Download or read book Allied Submarine Attacks of World War Two written by Jürgen Rohwer and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This informative study contains reports of the attacks by Soviet, British, and other Allied submarines from the Baltic and Black Seas, to Norway and the Mediterranean.
Download or read book No Room for Mistakes written by Geirr H. Haarr and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2015-11-15 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No Room for Mistakes is a thoroughly researched account of British and Allied submarine warfare in north European waters at the beginning of World War II. Haarr has compiled research from a wide range of primary sources to create one of the most readable, comprehensive accounts of early war submarine activities. With detailed, accurate maps and many previously unpublished photographs, No Room for Mistakes documents the birth of a new kind of war and the courage of the men who learned to fight it.
Download or read book U S Submarine Attacks During World War II written by John Doughty Alden and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the beginning of WWII until the end, a compilation of each engagement by a USN submarine is documented. Location, date and time, method of attack, shots fired, target type and size, and result. Japanese confirmation, if known, is also noted.
Download or read book United States and Allied Submarine Successes in the Pacific and Far East During World War II 4th ed written by John D. Alden and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-10-21 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is a comprehensive accounting of all United States and allied submarine attacks on the Japanese for which success was claimed or occurred. The expanded coverage focuses on successes by U.S. and British and Dutch submarines in the Pacific and Indian oceans, Soviet submarines, and losses caused by mines laid by submarines. The book also includes details from top-secret "Ultra" messages decoded during the war and recently translated documents that provide correct Japanese ship names, ship type and tonnage, convoy names, human loss numbers and other attack details, as well as a military evaluation of each attack.
Download or read book Hitler s Attack U Boats written by Jak P. Mallmann Showell and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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.
Download or read book Submarine Warfare in the Atlantic written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of fighting by soldiers on both sides *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "We in the tower were given a chance to view the holocaust. Three vessels lay heavily listing, shooting smoke and fire columns into the air. White lifeboats hung head-down in their davits. Two destroyers raced toward the dying ships. It was a painting of rare and vivid colors." - U-boat commander Herbert A. Werner, describing a submarine attack in August 1941 (Werner, 2002, 53). Danger prowled under both the cold gray waters of the North Sea and the shimmering blue waves of the tropical Atlantic during World War II as Adolf Hitler's Third Reich attempted to strangle Allied shipping lanes with U-boat attacks. German and British submarines combed the vast oceanic battlefield for prey, while scientists developed new technologies and countermeasures. Submarine warfare began tentatively during the American Civil War (though the Netherlands and England made small prototypes centuries earlier, and the American sergeant Ezra Lee piloted the one-man "Turtle" vainly against HMS Eagle near New York in 1776). Britisher Robert Whitehead's invention of the torpedo introduced the weapon later used most frequently by submarines. Steady improvements to Whitehead's design led to the military torpedoes deployed against shipping during both World Wars. World War I witnessed the First Battle of the Atlantic, when the Kaiserreich unleashed its U-boats against England. During the war's 52.5 months, the German submarines sent much of the British merchant marine to the bottom. Indeed, German reliance on U-boats in both World War I and World War II stemmed largely from their nation's geography. The Germans eventually recognized the primacy of the Royal Navy and its capacity to blockade Germany's short coastline in the event of war. While the British could easily interdict surface ships, submarines slipped from their Kiel or Hamburg anchorages unseen, able to prey upon England's merchant shipping. During World War I, German U-boats operated solo except on one occasion. Initially, the British and nations supplying England with food and materiel scattered vessels singly across the ocean, making them vulnerable to the lone submarines. However, widespread late war re-adoption of the convoy system tipped the odds in the surface ships' favor, as one U-boat skipper described: "The oceans at once became bare and empty; for long periods at a time the U-boats, operating individually, would see nothing at all; and then suddenly up would loom a huge concourse of ships, thirty or fifty or more of them, surrounded by a strong escort of warships of all types." (Blair, 1996, 55). World War I proved the value of submarines, ensuring their widespread employment in the next conflict. Besides Germany and Britain, Japan and the United States also built extensive submarine fleets before and/or during the war. One critical innovation in World War II's Atlantic U-boat operations consisted of wolf-pack tactics, in which Admiral Karl Dönitz put great faith: "The greater the number of U-boats that could be brought simultaneously into the attack, the more favourable would become the opportunities