Download or read book Critical German Submarine Operations Versus Allied Convoys During March 1943 An Operational Analysis written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: German submarine operations against allied convoys, during March 1943 is critically analyzed from an operational perspective. The theater commander's operational scheme is dissected for the purpose of identifying lessons which can be applied to the planning and execution of today's theater operations. A brief historical account of the early phases of the war and the events and decisions which preceded the critical convoy battles will be followed by an analysis of the operational scheme employed by Admiral Doenitz. German victory during the spring offensive clearly demonstrated numerous operational successes, a reasonably well conceived operational plan, and proof positive of the potential for a larger scale victory, yet history recorded Germany's ultimate defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic. This analysis identified three significant flaws which led to the German demise; first, strategic guidance and operational means were inadequately reconciled ... Operational anlaysis, German U-Boats in Atlantic during March 1943.

Download or read book Critical German Submarine Operations Versus Allied Convoys During March 1943 An Operational Analysis written by LCDR Bruce E. Grooms and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: German submarine operations against allied convoys, during March 1943 is critically analyzed from an operational perspective. The theater commander’s operational scheme is dissected for the purpose of identifying lessons which can be applied to the planning and execution of today’s theater operations. A brief historical account of the early phases of the war and the events and decisions which preceded the critical convoy battles will be followed by an analysis of the operational scheme employed by Admiral Dönitz. German victory during the spring offensive clearly demonstrated numerous operational successes, a reasonably well conceived operational plan, and proof positive of the potential for a larger scale victory. Yet history recorded Germany’s ultimate defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic. This analysis identified three significant flaws which led to the German demise; first, strategic guidance and operational means were inadequately reconciled which prevented the proper execution of the operational plan; second, operational intelligence and reconnaissance were inadequately exploited; third, Germany failed to coordinate and execute joint operations between service arms, specifically the lack of air assets in support of vital U-boat operations. Clearly one must conclude a reasonable operational plan has marginal chance for success when strategic guidance and joint coordination are incompatible with theater objective accomplishment.

Download or read book Critical Convoy Battles of WWII written by Jürgen Rohwer and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2015-11-15 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Remarkable...a feat of historical reconstruction."—Paul Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous campaign of World War II, climaxed in 1943, when Germany came closest to interrupting Allied supply lines and perhaps winning the war. In March of that year, German U-boats scored their last great triumph, destroying nearly 150,000 tons of supplies and fuel. • Blow-by-blow account of the largest convoy battle of the war • Analyzes the tactics, technology, and intelligence of both sides

Download or read book The Critical Convoy Battles of March 1943 written by Jürgen Rohwer and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

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 Operational Analysis of the Culminating Phase of the Battle of the Atlantic A German Fait Accompli written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happened elsewhere, on land, at sea, or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome, and amid all other cares we viewed its changing fortunes day by day with hope or apprehension. The Atlantic proved to be the decisive grounds on which Britain's ability to wage a sustained war against the axis powers rested. The period of August 1942 through May 1943 has proven to be the critical period in the Battle of the Atlantic. During this phase of the battle, the allies turned the tables on a surge in German U-boat successes and rising confidence and precipitated such a severe reversal of fortune that and Commander in Chief (CinC) of the German Navy and U-boat arm, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, was driven to the conclusion that a complete withdrawal of U-boats from the North Atlantic was required. This paper will examine the operational aspects of the German offensive in the Battle of the Atlantic during the culminating phase in the first half of 1943 and the factors that led to the German collapse. The lessons learned from the German perspective can be instructive in how a unified approach to this battle would have prolonged Germany's ability to truly affect the allied shipping, and may have influenced the final outcome.

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 The Secret in Building 26 written by Jim DeBrosse and published by Random House. This book was released on 2004-04-20 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, the inside story of the brilliant American engineer who defeated Enigma and the Nazi code-masters Much has been written about the success of the British “Ultra” program in cracking the Germans’ Enigma code early in World War II, but few know what really happened in 1942, when the Germans added a fourth rotor to the machine that created the already challenging naval code and plunged Allied intelligence into darkness. Enter one Joe Desch, an unassuming but brilliant engineer at the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio, who was given the task of creating a machine to break the new Enigma settings. It was an enterprise that rivaled the Manhattan Project for secrecy and complexity–and nearly drove Desch to a breakdown. Under enormous pressure, he succeeded in creating a 5,000-pound electromechanical monster known as the Desch Bombe, which helped turn the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic–but not before a disgruntled co-worker attempted to leak information about the machine to the Nazis. After toiling anonymously–it even took his daughter years to learn of his accomplishments–Desch was awarded the National Medal of Merit, the country’s highest civilian honor. In The Secret in Building 26, the entire thrilling story of the final triumph over Enigma is finally told. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Download or read book Decision in the Atlantic written by Marcus Faulkner and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2019-05-17 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest campaign of the Second World War. This volume highlights the scale and complexity of this bitterly contested campaign, one that encompassed far more than just attacks by German U-boats on Allied shipping. The team of leading scholars assembled in this study situates the German assault on seaborne trade within the wider Allied war effort and provides a new understanding of its place within the Second World War. Individual chapters offer original perspectives on a range of neglected or previously overlooked subjects: how Allied grand strategy shaped the war at sea; the choices facing Churchill and other Allied leaders and the tensions over the allocation of scarce resources between theaters; how the battle spread beyond the Atlantic Ocean in both military and economic terms; the management of Britain's merchant shipping repair yards; the defense of British coastal waters against German surface raiders; the contribution of air power to trade defense; antisubmarine escort training; the role of special intelligence; and the war against the U-boats in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

