Karlsruhe Köln Leipzig type: Leipzig Nürnberg Type M: - Type SP: - |
| Additional fleet forces | |
| Auxiliary cruisers | Orion Atlantis Widder Thor Pinguin Stier Komet Kormoran Michel Coronel Hansa |
| Destroyers | Type 1934: Z-1 Leberecht Maass Z-2 Georg Thiele Z-3 Max Schulz Z-4 Richard Beitzen Type 1934A: Z-5 Paul Jacobi Z-6 Theodor Riedel Z-7 Hermann Schoemann Z-8 Bruno Heinemann Z-9 Wolfgang Zenker Z-10 Hans Lody Z-11 Bernd von Arnim Z-12 Erich Giese Z-13 Erich Koellner Z-15 Erich Steinbrinck Z-16 Friedrich Eckoldt Type 1936: Z-17 Diether von Roeder Z-18 Hans Lüdemann Z-19 Hermann Künne Z-20 Karl Galster Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp Z-22 Anton Schmitt Type 1936A: Z-23 Z-24 Z-25 Z-26 Z-27 Z-28 Z-29 Z-30 |
During the Second World War, fights and duels were fought not only on land and in the air, but also at sea. And what’s noteworthy is that submarines also took part in the duels. Although the bulk of the German Navy was involved in battles on the Atlantic, a significant share of fights between submarines took place on the Soviet-German front - in the Baltic, Barents and Kara seas...
The Third Reich entered World War II not having the largest submarine fleet in the world - only 57 submarines. The Soviet Union (211 units), the USA (92 units), and France (77 units) had much more submarines in service. The largest naval battles of World War II, in which the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) participated, took place in Atlantic Ocean, where the main enemy of the German troops was the most powerful navy group of the Western allies of the USSR. However, fierce confrontation also took place between the Soviet and German fleets - in the Baltic, Black and North Seas. Submarines took an active part in these battles. Both Soviet and German submariners showed tremendous skill in destroying enemy transport and combat ships. The effectiveness of the use of the submarine fleet was quickly appreciated by the leaders of the Third Reich. In 1939–1945 German shipyards managed to launch 1,100 new submarines - this is more than any country participating in the conflict was able to produce during the war years - and, indeed, all the states that were part of the Anti-Hitler coalition.
The Baltic occupied a special place in the military-political plans of the Third Reich. First of all, it was a vital channel for the supply of raw materials to Germany from Sweden (iron, various ores) and Finland (timber, agricultural products). Sweden alone satisfied 75% of the ore needs of German industry. The Kriegsmarine located many naval bases in the Baltic Sea, and the skerry area of the Gulf of Finland had a large abundance of convenient anchorages and deep-sea fairways. This created excellent conditions for the German submarine fleet for active combat operations in the Baltic. Soviet submariners began carrying out combat missions in the summer of 1941. By the end of 1941, they managed to send 18 German transport ships to the bottom. But the submariners also paid a huge price - in 1941, the Baltic Navy lost 27 submarines.
In the book by Navy history expert Gennady Drozhzhin “Aces and Propaganda. Myths of Underwater Warfare" contains interesting data. According to the historian, of all nine German submarines operating in all seas and sunk by Allied submarines, four boats were sunk by Soviet submariners. At the same time, German submarine aces were able to destroy 26 enemy submarines (including three Soviet ones). Data from Drozhzhin’s book indicate that during the Second World War duels took place between underwater vessels. The fights between the submarines of the USSR and Germany ended with a result of 4:3 in favor of the Soviet sailors. According to Drozhzhin, only Soviet M-type vehicles - “Malyutka” - took part in fights with German submarines.
“Malyutka” is a small submarine with a length of 45 m (width - 3.5 m) and an underwater displacement of 258 tons. The crew of the submarine consisted of 36 people. “Malyutka” could dive to a limiting depth of 60 meters and remain at sea without replenishing supplies of drinking and technical water, provisions and Supplies within 7–10 days. The armament of the M-type submarine included two bow torpedo tubes and a 45-mm gun in the wheelhouse fence. The boats had quick diving systems. If used skillfully, the Malyutka, despite its small dimensions, could destroy any submarine of the Third Reich.
Diagram of the submarine type "M" XII series
The first victory in duels between submarines of the USSR and Germany was won by Kriegsmarine servicemen. This happened on June 23, 1941, when the German submarine U-144 under the command of Lieutenant Friedrich von Hippel was able to send the Soviet submarine M-78 (under the command of Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Shevchenko) to the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Already on July 11, U-144 discovered and attempted to destroy another Soviet submarine, the M-97. This attempt ended in failure. U-144, like the Malyutka, was a small submarine and was launched on January 10, 1940. The German submarine was heavier than its Soviet counterpart (underwater displacement of 364 tons) and could dive to a depth of more than 120 meters.