offered to each individual attacker. [...] it was obvious that, on strategic and general tactical grounds, attacks on convoys must be carried out by a number of U-boats acting in unison." (Dönitz, 1990, 4). However, even the wolf-pack proved insufficient to defeat the Atlantic convoys and stop Allied commerce - the precise opposite of the Pacific theater, where America's excellent submarine forces annihilated much of Japan's merchant marine and inflicted severe damage on the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Download or read book Slide Rules and Submarines written by Montgomery C. Meigs and published by The Minerva Group, Inc.. This book was released on 2002-06 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic problem of when to depend on lessons learned from previous conflicts and when to employ new tactics and technology always confronts military leaders. At the beginning of World War II, for example, Allied naval strategists were prepared to do battle using traditional tactics against surface vessels, but - this study contends - not against submarines; because the strategists failed to appreciate either the damage done by submarines in World War I or the tactics that had worked successfully against them. Consequently, from the beginning of World War II to mid-1943, German U-boats were able to mount a devastating campaign against Allied shipping. In Slide Rules and Submarines, Montgomery Meigs describes how the allies learned to counter the U-boat threat. Using new technology - and new tactics derived from scientific methods - they devised countermeasures to defeat the German submarine menace. Then, continuing to apply those successful measures, they went on to negate the Japanese submarine threat in the Pacific. The author cites the crucial role of civilian scientists - the "outsiders" - who worked with military staffs and operational commanders of the campaign at sea. Their open minds and objective methods were essential for the application of such tactical advances as sonar and radar, acoustic torpedoes, depth finders, and code breaking to the battle. As this study illustrates, the importance of such timely and innovative cooperation among scientists, the research and development community, and military commanders in bringing technological knowledge to bear for operational and strategic advantage cannot be overstated. Meigs study of how such cooperation succeeded in the crucible of wartime crisis is itself an example of how the lessons of the past can serve us well today. J. A. Baldwin Vice Admiral, United States Navy President, National Defense University
Download or read book Japanese Submarine Losses to Allied Submarines in World War II written by Vernon J. Miller and published by Merriam Press. This book was released on 1999-07 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Submarine Has No Friends written by Douglas E. Campbell and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-12 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At last count, more than 80 U.S. submarines recorded some type of actual "friendly fire" incident in which they were involved during their WWII war patrols. From being attacked by Allied bombers, depth-charged by U.S. ships or fired upon by armed Allied merchant ships, submariners quickly came to understand the bitter truth of the maxim: 'The submarine has no friends.' While the majority of submarines and their crew escaped with little more than bruised egos or minor injuries, three submarines and their crews were lost to friendly fire. For the first time in book format, a serious and most comprehensive research effort has gone into capturing all such "friendly fire" incidents involving U.S. submarines during World War II. Compiled through relentless research by the co-authors, their stories of loss and survival by "other than the enemy" is presented within these pages.
Download or read book Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two written by Jürgen Rohwer and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taken from a wide variety of sources, this is a unique and detailed compilation of German, Italian, Japanese, Romanian, Finnish and Vichy-French submarine successes and claims against Allied and Neutral ships in every theatre of the war at sea. Each entry gives the date of the attack; the nationality, name and commander of the attacking submarine; a map reference giving the precise location of the attack; and the type, tonnage, nationality and name of the ship sunk. Additional information, aimed at resolving controversial claims and clarifying hitherto inexact data, is also provided.
Download or read book Very Special Intelligence written by Patrick Beesly and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operational Intelligence Centre was the nerve centre of the British Admiralty in World War II, dedicated to collecting, analyzing and disseminating information from every possible source which could throw light on the intentions and movements of German naval and maritime forces. OIC labored tirelessly, despite early disappointments, to supply the Navy and RAF with the intelligence that would enable them to defeat Hitler and his admirals. Patrick Beesly, an insider drawing on considerable personal knowledge, reveals, in full, the compelling story of OIC. He throws light on dramatic episodes such as the hunt for the Bismarck; the tragedy of Convoy PQ17; the long war against the U-boats; and on many other significant events critical to the course of the war. Very Special Intelligence, here presented with a new Introduction which sets the work in context and takes account of new research, is the fascinating story of an organization which contributed so much to Allied success.