Download or read book CENTERS OF GRAVITY AND CRITICAL VULNERABILITIES written by JOE. STRANGE and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The German Campaign in Russia written by George E. Blau and published by . This book was released on 1955 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Critical Convoy Battles of WWII written by Jurgen Rohwer and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2015-11-15 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous campaign of World War II, climaxed in 1943, when Germany came closest to interrupting Allied supply lines and perhaps winning the war. In March of that year, German U-boats scored their last great triumph, destroying nearly 150,000 tons of supplies and fuel.

Download or read book Hitler s Fatal Miscalculation written by Klaus H. Schmider and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hitler's decision to declare war on the United States has baffled generations of historians. In this revisionist new history of those fateful months, Klaus H. Schmider seeks to uncover the chain of events which would incite the German leader to declare war on the United States in December 1941. He provides new insights not just on the problems afflicting German strategy, foreign policy and war production but, crucially, how they were perceived at the time at the top levels of the Third Reich. Schmider sees the declaration of war on the United States not as an admission of defeat or a gesture of solidarity with Japan, but as an opportunistic gamble by the German leader. This move may have appeared an excellent bet at the time, but would ultimately doom the Third Reich.

Download or read book Standard Submarine Phraseology written by United States Navy and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally printed during WWII by the Commander of Submarines, Atlantic Fleet, ¿Submarine Phraseology¿ was standard issue for sailors serving in the Silent Service. The first section of the book puts forth general rules for formulating messages, with an emphasis on creating uniform voice procedures. The second part of the text covers specific forms of phraseology used in various operations. Whether you¿re a submarine fleet veteran, a museum docent, a fan of submarine history, or a screenwriter who wants to create historically accurate dialogue, this book makes a great addition to any submarine library.

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 Reluctant Allies written by Hans-Joachim Krug and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Often forgotten among the many aspects of World War II is the alliance between Germany and Japan. Because of the vast geographical separation between these two Axis nations, and because of some of very real philosophical and operational differences, the alliance was fraught with difficulty. But in the vast middle-ground of the Indian Ocean, these "reluctant allies" did come together to conduct naval operations that might well have had disastrous consequences for the Allies but for the intervention of fate and the inevitable friction of war. Captain Krug served in U-boats in that theater and in the Far East and, with the assistance of scholars of both nations, he has produced a very readable and meticulously researched account of German and Japanese naval interaction. Besides thoroughly covering--for the first time--this neglected topic, the authors provide valuable insight into the faulty mechanism of an alliance between totalitarian powers, characterized by suspicion and a reluctance to freely share information and assets. They also bring to light the difficulties--and ultimate consequences--of dealing with the megalomania and criminal intellect of Adolf Hitler, which resulted in war-crime trials for some of the participants. Proving that not every aspect of the world's greatest war has been covered, this book is a valuable contribution to the ever-expanding lore of the war and will be required reading for those with an interest in naval operations, global strategy, and international diplomacy during the period.

Download or read book Information at Sea written by Timothy S. Wolters and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to explore information management at sea as practiced by the U.S. Navy from the Civil War to World War II. The brain of a modern warship is its combat information center (CIC). Data about friendly and enemy forces pour into this nerve center, contributing to command decisions about firing, maneuvering, and coordinating. Timothy S. Wolters has written the first book to investigate the history of the CIC and the many other command and control systems adopted by the U.S. Navy from the Civil War to World War II. What institutional ethos spurred such innovation? Information at Sea tells the fascinating stories of the naval and civilian personnel who developed an array of technologies for managing information at sea, from signal flares and radio to encryption machines and radar. Wolters uses previously untapped archival sources to explore how one of America's most technologically oriented institutions addressed information management before the advent of the digital computer. He argues that the human-machine systems used to coordinate forces were as critical to naval successes in World War II as the ships and commanders more familiar to historians.