Submarine type "M" XII series M-104 "Yaroslavsky Komsomolets", Northern Fleet
In this duel of the “lightweight” representatives, the German submarine won. But U-144 failed to increase its combat list. On August 10, 1941, the German ship was discovered by the Soviet medium diesel submarine Shch-307 “Pike” (under the command of Lieutenant Commander N. Petrov) in the area of the island. Dago in the Soelosund Strait (Baltic). The Pike had a much more powerful torpedo armament (10 533 mm torpedoes and 6 torpedo tubes - four at the bow and two at the stern) than its German opponent. The Pike fired a two-torpedo salvo. Both torpedoes hit the target accurately, and U-144, along with its entire crew (28 people), was destroyed. Drozhzhin claims that the German submarine was destroyed by the Soviet submarine M-94 under the command of Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dyakov. But in fact, Dyakov’s boat became a victim of another German submarine - U-140. This happened on the night of July 21, 1941 near the island of Utö. M-94, along with another submarine M-98, patrolled the island. At first, the submarines were accompanied by three minesweeper boats. But later, at 03:00, the escort left the submarines, and they continued on their own: M-94, trying to quickly charge rechargeable batteries, went deep, and the M-98 headed under the shore. At the Kõpu lighthouse, the M-94 submarine was hit in the stern. It was a torpedo fired from the German submarine U-140 (commander J. Hellriegel). The torpedoed Soviet submarine rested on the ground, the bow and superstructure of the submarine rose above the water.
The location of the Soviet submarine M-94 after it was hit by German torpedoes
Source – http://ww2history.ru
The crew of the M-98 submarine decided that the “partner” had been blown up by a mine, and began rescuing the M-94 - they began to launch a rubber boat. At that moment, the M-94 spotted the periscope of an enemy submarine. The commander of the helmsman squad, S. Kompaniets, began to semaphore the M-98 with pieces of his vest, warning of an attack by a German submarine. M-98 managed to evade the torpedo in time. The crew of U-140 did not re-attack the Soviet submarine, and the German submarine disappeared. M-94 soon sank. 8 crew members of the Malyutka were killed. The rest were rescued by the M-98 crew. Another “Malyutka” that died in a collision with German submarines was the M-99 submarine under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Mikhailovich Popov. M-99 was destroyed during combat duty near the island of Utö by the German submarine U-149 (commanded by Captain-Lieutenant Horst Höltring), which attacked a Soviet submarine with two torpedoes. It happened on June 27, 1941.
In addition to the Baltic submariners, their colleagues from the Northern Fleet fought fiercely with the German troops. The first submarine of the Northern Fleet that did not return from the combat campaign of the Great Patriotic War was the M-175 submarine under the command of Lieutenant Commander Mamont Lukich Melkadze. M-175 became a victim of the German ship U-584 (commanded by Lieutenant Commander Joachim Decke). This happened on January 10, 1942 in the area north of the Rybachy Peninsula. The acoustician of a German ship detected the noise of diesel engines of a Soviet submarine from a distance of 1000 meters. The German submarine began pursuing Melkadze's submarine. The M-175 followed a zigzag pattern on the surface, charging its batteries. The German car was moving under water. U-584 overtook the Soviet ship and attacked it, firing 4 torpedoes, two of which hit the target. M-175 sank, taking 21 crew members with it to the depths of the sea. It is noteworthy that the M-175 has already once become a target for a German submarine. On August 7, 1941, near the Rybachy Peninsula, the M-175 was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81 (commanded by Lieutenant Commander Friedrich Guggenberger). A German torpedo hit the side of a Soviet ship, but the fuse on the torpedo did not go off. As it turned out later, the German submarine fired four torpedoes at the enemy from a distance of 500 meters: two of them did not hit the target, the fuse on the third did not work, and the fourth exploded at the maximum travel distance.
German submarine U-81
Successful for Soviet submariners was the attack of the Soviet medium submarine S-101 on the German submarine U-639, carried out on August 28, 1943 in the Kara Sea. The S-101, under the command of Lieutenant Commander E. Trofimov, was a fairly powerful combat vehicle. The submarine had a length of 77.7 m, an underwater displacement of 1090 tons and could navigate autonomously for 30 days. The submarine carried powerful weapons - 6 torpedo tubes (12-533 mm torpedoes) and two guns - 100 mm and 45 mm in caliber. The German submarine U-639 under Lieutenant Wichmann carried out a combat mission - laying mines in the Gulf of Ob. The German submarine was moving on the surface. Trofimov ordered to attack the enemy ship. S-101 fired three torpedoes and U-639 sank instantly. 47 German submariners were killed in this attack.
Duels between German and Soviet submarines were few in number, one might even say isolated, and took place, as a rule, in those zones where the Baltic and Northern Navy of the USSR operated. “Malyutki” became victims of German submariners. The duels between German and Soviet submariners did not affect the overall picture of the confrontation between the naval forces of Germany and the Soviet Union. In a duel between submarines, the winner was the one who quickly figured out the location of the enemy and was able to deliver accurate torpedo strikes.