Download or read book Submarine Warfare in World War II written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-11-02 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the fighting by sailors on both sides *Includes a bibliography for further reading Danger prowled under both the cold gray waters of the North Sea and the shimmering blue waves of the tropical Atlantic during World War II as Adolf Hitler's Third Reich attempted to strangle Allied shipping lanes with U-boat attacks. German and British submarines combed the vast oceanic battlefield for prey, while scientists developed new technologies and countermeasures. During World War I, German U-boats operated solo except on one occasion. Initially, the British and nations supplying England with food and materiel scattered vessels singly across the ocean, making them vulnerable to the lone submarines. However, widespread late war re-adoption of the convoy system tipped the odds in the surface ships' favor, as one U-boat skipper described: "The oceans at once became bare and empty; for long periods at a time the U-boats, operating individually, would see nothing at all; and then suddenly up would loom a huge concourse of ships, thirty or fifty or more of them, surrounded by a strong escort of warships of all types." (Blair, 1996, 55). However, even the wolf-pack proved insufficient to defeat the Atlantic convoys and stop Allied commerce - the precise opposite of the Pacific theater, where America's excellent submarine forces annihilated much of Japan's merchant marine and inflicted severe damage on the Imperial Japanese Navy. Submarines exercised a decisive impact on the outcome of the Pacific Theater in World War II. The U.S. submarine fleet, largely though not exclusively under the overall command of Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, strangled the supply lines and shipping traffic of the Empire of Japan. Their commerce raiding crippled both Japan's ability to keep its frontline units supplied and to manufacture the weapons, vessels, and vehicles needed to successfully carry on the struggle. The United States and Japan both produced excellent, high-tech submarines in the context of the World War II era. Japanese I-boats showed excellent seakeeping capabilities and offered the versatility created by their large size, including the ability to serve as motherships for midget submarines or aircraft carriers for scouting aircraft or even specialized bombers. The Type 93 Long Lance and Type 95 torpedoes they carrier packed enough punch to sink capital ships like battleships and carriers at ranges of several miles. Though constituting only 1.6% of the total U.S. Navy's tonnage in the Pacific, the submarine fleet inflicted massive losses on the Imperial Japanese Navy and Japan's crucial merchant marine. Submarines sank 55% of the merchant shipping lost, or approximately 1,300 vessels; overall, the Allies sank 77% of Japan's shipping. The submarines also sank 214 Japanese warships, including 82 of 1,000 tons or more - 4 carriers, 4 escort carriers, one battleship, 4 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, 38 destroyers, and 23 submarines - or approximately 30% of the entire Imperial Japanese Navy. The sleek, predatory craft made in the shipyards of Virginia, Wisconsin, or Washington state devastated the naval and freighter assets of the Empire of the Rising Sun out of all proportion to their numbers, at a cost of 42 submarines on "Eternal Patrol." Submarine Warfare in World War II: The History of the Fighting Under the Waves in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters analyzes the underwater fighting between the Allies and Axis across the oceans. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about submarine warfare like never before.
Download or read book War Beneath the Sea written by Peter Padfield and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2008-05-02 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for War Beneath the Sea "I am truly filled with awe and admiration...fascinating and a great contribution to the entire lore of submarines.... I wish I had written the book." ?Capt. Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret.) author of Run Silent, Run Deep "Peter Padfield is the best British naval historian of his generation now working. [His] book...will now become the standard work on the subject." ?Daily Telegraph (London) "Peter Padfield has produced by far the best and most complete critical history of the submarine operations of all the combatants in the Second World War, at the same time providing vivid narrative accounts of particular actions and events." ?Lloyd?s List (London) "An excellent account of submarine warfare in 1939?45... [it] recreates the tribulations and horrors of that especially brutal form of warfare within a sturdily analytical and often critical framework." ?The Economist "[A] marvelously complete and detailed study of World War II submarine warfare...an interesting, serious, and timely book." ?Houston Chronicle "A brilliant submarine warfare study." ?Military Review
Download or read book Allied Coastal Forces of World War II Volume I Fairmile Designs and U S Submarine Chasers written by John Lambert and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The major contribution made by coastal forces to the Allied war effort has had surprisingly little coverage in the literature of World War II. Motor torpedo boats, PT boats, motor gunboats, launches, and submarine chasers served with distinction throughout the war, and in every theater. They performed invaluable service as patrol boats, convoy escorts, minelayers and minesweepers, harbor defense vessels, light landing craft, RAF rescue boats, and transports for agents and clandestine missions.
Download or read book The Italian Submarine Force in the Battle of the Atlantic Left in the Dark Coordination with German Navy Kriegsmarine U Boats in World War II Inef written by U. S. Military and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-01-25 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we reflect on World War II, our minds are often drawn to the atrocities of genocide, and graphic depictions of Nazi Concentration camps throughout Europe. Others reflect on the near 30 million deaths, civilian and military, that occurred in the fierce, destructive battles on the Eastern Front. Few reflect on the "largest, longest, and most complex Naval battle in history," the Battle of the Atlantic. This study analyzed the Battle of the Atlantic from September of 1939 to May of 1945. While studies of the Battle of the Atlantic have traditionally focused on the German submarine offensive, this thesis evaluated the effectiveness of the Italian submarine force as a force multiplier to the German offensive during both coordinated and independent submarine operations (in the Atlantic) from October 1940 to July 1943. This study found that while the Italians provided capable submarines to the German High Command for use in the Atlantic, they were largely ineffective during coordinated operations from October 1940 to May 1941. The research concluded that ineffective coordinated operations resulted from inadequate joint training prior to the conduct of coordinated operations and a failure by the German High Command to treat Italy as a capable ally. Although ineffective during coordinated operations, the Italian submarine force did show improved performance during independent operations from June 1941 to July 1943.At the onset of WWII, the vast ocean that afforded the United States protection from the German conquest in the European theater was filled with 13 million tons of sunken allied shipping, 5000 destroyed allied ships, 180 sunken U-boats, and the remains of some 20,000 mariners, all results from unrestricted submarine warfare during WWI. Nearing the brink of disaster, Britain adapted an escorted convoy system which proved to be the most effective strategy against submarine attacks. As WWII began, neither side (Allied or German) was necessarily prepared for unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic. The British, having largely forgotten the lessons learned in World War I (WWI), were not prepared to provide the necessary escorts to protect the shipping imports required for their very survival. The Germans, while successful in WWI, had too few operational submarines in the Atlantic theater at the onset of WWII to fulfill Admiral (ADM) Karl Doenitz's preferred maritime strategy. Although initially unprepared for the onset of war, both sides exercised the flexibility required in shipbuilding, tactics, technology, and information dominance, resulting in a contracted battle of wills in the Atlantic Ocean.Wolf-packs, air escorted convoys, surfaced U-boat attacks, Asdic (sonar), and Enigma code breaking are all examples of tactics, technology, and information dominance concepts utilized individually, or in conjunction with each other, to change the tide of the battle in the Atlantic. While the factors just described were important, they are focused on Allied defensive measures and German U-boat offensive operations, and often ignore the contributions of the Italian submarine force (a numerically superior force as compared to the Germans with nearly twice as many operational submarines at the onset of the war). How effective was the Italian submarine force as a multiplier to the powerful German submarine force in WWII? What were the major factors which contributed to the Italian submarine force's effectiveness or ineffectiveness?
Download or read book Save Our Souls Rescues Made by U S Submarines During World War II written by Douglas E. Campbell and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-04-02 with total page 732 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At last count, nearly 2,400 people can claim that their lives were saved by a U.S. submarine during World War II. Of that number, 523 Allied aviators could claim that distinction after crashing their aircraft into the sea and being saved by a submarine operating in the "Lifeguard League." The remaining number were a collection of other military and civilian personnel, each with a story to tell and now able to tell their grand-children. Some of those rescued went on to retire as senior military officers including U.S. Navy Admirals, some back to missionary work, some to manage large companies in later years, some to philanthropic endeavors to pay everyone back for saving their lives. Appendix A is an intensely-researched index of nearly 2,200 names of those saved.
Download or read book The U Boat War in the Atlantic 1944 1945 written by Bob Carruthers and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-03-18 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the second of three volumes covering the U-boat campaign in the Atlantic during the Second World War.This is the fascinating account, as told from the German perspective, of the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest-running, continuous military campaign in World War II, spanning from 1939 through to Germany's defeat in 1945. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, which was announced the day after the declaration of war, although it quickly grew to include Germany's counter-blockade. The name "Battle of the Atlantic", was coined by Winston Churchill in 1941 and he famously stated that the U-boats were the only thing that really frightened him. The U-boat war encompassed a campaign that began on the first day of the European war and lasted for six years, involved thousands of ships and stretched over thousands of square miles of ocean, in more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters. In the 68 months of World War II, 2,775 Allied merchant ships were sunk for the loss of 781 U-boats.This is the story of that massive encounter from the German perspective. Published in three volumes, this work was compiled under the supervision of the U.S Navy Department and the British Admiralty by Fregattenkapitan Gunther Hessler. The author, though without previous experience as a writer, had first hand experience of U-boat warfare having commanded a U-boat in 1940 and 1941. For the remainder of the war he was Staff Officer to the Flag Officer commanding U-boats. He had access to German war diaries and other relevant documents concerning U-boat command, and this work based on these many documents, tells the story entirely from the viewpoint of that command. For this reason this work is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of World War II from primary sources and will be of enduring interest to those engaged in attempting to unravel the true nature of submarine warfare in World War II.
